the cabin, with both of you in shock, in pain from his attacking you. But tell me this: If Marsia hadn’t been there, what would you have done?”
Mother and son stared at her. Mrs. Trumbo said finally, “Do you know, it’s hard to be sure now. I’d like to think we would have gone to the police, but I really don’t know.”
Ronald said, “We were so scared, I mean, there he was, lying dead, and I’d stabbed him in the back. And I remember I kept thinking he was a monster, and I hadn’t even known what he was doing to my mother.” He raised his chin, and his voice grew stronger, more certain. “I’d have thought about throwing him in the woods and letting the animals have him.”
Mrs. Trumbo clasped his hand hard. “I can only hope, looking back, we would have come to our senses and gone to the police. I hope we would have.”
Pippa looked from one to the other. “You’ll have to show us where you buried the major, and there will be consequences. But when everything is explained to the district attorney, I think you’ll be cleared of killing him. Of course, there’ll be other charges, Ronald, some of them serious, but you’ll get a lighter sentence than you might expect. Do you know why?”
They stared back at her, the beginnings of hope in their eyes. “You’re going to help us put Marsia Gay away.” Pippa held out her hand. “Give me your cell phone, Ronald. I believe those texts you have will be a big nail in Marsia’s coffin. Do you still have that video?”
59
MANVERS HOUSE
WEDNESDAY NIGHT
Rebekah, Beck, and Rich Manvers sat at the dining room table, a fresh bouquet of red roses in the middle and the warm glow of the art deco chandelier overhead.
“Well, you’ve certainly become famous, Rebekah, or maybe I should say infamous,” Beck said as he chewed on the excellent prime rib provided by the Manvers’s cook, Mrs. Bybee. “My new girlfriend won’t shut up about your adventure last Thursday. She wants all the gory details, straight from the horse’s mouth, well, the mare’s mouth. I told her maybe my dad wanted you out of the way and picked a dramatic way to do it.” He grinned at Rebekah and his father, forked down another healthy bite of prime rib. “Or maybe you and Dad put it all on together to garner sympathy votes for his next election.”
“Not funny, Beck,” Rich said.
Rebekah, her mind miles away, looked at Beck, cocked her head, and said, “Would you like some salad? It’s Mrs. Bybee’s special Caesar.”
Beck arched a dark brow at her, exactly like his father, and laughed. “Sorry, just trying to lighten things up, get us in the Thanksgiving spirit, but you’re off on another planet. You want to talk about my new girlfriend? Her name’s Paula Land, and she’s younger than you are, Rebekah, all of twenty-two, fresh out of Princeton. Don’t worry, Dad, she wouldn’t be a millstone around your neck if I married her; her family has more money than God. Oil wells and refineries.”
Rebekah wouldn’t have cared if Paula were ninety-six. “That’s nice, Beck.”
Beck gave up trying to get a rise out of Rebekah, turned to his father. “Seriously, Dad, about last Thursday. The FBI and Metro cops still have their thumbs in their mouths? Still no leads?”
Rich said, “Nothing definite, no. The two men who attacked Rebekah didn’t leave a trail, at least not one easily discovered.”
Beck patted his mouth with his napkin and sat back in his chair. “At least that FBI agent, Savich, stopped them, so he was good for something. And that other agent, Hammersmith, who’s been guarding her, Kit called him a rare hunk, a girl’s fantasy. So what do you think of him, Dad? Think you could be in trouble?”
Rich took a bite of his Caesar salad and shook his head at his son. “Don’t you ever get tired of trying to stir the pot? Fact is, I’m very relieved Agent Hammersmith is here to keep her safe. And don’t you have to get to your date, Beck? To Paula? You don’t want to be late.”
Beck grinned at him again. “I promised her I’d find out as much as I could, but I see you’re not going to tell me much of anything, so I’ll have to make something up.”
Rich sighed and took a sip of his cabernet.
“Rebekah, do you want to give me some juicy details? For Paula?”
Rebekah brought