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little, it’s how you say them. He’ll know you mean them when you really mean them.”
    “Is that some kind of Irish proverb?” he asked derisively.
    “The Irish are famous for their intuition,” she tossed, an angry flush staining her cheeks as she pulled her hand away. “You would do well to heed their advice.”
    She flounced out, slamming the kitchen door with unnecessary force.
    Andrew sat there, a plate of cookies and steadily cooling tea in front of him and stared into space.
    -29-
    Anita Whiting
    He’ll know you mean them when you really mean them.
    He rubbed his suddenly tired eyes. The advice he would heed.
    It was acting on that advice that was so very hard.
    -30-
    A Killer's Agenda

Chapter Two
    “Alicia, the phone’s for you,” Alex called up the stairs.
    “Coming,” her sister called from somewhere in the recesses of the hallway. “Who is it?”
    Alex’s lips curved in amusement. It would appear her sister
    was in one of her dramatic moods from the uncharacteristic drawl in her voice. Probably had something to do with the school play she was starring in.
    “Brian Clayton.”
    She grinned at the muffled shriek as her sister flew down the stairs.
    “You’re not joking, are you? Because if you are…”
    Alex put a finger to her lips, covering the receiver.
    “It’s a shame he couldn’t see you right now, cream all over your face and in your scruffy robe. Maybe I should give him a
    description…”
    Her sister made a grab for the phone. “Don’t you dare!”
    Shaking her head, Alex wandered into the kitchen. The trials and tribulations of a sixteen year old, she thought sympathetically.
    Thank goodness she was ten years past that. She had no desire to live through those meteoric ups and dramatic downs of the age again. Once had been quite enough.
    -31-
    Anita Whiting
    She stirred the big pot of spaghetti sauce on the stove, lifting the lid so the luscious aroma filled the room.
    “Wow does that smell great,” her brother said as he walked
    through the back door. “Don’t tell me you finally learned how to cook?”
    “Stick it, bro,” she said, reaching over to give him a playful shove. The muscled bicep that met her touch surprised her for a moment. Damn! The kid was growing up, big time.
    “I’m starved! Coach says I need to eat lots of pasta. Keeps my stamina up.”
    “Yeah, like that’s ever been a problem. Dinner will be ready in about fifteen minutes.”
    “Great, I’ll grab a shower.”
    He dumped his books on the counter, stopping to give her a
    quick kiss on the cheek. She glanced up at him and then realized that was exactly what she was doing. Glancing up at him.
    “When did you get taller than me?”
    He rolled his eyes. “Big accomplishment. What are you? All of four foot eleven.”
    “Five foot exactly and don’t you forget it,” she said, waving the wooden spoon she was still holding at him.
    He bowed, looking so much like her father that she had to
    laugh.
    “Yes, ma’am, don’t beat me, ma’am.”
    “You’re full of it, you know that?”
    “So mom keeps telling me. Seriously, sis, thanks for staying with us. Otherwise, it would have been Aunt Helen. And that’s a fate worse than death.”
    “Get out of here.” She chuckled, waving the spoon again.
    -32-
    A Killer's Agenda
    She began setting the table, looking around the big, old
    kitchen. She loved this house. Loved the wide covered porch that surrounded it, the tall ceilings and the warmth that emanated inside, not only from the comfortable furnishings but from the feeling of home she sensed each time she walked through the door.
    The Leahy family was large and never still. They were always involved in something at some point every minute of every day. But it had taken her twin brothers graduating from college to convince her parents to finally take that trip they had always put off. She, Alicia and Alan had flown back, leaving them out west with a rented motor home and a map.
    Her sister bounced