Max Collins - Fate of the Union

She sipped Chablis. “Not my case, Bob. Sorry.”

He smirked. “And if it was, you still wouldn’t tell me.”

Amy said, “Bobby... be good.”

Holding up a surrender palm, Melanie said, “My fault. I brought up a topic not suitable for friendly discourse at an evening out of fine dining... at my ex-husband’s expense.”

“Hear hear,” they all said, and Rogers lifted her glass to him and everybody followed suit.

Reeder tasted his beer and shrugged. “I’m with Bobby.”

Bobby blinked. “You are?”

“Yeah. I’m a big believer in conspiracies. I mean, hell, it’s only been, what? Five years since they finally cleared Oswald?”

Melanie, brightening, said to Reeder, “Say, I heard from Beth Bryson! She and Christopher just got back from Florida. Said they had a lovely vacation down there.” She shook her head, turned to Reeder. “Too bad you weren’t able to help her out, Joe, where, uh, her husband... you know.”

Reeder nodded, flashed her a sad smile, had more beer.

Unfortunately the real reason behind Chris Bryson’s “suicide” was buried in the general cover-up of the Capitol bombing plot. Nonetheless, Reeder had privately assured Beth and her son that Chris had not taken his life, and that Reeder had personally settled the score.

Not entirely true, because Carpenter’s cronies were still out there. Some day.

Mel said to Rogers, “So, Patti — where’s this guy of yours?”

“He’s just a friend.”

“Sure he is,” Amy said with a wicked little smile.

“Anyway, he marches to his own drummer.”

Reeder said, “Even when a free meal is in the offing?”

Rogers, looking behind her, said, “ Here he is...”

A slender, dark-haired, very handsome guy in his early thirties — his suit a sharp gray number over a blue dress shirt, open at the neck — stood poised at the door between the bar area and the dining room.

Rogers waved him their way. He came over and stood shyly behind the empty chair beside her and she smiled up at him, squeezing his elbow.

“Everybody, this is Kevin Lockwood. Kevin...”

And she made the rest of the introductions.

Frowning in confusion as he shook hands with Kevin, Reeder asked, “Haven’t we met?”

Rogers glanced at Reeder with an impish smile. “Joe,” she said, “it’ll come to you.”

The following books were of help in the creation of this novel: The Definitive Book of Body Language (2006), Allan and Barbara Pease; Images of America: Arlington National Cemetery (2006), George W. Dodge; Reading People: How to Understand People and Predict Their Behavior — Anytime, Anyplace (1998), Jo-Ellen Dimitrius and Mark Mazzarella.

Thank you to Eleanor Cawood Jones and Aimee and Eric Hix for helping make Matt’s research trip to Washington, DC, so productive.

As usual, thanks to Chris Kauffman, Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office (ret.), and Paul Van Steenhuyse for their expertise with weapons and computers, respectively.

We wish to thank our in-house editors, Barbara Collins and Pam Clemens, for improving our work with patience and skill.

Thanks also to our agent, Dominick Abel, and everyone at Thomas & Mercer, with special nods to Jacque Ben-Zekry, Kjersti Egerdahl, and Alan Turkus.