“Why do you think?”
“Don’t be stupid, nobody blames you. Mary doesn’t and I don’t.”
“Well, I do.”
“I spoke to the NTSB investigator a few days ago.
They aren’t blaming you. They have their suspicions, but no reason to take any action against you.” Josh exaggerated the truth, hoping to alleviate the mechanic’s
depression.
“For now,” Murphy said.
Josh frowned.
“I’ve gotta go,” Murphy said. Quickly, he moved
away from Josh.
“Jack, it’s going to be okay. Trust me.” Josh spoke to the mechanic’s back. He watched Murphy get into his car before returning to his family.
He spotted Kate and Abby speaking to Mary and her husband. Bob intercepted Josh before he got to them.
“Hey, pal,” Bob said.
“You talk to the cops?” asked Josh.
“Yeah,” Bob replied.
“I assume it didnk go well, judging by that answer.”
Josh and Bob were interrupted before any more
could be said.
“Josh.”
Mary stood behind him. He turned to her. She was
the female embodiment of her brother Mark—small, only five feet, slight of frame with the minimum of curves. Only two years Mark’s junior, she possessed the same salt and pepper gray hair.
“Thanks for coming.” Smiling, she took Josh’s hand in hers and clasped another on top of his.
“Oh, it’s the least I could do,” Josh said.
“He thought of you as a good friend.”
“Thank you.”
“The will has been read. You got the letter from the attorney?”
“Yes, I did. I know about the plane.”
“I just want you to know I’m glad he left you his share of the aircraft. God knows what I would have done with it.” Momentarily, the smile slipped. “Although I’m not sure what good it is to you now.”
“I don’t know. It’s in the hands of the insurance company.”
The smile came back, bigger and brighter. “I hope you will do some good with the settlement.”
“Of course.”
“Are you following on to the cemetery?”
“Yes.”
“Good.” Mary turned her head to Bob. “And you?”
“Oh, Mary, this is a friend of mine, Bob Deuce.”
Mary shook hands with Bob.
Bob hemmed and hawed, but Josh answered for him.
“Yes, he’ll be coming along.”
“Good. We’ll be leaving in five minutes.” Mary
moved onto the other well-wishers.
“We’ll talk on the way to the cemetery, okay?” Josh said.
Bob agreed.
They joined Kate and Abby. “Are you going on or
leaving?” Josh asked.
I’m going to take Abby back to school, then I’ll go back to work. I can see you and Bob have something to discuss.”
Josh frowned. He dropped to one knee and kissed
Abby. “I’ll see you after school, kiddo.”
“Okay, Dad,” Abby said.
Getting up, Josh said to Kate, “I’ll see you later.”
“Yeah,” Kate conceded. Taking Abby’s hand, she
turned on her heel and strode off for the Dodge Caravan.
Bob waited until Kate and Abby were out of earshot.
“It got a bit chilly all of a sudden, don’t you think?”
“Yeah. Things aren’t going too well, as you can
imagine. She’s none too pleased with me these days ever since Channel Three turned up on the doorstep.”
The morning after Josh’s name had been given out
on Channel 3, the news crew landed demanding a
comment. Kate had answered the door to them. Pictures of a flustered Kate before Josh had intervened
with a stern, “No comment,” made the evening news.
Other local news stations repeated the process, as did the rest of the press. Josh had been screening calls ever since.
“You can’t blame her,” Bob said.
“Yeah, you’re right,” Josh agreed.
Bob looked at him. “Are they still trying to get an interview?”
“I’ve told them ‘No comment’ about a dozen times. I think they’ve got the message.” Josh stared at his wife and child. “Come on, let’s talk in the car. I’ll drive.”
“You got a new car?”
“The loaner from the insurance came through yesterday.”
A
hush came over the crowd. Josh turned. Mark
Keegan’s coffin was brought out and loaded into the hearse. This heralded the end of the service and the mourners filed into the parking lot. In respectful fashion, the hearse, limos and cars poured out of the
church onto the roads.
Josh merged with the flow of traffic, taking his own route to the graveyard. The cemetery was a twenty minute drive from the church, which gave him the perfect opportunity to talk privately with Bob. Murder
and attempted murder weren’t appropriate conversation for the graveside.
“What happened with Starsky and Hutch?” Josh
asked.
“Wipeout. You’re right about them, though. Brady
certainly has a stick up his ass. But I couldn’t make out whether it’s about you or if he’s just made that way.
Williams listened, though.”
Josh nodded, agreeing with the character assessments.
Bob continued, “I don’t think they’re going to do anything. To be honest, we don’t have anything to give them.”
“What do you mean?” Josh snapped.
“We have a man with a fake name, a fake job and no permanent address. In their opinion, we ain’t doing them any favors.”
Josh cursed. “So we got nothing out of it.”
“I dunno, Josh. I think I put the seed of doubt in their minds about the phone call to Margaret Macey.”
