I looked down from my bench, like a pa.s.senger on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. But the ride was finally over. Perhaps I'd come to say good-bye.

I finished my cone and jammed the napkin in my pocket. My hand touched Claudel's envelope.

h.e.l.l, why not.

I opened it and withdrew a handwritten note. Odd. It was not the formal complaint I'd expected. The message was written in English.

Dr. Brennan , ,You are right. No one should die in anonymity. Thanks to you, these women did not. Thanks to you, Leo Fortier's killing days are over . .We are the last line of defense against them: the pimps, the rapists, the cold-blooded killers. I would be honored to work with you again . .

Luc Claudel

Higher up the mountain, the cross glowed softly, sending its message out over the valley. What was it Kojak said? Somebody loves ya, baby.

Ryan and Claudel had it figured. And we were the last line.

I looked at the city below. Hang in there. Somebody loves ya.

"a la prochaine," I said to the summer night.

"What's that?" asked Katy.

"'Until the next time.'"

My daughter looked puzzled.

"Let's go to the beach."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR.

Kathy Reichs is a professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and serves as Forensic Anthropologist to the State of North Carolina and to the Province of Quebec. Her previous books have focused on forensic anthropology and fossil humans. Deja Dead Deja Dead is her first work of fiction. She divides her time between Montreal and Charlotte. is her first work of fiction. She divides her time between Montreal and Charlotte.