her coat.
“What’s up?” he asked.
“I want to go get my car.”
“You’re sure you’re up to it?” he asked.
“Yes. Will you take me?”
“Yes, but since your right shoulder and right leg were the main injuries you suffered, you have to promise to drive the speed limit.”
She didn’t hesitate. “Agreed.”
“Was your driver’s license in the crash?” Charlie asked.
“I left it in the Mercedes.”
“Then you’re good to go. Give me a second to get my coat and car keys,” he said, and took off running at a lope. He came back wearing a flannel-lined jean jacket and his Stetson.
He helped her on with her coat, then walked her to the back door.
“Wait here,” he said, and went out back to the detached four-car garage to get the Jeep.
The wind was sharp, but the sky was clear. It felt good to be outside. When he drove back to pick her up, she was also outside waiting, wrapped up in her white faux fur coat with the hood pulled up over her head. There was a look of expectation on her face as she got in and buckled up.
Charlie glanced over to make sure she was settled and then drove away, closing the main gates behind them as they went. They hadn’t gone far when Wyrick started talking. Casual conversation was not her chosen form of communication, so he knew what she had to say was important.
“Has anyone from the federal justice level contacted you about wanting to talk to me?” she asked.
“Yes. I told them you were still healing, but would make yourself available when you were physically able.”
“Who was it?”
“Someone from the Department of Justice,” Charlie said.
“Then when we get back, tell them I’m ready.”
“Okay,” Charlie said. “Do you want to talk to them at your home?”
“No. I think I need to have a lawyer present. Merlin’s lawyer, Rodney Gordon, offered his services, but he’s mainly an estate lawyer. I don’t know who to ask.”
“I do. Will you trust me to get one?” Charlie asked.
She nodded. “Yes. And there’s something else. I have over four thousand emails I haven’t looked at, but I’m going to have to allow some kind of televised interview to get the pressure off people trying to hunt me down for one.”
“I agree,” Charlie said. “What are you thinking?”
“I’m not going to do it at just one news outlet and then have to appear at each one separately, telling the same story, answering the same questions over and over. But I will pick a venue for all media only and, after a brief statement, answer all of their questions. But it has to be live. I’m not giving anyone the chance to manipulate my words later.”
“You’ve thought this through, haven’t you?” Charlie said.
She answered abruptly, but with no emotion.
“I have handed my personal privacy to the world on a fucking plate, so, yes, I thought it through long and hard before I did it.”
He knew detachment was part of her wall, and it was obviously back up.
“Then we’ll make it happen,” he said.
Satisfied, she focused on the freeway traffic as they headed for the private airport. But arriving at the hangar and seeing the crime scene tape set her in a mood again. Then going inside and seeing the chaos in the office was a brutal reminder of what had happened to Benny.
Charlie heard her mumble something about “the bastard” beneath her breath and knew she was talking about Parks.
“Benny is home and healing, just like you,” Charlie said. “I checked on him the other day. He’s over the moon about what he called ‘your generosity.’ What did you do?”
“Nothing he didn’t deserve. Will you please shut the hangar doors after I back out?”
“Yes, and I’m following you home, so don’t speed. I’m not going to consider you safe until all of this has passed and the guilty are permanently behind bars.”
She got in the car, retrieved her key from a hidden compartment in the console, and when she started the engine and buckled herself in, she sighed.
She was mobile again.
She backed out, then sat with it idling, waiting for Charlie to shut the hangar doors and get back in the Jeep before leaving. A promise was a promise.
And when they got back to the mansion, she parked in one garage stall, and Charlie pulled into the one beside her.
They walked inside in mutual silence, then paused in the kitchen.
“Are you ready?” Charlie said.
Wyrick nodded. “I’m starting with email and looking up a public venue here in Dallas to