White Hot

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Praise for #1 Bestselling Author

SANDRA BROWN

And Her Riveting Thriller

White Hot

When it comes to ingenious storytelling, Sandra Brown is not only prolific but terrific. . . . A top-notch offering. . . . [G]et it while it’s hot.

—The Roanoke Times

Family conflict, murder, and romance are ablaze in bestselling Brown’s latest romantic thriller. . . . Exciting.

—Publishers Weekly

"An action thriller that will keep reader attention from first page to last . . . as white-hot as a bomb going off. . . . This book is heading to the New York Times bestseller list, deservedly so."

—Midwest Book Review

Brown’s writing lures readers with haunting, sultry seduction, redolent with secrets as deep as hot, breath-snagging Southern nights.

—Bookpage

Brown’s latest . . . sizzles.

—Booklist

ACCLAIM FOR THE WORLDWIDE BESTSELLING NOVELS OF

SANDRA BROWN

"With over forty-six New York Times bestsellers, Brown has few to envy among living authors."

—Kirkus Reviews

A master at weaving a story of suspense into a tight web that catches and holds the reader from first page to last.

—Library Journal

[Sandra Brown] carefully craft[s] tales that keep readers on the edge of their seats.

—USA Today

Perfectly plotted. . . . Sin-tillating suspense.

—People

Brown stages one dramatic scene after another.

—Publishers Weekly

Hello, Darkness

[A] fast-reading thriller. The unmasking of the killer comes with a riveting finale that will leave fans begging for an encore.

—Publishers Weekly

Strong characters, crisp dialogue . . . the suspense builds in Ms. Brown’s capable hands.

—Richmond Times-Dispatch

Gripping.

—The Denver Post

A sexy, fast-moving thriller.

—The Daily Oklahoman

Brown’s latest thriller is full of thrills and chills that will keep readers turning the pages. . . . With an abundance of likely suspects, this sexy, engrossing thriller will keep readers guessing until the very end.

—Booklist

Plenty of heart-stopping action.

—Port St. Lucie News

A gripping story of abduction, betrayal, and murder that could have been ripped straight from the headlines.

—The Early Show, CBS

Fascinating. . . . Will keep you up past your bedtime.

—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Gritty and compelling . . . sure to satisfy Brown’s loyal readers while impressing new ones.

—Library Journal

An edge-of-seat thriller.

—The News Journal (Wilmington, DE)

Thrilling, frightening, and utterly absorbing.

—Market Wire

contents

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Epilogue

Chill Factor Teaser

About Sandra Brown

Dedicated to the memory of Mark W. Smith.

He lived with grace, died with dignity, and is now healed.

prologue

Some said that if he was going to kill himself, he couldn’t have picked a better day for it.

Life was hardly worth living that particular Sunday afternoon, and most organisms were doing a half-assed job of it. The atmosphere was as thick and hot as breakfast grits. It sucked the energy right out of every living thing, be it plant or animal.

Clouds evaporated under the ferocity of the sun. Moving from indoors to out was like stepping into a blast furnace like those in the Hoyles’ foundry. At the family’s fishing camp on Bayou Bosquet—so named because of the island of cypress trees in the middle of the creek’s slow-moving current—a stuffed, six-foot gator basked in the heat of the yard. His glass eyes reflected the glare of the hot sky. The Louisiana state flag hung furled and limp upon its pole.

Cicadas were too indolent to make their grating music, although one industrious insect occasionally disturbed the somnolent atmosphere with an attempt that was halfhearted at best. Fish remained well below the surface of the water and its opaque green blanket of duckweed. They kept to the shadowy, murky depths, their only sign of life being the periodic pulsing of gills. A water moccasin lay inert on the bank, menacing but motionless.

The swamp was a natural aviary, but today every species of fowl seemed to be napping in its nest, with the exception of a single hawk. He was perched at the top of a tree that had been killed by a lightning strike decades before. The elements had left its branches as naked and white as bones picked clean.

The winged hunter eyed the cabin below. Perhaps he spied the mouse skittering among the pilings that supported the fishing pier. More likely, animal instinct alerted him to imminent peril.

