Ben leaned back, closing his eyes. “Yeah,” he murmured. “It’s just...”
Too much, Cat thought. How many avenues were closed to Larry and Ben unless they married? She could only begin to guess at it. A million rights were defined by blood relationships and marital contracts.
Ben spoke again, his tone leaden. “Let me know what you decide about the funeral, Duke. Are you taking him back East?”
Duke cussed and rose. He looked overwhelming in the small space. “Ben, I’m not planning anything without your blessing. I may have the right, but I’m giving you the right to decide everything. I’m not taking him back East unless you want it. If you want him here, he stays here. Got it?”
Ben nodded.
Cat stared up at Duke, admiring him more in that moment than she ever had. He might be tough, even hard as nails at times, but apparently his heart was as big as everything else about him.
Ben took a few more minutes, steadying himself against the pain. Then he stirred. “Okay,” he said quietly. “What’s up other than dinner from Maude’s? As in the arsenal.”
“I could have brought more,” Cat said, trying a lighter moment. “I wasn’t sure how useful pistols would be, but I threw a few in the truck if we want them.”
“Pistols.” Ben’s eyes widened. “Are you expecting an invasion? Where are the flash-bangs? The grenades? The fifty-cal machine gun?”
She was grateful to see him rise to attempted humor. Some things you couldn’t just deal with at one time. Ben needed to shake it off for a little while. To give himself an emotional break. Well, this was certainly going to be different.
Duke leaned forward. “We can talk over dinner before it gets too cold, or we can do one or the other first. Up to you.”
“I’m curious as hell what the two of you are worried about, but let’s eat. I don’t remember...” Ben shrugged. “I think I haven’t eaten since yesterday.”
Cat felt good about being able to slip into gear. “Then let’s go, gentlemen.”
Ben had a large trestle table in his farm kitchen, and they laid out their food, along with plates, utensils and napkins. Three foam boxes yielded the steak sandwiches, another a large salad, and the final one was dessert: Maude’s peach cobbler. A feast.
It amused her a bit, too. She’d never been big on dessert, but Duke seemed to favor it.
Ben broke out some beers, and soon they were seated at one end of the table, Ben at the head, Cat and Duke on either side. They draped jackets over the backs of their chairs.
The crusty sandwich bread was still fresh, not soaked through yet from the steak juices. It smelled so good she could have slipped into a gourmet heaven.
Reality wouldn’t allow that.
Duke spoke, answering Ben’s questions that seemed to be hanging urgently. “Okay, here’s the deal.”
Ben nodded, his mouth full.
“We think Larry’s murder may be related to that story Larry wrote about the murder-for-hire scheme.”
Ben swallowed, then choked a little. He drained some beer to wash the food down, then looked at both of them. “Tell me you’re joking.” But as soon as the words tumbled out, more of them followed. Ben’s face reflected an element of shock. “Damn it, Larry.”
Duke responded. “I’ve been saying a lot of that.”
“Damn it,” Ben said again. “Damn it, Duke, that was one of the first things I thought of when I learned Larry was murdered. Damn it.”
Ben jumped up from the table, paced the length of the kitchen, then disappeared. Cat could hear his footfalls in the next rooms.
She looked at Duke. “He thought of it, too.”
Duke nodded. “Nobody wants to, but we both know certain types in uniform. We know the code.”
Ben returned with reddened eyes after a couple of minutes and sat down, starting to eat again. Cat followed suit. If this night turned long for some reason, she’d regret failing to eat even though her appetite had died.
Ben had been thinking as he absorbed the news. “I wondered. Then I wondered if any of them thought I might be a source. Like you, Duke. Then, the last day or so, I’ve been wondering if they might come after me, too. If that’s the reason. But that cat was already out of the bag!”
“I would have thought so.” Duke finished his sandwich, allowing Ben time to adjust to this.
There was more, Cat knew, but she’d let Duke explain it to Ben. He might even be able to use some shorthand that she couldn’t because she didn’t know their shared culture.
“What changed your mind?” Ben asked. He pushed his plate to one side.
“There was a break-in in town. Cat and I happened to be on the street when it occurred. The break-in involved a guy I’d already talked to about Larry. And I saw two men flee.”
Ben nodded. “And?”
“They weren’t kids, Ben. I went after them. They were trained. They were ghosts.”
Ben closed his eyes briefly, then swore. “What else?”
“The fact that he was here working on a book but hadn’t told a soul what it was about. He might have been developing that story or building a case against some others involved in that crap. And given the men I saw running, I’m not prepared to dismiss a military connection.”
Ben clearly didn’t want to be eating, but he plugged away at it. Sometimes even the best food became a mere fuel.
After a couple more mouthfuls, Ben spoke again. “That would make sense. Awful, ugly sense. Damn it, Larry.”
Duke just shook his head. “That was Larry. We both know it. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were things he couldn’t mention in his original story because he didn’t have enough corroborating evidence or testimony. It also wouldn’t surprise me if he couldn’t let those loose ends go.”
“He never would,” Ben agreed. “Never. They’d have
