through it she would never be coming back.
Sensing this Quarry said, 'I give you my word, I'll take you to see the girl and then I'll bring you back here.'
'Then what?'
'Then we'll just have to see. Can't promise you any more than that.'
CHAPTER 33
QUARRY REMOVED the board from metal hooks driven deep into the wall, opened the door, and motioned Wohl inside.
'Where is she?'
He pointed to his left. 'Over there.'
Wohl spun around and stared at a small lump under the blanket on a cot against one wall. Quarry lifted off the blanket. Underneath Willa lay there, sleeping.
Wohl crept closer. 'What if she wakes up?'
'I gave her something to knock her out. Good hour or so. She looks like you,' said Quarry quietly. 'In the nose, the chin. You can't see her eyes, but they're the same color as yours.'
Wohl involuntarily nodded. She could see the resemblance too. 'Willa Dutton. That's a pretty name.'
'You didn't name her?'
'No. I knew I was giving her up so I didn't… I mean I couldn't.'
Wohl stroked the girl's dark hair. She looked back at Quarry. 'You're not going to hurt her.'
'She's not the one at fault here. Neither are you, really.'
'But you said before-'
'There are degrees of guilt.'
'So who…'
'Did you want to give her up?'
'I said I didn't have a choice.'
'And like I told you before, folks always have a choice.'
'Can I hold her?'
'Go on.'
Wohl put her arms around Willa's shoulders. She touched her face, nestled her cheek against the girl's, and finally gave her a kiss on the forehead.
'What do you remember about the adoption?'
'Not much. I was only twenty.'
'And the daddy?'
'None of your business.'
'So you just gave her up?'
'Yes.' She gazed at him. 'I had no money. I was still in college. I couldn't care for her.'
'So they took her off your hands. And your life turned out okay,' said Quarry. 'You finished college, got a good job. Married, but then got divorced. Never had any more children.'
'How do you know all this about me?'
'I'm not a real smart man. But I work hard. And I needed to know about you. So I did.'
'And what are you doing all this for?'
'None of your business.'
Wohl turned back to Willa when the girl started moaning a little bit.
'Is she waking up?' she asked fearfully.
'Just dreaming in her sleep. But let's head on back.'
After returning to her room Wohl said, 'How much longer will I be kept here?'
'If I had an answer to that I'd give it to you, but I don't.'
'And Willa?'
'The same.'
'You said Pam was her adopted mother's name?'
'That's right.'
'She must be terribly worried.'
'I don't think so,' said Quarry.
'Why not?'
'Because she's dead.'
CHAPTER 34
SEAN WAS ABLE to grab a flight to Nashville that night. Michelle picked him up from the airport. On the drive to her father's house he filled Michelle in on what he'd discovered about Tuck and Cassandra Mallory.
'She sounds like someone whose ass I would really love to kick,' she snapped.
'Well, you sure wouldn't have any trouble finding it. The lady tends to put it right out there.'
'So who was the man who was meeting with Pam? The one Tuck thought was having an affair with her?'
'I haven't had a chance to follow that up.'
After they rode in silence for a few seconds he said, 'You really think your father killed your mother?'
'I don't know what to think. I only know that someone killed her and he's acting like the prime suspect.'
'Do the cops share your suspicions?'
'He's a former police chief and my brother Bobby is on the force here. They tend to cover their own.'
'But if the evidence points in one direction, they'll have to act.'
'I know that,' she said tensely.
'Have you talked to this Donna person? The one your mom was supposed to be meeting for dinner?'
'Not yet. I was hoping you and I could do it together.'
He gripped her shoulder. 'I know this is hard, Michelle. But we'll get through it.'
'I know you've got your hands full with the Dutton case. I mean the First Lady and all. I feel sort of guilty pulling you into this.'
He smiled reassuringly. 'I'm a great multitasker. You should know that by now.'
'I still appreciate it.'
'Have they canvassed the neighborhood? Anyone see anything?'
'There was a pool party going on next door. A sweet sixteen for the homeowner's granddaughter. Cars parked all the way up the street. Lot of noise. Music. But no eyewitnesses to anything.'
'Maybe something will pop on that end,' he said encouragingly.
The Maxwell house was full, so Michelle had gotten Sean a room at a local hotel. He dropped his bag in his room and they drove over to the house. Sean expressed his condolences to everyone and then Michelle led him out into the backyard, where they could talk.
'The funeral's tomorrow,' she said.
'Your brothers seem to be wondering what I'm doing here.'
'Let them wonder.'
'Do they suspect their father?'
'Even if they did, they would never acknowledge it.'
'And yet you have no trouble doing so.'
'Whose side are you on?'
'Yours, always. How do you want to start digging?'
'I snitched my mother's address book. A Donna Rothwell is listed in there. She's the only Donna, so she must
