“You’re being cynical again,” she said coldly.
“No, I’m actually being politely probing.”
“Okay, I admit that I can’t tell you for sure if Willa is Pam’s daughter. I always believed that she was. Let me put it this way, I had no reason not to believe that she was.”
“Well, if you are withholding something from me I will get to the truth at some point and the results may not be to your liking.”
“Is that a threat?”
“Threatening any member of the First Family is a felony, as you well know. And I’m one of the good guys. See you at the funeral, Mrs. Cox.”
He hung up the phone.
Jane locked the letter and key back in her desk and nearly ran to the living quarters. As she undressed and climbed back into bed, she listened to the soft snores of her husband. He never had trouble going to sleep. Even after working the phones until the wee hours of the morning, he would finally put the receiver down after haggling over some mind-numbingly important national business, brush his teeth, and be asleep within five minutes. She, on the other hand, took hours to do so, if she ever managed at all.
As she lay on her side and stared over at the wall she imagined she could see Willa’s face there, the child beckoning to her. Pleading.
Help me, Aunt Jane. Save me. I need you.
CHAPTER 44
WHAT’S THE MATTER, Gabriel? You look like you’re not feeling too good.”
Quarry eyed the little boy across the heft of the kitchen table.
“Haven’t been sleeping too good the last couple of nights, Mr. Sam,” he said miserably.
“Kids are always supposed to sleep good. You got something on your mind?”
Gabriel couldn’t look at him when he said, “Nothing important. I’ll be okay.”
“You got school today?” Quarry asked, as he studied the boy closely. “’Cause if you do, you’re gonna miss the bus.”
“Nope. Teacher day. I thought I’d help Ma, do some field work, and then get some reading done.”
“I need to talk to your ma after I go into town.”
“What about?”
“Personal business.”
Gabriel’s face fell. “I didn’t do anything wrong, did I?”
Quarry smiled. “You think the whole world revolves around you? Naw, just business stuff. You get a chance to clean out the toolbench in the barn some, that’d be real good. Get rid of anything that’s rusted up bad. And I got another stamp for you.”
Gabriel did his best to smile. “Thank you, Mr. Sam. Got me a good collection going. I checked on one you gave me on the computer at school. On eBay.”
“What the hell is that?”
“You buy and sell stuff on there. Like a bunch of stores on the Internet.”
Quarry looked mildly interested. “Go on.”
“Anyway, this one stamp you gave me is worth forty dollars!”
“Damn. You gonna sell it?”
Gabriel looked shocked. “Mr. Sam, I’m not selling anything you give me.”