My Uncle Thomas lived in Hickory, and though I didn’t visit him very often, I tried to pop in whenever I could manage it. He was all that was left of my mother’s generation, or at least he had been until my Uncle Barton had come back into our lives.
As we walked to my car, Zach had my bag and I had my briefcase. I said, “No, he and Uncle Barton are still in Alaska.”
He looked surprised by the news. “I thought they were supposed to be home last week.”
“I guess when you have the kind of money Barton has, you can pretty much play things by ear.” My prodigal uncle had made a fortune after leaving home with my grandparents’ money, and ever since he’d come back into our lives, he’d been trying to make up for his past sins.
“I suppose that’s true, though I doubt we’ll ever know what it’s like,” Zach said.
After I unlocked my car door, I slid my briefcase onto the seat beside me.
As I buckled my seat belt, my husband added sternly, “Savannah, I don’t want you working on any puzzles while you’re driving, do you hear me?”
I laughed. “I’m not crazy. It takes too much concentration to do that. I’m not about to take any stupid chances.”
“Good,” he said as he slid my bag onto the backseat. “I still think you should have let Barton buy you a new car when he offered to.”
“You know me better than that.”
“I do,” he said with a grin as he leaned in and kissed me again. “Be careful, sweetheart.”
“You’re testifying in open court against a serial killer, and you’re telling me to be careful?”
“Are you kidding? I’d love it if he took a swing at me.”
“I know you would,” I said. There was a side to my husband that he kept hidden away most of the time, but I knew he could be swift, cruel, and even deadly, if the circumstances called for it. It was as though there was a beast inside him, one he kept carefully chained away unless he needed it.
“Talk to you soon,” I said as I drove away.
From Parson’s Valley, it was a short drive to Asheville, where I picked up I-40, the road I’d be taking all the way to Raleigh. Interstates were great for getting from one place to another, but they weren’t much for scenery. The miles seemed to melt into each other as I drove almost due east. I made a quick stop in Statesville for gas and a bathroom break, and then, against my better judgment, I picked up a Snickers and an icy cold Coke for the road. My husband always protested that he loved me no matter what size I was, but as a rule I didn’t want to put that belief to the test.
I was lost in my own thoughts when my cell phone rang on the seat beside me. How sweet. It appeared that my dear husband couldn’t wait until Winston-Salem to talk to me.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t the one who was calling.
“WHY AREN’T YOU HERE YET?”
“Our meeting isn’t for another two hours, Derrick,” I said as I glanced at my watch. I’d left myself plenty of time to get from Parson’s Valley to Raleigh, and if I was being honest about it, I was in no hurry to get there early.
My puzzle editor and syndicator, Derrick Duncan, wasn’t a pleasant man on his best days, which were too few as a rule in the minds of anyone who had ever had to deal with him. I’d signed a contract with him to distribute my puzzles, and each of us had grown to regret it many times since. I wasn’t that thrilled dealing with his abrasive personality, and he felt that his commission was less than it should be.
“You should have planned better, Savannah.”
“I planned it perfectly,” I said. The less time I spent with him, the better. Since Zach had to stay at the Slasher trial at least two days, I’d budgeted some fun time for myself once I was finished with Derrick. I planned to go to the North Carolina Museum of Art, have a hot dog at the Grill, and generally just act like a tourist. I had a friend in town I’d be staying with, Jenny Blake. We’d been roommates in college, and we tried to do something together every year, though she was still trying to make partner in her law firm and worked some horrendous hours. She’d been thrilled when I’d told her about my meeting with Derrick in Raleigh.
“I need you here now,” Derrick said abruptly.
“I can’t drive any faster than I already am,” I said. “I’ll get there as soon as I can.”
“You’d better,” he said, and before I could say another word, he hung up on me. I slammed the phone down onto the passenger seat, determined not to let him ruin my trip. We’d have his precious meeting, and then Jenny and I would have fun, and I’d do my best to forget that the man ever existed.
The phone rang again not three minutes later. I was still fuming when I answered. “What do you want?”
“This isn’t a good time, is it? You’re not in bad weather or heavy traffic are you, Savannah?”
It was my husband, and I’d just bitten his head off for no reason whatsoever. “I’m sorry. I thought you were Derrick.”
“Wow, that’s just about the most insulting thing you could have said to me.”
“I know. I’m really terrible. Forgive me?”
“Sure, why not? What did your fearless leader want?”
“He expected me to move up our meeting,” I said as I clinched the steering wheel with my free hand. “When I told him I wasn’t going to be able to do that, he had a fit.”
“You should find a new syndicator,” Zach said.
“Our contract’s pretty airtight, and you know it. We’re stuck with each other until Derrick exercises his escape clause, and you know he’s not going to do that, at least not as long as I’m making money for him. Don’t worry, I can handle him.”
“But can you do it without giving him a taste of that famous temper of yours?”
I laughed. “I’m not going to make any promises. Sometimes I think that the only time he really hears what I’m saying is when I raise my voice.”
“Fine, yell at him all you want then.”
We’d wasted enough time discussing my editor. “Let’s change the subject. I thought you were going to let me call you. You’re not checking up on me, are you?”
“No, ma’am. To be honest with you, I’m a little lonely here. I decided to go ahead and leave myself, so I’m on the road to Knoxville.”
I glanced at my dashboard clock. “You weren’t supposed to head out for an hour.”
He paused, and then admitted, “What can I say? This cottage feels kind of empty without you in it.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t like being apart either. We’ll see each other soon.”
“Sure we will. Listen, I’d better hang up now; traffic’s starting to get a little busy. Don’t let Derrick get you too riled up, and give Jenny a hug for me.”
“I can promise the latter, but the former’s a wasted wish, and we both know it. I love you.”
“Love you, too,” he said.
BY THE TIME I GOT TO RALEIGH, I’D MANAGED TO GET MYSELF in a state of mind that would allow me to deal with Derrick without losing my cool.
At least that’s what I hoped I’d be able to do.
But as I parked in the guest lot of the Crest Hotel where we were having our meeting, all my good intentions vanished. I didn’t like being summoned now any more than I had when he’d ordered me to appear three days earlier, and I was going to make certain that he knew it. I started building up a good head of steam as I walked swiftly toward Conference Room C.
At least that was the plan. However, when I got to the meeting room, someone else was already waiting to see him.
It appeared that my little diatribe was going to have to wait.
“ARE YOU HERE TO SEE DERRICK, TOO?” THE MAN SITTING by the door asked me as I joined him at the empty row of seats. He was a nondescript little fellow, with thinning gray hair and a sallow complexion.