“Dr. Lee! What’s up?”
“Forget the canned speeches.” She pushed past him into the living room. “I need to talk to you about Darmus. I know you were in on it. I talked with him last night. He mentioned your name.”
A resigned sigh followed her words. “Please don’t judge me until I’ve had a chance to explain.”
She couldn’t believe it! He wasn’t even going to bother denying the hoax. “All right. Talk to me.”
He yawned and tried to straighten his hair with his hand. “Thank you. Would you like some coffee or tea?”
“No, thanks.” She realized he was still in his pajamas. She didn’t care. “How did the three of you think you could keep this a secret?”
The answer to that was obvious, she supposed. After all, they’d made it this far. With a sealed coffin, what was left to stop them?
“Well at least come into the kitchen,” he persuaded. “I could use some coffee.”
Peggy went into the kitchen with him, staring out the window at some daisies wilting in the heat. Their pots were too dry. A daisy could put up with almost any abuse, but everything needed a little water. There was some nice border grass edging the sidewalk going past the house, but it needed water, too.
“I know you must have a lot of questions,” Holles began.
“Where is Darmus?”
“I didn’t do
“Just answer the question.”
He sat down at the white table. “Please sit down.”
She took a seat opposite him. “Tell me how it happened, Holles. What was your part?”
“I knew it was crazy to be involved with this. I didn’t ask to be. You have to believe that, Dr. Lee. I knew something like this would happen.”
“Calm down. Start from the beginning.”
He sagged back in his chair. “I haven’t heard from him since
Peggy took a deep breath and prayed for patience. Years ago, her temper would have gotten the best of her. “Tell me what happened.”
Holles gazed at his coffee cup. “I didn’t know what to do when they told me. I overheard them talking one day at the college, and they swore me to secrecy. I didn’t
“Help them do what?”
“Darmus wanted to go away. He wanted to disappear. After Rebecca died, he fell apart. Maybe you didn’t see it. I didn’t either at first. Then he came to me late one night. He said he had to get away. I thought he meant a vacation. But it was something more.”
“What do you mean?”
“He was a frail, flawed man. He wasn’t a God. He was only a man!”
“Stop talking about him like he’s dead, Holles. He’s alive and in terrible trouble.”
“All right.” He sighed and hung his head.
“If Darmus wanted to disappear, why did he go through such an elaborate charade? Why didn’t he just leave?”
“I don’t know.” Holles shook his head. “I think Luther was afraid of losing Feed America. I think he thought if Darmus pretended to be dead, they’d just pass it to him. Which is what they did.”
“Which left Darmus free to disappear.” Peggy couldn’t stand it anymore. She had to get up and pace the kitchen. “But you haven’t talked to him since it happened?”
He shrugged. “He tried to think of everything. He was afraid there might be phone taps or people watching him. Crazy things. This wasn’t a sane decision.”
“Why didn’t you stop him? You could have taken him to a doctor!”
“Not with Luther backing the plan!”
“But Darmus didn’t tell you where he was going? You
“I didn’t know. I swear they kept it from me. It was an accident that I was there last night.”
She stopped pacing. “We have to find him.”
“Why? This is what he wanted. We don’t have to say anything.”
“This is
“What do you want
She stared at him knowingly. “Luther left you in charge, didn’t he?”
