“Regular grunt?”
“Sniper.”
Serenity looks at Carl with new eyes, as if to say, Okay . . . I see you now. Carl practically glows from her attention.
Annie cuts her eyes at me and squeezes her lips together in a way that tells me she’s noticed the chemistry between them.
“I was in Fallujah,” says one of the younger security guys. “I was glad to get out, too.”
The subtext of that comment was Not everybody did. This makes me want to hear his story, but Tim Weathers silences any elaboration with a single glance that is impossible to misread. There will be no war stories in front of eleven-year-olds.
We attack the steaming red piles of crawfish for another half hour, and then Carl and I go down to my basement office with a couple of beers.
“I’m glad you came in person,” I tell him.
“I didn’t want to call you about this.”
“You still don’t trust everybody in your department?”
“Billy Ray Ellis is still sheriff. That ought to tell you all you need to know.”
I nod dispiritedly. “What have you got?”
“My dad knows the woman you asked about. The one whose son got lynched. His voice had a real funny sound when he told me. He said this lady knew the worst story in the world.”
“The worst story in the world? Coming from your father . . .”
“That means something, brother. I’m not sure I even want to know. You know?”
“Yeah. But to nail Snake, maybe we have to know.”
Carl nods soberly. “Her name is Cleotha Booker. She’s a widow. Long time now. She’s real old and mostly keeps to herself. Daddy talked to her about you. She refused to speak to you at first, but then she found out you were Dr. Cage’s son. She said if you were willing to drive down to Athens Point, she’d talk to you. But she told Daddy right up front that she doesn’t know anything about who killed her boy.”
“Damn. And her daughter-in-law?”
“She passed way back in ’67 or ’68. Committed suicide up north somewhere.”
“That’s what my dad remembered, too.”
“Don’t sound like much of a lead, Penn.”
I shrug. “You never know. I’ve broken cases with less.”
Carl takes a long swallow of Corona. “So, Mr. Mayor. Who is that hot thing upstairs?”
“Serenity? She’s a writer, like I said. She’s in town doing research.”
Carl manages to hold a neutral expression for about two seconds. Then he breaks into wild laughter and slaps his thigh with his free hand. “Lord, is she hot! Ain’t no way that girl was in the army. No army I was ever in, anyway.”
Carl has got me chuckling with him. “She’s not hard to look at, I’ll grant you that. She is about ten years older than you, though. I figured you’d see her as an old lady.”
Carl draws his head back like I’m a drunk driver who just swore he’s sober. “Get out with that shit. I’d trade ten college girls for a night with that lady up there. That’s a real woman. You can tell.”
“I think you’re probably right. You ought to read her book.”
Carl’s serious look returns, but then he breaks up again. “I might read a chapter if it’ll get me a chance to talk to her.”
“Hell, you can go up and talk to her right now.”
“Penn, Penn, Penn—I mean talk to her. Man, you’re old sometimes.”
Forty-five minutes later, Carl looks well on his way to getting his wish. The off-duty security guys are sitting on the back porch drinking beer. Annie is doing something on her computer, and Mia looks content reading on the sofa with her feet kicked up on the arm. I’m putting away dishes when I decide to ask Carl something about the sheriff in Lusahatcha County. Before I go looking for him, though, he and Serenity appear in the kitchen doorway.
“I’m gonna take Tee to see a couple of things before the sun goes down,” Carl says, looking innocent as a choirboy.
“Great,” I reply, just as innocently. “Get her to tell you about our visit to some Double Eagles this morning.”
“The mayor is easily impressed,” Tee says from behind Carl. “Let’s go. Sun’s going down.”
Ten seconds later the front door slams.
Standing at the sink, I survey the kitchen, which is pretty clean, considering. Annie’s lost in her computer. Looking past her to the den, I see Mia reading her book on the sofa. I may be wrong, but there appears to be a trace of a smile on her lips. Though I watch her for some time, she never looks up at me. She merely licks one finger and turns the page, the faint smile still in place.
About ten thirty p.m., Serenity texts me that she wants to drive down to Athens Point to see Cleotha Booker in the morning, if I have time. So . . . she wangled that private information out of Carl without any trouble. I text her that I do have time, if we leave early. She sends another text saying that she’s talking to Keisha Harvin’s brothers and won’t be back for some time yet. It’s then I realize that I’ve been waiting for her to return so that we can discuss the Athens Point issue as well as what happened at the Devine house.
Once I know Tee will be late, I decide to go upstairs and try to get some sleep. As I say good night to the girls, Annie looks up from the TV and says, “Is Serenity coming back tonight?”
So I’m not the only one waiting for Tee’s return. “Yes, but not for a while yet.”
My daughter looks worried. “Is she okay?”
“Oh, yeah. Carl will take good care of her.”
Mia glances up at me then, but she makes no comment.
“I’ll see ya’ll in the morning,” I say.
“’Night, Dad.”
At the foot of the staircase, I realize I’m not really ready to sleep. Instead, I text Tim and ask if he’d like to take a walk with me. He’s been doing some paperwork on one of the cots in the basement, and he’s happy for a chance to get some exercise in the night air. The only caveat: he insists that I put on my bulletproof vest—with the ceramic inserts—which goes a long way toward turning our outing into a good walk spoiled.
As we start toward the river, I spy an old man walking his dog in the distance, where Commerce Street meets Orleans. The animal seems to be pulling its master along, impatient at being constrained by age or infirmity. Something about the old man looks familiar, but I say nothing to Tim, who is also watching the pair. Natchez is a small town, and if I don’t know the dog walker well, I’ve certainly seen him many times in my life.