LITMIR.BIZ

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      "I've started to investigate some big operation the government has started, involving drugs. Is he involved in it, too?" Kate asked.

      "Well, I can't see exactly what it is; only that it involves both of you, and it is big and dangerous. But I do feel you will be all right," Carina answered and rose from her chair.

      They said good-bye and Carina reminded her to be careful, for even though she had seen her all right, she still had to do her part.

      Does he work for the government? Is that why he is so secretive, or am I going to put him in danger? Kate wondered. Those questions and many other sped through her mind as she returned to the condo.

      Her grandmother called, and Kate promised she would drive up to Athens and pick her up the following day. It was about a five-hour trip, but she left early and arrived by lunchtime. After having lunch in the Hancock Assisted Living Center's dining room with Betty, they left. On the way home, Kathryn told Kate she had called Betty's grandson who was her only living relative. She told him that his grandmother had a great deal of money, but what she didn't have was someone to love. Kathryn then said, "I'm not very different from Betty."

      "I love you, Grandmother and I promise I won't shut you out again," Kate replied.

      * * *

      That night in her Victorian hang-board mahogany bed, Kate tossed and turned. The bed had belonged to her mother Constance. Her grandmother had given Kate the bed after her mother had died. Her father let her accept the bed but had refused to move it around with them because it was extremely hard to assemble.

      While sleeping in the bed, Kate often dreamed of her mother. Most of the dreams comforted her, but tonight they didn't. In her dream she saw her mother waking from her sleep and playing with a doll who looked like Kate. Shadowy creatures kept trying to take the doll away from her mother, but her mother would not let her go. She hid her and protected her from the creatures. The creatures went after a boy doll sitting on a shelf on the other side of the room. The boy doll looked like her brother Tom. Her mother tried to get to the boy doll and save him from the creatures too, but she wasn't fast enough. The creatures stole the boy doll before her mother could reach him. Kate woke up crying.

      Walking by her room, Kathryn heard her and came to her. "What's wrong, Kate?" she asked.

      "I had a dream about my mom and Tom." Kate then described the dream to her grandmother who had sat down on the side of the bed next to her.

      Kathryn put her arm around her and said, "I think your mother is trying to protect you. How about I make you your favorite breakfast, French toast and bacon?"

      "Thanks, Grandmother, that sounds terrific. I'll just first take a quick shower."

      Kate took her plate out to the small table on the balcony. She loved the sound of the surf and the singing of the birds in the mornings. She cleaned her plate for she had always relished her grandmother's cooking and sat there sipping her coffee.

      The phone rang and Kathryn working at the kitchen sink answered it. "It's for you, Kate," she called out through the open screened window.

      Taking the cordless phone from Kathryn, Kate listened and then replied joyfully, "Maria, I can't believe it. Is it really you? It's been so long since I've talked to you."

      CHAPTER THREE

      "Kate, I'm getting married," Maria announced.

      "You're kidding. I don't believe it. You mean after only three years Oliver has finally asked you?" Kate talked as she carried the phone into the living room and curled up on the couch.

      "Yes, but I can't talk too long. I'm calling you from my desk at the State Police headquarters in Albany. I just couldn't wait any longer; you've only been my best friend since we were roommates at Skidmore College."

      "Maria, I'm so happy for you, but I still can't believe it," said Kate, smiling.

      "Do you know what I'm doing now?" Maria asked.

      "No, what?"

      "I'm holding up my hand so that the light catches my diamond," Maria replied.

      "I can't wait to see it, but how did it happen? I want to know everything," Kate demanded, still smiling.

      "Well my reticent scientist proposed and then went to my father and formally asked him for my hand in marriage. Can you believe it?” Maria exclaimed. Her almond- shaped dark eyes flashed and her short brunette curls bounced as she talked.

      "For a while you were so serious about being a police detective, I wasn't sure if you wanted to get married," Kate said teasingly. They both laughed loudly, but Maria coupled her left hand over her mouth and phone to muffle hers. They had always been able to laugh together. Their laughter had sustained their friendship through good and bad times.

      Leaning back in her chair, Maria continued in a more serious tone. "We are going to be married in the Catholic Church in Saratoga and have the reception at Canfield Casino. You'll be getting an invitation in the mail, but I had to call you first. And, Kate, because of all my sisters, I can't ask you to be in the wedding. My mother thinks four attendants are enough."

      "Of course I'll come. Can I bring a date?"

      "Are you serious?" exclaimed Maria, jumping to her feet. "You mean someone has finally gotten you to fall for him -- I definitely intend to meet him."

      "You will if he can come," Kate promised. Then stretching her legs out on the couch, she said, "I need to ask you about a story I'm working on. I'm trying to track down a story involving the government and the war on drugs. Being such a popular independent forensic pathologist, I know Oliver often hears things. I need to know if either of you knows about any unusual happenings."

      "Excuse me," Maria said and then shouted to someone, "Can't you see I'm on the phone. I'll get to it in a minute." Speaking into the phone again, she said, "The only thing I know about is a small plane which exploded two weeks ago in the Adirondacks. Oliver was called in to identify the bodies, and I had to go to investigate for the State Police."

      "Why was that not routine?" Kate inquired, tightening her hold on the phone.

      "Wait, I still have the report around here somewhere," Maria answered, shuffling through the papers on her desk. "Here it is. I'll read some of it to you. The plane exploded with such force all that was left were some teeth, hair, and part of a hand. There were three victims. One was of the Mongoloid race, the other two Caucasian. The hand appears to belong to the Mongoloid victim, probably Asian. All the dental work found points to non-Americans. A large explosion-proof container with five million dollars and some small packets of coke in it was also found. That's about it," Maria said.

      "Is there anything else you can tell me," Kate asked eagerly. She had taken the phone to a small desk, found some paper and a pen, and was rapidly taking notes.

      "Well," Maria declared, "a plane crash is most often investigated at the local level, but because of the money and drugs, the DEA was called in. But what is curious is that the FBI came also. Both agencies seem to be working closely together on this one."

      "That is interesting," Kate remarked. "Were the races identified by the hair samples?"

      "Let me see," answered Maria, again scanning the report. "Yes, they were. And the fingerprints from the hand have been sent to Interpol for identification. They weren't found in our files or the FBI's. The plane was heading to the Saratoga Airport, but no one knows where the plane took off from. That's about all I know, but I'll talk to Oliver, and if we find out anything else, I'll call you."

      "Thanks, Maria. I'm surprised you were able to talk your parents into having the wedding in Saratoga instead of Poughkeepsie."

      "They are so glad I'm getting married, I could hold the wedding in Alaska, and they wouldn't care."

      "I can't wait to see you. I'll talk to you soon." Kate hung up the phone, thinking over what Maria had told her. Maria Passaretti and Oliver Steinberg were at last getting married. What a wedding that should be. Maria was

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