“I promise you something. After I break this story, we’re going to take a long vacation. Just you and me. Someplace warm, with plenty to drink, and I can dust off my talents as a sailor. I haven’t done that in a long time and I can’t think of anyone I’d rather do it with. How’s that sound?”
She laid her head against his shoulder and squeezed his hand tightly. “Wonderful.”
Chapter thirty
“You invited him for lunch?” Charlie stared at LuAnn with a mixture of anger and frustration on his grizzled face. “Would you mind telling me why you did that? And would you mind telling me why the hell you went there in the first place?”
They were in Charlie’s office. LuAnn stood next to the bulky desk while Charlie sat in front of it. He had unwrapped a thick cigar and was about to light it when LuAnn had delivered the news of her excursion that morning.
Defiance was all over LuAnn’s features as she scowled back at him. “I couldn’t just sit around and do nothing.”
“I told you I was going to handle it. What, you don’t trust my judgment anymore?”
“Of course I do, Charlie, it’s not that.” LuAnn dropped her defiant stance, perched on the edge of his chair and ran her fingers through his thinning hair. “I figured if I could get to Riggs before he had a chance to do anything, apologize and then get him to drop it, we’d be free and clear.”
Charlie shook his head, wincing as a small pain worked at his left temple. He took a deep breath and put an arm around her waist. “LuAnn, I had a very informative conversation with John Pemberton this morning.”
“Who?”
“Real estate agent. Guy who sold us the house. That’s not important. What is relevant is the fact that Pemberton knows everybody and everything that goes on in this town. He’s trying to track down the guy in the Honda for us right now.”
LuAnn jerked back. “You didn’t tell him—”
“I concocted a cover story and fed it to him. He slurped it up like it was the sweetest ice cream in the world. We both have gotten real good with making up stuff over the years, haven’t we?”
“Sometimes too good,” LuAnn said gloomily. “It’s getting harder and harder to remember what’s true and what’s not.”
“I also talked to Pemberton about Riggs. Trying to get some of the guy’s history out, to try and get a feel for the guy.”
“He’s not a cop. I asked him and he said he wasn’t. You said he was.”
“I know, a screw-up on my part, but Riggs led me to believe he was.”
“So what the heck was he? And why all the secrecy?”
“A funny question coming from you.” LuAnn jabbed an elbow playfully into Charlie’s side. Her smile disappeared with Charlie’s next words. “Pemberton thinks Riggs was a government spy.”
“A spy? Like the CIA?”
“Who the hell knows. It’s not like the guy’s gonna advertise what outfit he was with. Nobody really knows for sure. His background is kind of a blur as far as Pemberton can tell.”
LuAnn shuddered, remembering the info Riggs had gathered on her so quickly. Now it perhaps made sense. But she was still unconvinced. “And now he builds fences in rural Virginia. I didn’t think they ever let spies retire.”
“You’ve been watching too many mob movies. Even spies change jobs or retire, especially with the Cold War ending. And there are a lot of specialties in intelligence gathering. Not all of them involve trench coats, pistols up the sleeve, and assassination plots against foreign dictators. He could’ve been just some schlep working in an office looking at aerial photos of Moscow.”
LuAnn recalled her meeting with Riggs at his home. The way he had handled the shotgun, his observation skills and his knowledge of firearms. And finally his confident and cool demeanor. She shook her head firmly. “He doesn’t strike me as the office type.”
Charlie sighed deeply. “Me either. So how did it go?”
LuAnn stood back up and leaned against the doorjamb, her fingers hooked through the belt loops on the jeans she had changed into. “He had already dug up some info on me and the Honda. The cover stuff came up on me, so we’re okay there.”
“Anything on the Honda?”
LuAnn shook her head. “Rental up in D.C. Name looked phony. Probably a dead-end.”
“Riggs moves fast. How’d you find that out?”
“I did a little snooping around his office. When he caught me he was holding a shotgun.”
“Good gosh, LuAnn, if the guy was a spy you’re lucky he didn’t blow your head off.”
“It didn’t seem so risky while I was doing it. It turned out all right anyway.”
“You and your risk-taking. Like going to the drawing that night in New York. I should really start putting my foot down around here. What else?”
“I admitted to him that the car chase was something we were concerned about and that we were handling it.”
“And he accepted that? No questions?” Charlie’s tone was skeptical.
“I was telling the truth, Charlie,” she said heatedly. “I get kind of tingling all over when the rare occasion happens along that I can do that.”
“Okay, okay. I didn’t mean to put a stick in your spokes. God, we sound like an old married couple here.”
LuAnn smiled. “We are an old married couple. We just have a few more secrets to share than most.”
Charlie flashed her a quick grin and took a moment to light his cigar. “So you really think Riggs is okay? He won’t keep nosing around?”
“I think he’s very curious, and he should be. But he told me he wasn’t going to pursue it and I believe him. I’m not exactly sure why, but I do. There doesn’t appear to be much B.S. in the man.”
“And him coming over for lunch tomorrow? I take it you want to get to know him a little better.”
LuAnn studied Charlie’s face for a moment. Was there a touch of jealousy there? She shrugged her shoulders. “Well, it’s a way to keep an eye on him, and maybe learn a little more about him. Maybe he’s got some secrets, too. It certainly sounds like it, anyway.”
Charlie puffed on his cigar. “So if things are cool with Riggs then we got only the guy in the Honda to worry about.”
“Isn’t that enough?”
“It’s better than two headaches at one time. If Pemberton can trace him maybe we have clear sailing.”
LuAnn looked nervously at him. “If he finds him, what are you going to do?”
“I’ve been thinking about that. I think I’ve decided to play straight with the man, call his hand and see what the hell he wants. If it’s money, maybe we see what we can work out.”
“And if it’s not just money he wants?” She had difficulty getting the next part out. “What if he knows about the lottery?”
Charlie took the cigar from his mouth and stared at her.
“I can’t see how he could. But in the billion to one chance he does, there are a lot of other places in the world we can live, LuAnn. We could be gone tomorrow if need be.”
“On the run again,” she said, her tone bone-tired.
“Consider the alternative. It’s not pleasant.”
She reached out and plucked the cigar from between his fingers. Clenching it between her teeth, she drew the smoke in and then let it slowly out. She handed it back to him.
“When is Pemberton supposed to get back to you?”
“No set time. Could be tonight, could be next week.”
“Let me know when you hear from him.”
“You’ll be the first to know, milady.”
She turned to leave.
“Oh, am I invited to this lunch tomorrow?” he asked.
She glanced back. “I was kind of counting on it, Charlie.” She smiled prettily and left. He stood up and watched her glide gracefully down the hallway. Then he closed the door to his study and sat down at his desk puffing thoughtfully on his stogie.