Дэвид Балдаччи - The Guilty

“And who’s this little guy?” she asked.

“This is Tyler, Will’s stepbrother.”

Reel shot Robie a glance. “Meaning that you’re his—?”

“—stepmother? Yes, I am. But I’m not wicked. At least to my friends.”

Robie avoided Reel’s piercing look. “So it’s okay that she stays here? She can actually help with what we talked about.”

“You mean security?” said Victoria, looking skeptically at the slender Reel. “How about I just hire some big, burly guys?”

“If you want the JV team, go ahead,” said Reel matter-of-factly.

“Jessica can help us,” said Robie. “I mean really help us.”

“If you say so,” replied Victoria, shrugging. She picked up Tyler. “I need to get this boy some lunch. You two want to settle in and then join us? We’re eating in the pavilion. Get some breezes down there that will feel really good on a day like today.”

She walked off.

Reel looked at Robie. “Stepmother? Did you know before you came?”

“No.”

“Must’ve been a shock.”

“It was.”

“Cute kid.”

“He doesn’t talk. Has some issue.”

Reel stared after Victoria and Tyler as they reached the house and went inside. “That’s too bad.”

Robie leaned against the front fender of his rental. “We need to find Pete Clancy.”

“He might be dead.”

“Don’t think so. He’s on the run.”

Reel said, “Well, then he might be far, far away.”

“You think Blue Man could help us there?”

“I think you need to stop stomping on the good graces of Blue Man.”

“He said that?” he asked.

“No, but I interpreted that. You’ve got me. I think that’s going to be it. He doesn’t even want you down here.”

Robie sighed and stared up at the Willows.

Reel followed his look. “What’s up?”

“I have memories of this place. A... girl.”

“Do tell.”

Robie filled her in on Laura Barksdale and the night he had left Cantrell for good. Or so he thought.

“So Romeo lost his Juliet?”

“Something like that.”

“Whatever happened to the Barksdales?”

“I don’t know,” replied Robie.

“Well, maybe you should find out.”

He shot her a glance. “Why, what does it matter?”

“I can tell that it does, to you. And if you come back to your hometown, you might as well address everything while you have the chance. You might not get another.”

Robie glanced over at her, surprise on his features. “You speaking from experience?”

“What else?”

“I wouldn’t really know where to start.”

“How about with your father?”

“My father? I’m not sure I can talk to him about that.”

“Robie, my father was someone you couldn’t talk to about anything. But unless your dad is a racist murderer like mine, then I think you can probably have a conversation with him.”

At the luncheon outside, Tyler kept his gaze swiveling between Robie and Reel.

Victoria picked up on this and said, “He’s wondering why you’re here.”

Reel put a hand on Robie’s shoulder. “I’m Will’s friend.”

Robie nodded.

Tyler immediately touched his heart and then pointed at Reel.

She looked taken aback by this and glanced over at Victoria.

“Congratulations, you’ve been officially inducted into Tyler Robie’s Hall of Love.”

Reel stared quickly down at her plate while Victoria studied her closely.

“Do you have children, Jessica?”

Robie glanced sharply at Reel but said nothing.

Reel lifted her gaze to meet Victoria’s. “No.”

“Well, it’s not too late for you. Look at me. We’re probably the same age.”

“Yeah,” said Reel tersely. “About.”

After lunch, Priscilla cleared the dishes. Victoria had gone into the house with Tyler, leaving Robie and Reel at the table.

“So you be stayin’ with us?” asked Priscilla, eyeing Reel.

“For a while, yes.”

“I’ll set up a bedroom for you.”

“Please don’t go to any trouble. I don’t need much.”

“No trouble.”

She swept some crumbs off into the grass and said, “Heard tell there was some trouble last night.”

“Who did you hear that from?” asked Robie.

“I forget. Might be some folks that were in the woods last night on the north side of town doing some gator baggin’.”

Robie and Reel exchanged a glance.

Priscilla continued. “But I’m sure you two don’t know nothin’ ’bout that.”

“We don’t hunt gators,” said Reel.

“How ’bout people? You hunt them?”

“Well, that would be illegal,” pointed out Reel.

“Uh-huh,” said an unconvinced Priscilla as she gathered dishes in her arms.

Robie rose. “Let me help with those.”

“No, no, just sit yourself down and enjoy this fine Mississippi heat and humidity.”

She sped off to the house.

“I think we’ve been made,” said Reel.

“Small town,” said Robie. “But ‘made’ by gator hunters is a first for me.”

“So instead of taking in this fine Mississippi weather, why don’t we go see your dad?”

“Let’s go see his lawyer first. I want to find out if she learned anything from the files I found at Pete Clancy’s.”

As they walked toward the front of the house, Reel said, “So what is this lawyer like?”

“Toni Moses? Well, let’s just say that the phrase ‘force of nature’ doesn’t do the lady justice.”

“Gotta meet her,” said Reel. “If just for the novelty.”

Moses met them in her office. Robie had introduced the two women and then Moses had immediately launched into discussion.

“These files you brought me?”

“Anything helpful?” asked Robie.

“The money part was easy. Sherm Clancy made a lot. And he spent a lot. And he recorded every dime of it.”

“What else? Anything about the Rebel Yell?”

“I’m sure there would be, if I could read it.”

“What do you mean?” asked Robie.

“Take a look for yourself.”

She spun her computer screen around so they could both see it.

They read down the screen.

Reel said, “It looks to be in code.”

“That was my conclusion,” said Moses.

Robie sat back. “I wonder if we can find someone to break it.”

“Like who?” asked Moses.

“The FBI, maybe? They’re down here investigating.”

“I wouldn’t advise that,” said Moses.

“Why?”

“You stole this from the Clancys’ residence. Which means it’s tainted. So, technically, the FBI can’t use it. I doubt they’d even look at it. Could get them folks in trouble. Condonin’ a felony.”

Robie looked at Reel. “How about our folks?”

“Remember what I said? I wouldn’t go there. Know any nerds down here that could do it?”

Robie thought about this. “I might.” He turned back to Moses. “But we do have something to fill you in on.”

He took a few minutes to tell Moses about what had happened the previous night.

Her jaw dropped lower and lower as he spoke. When he was done she shot a glance at Reel. “Who the hell are you people?”

“You’re actually not the first one to ask that,” said Reel.

“And the answer would be?” persisted Moses.

“We can’t tell you,” said Robie.

“You’re gonna give me a heart attack, you know that!”

“Not our intent. Have you seen my father today?”

“Went over this mornin’. You plannin’ on seeing him?”

“Going over there next. How’s his mood?”

“I can say truthfully that it hasn’t changed.” She paused. “Well, maybe it has.”

“How so?” asked Robie.