The Keeping Read Online Free PDF Page B

picture?”
    “Uh- huh. She said
that someone had told her about it and now she wants to write an
article on him.”
    “Damn! I knew that
picture was bad news. I’ve tried to get it back without letting
anyone know why. Hell, I’ve even offered to buy it for an
exorbitantly ridiculous amount, but the agent representing the
buyer claims it’s not for sale at any price. Whoever owns it must
know its significance.”
    “Maybe not. We
might be jumping to conclusions. It was a good picture and possibly
someone likes it simply for its artistic value.”
    Something growled
and Mel had to resist the urge to peek out from her hiding spot.
Did they have a dog with them?
    “Kane! Shh! You
know better than to do that in public.” Elise admonished and Mel
frowned. Apparently the man had been doing the growling. That was a
strange habit.
    “Sorry. It’s just
that this is my worst nightmare. Someone discovering— “
    Elise interrupted
her husband and Mel nearly started growling herself. Discover what?
Inwardly, she urged Kane to continue, but of course he didn’t.
Elise spoke in soothing tones. “Even if the owner of the photograph
is suspicious, there’s no way they’ll ever discover where the
picture was taken because the land is private. You've never allowed
outsiders into the territory unsupervised. And we’ve covered Ryne’s
tracks carefully. After the debacle of the missing payments for
Ryne’s other work, Bastian’s doesn’t want to be sued, so they’re
bending over backwards to keep us happy. They won’t say anything.
And the rest of the pack has always kept a low profile. No one
really knows much about Ryne, least of all, where he moved to.”
    Kane muttered
something indiscernible and the two moved out of hearing range.
    Mel inhaled deeply
and tried to quiet her pounding heart. These people knew where Ryne
was and there really was some form of mystery surrounding the man
and his photograph. Not for the first time, she wished she could
have seen the picture in question, but the lawyer who had hired her
said his client didn’t allow casual viewings. She decided it must
be something pretty special to warrant all the money that was being
spent just to find the photographer.
    After what seemed
like an interminable amount of time, Mel saw that the line
consisted of only Elise and Kane. Edging closer, she buried her
head in a brochure and eavesdropped some more.
    “Good afternoon,
I’d like to mail this to Ryne Taylor in Stump River, Ontario,
Canada. How much will that cost?” Mel hazarded a peek and saw Elise
place a package wrapped in brown paper on the ledge. As the postal
worker weighed the package, the girl smiled up at her husband. “Do
you think Ryne will like the sweater I bought for his
birthday?”
    “He’d adore a
potato sack if you sent it to him.” Kane sounded a bit disgruntled
and Elise laughed.
    “Kane, I can’t
believe you’re still jealous of him. You must know there’s nothing
between us. I’m having your child and I love you.”
    He bent over and
kissed her cheek. “I know and I love you, too. It’s never been a
question of your affections. It’s Ryne’s interest in you that
bothers me.”
    “He was just
joking, Kane.”
    “Possibly, but
like I always said, once he gets his own mate...”
    The conversation
stopped as the postal worker announced the cost of mailing the
parcel. Kane paid for the postage and the package was set to the
side, being too large to fit in a regular mail slot. Mel watched
them leave while tugging at her ear to try and fix her hearing. If
she didn’t know better, she would have sworn Kane had used the word
‘mate.’
    Shaking her head
to clear it of the questions floating about in her active
imagination, Mel approached the counter and smiled at the frazzled
woman behind the counter. “Hi! I was wondering if you could help
me...” She paused as her gaze fell upon the package that sat only a
foot away, awaiting mailing. It had Ryne’s address printed