The crack of the gunshot wasn’t as loud as one might expect. The air, dense as a goose-down pillow, smothered the sound waves. The shot created barely a ripple of reaction in the swamp. The flag remained furled. The stuffed gator didn’t flinch. Making only a small splash, the water moccasin slithered into the bayou, not alarmed, but piqued that his Sunday slumber had been disturbed.

The hawk took flight, spiraling on air currents with a minimum of effort, on the lookout for prey more appealing than the small mouse darting among the pilings.

To the dead man inside the cabin, the hawk gave no thought at all.

chapter 1

"Do you remember Slap Watkins?"

Who?

The guy who was spouting off in the bar.

Can you be more specific? What bar? When?

The night you came to town.

That was three years ago.

Yeah, but you should remember. Chris Hoyle sat forward in an attempt to goose his friend’s powers of recall. The loudmouth who caused the fight? Face that would stop a clock. Big ears.

Oh, that guy. Right. With the . . . Beck held his hands at the sides of his head to indicate large ears.

That’s how he got the nickname Slap, Chris said.

Beck raised an eyebrow.

Whenever the wind blew, his ears—

Slapped against his head, Beck finished.

Like shutters in a gale. Grinning, Chris tilted his beer bottle in a silent toast.

The window blinds in the den of the Hoyles’ home were drawn to block out the shimmering heat of a late-afternoon sun. The closed blinds also made the room agreeably dim for better TV viewing. A Braves game was being televised. Top of the ninth and Atlanta needed a miracle. But despite the unfavorable score, there were worse ways to spend a stifling Sunday afternoon than inside a semidark, air-conditioned den, sipping cold brews.

Chris Hoyle and Beck Merchant had idled away many hours in this room. It was the perfect male playroom, with its fifty-inch TV screen and surround-sound speakers. It had a fully stocked bar with a built-in ice maker, a refrigerator filled with soft drinks and beer, a billiards table, a dartboard, and a round game table with six leather chairs as soft and cushy as the bosom of the cover girl on this month’s issue of Maxim. The room was paneled with stained walnut and furnished with substantial pieces that wore well and required little maintenance. It smelled of tobacco smoke and reeked of testosterone.

Beck uncapped another bottle of beer. So what about this Slap?

He’s back.

I didn’t know he was gone. In fact, I don’t think I’ve seen him since that night, and then I was looking at him through swelling eyes.

Chris smiled at the memory. As barroom brawls go, that was a fairly good one. You caught several of Slap’s well-placed punches. He was always handy with his fists. He had to be because he shot off his mouth all the time.

Probably defending against cruel cracks about his ears.

No doubt. Anyway, that smart mouth of his kept him on everybody’s fighting side. Soon after our altercation with him, he got into a feud with his sister’s ex-husband. Over a lawn mower, I think it was. Things came to a head one night at a crawfish boil, and Slap went after his ex-brother-in-law with a knife.

Killed him?

Flesh wound. But it was right across the guy’s belly and drew enough blood to warrant an assault with a deadly weapon charge and probably should have been attempted murder. Slap’s own sister testified against him. He’s been in Angola for the past three years, now out on parole.

Lucky us.

Chris frowned. Not really. Slap’s got it in for us. At least that’s what he said that night three years ago when he was being hauled away in a squad car. He thought it unfair that he was being arrested and we weren’t. Screamed invectives and threats that made my blood run cold.

I don’t remember that.

That may have been when you were in the men’s room nursing your wounds. Anyhow, Chris continued, Slap is an unstable and untrustworthy ne’er-do-well, a trailer trash Bubba whose only talent is holding grudges, and in that, he excels. We humiliated him that night, and even drunk as he was, I doubt he’s forgiven and forgotten. Keep an eye out for him.

I consider myself warned. Beck glanced over his shoulder in the general direction of the kitchen. Am I invited to dinner?

Standing invitation.

Beck settled even more comfortably into the sofa on which he was sprawled. Good. Whatever’s baking in there is making my mouth water.

Coconut cream pie. Nobody can make a better pie than Selma.

You’ll get no argument from me, Chris.

Chris’s father, Huff Hoyle, strode in, fanning his ruddy face with his straw hat. Get me one of those longnecks. I’m so damn thirsty, I couldn’t work up a spit if my dick was on fire.

