David Baldacci - Hour Game

He chuckled when he noted Michelle staring at his footwear. "I was killed last week during an ill-advised charge against a fortified Union position in Maryland. I wanted to die with my boots on, and I can't seem to muster the energy to take them off. Poor Dorothea is growing very annoyed with me, I'm afraid."

Michelle smiled and King said, "You're probably wondering why we're here."

"Nope. My mother called a few minutes ago. She filled me in. I'm afraid I can't tell you much. We were gone when the burglary happened. Dorothea was at a Realtor's convention in Richmond. And I fought in a fierce two-day reenactment in Appomattox and then drove straight over to Tennessee to catch the early morning light over the Smoky Mountains. I was painting a landscape," he explained.

"Sounds pretty exhausting," said Michelle.

"Not really. I get to ride around on horses and play pretend soldier and cover myself in paint. I'm a little boy who never had to grow up. I think it pains my parents to see what's become of me, but I'm a good artist, though I'll never be a great one. And on weekends I play soldier. I'm privileged and lucky and I know that. And because of that, I try to be modest and self-deprecating. Actually, I have a lot to be modest and self-deprecating about." He smiled again and showed teeth so perfect in shape and color that Michelle concluded they were all capped.

"You're certainly frank about yourself," she said.

"Look, I'm the son of fabulously wealthy parents, and I've never really had to work for a living. I don't put on airs, and what I do I do as well as I can. However, I know that's not why you're here. So go ahead with your questions."

"Had you ever seen Junior Deaver around here?" asked King.

"Sure, he did a lot of work for my parents. Junior's also done work for me and Dorothea, and we never had a bit of trouble with him. That's why I can't understand the burglary. He was making good money off the family, but maybe not good enough. I understand there's a lot of evidence tying Junior to the crime."

"Maybe too much," answered King.

Eddie looked at him thoughtfully. "I see what you mean. I guess I haven't given the matter a lot of attention. We've been pretty preoccupied with family issues lately."

"Right. We were sorry to hear about your father."

"It's funny. I always thought he'd outlive all of us. Mind you, he still might. The man's used to getting his way."

There was a pause before King said, "This question might seem a little awkward, but I have to ask it."

"Well, I guess the whole situation is a little awkward, so fire away."

"Apparently, your father had a secret drawer in his closet that things were taken from. Your mother didn't know about the drawer and thus didn't know what might have been in it. Did you know about any of that?"

"No. As far as I knew, my parents didn't have any secrets from each other."

"Yet they kept separate bedrooms?" said Michelle abruptly.

Eddie's sunny smile faded. "That's their business. It didn't mean they didn't sleep together or didn't love each other. Dad smoked cigars and liked his room a certain way. Mom can't breathe around cigars and she likes her things a certain way. It's a big house, and they can do anything they damn well please in it."

King looked apologetic. "I told you it was awkward."

Eddie looked ready to bark at them again but then seemingly mastered this impulse. "I didn't know about any secret drawer Dad had. But I'm not his confidant."

"Does he have a confidant like that? Maybe Savannah?"

" Savannah? No, I'd cross off my little sister as a potential inside information source."

"I guess she'd been away at college," prompted Michelle.

"She's been away all right and it started long before college."

"I take it you two aren't that close," said Michelle.

Eddie shrugged. "It's no one's fault, really. I'm nearly twice her age and we have nothing in common. I was in college when she was born."

"Your mother mentioned to us what happened to you back then," said King.

Eddie spoke slowly. "I don't remember much about it, to tell the truth. I'd never even seen the person who kidnapped me until they showed me his body." He blew out a long breath. "I was really, really lucky. My mother and father were so happy when I got back they conceived Savannah. At least that's the official family anecdote."

"Your mother said Chip Bailey became a good friend."

"He saved my life. How do you ever repay that?"

King glanced at Michelle. "I know what you mean."

They heard a car driving up, and it screeched to a stop near the front door.

"That would be Dorothea. She doesn't like to waste time getting places," said Eddie.

Michelle glanced out the window and saw the big black Beemer. The woman who got out of the car was dressed in a tight, short black skirt with black shoes and black stockings, and her wavy hair color matched that ensemble. She took off her sunglasses, glanced sharply at King's car and then headed to the door.

Dorothea strode into the room in a pale-if jet-black-imitation of Remmy Battle, it seemed to Michelle. And then she wondered if the younger woman had consciously patterned herself after her mother-in-law in that regard. Fashionably thin with curvy hips, a round firm bottom and slender, sexy legs, the woman possessed a disproportionately large bosom that had doubtless seen professional work. Her mouth was a little too wide for her face and the lipstick a little too red for her pale complexion. The eyes were a dull green but shrewd-looking.

Greetings and introductions were made all around, and then Dorothea drew out a cigarette and lit it while Eddie explained why King and Michelle were there.

She said, "I'm afraid I can't help you, Sean." Dorothea kept her focus on him and seemed to make a point of ignoring Michelle. "I was out of town when it happened."

"Right. Either everyone was gone or no one who was here seemed to notice anything," said Michelle, baiting the woman on purpose.

The dull green eyes shifted slowly toward her. "I'm sorry if the family and its hired help didn't work their collective schedules around Junior Deaver's felonious pursuits," she said in an icy and condescending tone. If she closed her eyes, Michelle would have sworn it was Remmy Battle speaking. Before Michelle could return fire, Dorothea looked back at King. "I think you're hunting the wrong fox here."

"Just trying to make sure an innocent man isn't sent to prison."

"Again, I think you're wasting your time," she shot back.

King rose. "Well, I certainly won't waste any more of yours," he said pleasantly.

As they left, Michelle and King heard raised voices behind them.

Michelle looked at her partner. "I bet Battle holiday get-togethers are just a hoot."

"I hope I never find out for sure."

"So now we call it a day?" asked Michelle.

"No, I lied. Next up is Lulu Oxley," replied King.

KING AND MICHELLE PULLED UPin front of a double-wide trailer set on a permanent cinder-block foundation at the end of a gravel drive. Electrical and phone lines running to the trailer were the only signs of a connection to the outside world. Scraggly pines and stunted wild mountain laurel formed a weary backdrop to the very modest home of Junior Deaver and Lulu Oxley. An ancient, rusted Ford LTD with a cracked vinyl top, an ashtray full of butts and an empty quart of Beefeater on the front seat and sporting dirty West Virginia plates sat in front of the trailer like a cheap sentinel.

As they climbed out of the Lexus, however, Michelle noted that flower boxes lined the windows of the trailer and more pots covered with brilliant spring blooms sat on the wooden steps leading up to the front door. The trailer itself looked old, but the exterior was clean and in good repair.