CHAPTER TWELVE
Compromising Solutions
"Las Palomas. The doves." Ron turned the car onto the narrow, tree-lined lane, high on a hillside far from Orinda's center. Houses clutched perilous toeholds on the steep landscape. The November sky shone clear.
"More like a hawk's nest." His sister frowned. "What's Spanish for 'chickenhawk'?"
"That's her house." He pointed as they drove slowly past. He looked for a place to park. There didn't even seem to be room to turn around without plummeting into some home's parlor.
"Remember all those stories about the Hardy Boys or somebody going into the dark mansion when they should know better?" Jan asked.
"It's daytime and her place is a bungalow, not any kind of Dracula's castle." He eased the car behind a dust-streaked Toyota claiming on a bumper st
