Drew drops his hand from my shoulder and looks me directly in the face. “I know you’re thinking it. If you’re not, you’re crazy. Maybe it’s time you get her out of town. Out of the country, even. Mia, too. And maybe you should go with them.”
I haven’t heard Drew sound this serious since he was jailed on a murder charge himself. “I don’t know if I can do that right now. Leave, I mean.”
“Because Tom’s going on trial? Hell, you haven’t even been to the prison to see him, have you?”
“Once.”
“Are you planning to attend the trial, then?”
“I don’t know. The issue is my mother. I think I’ve got to be here for her.”
Drew studies me for some time. “I understand. But think about moving Annie and Mia. Anybody you or your father care about is a target.”
“You’re right. I will.”
He gives me his professional smile. “I’ve got to get over to my office.”
I look back at the table, where Keisha lies peacefully, at least for the moment. “Please keep a close eye on that girl, Drew.”
“I intend to. I’ve told the nurses to call me if any family members show up. But if she gets any worse, I may have to send her up to University in a chopper.”
“I understand.”
He gives me a fraternal flick of his head in farewell, then heads for the big double doors.
John Kaiser is standing with Annie and Mia when I come out into the waiting room. As soon as he catches sight of me, he tells the girls he needs a minute with me in private. I tell them that Keisha is resting quietly and that Drew has done everything possible for her, that now all we can do is wait. Then I give Annie a hug and follow Kaiser into an alcove where three vending machines stand humming.
“Did she say who attacked her?” he asks.
“She said it was a white woman—older, she thought—but she couldn’t give any real description. Black leather jacket was all she remembered. Sounds like the motorcycle gang, doesn’t it? The VK?”
“That’s the obvious assumption. I’d like to know where Wilma Deen is. She was present the night her brother was murdered, and she vanished right after Snake did. That tells me she’s capable of something like this.”
“I hope it was her. I don’t want to think this was payback for Tim and me killing those two VK guys.”
“You realize they could have hit you the same way, Penn. Or Annie.”
“No, they couldn’t,” I think aloud. “We have protection. She didn’t. That’s why they hit Keisha.”
The FBI agent considers this. “Your father’s trial starts in four days. Could be the VK are sending him and Quentin another message with this attack. Maybe somebody’s getting nervous.”
“Snake?”
“Who else? But why, I don’t know. Only your father knows that.”
I wave my hand, too upset even to discuss that issue. “Still no leads on Snake’s whereabouts?”
“You think I’ve been holding out on you? We’ve got nothing, Penn. Forrest and Snake had a long time to prepare for an emergency exit. And Forrest knew what he was doing. I’ve reached the point where I think the only thing that’s going to give us Snake Knox is luck. And he’s been a lucky son of a bitch all his life.”
“Everybody’s luck runs out eventually. And remember, Snake is his own worst enemy. He likes the spotlight. Once this trial starts, he may not be able to control himself. You think he can just sit somewhere and let this circus unfold? With national TV coverage every day? I don’t know how Snake was tied in to Viola—or even to my father—but sooner or later, he’s going to come sniffing around that trial.”
“We’ll be watching.”
“Meanwhile, I’m going to try to think of a way to draw him out.”
Kaiser looks worried. “Don’t do anything stupid. Use your brain, not your heart.”
“Go in there and look at that girl, John. She’s twenty-five, and she’s going to be blind for the rest of her life.”
“Christ.”
“Drew says she may die. It was hydrofluoric acid.”
“Goddamn. I know what that can do.”
“She’s one of the good guys, man. One of us. A kid. Are we just going to sit here and take this shit?”
Kaiser reaches out and squeezes my upper arm. “Sometimes that’s our only choice. That’s part of being the good guys.”
I say nothing.
“I’d like nothing better than to go to war with these assholes. But we can’t even be sure who did this.”
I do not share Kaiser’s view. In my mind I see the smug visage of Snake Knox while Kaiser and I tried to interrogate him in the Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office. He made us look like fools that day.
“Penn?”
“I’ll see you, John. Please let me know if you learn anything.”
The FBI man watches me carefully as I walk away, headed for the corner that will lead me to my car.
“Hey!” he calls. “Don’t you have a bodyguard?”
“Tim’s with the girls. I’ll text him to meet me at the car.”
“Are you carrying?”
The reassuring weight of my pistol rides my left ankle as I walk. “Never without it now.”
Kaiser nods, then sends me off with a mock salute.
I do text Tim, but not to meet me at my car. I tell him that I’ll be busy with Kaiser for some while, and that I want him to take Mia and Annie back home for the time being. As his reply comes in, I spy Jamie Lewis, the editor of the Natchez Examiner, about twenty feet from my Audi, walking toward the hospital.
“Jamie!” I call.
He waves and approaches me. “I’ve been on the phone with Caitlin’s father. He’s going to up the security for all of us. He’s flagellating himself for not doing it sooner.”
I can’t imagine what kind of agony John Masters must be putting himself through over this attack.
“Seeing Keisha like that is going to kill her brother,” Jamie says.
“The Auburn football player? You know him?”
“I met both her brothers at an Alabama football game. Roosevelt Harvin isn’t a guy you forget. He played defensive tackle. The oldest brother didn’t play college ball, but the dad played at Mississippi Valley State.”
“Are they coming to Natchez?”
Jamie nods. “The brothers are. The dad’s sick, apparently. They should be here late tonight. Early tomorrow morning at the latest.”
“This is going to be so bad. She may die, Jamie.”
His face goes pale. “What?”
“It has to do with the type of acid. It screws up your calcium and causes potentially fatal systemic problems.”
“Oh . . . fuck, man.”
“I’m sorry to be the one to tell you. Look, I need to get going.”
I start to leave, but Jamie appears to be in shock. He’s shaking his head like I’ve just told him the world is about to end.
“Keisha’s special,” he says. “You know? Fearless. Pure. Somebody’s going to pay for hurting that girl, I’m telling you.”
“If they ever find out who did it.”
“I’m not talking about the cops.”
“Don’t talk crazy,” I tell him, echoing Kaiser.
“I’m not talking about myself. I mean her brothers.”
I shake my head. “That wouldn’t help Keisha any. But take it from me, as a former prosecutor. Relatives swear they’re going to kill the perps in these situations all the time, but they almost never do.”