tragic consequences, but, at the time, it was an innocent action, something that any typical teenage girl would have done.”
Except that Susan wasn’t typical and was by no means innocent.
He’d never shared with his mother or Howard the horrible secret of what was happening in his bedroom most nights, but he had admitted to them what had happened at the barbecue.
“If it was all that harmless, Mother, why did you and Howard want me to keep it from the police?”
“All we said was that if Allen Strickland didn’t make a point of it when they questioned him, you shouldn’t volunteer it. It wasn’t germane.”
“Detective Moody might have disagreed.”
Surely he would have wanted to know how manipulative Susan was and that it was she who had initiated the encounter with Strickland.
Burning with hatred of her, he had approached Allen Strickland on her behalf.
As though reading his mind, his mother said gently, “That boy had been ogling her all day, Steven. He and that brother of his. Sooner or later Allen would have worked up his courage and asked her to dance without any help from you.”
“Possibly. But the fact remains that he did have my help.”
“Please don’t dwell on it and upset yourself. Although I know it’s difficult to put that day out of your mind when you can’t get away from Bellamy’s book. It’s everywhere. Even here in the hospital’s gift shop.”
“The horse has left the barn, Mother.”
“Yes, but I thought that when she stopped the publicity, things would die down. Instead we’re on the front page of that wretched tabloid again. Dent Carter has insinuated himself back into our lives, Bellamy is like a woman obsessed, and I can’t help but feel that this mysterious mission she’s on for Howard has something to do with it.”
Steven jumped in before she could work herself into another crying jag. “Mother, the only times in your marriage that Howard has done something behind your back was when he was shopping for a fabulous gift or planning an extravagant trip. If he sent Bellamy on a secret mission, it’s to do something that will spare you further heartache.”
“My heart already aches, Steven.”
“Cancer is cruel.”
“So is the irony.”
“Irony?”
“Howard and I have had a near-perfect life together. It was marred by a single tragic event. Yet now, when our time together is about to end and we should be reliving blissful times, it’s Susan’s murder that’s at the forefront of everyone’s mind.” Her voice cracked. “And why?”
Quietly Steven said, “
Chapter 17
The state senator’s plane was already on the tarmac when Dent and Bellamy arrived at the airfield.
Gall took one look at Dent’s battered face and scowled. “Who the hell did that?”
“It doesn’t hurt.”
“Not what I asked.”
“I’m going to call Olivia. Excuse me.” Bellamy went into the hangar and took out her cell phone.
Dent motioned toward the airplane. “Decent of him to make it available to us. Last night and today.”
“I told you, he wants you to get used to it. He called early this morning, wanting to know how you liked her. Says he hopes you’ll become so enamored with flying it you’ll go to work for him.” He clamped down on his cigar. “ ’Course if he could see you now, he might change his mind.”
“Not now, Gall.”
Dent bypassed him as he made his way into the hangar and went over to his own airplane. “How’re the repairs coming?”
“Replacement parts are ordered. Some were promised by the end of the week. Others will take longer to get.”
Dent gave the wing of his airplane a pat, then went over to the computer table and sat down. “Have you checked out the airport in Marshall?”
“Its got two runways. One’s five thousand feet. Plenty long enough.”
As he and Bellamy left Haymaker’s house, Dent had placed a call to Gall, asking him if the senator’s airplane was still available and, if so, to get it ready for flight. He’d also asked him to look into the county-owned airport in east Texas, three hundred miles from Austin.
While he methodically went through his preflight routine, Bellamy was pacing the concrete floor of the hangar, her cell phone to her ear. He wondered who she was talking to. Her conversations with Olivia never lasted that long.
After filing his flight plan, he signaled to Bellamy that they were good to go. She ended her call and went into the hangar’s restroom, although the head on the two-million-dollar airplane was much nicer. She’d probably be too modest to use it during flight, though.
Dent, hoping to smooth things over with Gall after being so brusque with him earlier, approached the workbench where the older man was tinkering with a piece of machinery. “Thanks for helping out on such short notice.”
Gall just looked at him, waiting for an explanation for the sudden trip, which Dent felt he deserved.
“From Marshall, we’re driving on to Caddo Lake. It’s near—”
“I know where it’s at.” Gall gave his cigar an agitated workout. “Going fishing?”
“In a manner of speaking. Detective Moody, now retired, lives on the lake. He’s agreed to see us. And I don’t want any flack from you about it.”
Gall stopped chomping his cigar, removed it from his mouth, and pitched it toward a trash can, which he missed by a foot. “Flack,” he said with disgust. “How ’bout me giving you some common sense? Something you seem to have a shortage of these days. In fact, you haven’t acted like you have a lick of it since you got attached to that lady, who belongs to a family that damn near ruined your life. You show up this morning looking like Rocky. You’re on your way to see a man who you once vowed to kill. You’re packing. And I’m not supposed to give you flack?”
