appreciate it. I really do.”
“I doubt I can be of much help.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” Lonnie said. He grinned. “Seemed to me like I caught a little spark there, buddy. A little spark still burning for you.”
“I doubt it,” I said. “Where is she?”
“First cell on your right.”
“She’s in the jail?”
Lonnie chuckled. “No, ’course not. I mean, she is, but the cell’s not locked. Just a place for her to sit until she goes back home.”
“So she can go home anytime she wants?”
“Well … no … not exactly. It’s a protective-custody sort of thing. ’Cause she wouldn’t say anything. About Spivey, I mean. She identified the body, but she wouldn’t answer any questions about him. Not one. And no matter how you look at it, Clayton Spivey died under mysterious circumstances, which means that until DocPoole takes a close look at the body, I got to assume there could have been foul play.”
“What does any of this have to do with keeping Lila in a jail cell?”
“Like I told you, Roy, it’s not locked. Of course, if you prefer, I could arrest her.”
“For what?”
“Suspicious behavior.”
“That’s not a charge, and you know it.”
“It’d stick long enough for me to find a better one if I needed to.” He winked. “I’d just tell Judge Crowe I think it’s pretty damn suspicious. This fellow found dead in the woods. A man that lived on her land.”
“And only that,” I said. “A tenant. With no other connection.”
“Anyway, him dead in the woods and she won’t have anything to do with me. A duly constituted authority. Hell, all I got to do is tell the judge she’s not cooperating.”
There was no point in arguing about it. Nothing had really changed in Kingdom County. Lonnie ran things in the same way his father had run them before him, with a cavalier certainty that he’d be protected by the old chain of command that flowed from the courthouse to the governor’s mansion in one long, unbroken line of cronyism.
“Is Lila expecting me?” I asked.
“Nope,” Lonnie answered. “You’ll be a big surprise.”
But from the expression on Lila’s face, my sudden appearance was far more than a surprise. She looked astonished, as if she’d long ago dismissed me from her mind.
“Roy,” she said quietly.
“Hello, Lila.”
She sat on a metal cot covered by a thin striped mattress, her hands in her lap. Her hair had darkened but still threw off fiery tints. There were lines now at the corners of her eyes, and fainter ones crisscrossed her brow, but otherwise she appeared remarkably unchanged, no more than a blink away from the Highland beauty she’d been.
The cell door was open. I stepped inside.
“This is ridiculous,” I told her. “Lonnie having you sit back here. Probably illegal too.”
She gave a quick laugh. “He’s trying to scare me. But it won’t work.” She smiled softly. “Lonnie told me you’d come back home,” she said. Her gaze was steady, yet oddly probing. “He said you were a friend of his.”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” I told her. “I just happened to be over at his house when we heard about Clayton Spivey.”
She nodded. “I identified him this morning.”
“I know,” I told her. “And Lonnie should have let you go after that. There’s no reason you should be—”
“He can’t hold me, I know that,” Lila said firmly. “Why are you here, Roy? Back in Kingdom County?”
“My father’s dying,” I answered. “I’ve come back to take care of him until it’s over.”
“Did you bring your family with you?”
“I don’t have a family.”
Shadows flitted behind her eyes. “I’ve thought of you a lot over the years.”
I smiled. “We had some good times, didn’t we?”
A vision formed in my mind. It was not just of myselfand Lila, but of Archie too, and Gloria, all of us sitting at one of the little concrete picnic tables along the edge of the old rock quarry, Archie so moonstruck, so
“I doubt I can be of much help.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” Lonnie said. He grinned. “Seemed to me like I caught a little spark there, buddy. A little spark still burning for you.”
“I doubt it,” I said. “Where is she?”
“First cell on your right.”
“She’s in the jail?”
Lonnie chuckled. “No, ’course not. I mean, she is, but the cell’s not locked. Just a place for her to sit until she goes back home.”
“So she can go home anytime she wants?”
“Well … no … not exactly. It’s a protective-custody sort of thing. ’Cause she wouldn’t say anything. About Spivey, I mean. She identified the body, but she wouldn’t answer any questions about him. Not one. And no matter how you look at it, Clayton Spivey died under mysterious circumstances, which means that until DocPoole takes a close look at the body, I got to assume there could have been foul play.”
“What does any of this have to do with keeping Lila in a jail cell?”
“Like I told you, Roy, it’s not locked. Of course, if you prefer, I could arrest her.”
“For what?”
“Suspicious behavior.”
“That’s not a charge, and you know it.”
“It’d stick long enough for me to find a better one if I needed to.” He winked. “I’d just tell Judge Crowe I think it’s pretty damn suspicious. This fellow found dead in the woods. A man that lived on her land.”
“And only that,” I said. “A tenant. With no other connection.”
“Anyway, him dead in the woods and she won’t have anything to do with me. A duly constituted authority. Hell, all I got to do is tell the judge she’s not cooperating.”
There was no point in arguing about it. Nothing had really changed in Kingdom County. Lonnie ran things in the same way his father had run them before him, with a cavalier certainty that he’d be protected by the old chain of command that flowed from the courthouse to the governor’s mansion in one long, unbroken line of cronyism.
“Is Lila expecting me?” I asked.
“Nope,” Lonnie answered. “You’ll be a big surprise.”
But from the expression on Lila’s face, my sudden appearance was far more than a surprise. She looked astonished, as if she’d long ago dismissed me from her mind.
“Roy,” she said quietly.
“Hello, Lila.”
She sat on a metal cot covered by a thin striped mattress, her hands in her lap. Her hair had darkened but still threw off fiery tints. There were lines now at the corners of her eyes, and fainter ones crisscrossed her brow, but otherwise she appeared remarkably unchanged, no more than a blink away from the Highland beauty she’d been.
The cell door was open. I stepped inside.
“This is ridiculous,” I told her. “Lonnie having you sit back here. Probably illegal too.”
She gave a quick laugh. “He’s trying to scare me. But it won’t work.” She smiled softly. “Lonnie told me you’d come back home,” she said. Her gaze was steady, yet oddly probing. “He said you were a friend of his.”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” I told her. “I just happened to be over at his house when we heard about Clayton Spivey.”
She nodded. “I identified him this morning.”
“I know,” I told her. “And Lonnie should have let you go after that. There’s no reason you should be—”
“He can’t hold me, I know that,” Lila said firmly. “Why are you here, Roy? Back in Kingdom County?”
“My father’s dying,” I answered. “I’ve come back to take care of him until it’s over.”
“Did you bring your family with you?”
“I don’t have a family.”
Shadows flitted behind her eyes. “I’ve thought of you a lot over the years.”
I smiled. “We had some good times, didn’t we?”
A vision formed in my mind. It was not just of myselfand Lila, but of Archie too, and Gloria, all of us sitting at one of the little concrete picnic tables along the edge of the old rock quarry, Archie so moonstruck, so
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