Sylvia scratched Killer’s head. “Love this dog!” she cooed. “Truly one of God’s creatures, so damned ugly he’s beautiful! Sorry, I didn’t mean to be offensive.”
“It’s okay,” Meg assured her. “He gets that a lot.”
Matt felt his phone vibrating and excused himself to answer it. Angela.
“We’ll be in soon,” she said. “Anything? Any luck?”
“No, but we feel we’re on the right track. We’ll head back to the MacAndrew farmhouse now. See you there.”
Meg was still chatting with Sylvia. He glanced at his watch, signaling that they had to leave. They said their goodbyes and returned to the car, but when they reached it, Meg paused, looking back at the ruins of the house in the neighboring acreage.
“I know she’s not there. But she’s somewhere nearby.”
“I believe you. And I believe that we will find her,” he vowed.
Time, he thought.
Time was everything now.
*
“I really think this is far too much fuss for one congressman,” Ian Walker said.
Meg agreed—except that, one way or another, the answer to Lara’s disappearance lay with this man. They were seated in the massive family dining room at the farmhouse; some of the agents and security people were outside, others were stationed around the house, and everyone had come in at some point for dinner, which had been catered by a local restaurant.
“Oh, darling, after everything that’s happened?” Kendra responded. “And you’re not just any congressman, you know.”
“Well, I should have planned better,” Ian said. “It was all this bizarre trouble with Ellery Manheim. I couldn’t believe that he was guilty of anything, and that turned out to be true. He was as much a victim of this maniac as I was. And yet he resigned. He said he wouldn’t mar my good name with any hint of scandal. I told him I was willing to stand up to anyone, that he’s an innocent man. False accusations cause so many problems, and I didn’t want Ellery to be a victim of anything like that. But I couldn’t convince him to stay.”
“He made the only logical stand,” Maddie said. She clasped Ian’s hand. “I know what you mean, but he did do the right thing. Not to mention the fact that he’s already gotten a huge offer to write a book. Ellery is going to be fine.”
Ian Walker stood suddenly. “Well, it’s late, but no help for it. I want to see the site where I’ll be speaking. I won’t be in the cemetery, but I’ll still be close to where Lincoln gave his Gettysburg address!”
“Incredible, isn’t it? Lincoln never knew what an impression he’d make with his words that day,” Matt said. “He’d intended to be brief—Edward Everett had already given a lengthy oration, and Lincoln didn’t think the crowd could abide another long speech. He was also ill when he delivered it. Physicians later thought he might have had the beginnings of a mild case of smallpox. Also interesting—there are at least five slightly different versions of the speech.”
Meg noted that he spoke casually, just making conversation, which they’d been doing since dinner. Before that, the place had been bustling with activity, as everyone went to their assigned rooms, police and security and FBI were all introduced to one another and luggage was brought in. She’d had a few minutes to spend with Maddie, who was delighted that her room actually connected with Meg’s. “I’ll feel so safe with you next to me,” she’d told her. Meg just wished she could feel as confident. She wasn’t afraid of an unknown situation; she was afraid of treachery.
Someone in that house was to be feared. She knew it.
“Lincoln was truly such a great man,” Kendra said with enthusiasm.
“Garth Hubbard was the closest living politician to him I’ve ever seen,” Ian Walker said, squeezing Maddie’s hand in return.
“Well, you’ll have to carry on in his stead, Ian, that’s all there is to it,” Maddie said, tears in her eyes.
“I plan to at least deliver a good speech. So, ladies and gentlemen, I understand that a number of you will accompany me? As I said, I want to see the platform where I’ll be speaking. It isn’t where Lincoln dedicated the Soldiers’ National Cemetery, but I’m here to talk about our country getting together. About how we should stop with the bipartisan bull that’s tearing us apart. Gettysburg is a fitting place for it, but...I’m trying to follow in giant footsteps. I have to speak well.”
Jackson, standing quietly in one corner of the room, came forward. “Sir, you do realize that it’s late and dark.”
“And I have all of you,” Ian said. “Special Agent Crow, I’ll be bringing members of your unit and the Capitol police and my own people. We’ll be fine.”