“Filet for the lady. T-bone for Ledge.” She set two sizzling platters on the table. Addressing Arden, she said, “I know how Ledge likes his. Want to cut into yours to see if it’s cooked okay?”
“I’m sure it’s fine.”
Angie asked if they needed anything else, and when Ledge told her no, she left them. He picked up his knife and fork, and motioned for Arden to do the same.
“I’m too angry to eat.”
“Force yourself.” He cut a piece of steak, speared it, pushed it into his mouth.
“Why?”
“For appearance’s sake.”
“Don’t you want to know—”
“Yes. But not now. Not here.”
He looked around. No one seemed to be paying Arden and him special attention, but Rusty had far-reaching tentacles.
His steak was as good as usual, but he ate methodically, fueling himself without really tasting the food. He was more interested in the woman across from him, who took dainty bites of her dainty filet. She looked distraught, bewildered, anxious, and angry, all at the same time.
He wanted to tell her that everything was going to be all right. But he didn’t know that everything was. Besides, what a fucking hypocrite that would make him.
They declined dessert and coffee. Rather than hassle with a credit card, he left cash on the table. Angie looked disappointed to see them go.
As they headed back toward Penton, he watched to see if anyone followed them from the area of the restaurant. No one did.
“Okay. Tell me,” he said. “How did you learn it was Rusty?”
“I’d gotten the reports and was leaving the courthouse. He pulled up behind me on the parking lot. I recognized the sound of his car’s engine.” She described the scene and recounted their conversation. “To tell it, it sounds perfectly harmless. But it didn’t feel that way. My skin was crawling.”
“With good reason. That detective didn’t point you out to him. He’s had you in his sights since you moved back.”
“But why?”
“Hold that thought.”
Well before they reached the city limits of Penton, he turned off onto a narrow side road that amounted to a rutted dirt lane. If one didn’t know it was there, he would drive past without even seeing it.
Arden asked, “Where are we going?”
“To the scene of the crime.”
Even at high noon, it was an ominous environment. After the sun went down, the threatening aspects were intensified by the encompassing darkness. Trees that competed for sunlight during the day formed a canopy that moonlight couldn’t penetrate. Insects were intimidated into silence. Nocturnal creatures went about their business furtively. Fowl sheltered in their nests. The aura of menace was unrelieved.
When the road came to a dead end, Arden spoke his name with apprehension.
He said, “You should recognize the place by the description in the police report.”
She undid her seat belt and leaned forward to peer through the windshield. Had the headlights not been reflecting dully on the murky water that channeled through the gnarled knees of the cypresses, she wouldn’t have known the lake was in front of them. When he cut the headlights, it disappeared.
“This is where they found Brian Foster,” she said in a whisper.
“Parts of him. In those cypresses.” He pointed to the copse growing out of the lake.
She turned and looked at him. “What does this have to do with Rusty?”
“Rusty killed him.”
Chapter 28
Judy Dyle summoned her family to the dinner table.
All three of the children were involved in sports and other extracurricular activities. Their after-school schedules required more coordination than the D-Day invasion. Furthermore, the schedule was constantly changing, making a set time for the evening meal impossible. Most nights, they ate in shifts, which suited Rusty just fine.
But Judy insisted that at least one night a week they have dinner as a family.
Tonight was the night. Lucky him, Rusty thought sourly. He took his place at the head of the table. At Judy’s direction, their daughter mumbled her way through a short blessing.
Just as she pronounced the amen, Rusty’s cell phone rang. Rescue! He pushed back his chair.
Judy said, “We agreed to ban cell phones at the dinner table.”
“I didn’t agree.” Ignoring her glower, he left the table. As he entered his study and shut the door, he looked at the readout on his phone and answered. “Angie, baby. You horny for me?”
“You wish. Listen, we’re busy, so I’ve got to be quick. I’m calling to ask a favor in exchange for some juicy skinny.”
“You have it backward, sweetheart. You do me the favors. In exchange, I don’t tell your boss that you dip into