He hung his hat on a coat tree, then plopped down heavily in his recliner, swiping his sleeve across his forehead. Damn, it’s a scorcher today. With a sigh, he sank into the cool leather cushions of the chair. Thanks, Son. He took the chilled bottle of beer Chris had opened for him and pointed it toward the TV. Who’s winning this ball game?

Not the Braves. In fact it’s over. Beck muted the sound as the commentators began their postmortem of the game. We don’t need to hear why they lost. The score says it all.

Huff grunted in agreement. Their season was over the minute they let those high-paid, non-English-speaking, prima donna players start telling the owners how to run the show. Big mistake. Could have told them that. He took a long swig of the beer, nearly draining the bottle.

Have you been playing golf all afternoon? Chris asked.

Too hot, Huff said as he lit a cigarette. We played three holes, then said screw this and went back to the clubhouse to play gin rummy.

How much did you fleece them of today?

The question wasn’t whether Huff had won or lost. He always won.

Couple of hundred.

Nice going, Chris said.

Ain’t worth playing if you don’t win. He winked at his son, then at Beck. He finished his beer in a gulp. Either of you heard from Danny today?

He’ll show up here in a while, Chris said. That is if he can work us in between Sunday morning worship and Sunday night vespers.

Huff scowled. "Don’t get me in a bad mood by talking about that. I don’t want to spoil my dinner."

The gospel according to Huff was that preaching, praying, and hymn singing were for women and men who might just as well be women. He equated organized religion to organized crime, except that churches had impunity and tax advantages, and he had about as much intolerance for Holy Joes as he did for homosexuals and laborers with union cards.

Chris tactfully steered the conversation away from his younger brother and his recent preoccupation with spiritual matters. I was just telling Beck that Slap Watkins is out on parole.

White trash, Huff muttered as he toed off his shoes. That whole bunch, starting with Slap’s granddaddy, who was the lowest reprobate ever to draw breath. They found him dead in a ditch with a broken whiskey bottle jammed in his throat. He must have crossed somebody one time too many. There’s bound to have been some inbreeding in that family. Down to the last one of them they’re ugly as sin and dumber than stumps.

Beck laughed. Maybe. But I owe Slap a debt of gratitude. If it hadn’t been for him, I wouldn’t be here sharing Sunday dinner.

Huff looked across at him with as much affection as he showed his own sons. No, Beck, you were meant to become one of us, by hook or by crook. Finding you made that whole Gene Iverson mess worthwhile. You were the only good thing to come out of it.

That and a hung jury, Chris said. Let’s not forget those twelve. If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be here sharing Sunday dinner. Instead I could be sharing a cell with the likes of Slap Watkins.

Chris often made light of having been put on trial for the murder of Gene Iverson. His joking dismissal of the incident never failed to make Beck uncomfortable, as it did now. He changed the subject. I hate to bring up a business matter when it isn’t even a workday.

In my book, every day’s a workday, Huff said.

Chris groaned. Not in my book, it’s not. Is it bad news, Beck?

Potentially.

Then can’t it wait till after supper?

Sure, if you’d rather.

Nope, Huff said. You know my rule about bad news. I want to hear it sooner rather than later. I sure as hell don’t want to wait through dinner. So, what’s up, Beck? Don’t tell me that we’ve been slapped with another fine by the EPA over those cooling ponds—

No, it’s not that. Not directly.

Then what?

Hold on. I’m going to pour a drink first, Chris said to Huff. You like to hear bad news early, I like to hear it with a glass of bourbon in my hand. Want one?

Lots of ice, no water.

Beck?

I’m fine, thanks.

Chris moved to the bar and reached for a decanter and two glasses. Then, leaning closer to the window, he peered through the slats of the blinds and twirled the wand to open them wider. What have we got here?

What is it? Huff asked.

Sheriff’s car just pulled up.

Well, what do you think he wants? It’s payday.

Chris, still looking through the blinds, said, I don’t think so, Huff. He’s got somebody with him.

Who?

I don’t know. Never saw him before.

Chris finished pouring the drinks and brought one of them to his father, but the three said nothing more as they listened to Selma making her way from the kitchen at the back of the house to the front door to answer the bell. The housekeeper greeted the callers, but the exchange was too softly spoken for individual words to be understood. Footfalls approached the den. Selma appeared ahead of the guests.

