felt comfortable doing yet. Though he hoped to hell they could get to that point someday. “I’ll check and see if she’s available. We’ll let you or Nesta know as soon as possible.”
With a nod and a hearty politician’s slap on his back, Lamont was gone.
Zach eyed the road that Savannah had sped down, tempted to find her and ask her what was going on. Instead he forced himself to head back to his office. He had paperwork to finish up, a new deputy to hire, and plans for wooing one skittish assistant DA.
* * *
Visiting Aunt Gibby was never as simple as it sounded. First there were the social niceties to get out of the way. Even though Savannah had just seen her aunt a few days ago, the older woman went through the ritual of asking about Savannah’s health and her sisters’ health and a long discussion on whether or not it was going to be as hot this summer as it was the year before. When Gibby asked about her progress on the house, Savannah, at last, felt she could bring up the subject of the letters.
“Oh yes, I know your grandfather was a great letter writer. Why, I think I still have some letters he sent me from years ago.”
“Did you know he wrote to my grandmother even after she died?”
Sadness dulled Gibby’s eyes. “That doesn’t surprise me. Daniel missed Camille so very much.”
“I read some this morning that I found surprising.”
Gibby poured herself another cup of tea. “What’s that, dear?”
“He said he didn’t believe that Daddy killed Mama or that he committed suicide. He believed they were both murdered.”
The nervous clatter of the teacup before it crashed to the floor told Savannah she’d definitely hit a nerve.
Savannah grabbed a napkin and went to her knees to dry the spill and pick up the shattered china pieces. She glanced up at Gibby, whose face had gone sheet white. “You think that, too, don’t you?”
Gibby’s gaze dropped; her fluttering, nervous fingers wiped at the moisture on the table. “I didn’t say any such thing.”
Savannah took her seat again. “Then say something, Gibby. Please … tell me what you know.”
Gibby slumped back into her chair, and her eyes went unfocused as she remembered. “We were all stunned. There’d never been any indication that Beckett would do anything like that. When he was younger, he had a temper, but we hadn’t seen any indication of that since Maggie came into his life. She just seemed to calm him.” She smiled sadly and added, “You know, like she was his center, and as long as he could concentrate on her, nothing else mattered. When you girls came along, I’ve never seen a happier man in all my born days.
“Anyway, I wasn’t at the country club when he and your mama had their argument. I heard about it, of course. Esther Lovell called me right after it happened.” She waved her hand in her fluttering way. “You know she was always the biggest busybody.”
Savannah’s fingers gripped the edge of the table. Rushing Gibby would do no good. She would tell the story her way, in her own time.
“She said everyone in the club could hear them hollering at each other. Your mama, as you know, had the sweetest disposition. So when Esther told me about the argument, I just figured she was elaborating, as was her way. Then, when the police called me …” She swallowed hard. “Your grandfather was out of town, so I had to go over …”
“Oh, Aunt Gibby, I didn’t know you had to be involved.”
“I insisted on seeing them both. Which was stupid. Chief Mosby certainly didn’t need an identification. But I just refused to believe it was true.” Breath shuddered from her body. “Those are images I’ll never get out of my head.”
Savannah took both of her hands and squeezed them. She felt terrible for making Gibby recount that time. Was she being selfish, bringing this up when it was most likely just wishful thinking on her grandfather’s part?
Gibby cleared her throat and continued, “After the initial shock subsided, Daniel started to question what we had been told. Chief Mosby refused to investigate further, saying the case was closed.”
“And he just let it go at that? The letters he wrote Grandmother made it seem that he was threatened in some way.”
Gibby sighed. “I don’t know anything about that, darlin’. Daniel refused to talk about it anymore. I figured he finally accepted the truth and just