Part 18 (1/2)
”I'm waiting, and I'm certain he's right.” She wanted to lift him into her lap, but she didn't want to alert the airline to his presence. He was a stowaway. Sarah couldn't stand the idea of putting him in the luggage compartment, and they also didn't want a record of the cat traveling, even though they themselves were using a.s.sumed names. The less trails they left, the more certain they were that they weren't being followed.
”I wish we'd been able to call Mom.” Sarah was still concerned. With the turn everything had taken, Mora might be in danger.
”It'll be better if we contact her once we're there. And after we've talked with Estis.”
”You're right.” Sarah knew it, but the facts were still difficult to accept. She cast a sideways glance at Daniel. Since the aborted meeting with Paul Gottard, he'd been as hard as steel. She knew he felt betrayed, and used. Those were probably the two worst feelings a person could deal with. Except guilt. And judging by Daniel's expression every time Cody Pruett's name was mentioned, he had a plentiful helping of that emotion, too. The toughest part was that there was nothing she could do to comfort him.
Reaching over, she captured his hand and squeezed it. ”We're going to figure all of this out.”
”Knowing the answers won't change things.”
How many times had she thought that very same thing? How many years had pa.s.sed with her trying to believe that? ”It won't change things, not for either of us. But it will put things to rest. At least for me. And I think for you, too. Someone was responsible for what happened to Cody, and for what happened to my dad.”
”Do you think revenge will make either of us feel better?”
She lifted his hand to her lips and kissed it softly. ”No, I don't believe anything could make the pain and loss go away. Nothing can bring Cody back. Knowing the truth may or may not affect what you're feeling toward the FBI now. It could certainly change my feelings. And it will positively put an end to the tragic things that are happening all around us. That's what we have to think about. If we don't find out what's going on, more innocent people will suffer and possibly die.”
Daniel strained against his seat belt as he turned to envelop her in his arms. ”You sure know how to drain the self-pity out of a guy.” He squeezed her tight. ”Thanks. I was almost six feet under with feeling sorry for myself.”
”I've been there.” She kissed his cheek. ”Now, how are we going to convince Graham to talk with us?”
”Do you remember him?”
”Brief moments. I haven't thought of him in years. He was always at the house with Dad. You know, he'd stop by for breakfast and a late supper. He wasn't married then. I guess he was really just a kid. But Dad thought he was very sharp.”
”FBI trained, according to Jenkins.”
”You say that as if you don't really believe it.”
Daniel made a derisive sound. ”I don't believe anything I've been told by them. And Jenkins is one of them. That's what I'm trying to figure out, if he was using me the entire time. How big an idiot was I?”
”You were only trying to do your job the best way you knew how. By the book. That doesn't make you stupid or dumb, Daniel. You know that.” She nudged his shoulder. ”Now, back to Graham. I was eleven, so he was at least twenty. Maybe twenty-two.”
”He still has a long career ahead of him.”
”Retirement for a sheriff's deputy isn't exactly plush.” Sarah was trying to imagine the young, shy officer as a mature man. He had been smart. Cal's right hand, as it seemed. And he had known a lot about fingerprints and chemical a.n.a.lysis. It was very possible he'd been trained by the FBI. ”I wish there was some way we could check out his past.”
”So do I, but under the current circ.u.mstances, I don't think there's a s...o...b..ll's chance in h.e.l.l. Even the people at the agency who would like to help me will be afraid of any contact. Their careers could be ruined.”
”I know.”
The captain's voice alerting that landing was in ten minutes came over the air, and Sarah bent to check on Familiar. She could tell the cat was growing weary of his confinement in the carryon, but there was nothing she could do. ”Another fifteen minutes,” she whispered to him. ”Then we'll spring you.”
Less than half an hour later, with Familiar asleep on the seat between them, they were crossing the five-mile bridge across Lake Ponchatrain and on the way to the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The lights of New Orleans glittered behind them as they rose higher and higher on the bridge. Ahead, the distant sh.o.r.eline was only a faint sprinkling of lights.
