Hidden Heritage by Charlotte Hinger

Author:Charlotte Hinger
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Published: 2013-09-10T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

Keith was in the music room playing an old Eagles song, “Lying Eyes.” Puzzled, I went to the doorway and watched quietly for a moment before I turned to start supper. Josie and I were amused by his unconscious selection of songs that signaled his inner state. A couple of nights ago, he had strummed out the old Jimmie Rogers tune, “Hard Time Blues,” followed by a plaintive rendition of “Cool Water.”

“All day I’ve faced a barren waste

Without the taste of water, cool water…”

He was strangely silent during supper. Worried, I supposed, like everyone else I met on the street. Worried over losing a corn crop, losing his herd, losing his topsoil.

I cleared the table, then went upstairs and showered, climbed into bed and stared at the ceiling. Later, Keith came to bed too, but he didn’t immediately fall into his usual untroubled sleep. He gathered some pillows and propped himself up on the headboard.

“Missed you at the feedyard today,” he said finally.

“What?” I jolted straight up and turned on my bedside light. The skin around his mouth was white, his lips a dull red, his voice husky.

“What?” My cheeks flamed. Blood throbbed in my ears.

“I said I missed you at the feedyard.”

“I was there all day. All day. When were you there?”

“During the time I thought you might be eating lunch.”

“I was with Dwayne.”

“Hell, I know that. I missed him too. Your Tahoe was there, and his pickup, but he wasn’t in his office. The place was as quiet as a tomb. Even Bart wasn’t there. I didn’t think it would be a good idea to go snooping around the back rooms.”

“We were looking at some cattle that had gotten too hot. We used a four-wheeler. You had to have just missed us. Why were you there?”

“My conscience was bothering me. I felt like a real asshole for letting you do the dirty work. Just because Sam and I couldn’t bring ourselves to do it. I know you did the right thing. It took me a while to face up to it. You made the right choice, Lottie. I should have been right there by your side.”

“Compromise comes easier for me. So I’m the one to do it. But it’s a comfort being married to a black-and-white man. I always know where I stand.”

***

Traffic was light on I-70. I had finished my work by noon and arrived at the KBI office before closing. I went through the usual security check, busted into Dimon’s office and slammed the door shut. I slapped the information down on his desk.

“Sit down, Lottie, and I’ll get you some coffee.”

“I don’t want your goddamned coffee and I’m going to stand for what I’ve got to say. You’re the one who had better be sitting down.”

He said nothing and his face reverted to a trained expressionless mask. Drawing from a page in the KBI handbook, no doubt.

“Scratch me off the list as your go-to person. If you need anything else done, send your agents out.

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