Page 53 of Deadline

“In the city of Savannah?”

“Weather’s moved in. Can’t guarantee how long I’ll have a signal. Is your old man around?”

“Yes, and he’s as grumpy as you sound. I swear, the two of you…” She didn’t finish, leaving him to infer that they tested her patience in equal measure.

Headly came on the line and began with an accusatory, “I’ve called you three times.”

“Hello to you, too.”

“Why haven’t you answered your phone?”

“As I explained to Eva, cell service here comes and goes.”

“Where exactly is here?”

Dawson ran his hand around the back of his neck where tension had collected. “I wasn’t completely honest with you the last time we talked.”

“Oh really?” Headly said, ladling on the sarcasm.

The ornery son of a bitch wasn’t about to make this easy on him. “Everything I told you was the truth. I just omitted some things.”

“Like where you are. What’s that racket?”

“Rain. It’s pelting. I’m on Saint Nelda’s Island.”

“Nelda was a saint?”

“Somebody thought so. It’s a sea island off the coast of Georgia, slightly south of Savannah, reachable only by ferry, six miles long, two miles wide.”

“Thanks for the geography lesson. I’m ready for Jeopardy. Why there?”

“I rented the house next door to one owned by the late Congressman Nolan.”

A huff of surprise, followed by a short silence, then, “I don’t even have to ask, do I?”

“She’s here with her two sons and a nanny.”

“Does she know you’re there?”

“Yes.”

“Does she know why?”

He skimmed the surface, omitting details, but got the facts across to Headly. “She knows about NewsFront, knows that I came down to cover the trial and see if there’s a story worth writing, knows I followed her here to the island hoping for an interview. Nothing about you or the rest of it.”

“How’d she react to the idea of a story?”

“She sure as hell didn’t embrace it. She all but wears a sign around her neck warning off trespassers.”

“Can’t blame her. Most of her life has been lived in a fishbowl, first because of her father, now because of her husband.”

“Ex-husband. Late ex-husband.”

“Those qualifiers seem awfully important to you.”

Dawson ignored the implication. “What I’m trying to tell you is that the lady is on red alert. She’s particularly protective of her sons.”

“Have you seen them?”