Mr. Hoyle, Sheriff Harper is here to see you.

Huff motioned for her to usher him in.

Sheriff Red Harper had been elected to the office thirty years before, his campaign substantially boosted and his win guaranteed by Huff’s pocketbook. He had remained in office by the same means.

His hair, which had been fiery in his youth, had dulled, as though it had rusted on his head. He stood well over six feet tall but was so thin that the thick leather gun belt with the accoutrements of his job attached looked like an inner tube hanging on a fence post.

He looked wilted, and not only because of the heat index outside. His face was long and gaunt, as though three decades of corruption had weighted it down with guilt. His woebegone demeanor was that of a man who had sold his soul to the devil far too cheaply. Never jolly, he seemed particularly downcast as he shuffled into the room and removed his hat.

By contrast, the younger officer with him, a stranger to them, seemed to have been dipped in a vat of starch along with his uniform. He was so closely shaven, his cheeks were rosy with razor burn. He looked as tense and alert as a sprinter in the blocks waiting for the starting gun.

Red Harper acknowledged Beck with a slight nod. Then the sheriff looked toward Chris, who was standing beside Huff’s chair. Finally his bleak eyes moved to Huff, who had remained seated in his recliner.

Evening, Red.

Huff. Instead of looking directly at Huff, he focused on the brim of his hat, which he was feeding through his fingers.

Drink?

No thanks.

It wasn’t Huff’s habit to stand up for anyone. That was a show of respect reserved for Huff Hoyle alone, and everybody in the parish knew it. But, impatient with the suspense, he pushed down the footrest of his recliner and came to his feet.

What’s going on? Who’s this? He gave the sheriff’s spit-and-polish companion a once-over.

Red cleared his throat. He lowered his hat to his side and nervously tapped it against his thigh. He waited a long time before looking Huff in the eye. All of which signaled to Beck that the sheriff’s errand was much more consequential than picking up this month’s graft.

It’s about Danny . . . he began.

chapter 2

The highway was barely recognizable. Countless times, Sayre Lynch had driven this stretch of road between New Orleans International Airport and Destiny. But traveling it today was like doing so for the first time.

In the name of progress, landmarks that had made the area distinct had been obscured or obliterated. Rural Louisiana’s charm had been sacrificed to gaudy commercialism. Little that was quaint or picturesque had survived the onslaught. She could have been in Anywhere, USA.

Fast-food franchises now occupied the spots where once had been mom-and-pop cafes. Homemade meat pies and muffaletta sandwiches had been replaced with buckets of wings and Value Meals. Hand-painted signs had given way to neon. Menus scribbled daily on chalkboards had been supplanted by disembodied voices at drive-through windows.

During the ten years she had been away, trees draped with Spanish moss had been bulldozed to allow for additional highway construction. This expansion had diminished the vastness and mystery of the swamps that flanked the road. The dense marshes were now ribboned with entrance and exit ramps jammed with semis and minivans.

Until now Sayre hadn’t realized the depth of her homesickness. But these substantial changes in the landscape made her nostalgic for the way things had been. She longed for the mingled aromas of cayenne and filé. She would like to hear again the patois of the people who served up Cajun dishes that took more than three minutes to prepare.

While superhighways made for faster travel, she wished for the roadway she had known, the one lined with trees that grew so close to it the branches overlapped to cover it like a canopy and cast lacy patterns of shadow on the asphalt.

She longed for the times she could drive with the windows down and, rather than choking on motor exhaust, inhale the soft air that was perfumed with honeysuckle and magnolia and the seminal scent of the swamp.

The changes that had come about in the past decade were jarring to her senses and an affront to her memories of the place in which she’d grown up. But then, she supposed that the changes in herself were equally drastic, although perhaps not as apparent.

The last time she’d driven this road, she’d been traveling in the opposite direction, away from Destiny. That day, the farther she got from home, the lighter she felt, as though she were molting layers of negativity along the way. Today she was returning, and her dread was as heavy as chain mail.

Homesickness for the area, no matter how acute, would never have brought her back. Only her brother Danny’s death could have compelled her to return. Apparently he had withstood Huff and Chris for as long as he could and had escaped them in the only manner he’d felt was open to him.

