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Authors: J A Jance

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BOOK: JP Beaumont 11 - Failure To Appear (v5.0)

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Ralph tells me that between donating dollars for ex-gang member scholars and running a hostel for impoverished actors, my investments may be becoming a bit too diversified, but he told me I didn’t need to start worrying about money quite yet. I had to write a sizable check for the difference between the insurance settlement and the purchase price on my new, special-order Guardred 928. I wrote it, and the check didn’t bounce, so I guess financially I’m still okay.

I took Gordon Fraymore’s suggestion. The key to the old 928 is framed in a shadow box lined with red velvet. A guy at a place called Ace Frames over in Kirkland fixed it up for me. I keep it on the table beside my leather recliner.

The last time Ralph was in Ashland, I asked him if anyone down there had heard from Tanya Dunseth. He said no. Over Fourth of July weekend, she took Amber, the few clothes she had left, and her diaper bag, and disappeared. Someone said they saw her out on the freeway, hitchhiking with the baby, heading for California. A search of Marjorie Connors’ Suburban had provided enough information about the blackmail of Daphne Lewis to prove that Marjorie had acted alone. Consequently, when Tanya disappeared, no one bothered to go after her because by then it was clear that other than using fake I.D. she had broken no law.

Ralph and I have talked about Tanya several times since, wondering if we should make some attempt to find her. Martin Shore’s first wife, Tanya’s mother, died years ago. As her father’s only child and heir, Tanya is due a small inheritance from his estate. The problem is, Tanya obviously has no interest in Martin Shore’s money. She probably regards it as dirty, and I can’t say that I blame her.

So Ralph and I continually debate the issue. Usually, we’re in agreement that tracking Tanya down would be a bad idea—the wrong thing to do. Occasionally, one or the other of us wavers; then it’s up to the other one to hold the line and talk him out of it. So far we’ve always decided against it.

I wonder sometimes where Tanya is and whether or not she’s all right. Knowing what we know now, I believe it’s fair to assume that Tanya Dunseth is certifiably crazy. She has spun some very complex webs as a device to shut out the terrible truth of her pathetic upbringing. Roger Tompkins called them “wheels within wheels.” They’re so confusing, I’m sure Tanya no longer has any idea what’s truth and what’s fiction. So yes, she probably is crazy, but she’s certainly not a danger either to herself or to anyone else, including her daughter.

I imagine she’s settled in someplace far away where she has reinvented herself and where she has written a brand-new set of roles for Tanya and Amber, although those most likely are not the names they go by anymore. And the part she’s playing—the one for which she’s best suited—is, no doubt, the one she created for herself without any role model in her own life—that of a good mother and parent.

So what if she’s crazy, maybe even a little more so than most? God knows she has far more cause to be crazy. She’s had far more to overcome.

And every time I think about poor Tanya Dunseth, I try to send a good show-business thought in her direction, wherever she may be.

“Go with God, Tanya Dunseth,” I say to myself. “Break a leg.”

About the Author

J. A. J
ANCE
is the
New York Times
bestselling author of the J. P. Beaumont series, the Joanna Brady series, three interrelated thrillers featuring the Walker family, and
Edge of Evil
. Born in South Dakota and brought up in Bisbee, Arizona, Jance lives with her husband in Seattle, Washington, and Tucson, Arizona.

www.jajance.com

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Resounding
praise
for the novels of
New York Times
bestselling author
J.A. JANCE

“JANCE…[CREATES] CHARACTERS SO REAL you want to reach out and hug—or strangle—them. Her dialogue always rings true, and the cases unravel in an interesting, yet never contrived way.”

Cleveland Plain Dealer

“J.A. Jance does not disappoint.”

Washington Times

“J.A. Jance is among the best—if not the best.”

Chattanooga Times

“Jance’s [novels] show up on bestseller lists…one can see why.”

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

“Jance brings the reader along with suspense, wit, and intense feeling.”

Huntsville Times

“JANCE DELIVERS A DEVILISH PAGE-TURNER.”

People

A
LSO BY
J. A. J
ANCE

Joanna Brady Mysteries

Desert Heat

Tombstone Courage

Shoot/Don’t Shoot

Dead to Rights

Skeleton Canyon

Rattlesnake Crossing

Outlaw Mountain

Devil’s Claw

Paradise Lost

Partner in Crime

Exit Wounds

J. P. Beaumont Mysteries

Until Proven Guilty

Injustice for All

Trial by Fury

Taking the Fifth

Improbable Cause

A More Perfect Union

Dismissed with Prejudice

Minor in Possession

Payment in Kind

Without Due Process

Failure to Appear

Lying in Wait

Name Withheld

Breach of Duty

Birds of Prey

Partner in Crime

Long Time Gone

and

Hour of the Hunter

Kiss of the Bees

Day of the Dead

This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

FAILURE TO APPEAR
. Copyright © 2006 by J.A. Jance. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Mobipocket Reader July 2006 ISBN 0-06-119693-2

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