either overbilling or kidnapping.
'I'd love some,' Quill said.
Linda darted up the steps to the trailer, knocking over a scraggy pot of geraniums as she went. Curtis settled back into his lawn chair, drained his beer, and burped.
He crumpled the beer can with one hand and threw it on the grass.
'And whose little boy are you?' Meg asked the child.
'Curtis,' Curtis called. 'C'mere.'
Curtis (Junior?) stuck his thumb in his mouth and regarded his father balefully.
'C'mere, I told you.'
Curtis shook his head.
'You want me to come and get you?'
Curtis took his thumb from his mouth, grinned, and then yelled, 'Yaaahhh!'
'I'm comin' to get you,' Curtis Senior threatened genially.
Curtis the younger squealed. His father got up from his lawn chair with another grunt, walked heavily to the pool, his stomach jiggling, and picked up the little boy. 'Time for his nap,' he said to the air over Quill's head. He carried his son up the steps, standing well aside as Linda came out the door with a metal tray, a pitcher, and three glasses. 'You don't spill that, Lin,' he warned. He went into the trailer, banging the screen door shut behind him.
Linda set the tray on the grass and poured the tea. Meg came back from the pool and sat next to Quill. 'So,' Linda said. 'You both were right there, last night? In the mansion? I've heard it's plain beautiful.'
'It's out of the ordinary,' Quill said carefully. 'Linda - we came across some information that we'd like to check. Do you mind if we talk about it a bit?'
'Well,' she said, with some return of her old manner, 'I can't say that I'm all that sorry he's been kidnapped. If you'll excuse me for being rude. He was a bad man. Now, I hope nothing awful's happened to him, but honestly, it doesn't bother me a bit if he's scared a little somewhere. But I guess I'll help if I can.'
'The - ah - first little problem is one of the inventory. Franklin Carmichael implied that - '
The sound of Curtis Junior's giggle floated through the air. Quill heard his father chuckle in response.
'He's a great kid,' Linda said proudly. 'I'm sorry, you were saying?'
'Carmichael thought there were discrepancies in the inventory. That you and your brother conspired to fill the shelves at the institute with overpriced, unnecessary goods.'
'You found out about that?' Linda's eyes filled with tears. The effect on Quill was sudden and unsettling. 'We had permission. Mr. Taylor gave us permission.'
'I don't understand,' Quill said gently.
'You okay out here, Lin?' Curtis came out of the trailer..'Hey. You crying or what? You two upsetting my sister?'
Quill took a deep breath. 'It's about the inventory at the institute, Mr. Longstreet.'
'So?' His eyes darkened. 'Oh. I get it. That son- um-bitch disappears and now he's gonna try to get back those payments? You tell him he can stuff it.'
'I can't tell him anything, Mr. Longstreet,' Quill said quietly. 'Verger Taylor's either been kidnapped, murdered, or both.'
'Far as I'm concerned, that bastard's better off at the bottom of the Okeechobee. You two get out of here. You, Lin. Get in the house.'
'I'm all right, Curtis.' Linda pulled the tail of her shirt out of her shorts and wiped her eyes. 'I knew it was all going to come out anyway.' Tears fell faster down her face.
'All what?' Quill asked.
Meg nudged her with her toe. 'Linda, can I sort of summarize what I think happened?' Linda nodded miserably. 'Verger Taylor forced you, didn't he?'
'Not forced,' said Linda. 'It was my fault. I should know what men are like. I do know what men are like. Things just got kind of out of hand and, you know, you just sort of give up.'
Quill found it hard to breathe. She clenched her hands and dug her fingernails into her palms.
'I told Curtis. He said, you can't fight the big bosses. But he wanted me to quit my job. Couldn't afford to quit. The pay was great. So Curtis went to talk to him. Mr. Taylor, I mean. He was going to punch him out.'
Linda smiled through her tears. 'Anyhow, Mr. Taylor said he was sorry. Mistook the matter, which he very well could have, I mean, he and that Mrs. Taylor fight like cats and dogs in public. Who knows what rich people like that do in their bedrooms? So he could have mistaken the matter. So he joked about it, really. Said to Curtis, looks like I have to pay a fine. Say, twenty thousand dollars. But he didn't want to embarrass me, so he said, you just take it out of inventory over the next year. I know the auditors. I'll fix it. Then, Mr. Carmichael found out about the inventory overcharges, and Mr. Taylor hadn't fixed things at all. I couldn't tell Mr. Carmichael it was an honest deal. That Mr. Taylor wanted to keep my name out of it, because he was sorry that he mistook me. So I lost my job after all.' The tears came again, in a flood.
Meg, her face tight with rage, put her hand on Linda's arm. 'Keep your name out of it?' she said, her voice shaking. 'That bastard was keeping his own nose clean and set - '
Quill, her voice sharp, said, 'Leave it, Meg.' She rose from the lawn chair and shook Curtis's hand. 'I doubt very much you'll hear any more of this, Mr. Longstreet. I'm sorry to have troubled you both. Linda? You take care of