Fittingly, as she approached the outskirts of Destiny, she saw the smokestacks first. They jutted belligerently above the town, large and black and ugly. Smoke billowed from them today as on every other day of the year. It would have been too costly and inefficient to have shut down the furnaces, even in observance of Danny’s demise. Knowing Huff, it probably hadn’t even occurred to him to make this concession to his youngest child.

The billboard marking the city limit read Welcome to Destiny, Home of Hoyle Enterprises. As though that’s something to boast, she thought. Quite the contrary. Iron pipe casting had made Huff rich, but it was a bloodstained wealth.

She navigated the streets of town which she had first explored on bicycle. Later she’d learned to drive on them. Then as a teen she had cruised them with her friends, looking for action, boys, and whatever amusements they could scare up.

While still a block away from the First United Methodist Church, she heard the organ music. The pipe organ had been a gift to the church from her mother, Laurel Lynch Hoyle. It bore a brass plaque in her memory. It was the small congregation’s pride and joy, being the only pipe organ in Destiny. None of the Catholic churches had one, and Destiny was predominantly Catholic. Her mother’s gift had been generous and sincere, but it was yet another symbol of how the Hoyles lorded over their town and everyone in it and refused to be outdone.

How heartbreaking that the organ was playing a dirge for one of Laurel Hoyle’s children, who had died fifty years too soon, and by his own hand.

Sayre had received the news Sunday afternoon upon returning to her office from a meeting with a client. Ordinarily she wouldn’t have worked on a Sunday, but that was the only day this particular client was free for an appointment. Julia Miller had recently celebrated her fifth year as Sayre’s assistant. She wouldn’t let Sayre work on a weekend without working herself. While Sayre was with the client, Julia had been catching up on paperwork.

When Sayre returned, Julia passed her a pink memo slip. This gentleman has called three times, Ms. Lynch. I wouldn’t give him your cell number, although he demanded it.

Sayre glanced at the area code, then wadded up the memo and tossed it into the wastepaper basket. I don’t wish to speak to anyone in my family.

He’s not family. He says he works for the family. It’s imperative that he reach you as soon as possible.

I won’t talk to anybody who works for my family either. Any other messages? By any chance has Mr. Taylor called? He promised those valances by tomorrow.

It’s your brother, Julia blurted out. He’s dead.

Sayre stopped short of her private office. For a long moment she stared through the wall of windows toward the Golden Gate Bridge. Only the very tops of the orange supports were visible above a solid blanket of fog. The water in the bay looked gray, cold, and angry. Foreboding.

Without turning around, she asked, Which one?

Which—

Brother.

Danny.

Danny, who had called her twice in the last several days. Danny, whose calls she had refused to take.

Sayre turned to face her assistant, who was regarding her sympathetically. She said gently, Your brother Danny died earlier today, Sayre. I thought you should be told in person, not over a cell phone.

Sayre released a long breath through her mouth. How?

I think you should speak with this Mr. Merchant.

Julia, please. How did Danny die?

Gently she said, It appears he killed himself. I’m sorry. Then after a moment, she added, That’s all the information Mr. Merchant would give me.

Sayre then retreated to her private office and closed the door. She heard the phone in the anteroom ring several times, but Julia didn’t put the calls through, realizing that she needed time alone to assimilate the news.

Had Danny been calling to tell her good-bye? If so, how would she live with the guilt of having refused to speak to him?

After about an hour, Julia knocked tentatively on the door. Come in, Sayre called. When Julia stepped inside, Sayre said, There’s no point in your staying, Julia. Go home. I’ll be fine.

The assistant laid a sheet of paper on her desk. I’ve still got work to do. Buzz me if you need me. Can I bring you anything?

Sayre shook her head no. Julia withdrew and closed the door. On the sheet of paper she’d brought in she’d written down the time and place of the funeral. Tuesday morning, eleven o’clock.

Sayre hadn’t been surprised that it was scheduled so soon. Huff always acted with dispatch. He and Chris would be impatient to put this behind them, to bury Danny and get on with their lives as soon as possible.

However, the timeliness of the funeral had probably worked to her advantage, too. It prevented a lengthy internal debate on whether to attend. She couldn’t languish in indecision but had been forced to make up her mind quickly.

