Divine Justice

The phone rang again. It was probably his boss telling him he hadn't been particularly cooperative and how did suspension without pay sound?

But he was wrong. The caller ID readout surprised him.

"Agent Ford? My name is Melanie Knox. My father is Joe Knox. Someone broke into his house and I can't get hold of him. The only thing I found was a list with your name on it."

"When's the last time you heard from him?" She told him. "I spoke to him before that. I haven't heard from him since. It could be a burglary. You should call the cops."

"Nothing of value was stolen. The two safes he had weren't even touched."

"I'm not sure what I can do about it."

"What did he talk to you about?"

"I'm afraid I can't disclose that."

"Agent Ford, I am really worried about my dad. The last time I talked to him he sounded, well, he sounded like maybe he was talking to me for the last time. I really think he might be in trouble."

Maybe that was why he'd gotten the visit from Hayes. His faithful dog had gone off the scent and the old man was operating blind. "When you talked to him did he give you any indication of where he might be?"

"He said something about being west of here, only a little more rural. I joked about terrorists in the hollers. And he said you just never knew."

"This isn't really my bailiwick, Ms. Knox."

"I'm a lawyer in private practice with lots of co

Alex hesitated, but the pleading sound in her voice finally got to him. "As best I can figure he was doing investigative work for the CIA, or at least in co

"Over something critical?"

"Critical enough. He's trying to find somebody who doesn't want to be found."

"Can this person be dangerous?"

"Most people who don't want to be found are dangerous."

He thought he could hear a groan from her. "What should I do?" she said. "My mom's dead. My brother's in the Marines in Iraq. What should I do, Agent Ford? I don't know anybody else to call."

Alex sat there staring off. It was as though his nearly twenty years in the Service had simply disappeared from his memory. If Hayes had had his way, that would be more true than not. So why sit here waiting for the nuke to hit him in the head?

"Give me a number where I can reach you anytime. I'll poke around and see what I can find."

"Oh, God, thank you so much."

"I can't promise that if I find out anything it'll be what you want to hear."

"Agent Ford, I know you don't know my father, but if you were in trouble there wouldn't be anybody else you'd want covering your back more than Joe Knox. He's as straight as they come. I hope that means something to you."

"It does," Alex said quietly.

CHAPTER 56

LATER THAT NIGHT Stone sat up in his hospital bed staring at the wall opposite. He checked his watch and then slipped open the nightstand next to his bed and pulled out Da

"I've got a bomb squad guy from the Virginia State Police coming to examine the scene. I know you don't want to hear this, but it might have been an accident. Willie was gone, maybe the propane was leaking and Bob lit a cigarette when Willie came through the door, and boom."

"If the propane was leaking, it would have exploded before then. I saw Shirley there like I told you and she was smoking a cigarette. And you would think Bob would've smelled the propane. The odor they put into the gas is pretty pungent for that very reason."

"I know. But why would they want to kill Willie so badly?" Tyree asked. "First an overdose and now a bomb?"

"He knew Debby didn't kill herself. He was going to keep making noise until the truth came out. Somebody obviously didn't like that."

"But now that they killed him we know there's something going on," Tyree pointed out.

"But these people are good and we have no proof that a crime's even been committed. So in their eyes it's better."

"Well, I'm not giving up until I get to the bottom of this."

"Tyree, everybody needs to watch their back here, and that includes you."

"I hear you."

Stone clicked off and stared down at the phone. Da

He shook his head. Da

He looked outside. It was dark. He slowly eased himself from the bed. He was pretty stiff and sore but the more he moved around, the better he felt. His butt was already numb from lying in the damn bed all those hours.

He walked out of the room and over to the nurses' station. After being chastised for being out of bed, he asked and was told where Da

He walked down that hall and saw a man sitting outside of Da

"You the deputy Tyree put on Da

"That's right. Wait a minute, you're that Ben fellow, aren't you?"

"Yes. I wanted to see Da

"Seeing as how you saved his life, sure, go on in."

When Stone popped his head in, Da

"Da

He looked over at Stone. He didn't say anything but waved him in with a feeble sweep of his hand.

Stone pulled up a chair and sat down. "I'm really sorry about Willie."

Da

"He didn't deserve to die that way."

"Nobody does."

Da

"I guess you're right. Maybe some people do."

"He never hurt anybody, you know that?"

"I know."

"And Bob. I mean he's a damn old man. And they blew him up too?"

"Who blew him up, Da

Da

"Why'd you leave Divine?"

"Fresh start, like I told you."

"And why'd you come back?"

"My business."

"You want to tell me about Debby Randolph?"

"What's to tell? She was Willie's girl. He loved her, man. They were going to get married."

"So you knew about that?"

Da

"So what'd you end up telling him?"

"I told him to go for it. I knew Debby. She was a great gal. And great for him. He asked me to be his best man."