“Bullshit! I can change the public narrative. With this recording, and with Henry’s files.”
“Not fast enough to save Dad.”
When Caitlin covers her eyes with her hands, I know it’s all she can do not to hit me in the face.
“There’s more,” I go on. “Earlier today, I got into a fight with Randall Regan myself. I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to worry. But it was brutal. Now you’ve driven Brody’s daughter to suicide, and fired a gun at Regan in his own house. Do you really think they’re going to sit around and wait for you to destroy them in tomorrow’s Examiner? We really shouldn’t even be sitting out here on the street.”
As though realizing the danger for the first time, she scans the dark street around us.
“To save Dad, we’ve got to go straight at them,” I tell her, squeezing her arm. “Right now. They won’t expect that, and it’ll give us the initiative.”
“But why would they agree to help Tom?”
“Because I’m going to show them a greater threat than Dad. Between what you’ve got on that phone, what I know from Henry, and some exaggerations about witnesses, I can make them see that killing Dad isn’t worth what it will cost them in the end.”
“What witnesses are you talking about?”
“Huggy Bear. Walker Dennis got a call today from a guy who claims he saw Brody and Regan burn the Beacon last night. He didn’t give his real name, but I think it’s the same guy who saw Brody burn Norris’s store forty years ago—only he’s a man now.”
Caitlin’s eyes flash with interest, but then she settles back into her seat, her jaw muscles flexing. “I don’t like this. It sounds more like bribery than intimidation. Those bastards aren’t going to give you anything without getting something in return. You know that.”
“Who cares! The point is getting Dad safely into federal custody. After that, you can throw Brody to the wolves. You just might have to wait a day to do it. That’s all. For them to call off the dogs, and for me to get Dad safely in.”
Her cheeks go red. “Now you want me to hold off publishing for a day? This afternoon you were demanding that I publish everything immediately!”
“Don’t postpone the story. Just leave Brody and the tape out of it for a day. Those old murders have waited nearly forty years to be solved. They can wait another twenty-four hours.”
There’s a war going on inside Caitlin, her code of honor and blazing ambition on one side, love for my father on the other.
“Penn … Brody Royal is like a cobra in tall grass. Regan, too. You’re saying you want to walk into the grass with them and make some kind of deal—then go back on it and nail them. I say the only way to get them is to slash and burn their cover, expose them for everyone to see. That’s the only way to stop monsters like that. If you try your way … I’m afraid you’ll wind up like Henry, or worse.”
Reaching into my coat, I take out the straight razor I carried up to the selectmen’s meeting and open my palm. “I went to see Pithy Nolan yesterday. She gave me a little present. Be careful with it.”
Caitlin takes the gleaming object from my hand, runs a fingernail down the groove between the handle and blade.
“Brody Royal gave Pithy that just after World War Two. For her protection, he said. He was hoping to marry her, but she saw him for the gangster he was.”
Caitlin sucks in her breath as she flips the ugly blade from its silver handle. “Jesus.”
“Pithy gave that to me as a reminder of who I was dealing with, if I chose to go up against Brody.”
Caitlin squints at the handle in the dim light. “What does this inscription say?”
“‘A Lady’s Best Friend.’ Can you imagine? Brody gave that to a Natchez belle.”
Caitlin clucks her tongue softly. “After reading Henry’s journals … I believe it.”
Taking back the razor, I carefully fold it closed. “I haven’t forgotten what Brody did to those black boys, or those women who tried to go to the feds about the insurance fraud. I don’t have any illusions, and I won’t confront him or Regan alone.”
Caitlin sighs and lets her head fall on my chest. “Who would you take with you? John Kaiser?”
Wanting to embrace her, I slip the razor into my back pocket. “Kaiser wouldn’t let me try something like this. His goal is to put the Double Eagles in prison, and maybe Forrest Knox. He’s going to go by the book, more or less. He has no choice.”
“Who, then?”
“I think Kirk Boisseau will go with me.”