Yesterday morning she’d caught a flight to New Orleans via Dallas–Fort Worth and had arrived in the late afternoon. She’d taken a walk through the French Quarter, eaten dinner at a gumbo shop, then spent the night at the Windsor Court.

For all the comfort the luxury hotel afforded, she’d had a virtually sleepless night. She did not want to go back to Destiny. She did not. Silly as it was, she feared walking into some kind of snare that would trap her there, keep her in Huff’s clutches forever.

Daybreak hadn’t lessened her dread. She’d gotten up, dressed for the funeral, and set out for Destiny, planning to arrive just in time for the service and to leave immediately thereafter.

The church parking lot was already overflowing into the surrounding neighborhood streets. She had to park several blocks away from the picture-book church with the stained-glass windows and tall white steeple. Just as she stepped onto the columned porch, the bell chimed the hour of eleven.

The vestibule was cool compared to outdoors, but Sayre noticed that many in the sanctuary were waving paper fans to supplement the inadequate air-conditioning. As she slipped into the back row, the choir finished singing the opening hymn and the pastor stepped up to the pulpit.

While everyone else bowed their heads for prayer, Sayre looked at the casket in front of the chancel rail. It was simple, silver, and sealed. She was glad of that. She didn’t think she could bear her last image of Danny to be his lying like a wax doll in a satin-lined coffin. To prevent thoughts of that, she concentrated on the elegant purity of the arrangement of white calla lilies on top of the casket.

She couldn’t see either Huff or Chris for the crowd, but she supposed they were seated in the front pew, looking appropriately bereaved. The hypocrisy of it all made her nauseated.

She was named among the surviving family members. A sister, Sayre Hoyle of San Francisco, the minister intoned.

She wanted to stand up and shout that Hoyle was no longer her name. After her second divorce, she had begun using her middle name, which had been her mother’s maiden name. She’d had her name legally changed to Lynch. That was the name on her college degree, her business stationery, her California driver’s license, and her passport.

She wasn’t a Hoyle any longer, but she had no doubt that whoever had supplied the minister with the information had intentionally given him the incorrect name.

The homily was straight out of a clerical textbook, delivered by a shiny-faced minister who looked too young to vote. His remarks were directed toward mankind in general. There was very little mention of Danny as an individual, nothing poignant or personal, which seemed particularly sad since his own sister had refused his telephone calls.

As the service concluded with the singing of Amazing Grace, there were sniffles among the congregation. The pallbearers were Chris, a fair-haired man she didn’t know, and four others whom she recognized as executives of Hoyle Enterprises. They carried the casket up the center aisle of the church.

It was slow going, giving her time to study her brother Chris. He was as trim and handsome as ever, with the suavity of a 1930s matinee idol. The only thing missing was a thin mustache. His hair was still as black as a raven’s wing, but he was wearing it shorter than he used to. It was spiked up in front with gel, a rather hip look for a man in his late thirties, but nonetheless the style suited Chris. His eyes were disconcerting because the pupils were indistinguishable from the dark irises.

Huff followed the casket. Even on this occasion he carried himself with an air of superiority. His shoulders were back, his head high. Each footstep was firmly planted, as though he were a conqueror with the sovereign right to claim the ground beneath him.

His lips were set in the hard, thin, resolute line that she remembered well. His eyes glittered like the black bead eyes of a stuffed toy. They were dry and clear; he hadn’t cried for Danny. Since she’d last seen him, his hair had turned from salt-and-pepper to solid white, but he still wore it in a flattop of military preciseness. He had put on a few pounds around his midsection but appeared as robust as she remembered.

Fortunately neither Chris nor Huff saw her.

To avoid the crowd and risk of being recognized, she slipped out a side door. Her car was last in the procession to the cemetery. She parked quite a distance from the tent that had been set up over the newly dug grave.

In somber groups and singly, people made their way up the slight rise for the graveside service. For the most part, they were dressed in their Sunday best, although armholes had sweat rings and hat-bands were stained with perspiration. They walked in shoes that were too tight from infrequent wear.

Sayre recognized and remembered many of these people by name. They were townsfolk who had lived in Destiny all their lives. Some owned small businesses, but most worked for the Hoyles in one capacity or another.

