of how Jeremy Harper had copied those pictures and tried to blackmail Mrs. Todd.
They walked out on the pier and moonlight glistened on the still dark water. She listened without comment when he repeated the conversation he and Sigrid had with Crawford at the airport. He also told her what his former colleague had said about the murdered pilot. “I’m not trying to justify it, Deb’rah, just saying that I know where he’s coming from.”
“Because you know where he’s been?” There was no judgment in her question. Indeed, it was not really even a question.
The silence stretched between them.
“Maybe I should have arrested him or turned him over to the feds, but…”
“But it got complicated, didn’t it? Bits and pieces of your own life got caught up in the equation.”
She started to move away, but he put his hand on her shoulder and turned her back to face him.
“Do you really want me to tell you what happened in Germany?”
She returned his steady gaze for a long moment without flinching, then the consciously neutral lines of her face softened in the moonlight.
“Someday,” she said as she reached up and gently touched his face. “When you’re ready. If you want to.”
She walked down to the post that Annie Sue and Reese had wired with a switch at Christmas. Red, blue, and yellow lights gleamed through the water off the far end of the pier. The surface above bubbled and foamed, then that silly fountain the kids had installed suddenly shot up into the air, changing colors as the lights revolved.
He followed and put his arms around her, and when she leaned back against his chest, he knew she was okay with his decision.
“Cal was out in the garden this afternoon,” she said, fitting her body more closely to his. “He says our peas are coming up.”
A light breeze ruffled her hair as the wind shifted further to the west.
It held the promise of rain, the promise of spring.
APRIL 2011
Acknowledgments
My continuing thanks to Rebecca Blackmore, Shelly Holt, John Smith, and Shelley Desvousges, who went to law school and became district court judges so that I didn’t have to. Without their expert knowledge and their willingness to share that knowledge, Deborah Knott could not have been elected dogcatcher.
Brenda Foldesi, Sharon Woods Hopkins, and Lisa Logan walked me through the process of buying a house in Colleton County.
Brainstorming sessions with Bren Bonner Witchger, Mary Kay Andrews, Alex Sokoloff, Diane Chamberlain, Katy Munger, and Sarah Shaber—the other six of our Weymouth 7—were indispensable when I wrote myself into a corner with this book and couldn’t get out. And Weymouth itself continues to welcome us twice a year.
Vicky Bijur, who will be my agent and friend till one of us dies, has been my trusted advisor and support since we were both newbies.
Deborah Knott Novels:
THREE-DAY TOWN
CHRISTMAS MOURNING
SAND SHARKS
DEATH’S HALF ACRE
HARD ROW
WINTER’S CHILD
RITUALS OF THE SEASON
HIGH COUNTRY FALL
SLOW DOLLAR
UNCOMMON CLAY
STORM TRACK
HOME FIRES
KILLER MARKET
UP JUMPS THE DEVIL
SHOOTING AT LOONS
SOUTHERN DISCOMFORT
BOOTLEGGER’S DAUGHTER
Sigrid Harald Novels:
FUGITIVE COLORS
PAST IMPERFECT
CORPUS CHRISTMAS
BABY DOLL GAMES
THE RIGHT JACK
DEATH IN BLUE FOLDERS
DEATH OF A BUTTERFLY
ONE COFFEE WITH
Non-series:
BLOODY KIN
SHOVELING SMOKE
LAST LESSONS OF SUMMER
SUITABLE FOR HANGING
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Contents
Title Page
Dedication
Family Tree
Somalia—Late 1993
December
January
February
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
April 2011
Acknowledgments
Also by Margaret Maron
Newsletter
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2012 by Margaret Maron
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
All chapter captions are taken from the official website of The Turkey Vulture Society, a nonprofit scientific corporation (http://vulturesociety.homestead.com/), and used by its permission. Its purpose is to promote scientific studies of the life habits and needs of the turkey vulture, to protect the vulture and its habitat, and to inform the public of the valuable and essential services this bird provides to mankind and to the environment.
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ISBN 978-1-4555-1825-8
Table of Contents
Title Page
Dedication
Family Tree
Somalia—Late 1993
December
January
February
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
April 2011
Acknowledgments
Also by Margaret Maron
Newsletter
Copyright