'Danny said he died in the mines.'
Abby took her time putting the last forkful of pie into her mouth. 'He did. You said you lost a child. How about your wife?'
'Died too. Long time ago.'
'What've you been doing with yourself since?'
'This and that. Never stayed in one place too long.'
'Did you get out of the army right after Nam?'
'I hung around for a while. Nothing too exciting.'
'No pension from Uncle Sam?'
'Didn't stay long enough.'
Their conversation trailed off and a while later Stone took his leave, resisting her invitation to drive him back to town. There was sorrow in that house, despite the luxury and designer touches, for one simple reason: the source of the wealth was death.
'I guess you'll be heading on soon,' she said as she stood by the front door.
'I'm a lot older than Danny and I still haven't made up my mind what to do with the rest of my life. So I think I better get to it.'
'Thanks for helping my son.'
'He seems like a good young man, Abby. Just needs a little direction.'
'It would've been real good if the direction had taken him out of here and kept him there.'
She closed the door, leaving Stone standing there puzzled. Telling himself again that this was not his business, he walked out to the road and made his way back to town. The sky was lit with stars, which was the only light there was. As he drew closer to town, he heard something. At first it seemed to be the moan of an animal and it occurred to him that in this part of the country it would not be unheard of to run into a black bear or maybe even a mountain lion. As he continued to walk along the moan became more recognizable.
Stone picked up his pace. The church and the graveyard were just ahead.
He cut across the road, entered the churchyard, made a beeline for the graveyard, and then stopped when he saw it. Or rather him.
The sobs racking him, Danny was lying sprawled on top of the fresh grave of Debby Randolph.
CHAPTER 23
THE TALL MAN SLIPPED inside the building, hung a left, grabbed an elevator, rode it down, entered the tunnel, skimmed along underneath the streets of Washington, D.C., arrived at another building and turned down a long hall. When he passed one door, it opened and a big hand grabbed him and yanked him inside, slamming the door behind him.
Reuben Rhodes let Alex Ford go. The agent smoothed down his jacket collar and turned to scowl at the others there arranged on busted-up government-issued furniture and packing crates.
'You said the second door on the
'Brother Caleb got it wrong,' Reuben said. 'He meant the first door on the right and we didn't want to call you on your cell in case they put a trace on it.'
'They need a court order for that,' Annabelle said.
'Like hell they do,' Reuben shot back.
Alex looked at Annabelle. 'He's actually right about that. As a federal agent my life and cell phone are not my own.'
'Sorry about the mix-up, Alex,' Caleb said shamefacedly. 'I was a little nervous. I'm not really sure why, though.' He glared furiously at Reuben. 'Oh, now I remember. It was when Reuben called and screamed that I had to find a place for us to meet ASAP or we were all going to die and it would be my fault!'
Reuben shrugged. 'I didn't say die. I said we were all going to go to prison for the rest of our lives. And I just said it would be
'How do you figure that?' asked Annabelle.
'This Joe Knox character already met with Caleb.'
'So? How do you know I told him anything?'
'Caleb, you'd spill your guts if a Girl Scout got the drop on you.'
Annabelle stood. 'Okay, we don't have much time. It seems Knox has grilled me, Alex and Caleb.'
'And I know he went to the loading dock, but luckily I took a few days off,' Reuben added.
'Reuben, I understand that Oliver called you,' said Alex. 'Did he tell you where he was?'
'He wouldn't tell me where he was calling from.' Reuben went on to tell them about his conversation with Stone. 'And he did want me to tell you that he appreciated your burning the letter.'
Alex nodded slowly but said nothing.
Caleb said, 'Is there any way to trace the call he made to Reuben?'
Reuben shook his head. 'I sort of have an unusual cell phone arrangement. A little convoluted.'
'You mean you steal other people's minutes,' declared Caleb.
'Anyway, I had a buddy I trust try and do it for me. He's a real pro with that stuff and it went nowhere.'
'Well, let's compare notes on what Knox said and see where we stand,' Annabelle suggested.
Alex went first, followed by Annabelle and then Caleb. When they'd finished, Reuben said, 'Caleb, I apologize. It looks like you stood your ground pretty well.'
'Apology accepted,' snapped the federal librarian.
Alex said, 'Okay, Knox knows Oliver is John Carr. He knows what he did at CIA. He knows that he killed Simpson and Gray. And he wants him badly.'
'And he thinks we can lead him right to Oliver,' Caleb replied. 'But we can't. Thank God.'
'Don't be thanking God yet, Caleb. He knows where we are and our connection to Oliver. They'll use that.'
'How?'
Annabelle answered. 'Leverage. To reel Oliver in.'
Caleb exclaimed, 'What do you mean? Use us as bait? That's preposterous. We are United States citizens. Knox is a public servant.'
'That line didn't even work in the fifties,' said Alex. 'He's a public servant with a job to do. Nail Oliver. And while he's on the run, we're left as targets.'
'So should we all go into hiding?' Annabelle asked.
Alex said, 'That's pretty much impossible for me to do. But Annabelle, you definitely should dig a deep hole and get in it. Reuben too. Caleb, how about you?'
'Why would Oliver have left us in this impossible situation?' Caleb groused.
'He didn't have much choice,' Reuben answered. 'If we're right, he popped two giant VIPs on the same day. You don't go have coffee after that and wait for the SWAT team to tap on your door with a battering ram.'
Caleb shook his head. 'Even if Oliver did kill them-and despite the letter he left behind, I bet he didn't leave any evidence for them to find.'
'Damn it, what point aren't you getting, Caleb?' Reuben exclaimed. 'These guys don't care about prosecuting his ass. They just want him. They'll squeeze whatever useful information he has out of him and then put a round in his brain. He was a former government hit man who had to go on the run because Gray and Simpson screwed him over and tried to kill him.' Reuben said this last part while staring at Alex. 'Oliver's been on the run for thirty years. And then they killed Milton. And don't forget, Harry Finn told us that Simpson admitted that he was the one who ordered the hit on Oliver and his family way back when. If ever a man had a reason to kill somebody it's Oliver, to hell with what the law says.'
'So they might be afraid of what Oliver might know about past government missions,' Caleb said. 'And they'd want to silence him?'
'Now you're thinking like a librarian,' noted Reuben wryly.
Annabelle said, 'But there might be another way, I mean instead of us going underground.'
Alex leaned against the wall. 'What do you have in mind?'