She spotted several faculty members from the public school system. Her mother’s fondest desire had been to send her children to the most exclusive private schools in the South, but Huff had been adamant. He wanted them to grow up tough and under his tutelage. Whenever the argument recurred, he would say, A sissy prep school isn’t the place to learn about life and how to muscle your way through it. As in all their arguments, her mother had conceded with a relinquishing sigh.

Sayre remained in her car with the motor idling. The service was mercifully brief. As soon as it concluded, the crowd returned to their cars, making an effort to conceal their haste.

Huff and Chris were the last to leave the tent after shaking hands with the minister. Sayre watched them make their way to the waiting limousine provided by Weir’s Funeral Home. The ancient Mr. Weir was still plying his trade although he was way past due going to his own reward.

He opened the limo door for Chris and Huff, then stood at a discreet distance while they conducted a short conversation with the blond-haired pallbearer. When the conversation concluded, they climbed into the limo, the man waved them off, Mr. Weir got behind the wheel and chauffeured them away. Sayre was glad to see them go.

She waited another ten minutes, until the last of the mourners had left. Only then did she kill her engine and get out of her car.

I’ve been asked by your family to escort you to the house for the wake.

Startled, she spun around so quickly that her shoes sent up a shower of dusty gravel.

He was leaning against the rear fender of her car. He’d taken off his suit jacket and folded it over his arm. His necktie was askew, and the collar button of his shirt was undone, shirtsleeves rolled up to his elbows. He’d put on a pair of dark sunglasses.

I’m Beck Merchant.

I guessed.

She had only seen his name in print and had wondered if he used the French pronunciation. He didn’t. And his appearance was as American as apple pie, from his dark blond hair, through his easy smile and straight teeth, to the Ralph Lauren cut of his trousers.

Giving no heed to her ungracious tone, he said, Pleased to meet you, Ms. Hoyle.

Lynch.

I stand corrected. He spoke with utmost courtesy, but his smile mocked her.

Does delivering messages fall into your job description? I thought you were their lawyer, she said.

Lawyer, errand boy—

Henchman.

He laid his hand over his heart and flashed an even wider grin. You give me far too much credit.

I doubt it. She slammed shut her car door. You’ve extended their invitation. Tell them I decline. Now, I would appreciate some time alone to say good-bye to Danny. She turned and headed up the rise.

Take your time. I’ll wait for you.

She came back around. I’m not going to their damn wake. As soon as I’m done here, I’m returning to New Orleans and catching a flight back to San Francisco.

You could do that. Or you could do the decent thing and attend your brother’s wake. Then later this evening, Hoyle Enterprises’ corporate jet could whisk you back to San Francisco without all the hassle of commercial flight.

I can charter my own jet.

Even better.

She’d walked right into that one and hated herself for it. She had been back in Destiny barely an hour, and already she was reverting to old habits. But she had learned how to recognize the traps and avoid them.

No thank you. Good-bye, Mr. Merchant. Once again she started up the rise toward the grave.

Do you believe Danny killed himself?

Of all the things he could have said, she didn’t expect that. She turned to face him again. He was no longer leaning indolently against the car fender but had taken a few steps toward her, as though not only to hear her answer but to gauge her reaction to his surprising question.

Don’t you? she asked.

Doesn’t matter what I believe, he said. It’s the sheriff’s office that’s questioning the suicide.

chapter 3

"This’ll start you off, Mr. Chris," Selma said, offering him a plate of food.

Thank you.

Anything for you, Mr. Hoyle? Although the housekeeper wasn’t supposed to be working today, she had put an apron on over her black dress. Incongruous with the apron, she still had on the hat she’d worn to the funeral.

I’ll wait awhile, Selma.

Not hungry?

It’s too hot to eat.

The balcony above the gallery provided shade along its entire width, but even that was insufficient against the inescapable heat. Ceiling fans circulated, but they only stirred hot air. Huff frequently had to wipe his sweating face with a handkerchief. Inside, the AC was keeping the house comfortably cool, but Huff felt it only proper for him and Chris to greet their guests as they arrived and personally accept their condolences before they went in.