”We'll get a room in Biloxi,” Daniel said. ”Then tomorrow, bright and early, we'll have a talk with Estis.”
”And contact Mom.” Sarah tried not to worry. Surely Mora would be fine. No one in their right mind would think she knew anything.
”I know you're worried.” Daniel brushed her cheek with his right hand as he drove.
”Meow.” Familiar stretched and moved to curl up in Sarah's lap. She stroked his head and scratched under his chin, eliciting a purr. ”When will those tests be back?”
”Possibly tomorrow. I didn't leave a number. I just said I'd call and check.”
”What if there's nothing there?”
”I don't know.” Daniel glanced at Familiar. ”He seems fine now, and I don't believe he took such a dislike to Lucinda that he'd destroy her Was.h.i.+ngton future on a mere whim.” He grinned. ”Though it was a spectacular scene.”
Sarah, tired to the bone, couldn't help grinning, too. ”I've had nightmares about something like that happening. But she was so d.a.m.n mean to me, I don't even care. My career is probably ruined, and I can't get awfully shaken up about it. Mom's right. If push comes to shove, I can move back to the coast and work at one of the new casinos.”
”And what about me?” Daniel's question was put in half jest, but there was an undertone of sincerity in it.
”Last time I heard, you were unemployed, too.” She was teasing, but she wanted him to know she sympathized. ”It would seem we're both in the same boat, and neither of us did anything to deserve it. We can both try our luck at the casinos. You'd make a distinguished blackjack dealer.”
”I'm trying to learn to savor the feel of being unemployed.” His grin was rueful. ”But it does give a certain amount of freedom. I suppose I could work as a valet at one of the casinos. Maybe even practice up my singing act. I used to be pretty fair at ballads.”
Sarah laughed out loud. ”What a pair we'd make.”
”Maybe if we practiced, we could become the new Fred and Ginger of the gambling world. You were pretty good on your feet.”
”Thanks, but no thanks. I know my talents are in cooking, not dancing, but I'll support you in your efforts.”
His hand caught hers and held it tightly. ”Thanks for that, Sarah. And thanks for making me laugh. It's the best medicine now.”
”Except for sleep. Let's. .h.i.t the strip and park this chariot. I'm about to fade away.”
”Tell me where we should stay and how to get there, and then you go to sleep,” Daniel offered.
”I think the Cabana Royale in Biloxi would be a good choice. Stay on I-10 until I-110, then take a right on the beach. It's about two miles. That'll put us close to Jackson County, and close to Mom.”
Daniel nodded. Lights in the rearview mirror caught his attention. For the past twenty miles, the same vehicle had been behind them. He really didn't believe they were being followed, but, the way things had gone, anything was possible. Instead of telling Sarah, he kept it to himself. She had enough to worry about with her mother.
”I'll drive us there while you rest,” he said.
”Meow.” Familiar stretched up, looking over the center console into the rear window.
”Go for it,” Daniel told him as the cat made a dash for the rear window. ”Just bob your head like one of those little dogs folks put up in the window.” He drew a sigh of relief as the car behind him put on a burst of speed and pa.s.sed in a long streak of black paint and darkened windows.
Still staring at the road disappearing behind them, Familiar perched in the window and seemed to sleep.
THE MISSISSIPPI SOUND glittered in the bright sunlight and Daniel slipped out of his jacket. ”They're wearing shorts. It's November!” He pointed to the tourists romping on the white sand beaches. It was too cold to swim, but not too cold to enjoy the day.
”There were plenty of Christmases I wore shorts.” Sarah made a face. ”I hated that. Christmas is best when it's cold.”
They drove along Highway 90 and Sarah pointed out the sights, many of them connected to personal memories. ”This place has changed,” she said with a note of wistfulness in her voice. ”The casinos have really sprung from the sand. It's so... different.”
”Growth and progress.” Daniel's tone was tinged with a bitter acceptance of economics. ”More jobs, more money. Growth.”
”But why does everything from the past have to be swept away in the tide?”