Page 138 of The List

3:15P.M.

LEE ANDHUGHES RETURNED TO THE MILL AFTER THE MEMORIALservice. The ceremony had been heavily attended, running longer than expected. Even De Florio dutifully went while Frank Barnard and Victor Jacks continued to search in and around Concord on the off chance their quarries had stayed in town. De Florio, Lee, and Hughes convened in the main conference room. Lee told them about Brent’s call.

“Sounds like Walker’s ready to turn us in,” Hughes said.

“Then why are we still walking around?” Lee asked. “Get real, Larry. He was bluffing, buying time, trying to rattle us.”

De Florio agreed.

“What about it, Jon,” Lee said, “any idea where they are?”

“We’ve checked both their homes, but nobody is there. Reed’s daughter and granddaughter are gone too. My guess is they got their families off to a safe place.”

“Any chance of finding out where?”

De Florio shook his head. “We’ve done only minimal background checks on the families.”

“What about the taps on Walker’s phone in his office and the one Reed uses all the time in his break room. Anything there?” Hughes asked.

“No calls all day.”

“Obviously,” Lee said, “they talked with each other. That escape was well coordinated.”

“True,” De Florio said. “But there are a multitude of phones scattered through the mill. They could have used any one of them. Most likely, they are using cell phones.”

“I didn’t want to do this, as it could draw undue attention,” Lee said. “But I think we have no choice.”

De Florio nodded, understanding, then stepped from the room.

“What was that all about?” Hughes asked.

Lee beamed a broad smile. “I own the Woods County Telephone Company.”

“When did you buy that?” Hughes asked.

“Six months ago. One of my holding companies secured a controlling interest.”

“You didn’t bother telling anyone.”

“I told Jon. Other than that I didn’t really think it was anyone’s business what I bought or sold. It’s actually been rather useful in his preparatory work on Priorities. You can learn a lot from a person’s telephone records. All in all, though, it’s not a profitable venture.”

“You know the rules, Hamilton. We should have been told.”

“So what are you going to do about it? It isn’t two to one anymore, Larry. It’s just me and you. I’d suggest you let me run things my way. We’ll all be a whole lot better off.”

Hughes said nothing more and sat silent the entire five minutes until De Florio returned.

“I was careful with my inquiries, feigning a theft situation with one of our employees. But they ran a check on Walker and Reed’s cell phones. They both have service through your company. Three hours ago a call came to Walker’s cell phone. From a landline. It’s a house on Eagle Lake owned by a Leon Peacock. He works at the bag plant and lives in town, but built the place a few years ago for his retirement. Peacock’s on vacation this week, visiting his daughter in South Carolina.”

“How did you find all that out in five minutes?” Hughes asked.

“I checked Peacock’s personnel file. That led me to our banking records. He obtained a mortgage from the Woods County State Bank for the construction. A call to his supervisor at the bag plant provided me with where he was and what he’s doing.”

“You think they’re out at Eagle Lake?” Lee asked.

“We’ll know in thirty minutes.”

BRENT TOOK HIS TIME LEAVINGSTATESBORO.THE DELUGE STARTEDas he reentered Woods County. By the time he reached Eagle Lake it was pouring rain and, from the look of the nasty clouds, an awful lot of moisture was going to find the ground during the next few hours.