Shoot / Don't Shoot

“Why are you angry with her? It wasn’t her fault.... “

“Why am I angry? Because I’ve been betrayed, that’s why. Eleanor Mathews Lathrop always set herself up on a pedestal as some kind of Madam Perfect. And according to her, I never once measured up. When all the while ...”

Joanna paused. “That’s not fair of me, of course, to just blame my mother. She wasn’t the only one who lied to me. After all, it takes two to tango,” she added bitterly. “Obviously, Big Hank Lathrop was in on it from the beginning, too. The whole time I was growing up, I damn near broke my neck a dozen times trying to be the son my father claimed he’d never had. Well, guess what? It turns out he did have that son after all, one he somehow neglected to tell me anything about. In fact, now that I think about it, I probably have you to thank for him turning me into a hopeless tomboy and the fact that I’m sheriff right now....”

“Joanna, I—”

“Mom, there you are,” Jenny exclaimed, skidding to a stop on the polished stone floor behind them.

“Jenny, what are you doing down here?”

“I came looking for you. Detective Strong just called. She said for you to call her back right away. She said it’s urgent!”

Jenny came around the arm of Joanna’s chair. Seeing Bob Brundage, she ducked back out of sight.

The interruption had allowed Joanna to get a partial grip on her roiling emotions. She took a deep breath. “Jenny,” she said, forcing her voice to be Want you to meet Mr. Brundage here. Colonel Brundage. He’s your uncle. He’ll be joining us for dinner tonight.”

With a purposeful shove from her mother, Jenny stepped out from behind the chair and held out her hand. “I’m glad to meet you,” she said politely. Then she turned back to Joanna, frowning. “But you always told me I didn’t have arty aunts or uncles.”

“That’s because I didn’t think you did.”

Joanna stood up. “You’ll have to excuse us, Colonel Brundage. Thanks for the drink. I hope you’ll forgive my outburst. As you can see, this has been something of a shock.”

Bob Brundage nodded sympathetically. “Better here with just the two of us than at dinner in a whole crowd, wouldn’t you say?”

“I suppose so,” Joanna allowed grudgingly. It was the best she could do. She turned to her daughter. “Come on, Jenny. Let’s go.” As they headed back toward the elevator, Joanna asked, “Did Detective Strong say what was wrong?”

“No. But she made me write down her number. Here it is.” Jenny handed over a piece of paper with a phone number scribbled on it. Instead of bothering with going all the way back upstairs, Joanna stopped by a pay phone in the elevator lobby and dialed.

“Thanks for getting back to me so fast,” Carol Strong said. “I’m almost dressed and ready to leave. Meet me at the APOA campus as soon you can, would you?”

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“I think we’ve found Dave Thompson.”

“You think?”

“Yes. You know him. I need someone to identify him.”