Nelson DeMille - Spencerville

"I'm not sure yet, but I'll contact her through you, if I may."

"Okay... hey, let me call her. She's got a car phone, and maybe she's on the road, and I'll tell her you're here."

"That's okay. It's getting late." Keith moved to the door.

"You want to leave her a note?"

"No, I'll write and send it here."

Terry walked out with him. She said, "I don't know what she wrote, but I know what she feels. Maybe you shouldn't pay a lot of attention to that letter."

"The letter was okay."

"I don't think so. Hey, what's wrong with you two?"

Keith smiled. "Bad luck, lousy timing." He got into the Blazer and rolled down the window. "We'll work it out."

"You came real close to doing that this time." She put her hand on the car door and said, "Keith, I know my sister, and I wouldn't tell this to another soul except you... she's frightened. She had a bad week with him."

"Do you think she's in any danger?"

"She didn't think so, but... I think it got to be too much for her this morning. She started getting worried about you... so she called up at their lodge in Michigan, and he answered the phone, and she hung up. She felt better knowing he was there and not around here. Just the same, about an hour later, she said she was going home. That was about two hours before you got here. I'm surprised you didn't pass each other."

"I took another route."

"She probably went past your place."

"Maybe."

"Try to speak to her before you leave. She needs to hear from you."

"That's not easy."

"I'll drive out to see her tomorrow. I know I can't call her on the phone. But I'll stop by after church and get her alone somehow. I'll work out a meeting for you two."

"Terry, I really appreciate what you're doing, but she and I both need time to think."

"You had over twenty years for that."

"And another few weeks won't make a difference."

"They could."

"No, they can't. Let's let it slide for now. I'll contact you in a few weeks. By then, everyone will be thinking clearly, and we can take it from there."

Terry stepped back from the Blazer. "Okay. I don't want to interfere."

"You've been very helpful." He started the car.

"You're angry."

"No, I'm not." He smiled. "If I tell you you're as good-looking and sexy as your sister, will you be a real midwestern lady and slap me?"

She smiled. "No, you get a kiss." She leaned through the window and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Take care of yourself. See you soon."

"Hope so." He backed out of the drive and headed back to Spencer County.

Being an intelligence officer for twenty years had its advantages. For one thing, you learned how to think differently than most people, you played life like a chess game and thought six moves ahead, and you never gave away your game plan and never gave out more information than the other person needed to have. He could trust Terry, of course, but he didn't trust her judgment. It was best for her to think he was angry or whatever she was thinking. He wasn't trying to manipulate her, and through her, Annie. But Cliff Baxter had to be reckoned with, and the less Terry knew, the better.

Annie's letter. He didn't have to read between the lines — it was all there in her own words. She was disappointed, perhaps hurt. She was concerned about his safety. She didn't want to be a burden to him. He took all this at face value. What she wanted from him was a reassurance that it was still okay — the trip to Washington was nothing to be concerned about, Cliff Baxter didn't worry him, she wasn't a burden, she lifted his spirits.

Still, she asked him to wait, and no doubt she meant it. Even if he wanted to wait, which he didn't, Cliff Baxter's actions were unpredictable. She had a bad week with him.

He recalled what Gail had told him about a firearm incident at the Baxter house, and it occurred to him, not for the first time, that Annie was going to kill her husband. He couldn't let that happen. It didn't have to happen. But if it was going to happen, she'd wait until Keith Landry was gone, so Keith had some time to make sure it didn't happen. If Keith had played his cards right with Terry, she'd tell Annie that Keith Landry was going to leave, and, by the looks of him, he might not be back. That may have been a little manipulative, he admitted, but it was necessary. "All's fair in love and war." Maybe not all, but a lot.

He crossed the line into Spencer County, and, within twenty minutes, he was in Spencerville. He drove past Annie's house on Williams Street, but there was no car in the driveway. He went downtown and stopped at the bank, hitting the cash machine for the maximum, which was four hundred dollars in these parts. He drove around town for a while, but didn't see her white Lincoln.

Keith headed out of town, got on Highway 22, and stopped at Aries's self-service gas station.

Keith got out and pumped.

Bob Aries ambled out of the office and waved to him. "How you doin?"

Keith replied, "Fine. How about you?"

"Okay." Bob Aries walked over to Keith. "Got yourself a new Blazer."

"Sure did."

"Like it?"

"I do."

"You got rid of that other thing?"

"Made a chicken coop out of it."

Aries laughed, then asked him, "Hey, did Chief Baxter ever look you up?"

Keith glanced at Aries and said, "He stopped by last week."

"Yeah, he said he might. I told him you was in here one day."

"Thanks." Keith finished pumping and put the nozzle back. He and Aries went into the office, and Keith paid for the gas. Keith inquired, "Does he come in here much?"

Bob Aries's expression changed. "Well... he did. We get a lot of the city and county business here. But... uh... we had some problems."

"I think I might have heard about that."

"Yeah... a lot of people heard about that."

Keith went through the door into the convenience store, and Bob Aries followed him. There was no one behind the counter, and Keith asked, "Where is Mrs. Aries?"

"She's away for a while." He added, "I guess you know why, if you know about that church meeting out by Overton."

"But why did Mrs. Aries leave?"

"Uh... well... I guess she felt kinda... maybe a little nervous after she went and shot her mouth off."

"Was she telling the truth?"

"Hell, no. I mean, you got to give a little to get a little in this here world. Women don't understand how business is done." Aries shook his head and added, "The chief and his cousin, Don Finney, who's the sheriff, came in here and told me they was gonna get the city and the county to switch accounts to someplace else. You know how much of my business that is? I'll tell ya. Damned near fifty percent. You know what's gonna happen now? I'm out. Because she shot off her damned mouth."

"So you don't see Chief Baxter anymore?"

"Oh, he comes in, just like he used to, 'cause this is where the city has to charge it until the city council changes it. But he don't say much to me, and what he says ain't nice." Aries added, "He says he got a bone to pick with Mary. I told him he won't be seeing her around here for a while."

"Does he still help himself to whatever he wants?"

"Hey, he never did that. He always paid. And if I wanted to give him a few things to munch on, so what?"

Keith threw a few items on the counter, things to tide him over for the weekend. Aries went behind the counter and rang up the items.

Keith said, "I'm leaving Spencer County. Monday."

"Yeah? For good?"

"Yes. No work here."

"Told ya. Too bad, though. Need more people. That'll be twenty-one dollars and seventy-two cents."

Keith paid him, and Aries bagged. Aries said, "Next time you come through, you'll see this place closed."

Keith said to Bob Aries, "Your wife did the right thing. You know that."