A Killer's Grace by Ronald Chapman

Author:Ronald Chapman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BookBaby
Published: 2012-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

20

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He had located Johnston through his workplace, a small accounting firm where he was a partner. He waited a few minutes on hold before a raspy voice with a moderate drawl announced, “Howdy.”

Pitcairn introduced himself and explained his intentions. Tentatively Johnston agreed to call his wife and see how she would feel about it. It was only a few minutes before the man called him back. They wanted him to come by their home that evening at seven o’clock.

An awkward stutter followed. “Mr. Pitcairn, You won’t upset my wife, will you?”

“No sir, I would never think of doing something inappropriate. All I want is to learn more about Carrie.”

“That’d be fine then. We’ll see you directly.”

Pleased, Pitcairn turned the ignition of the Jeep. The loud jangling of the cell phone startled him. It was the first time he’d heard the ring tone.

Fumbling the phone, he jerked it open only to have it snap shut and fall to the floor. “Crap!” he roared as he reached down to snatch it up. He thought of opening the phone and trying to search the features to find out who he had missed. Christ, I’m going to be just one more phone-trained monkey. Then he realized they would probably call back.

He turned off the Jeep. The phone rang almost immediately.

“Pitcairn?” Mortensen’s voice echoed thinly over the miles.

“Is that you, Sean?”

“Damn it! I got your e-mail, but what the hell are you doing in Dallas?”

“Research related to Davidson,” he replied defensively. “Why?”

“Because you started a damned mess with the piece you did for Contours.”

Pitcairn interjected quickly, “Listen, I’m freelance. There should be no problem with that.”

“I know that! But there’s a big protest outside their offices right now, and I need to know everything you can tell me.”

“A protest … by who?”

“Apparently, it’s that fringe church from Colorado Springs, Redeemer Evangelical Church …”

“Christ Sean, the flakes who’ve been saying soldiers are paying the price for homosexuality in the military and AIDS is penance for abortion?”

“That’s them. About thirty of them drove down to protest the publication of your commentary. Apparently you’re now an abomination. Guilt by association.”

A guffaw shot from him. “An abomination? Now that’s a new item for my resume.”

“Enough already. When will you be back in town?”

“Well, originally I planned on driving home next weekend, but I’ll see if I can get back on Friday. Do you want me to write something for you?”

Mortensen’s reply was swift and forceful. “Hell, no! For now we’ll treat it as news. Maybe later I’ll let you in on it. But what I need is all the background you can give me.”

For the next twenty minutes Pitcairn framed the situation. When they finished, he called Contours to check in with Amy Miscione. He heard a beep on the line as he waited for an answer, which he presumed to be an incoming call. Without knowing how to switch lines, he continued to wait. A recorded message told him the offices were closed due to unforeseen circumstances.

He pulled out the guide to his cell phone to determine how to retrieve messages.

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