The Shop

“But we have equipment to move, electronics—we can’t just pack up like we’re in the circus.”

“You’d better get to it then.”

Landry said to Franklin, “Boss?”

“Yes?” He sounded slightly bemused at Landry calling him boss.

“Do you want me to escort Mr. Graus out?”

“Yes, you do that.”

“I can find my own way out,” Graus said stiffly.

Landry stood over Graus and held his eyes. “I’ll want to see your inventory.”

“That’s bullshit.”

Landry said to Franklin, “It’s a precaution. We wouldn’t want him walking off with any equipment he doesn’t own.”

Franklin said, “I hardly think he would do that—”

Landry ignored him and remained where he was—towering over Graus. He felt Graus’s confusion, calculated the moment the smaller man would take a step backward. He was off by about two seconds.

“All right, if that’s what you want,” Graus said to Franklin.

“Good, I’ll meet you—all of you—by the guard’s gate at eleven hundred hours,” Landry said. He held Graus’s eyes until the man looked away.

After Graus was gone, Frank said, “I need to practice what I’m going to say to Cardamone. Mike is a smart guy. He’ll know something’s up if I don’t sound convincing.”

Landry was sure Franklin would be convincing, but he said, “Okay. But I’m going to need to see the grounds.”

Frank led the way out of the security center. He seemed pleased with himself. Standing up to someone was probably a rare occurrence for him. Landry noticed Riley looking at her dad in a new way. She was looking at Landry, too, but her look for Landry was different.

As they walked in the direction of the octagon house, Franklin took the lead, pointing out hidden cameras and infrared sensor grids. “A lot of the equipment was installed by the Secret Service for Owen’s visits,” Franklin said. He added for Landry’s edification, “The veep. This stuff is all inactive right now. Some of the equipment is Danehill’s, but not much. Are you sure you guys have it covered?”

“You’re covered. You can’t see our people, but they’re there.”

“When I was in the DOJ, I had a very good relationship with the FBI.”

“That’s good to know,” Landry said.

They continued on. Franklin walked on ahead, rehearsing his lines for his upcoming conversation with Cardamone. He was far enough ahead so they couldn’t hear what he was saying. Riley moved closer to Landry and said, “Why do you keep looking around like that?” she asked.

“Like what?”

“Back and forth.”

“Looking for threats.”

“But you said the FBI has it covered.”

“Ever heard of measure twice, cut once?”

“What?”

“Never mind.”

“I can’t believe Daddy stood up to Graus that way.”

“Why?”

“It’s just not like him. He lets things slide.”

“What else does he let slide? You?”

“Oh, I get away with stuff.”

“Are you sure you’re getting away with anything?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Children need guidance. Didn’t anyone ever tell you that? For your emotional well-being, you need someone to set the parameters every once in a while.”

“That’s fine for a child, but I’m seventeen.”

He said nothing.

“Can a child give you a blowjob that will set your hair on fire?”

All this acting out—he found it disturbing. “You’re a regular little potty-mouth. If my daughter said that to a stranger—”

“You’d what? Give her a spanking?”

“Take away her iPod, her iPhone, her television, her bed, her furniture, and make her stay in her room for a month.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad. What if she did it again?’”

“I’d flush her hamster down the toilet.”

“You wouldn’t do that!”

“You have a hamster?”

“No.”

“Then you’re not in a position to know, are you?”

Frank stopped on the oyster-shell path by the maintenance shed and looked back at them. “Do you want to go with me in the golf cart?” he asked Landry.

“I’d rather walk.”

“Okay.” He sounded perturbed, but by the time he took off in the golf cart, his lips were moving and he was once again practicing his speech for Cardamone.

“Is your mother here?” Landry asked Riley. “Grace?”

“She’s either shopping or she went to Tallahassee.”

“Tallahassee?”

“To her church. She spends half her time there.”

“You know when she’ll be back?”

“If she’s shopping, maybe late this afternoon. There’s not a whole hell of a lot to shop for around here. Now it’s Kohl’s instead of Bergdorf’s. She used to fly to Atlanta to do her shopping, when we had the jet. That’s all over now. This place is so lame. I was born here, and I can’t wait to get voted off this island, you know what I mean? What a backwater. There is nothing to do! And now you got rid of Mr. Clean.”

“Mr. Clean?”

“The guy you pushed into the water. I used to think he was hot.”

“He didn’t look so hot to me.”

She giggled. “That was funny, the way he sputtered like a wet cat! He was, like, so surprised! He told me he has a really big dick, but we didn’t get that far.”

Again with the provocative statements. He knew she did it just for its shock value.

“So your family’s cutting back?”

“Oh, you wouldn’t believe. Mommy didn’t even want the veep to come here the last time, thought it was too ostentatious. That’s her favorite word now. She’s afraid the peasants’ll storm the castle or something.” She told him about the “ratty old oriental carpets” and the fact that her mother kept her saddles and bridles in her bedroom, which was a huge mess and smelled of dirt and horse hide. The way they used things over and over, all the equipment breaking down. The heater for the pool. The air-conditioning in the octagon house. “Which is, by the way, falling apart! It looks good from the outside, but it smells. Those old walls, I bet there’s mold. That’s where we keep the senator.”

“The senator?”

“My grandfather. Dad calls him the senator. As if he’s still the senator. He’s got round-the-clock nursing care. Dementia.”

Landry nodded. His mother-in-law suffered from dementia. It was a terrible disease.

“But he gets around. He’s always in the hothouse playing with his roses—thinks he’s gardening, but he’s