You need anything, sir, you just holler and I’ll fetch it. Dabbing her tearful eyes, Selma went back into the house through the wide front door, over which she had draped black crepe bunting.

She had balked at hiring a caterer for the wake because she disliked having anyone else in her kitchen. But Huff had insisted. Selma wasn’t up to throwing a party. Since receiving the news about Danny, she’d been given to bouts of loud weeping, to falling to her knees and, with her hands clasped, calling on Jesus for mercy.

She had worked for the Hoyles since Huff had carried Laurel over the threshold as a bride, nearly forty years ago. Laurel had grown up with domestics, so it was natural for her to relinquish the management of her own household to Selma. The black woman had seemed middle-aged and maternal then; her age now was anybody’s guess. She couldn’t weigh more than a hundred pounds, if that, but she was as strong and resilient as a willow sapling.

After the children came along, Selma had acted as their nanny. When Laurel died, Danny, as the youngest, was also the neediest. Selma had mothered him, and consequently they’d had a special bond. She was taking his death hard.

I saw the buffet in the dining room, Chris remarked. He sat the plate Selma had given him, untouched, on a wicker side table. There’s a vulgar abundance of food and liquor in there, don’t you think?

Since you have never known a day of hunger in your life, I’d say you are no authority on how much food is too much.

Privately, Huff conceded that perhaps he had gone a little overboard. But he’d worked like the devil to provide the best for his children. He wasn’t about to skimp on his youngest boy’s wake.

Are you going to remind me how ungrateful I am for all I have, how I don’t know what it’s like to go without the basic necessities of life like you did?

I’m glad I had to go without. Going without made me determined never to go without again. It made me who I am. And you’re who you are because of me.

Relax, Huff. Chris sat down in one of the rockers on the porch. I know all the lessons by heart. I was suckled and weaned on them. We don’t have to rehash them today.

Huff felt his blood pressure receding to a safer level. No, we don’t. Stand up, though, here comes more company.

Chris was beside him once again as a couple approached and started up the gallery steps toward them. How do, George? Lila. Thank you for coming, Huff said.

George Robson pressed Huff’s right hand between his own. They were moist, fleshy, and pale. Like all of George, Huff thought with repugnance.

Danny was a fine young man, Huff. Nobody finer.

You’re right about that, George. He reclaimed his hand, barely curbing the impulse to wipe it dry on the leg of his trousers. I sure appreciate you saying so.

It’s a tragic thing.

Yes, it is.

George’s much younger second wife said nothing, but Huff intercepted the sly glance she cast at Chris, who smiled at her and said, Better get this pretty lady inside and out of this heat, George. She looks sweet enough to melt. Help yourselves to the buffet.

Plenty of gin in there, George, Huff said. Have one of those bartenders make you a tall one, light on the tonic.

The man seemed pleased that Huff remembered his drink of choice and quickly ushered his wife inside. Once they were out of earshot, Huff turned to Chris. How long has Lila been one of yours?

As of last Saturday afternoon while George was out fishing with his son by his first marriage. Smiling, he added, Second wives are advantageous that way. There’s usually an offspring that keeps their husbands occupied at least two weekends a month.

Huff scowled at him. Speaking of wives, between diddling Lila Robson, have you talked to Mary Beth?

For about five seconds.

You told her about Danny?

As soon as she said hello, I said, ‘Mary Beth, Danny killed himself.’ And her response was ‘Then my share just got bigger.’ 

Huff’s blood pressure soared again. "Her share, my ass. That gal won’t see one red cent of my money. Not unless she does right by you and gives you a divorce. And I don’t mean in her own sweet time. I mean now. Did you ask about those divorce papers we sent down there?"

Not specifically. But Mary Beth isn’t going to sign any divorce papers.

Then get her back here and get her pregnant.

I can’t.

You won’t.

"I can’t."

Attuned to Chris’s dark tone, Huff narrowed his eyes. How come? Is there something you’re not telling me, something I don’t know?

We’ll talk about it later.

We’ll talk about it now.

This isn’t the time, Huff, Chris said, straining the words. Besides, you’re getting red in the face, and we know what that means in terms of your blood pressure. He headed for the front door. I’m going to get a drink.

Hold on. Look at this.

Huff directed Chris’s gaze toward the lane in front