ÎLE SAINT-LOUIS
PARIS
NOVEMBER 2001
Dead air ran for several minutes.
When Annie was sure she’d heard everything, she turned off the tape, then swapped it with one of Gus’s recordings. Her eyes were wet but she had a smile on her face. That was her mom, on the tape, professing her love to a man.
A man who sounded an awful lot like Gus.
Annie stood. She peered out the kitchen window toward the street. No sign of Jamie so far. After wiping her eyes with the hem of her shirt, Annie sat back down and, once again, she pressed Play.