Dan Robie started to say something but then stopped. He snorted and looked away, shaking his head.
“I’m not leaving,” Robie said quietly. “I did remember one lesson you taught me. Never leave a job unfinished.”
His father glanced at him. “You really servin’ your country?”
“Yes.”
“You good at it?”
“Yes. Some might say one of the best. So is Jessica.”
“That’s interestin’. A girl doin’ what is traditionally a man’s job.”
“She might be even better than me. And I recently ran into a woman from another country about half my size who could take on five veteran jarheads and kill them all before they even knew what had hit them.”
“Seriously?”
“Very seriously.”
His father fell silent and Robie watched him closely.
He said, “Why the change in attitude? Where’s the fighter inside you?”
“Need somethin’ worth fightin’ for.”
“And your life isn’t?”
His father shrugged.
Feeling he was going in circles over this, Robie decided to change the subject. “Whatever happened to the Barksdales?”
Dan Robie glanced up. “The Barksdales?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“Just wondering. I’m staying at their old home.”
His father nodded, his look wary.
“What is it?” asked Robie.
“You and Laura. That was a mistake, you know.”
“What the hell do you mean by that?”
His father said, “You came from different walks of life. Never would have worked out.”
“You don’t know that!”
“I do know that. And it didn’t work out, did it?”
“I’m not going to waste time discussing this with you,” snapped Robie.
“You just won’t listen, will you?” said his father in disgust.
Robie barked, “What happened to the Barksdales? I know you didn’t buy the Willows from them.”
“I didn’t. They were long gone by then.”
“Gone where?”
Dan Robie shrugged. “Don’t know. They just up and moved out one night. They were just gone.” He added, “Like you.”
“When?”
“I don’t remember exactly. It was a long time ago.”
“How long after I left?”
His father thought about this for a few moments. “Not that long, actually.”
“So you didn’t see them before they left?”
“I wasn’t that close to them. They were the aristocracy of Cantrell. I was just a lowly lawyer. I was surprised that they let you date their precious daughter. Henry Barksdale was so damn proud of his ancestral roots. He thought his family walked on water. That his shit didn’t stink. I thought he was a pompous idiot.”
“They had a lot of money,” pointed out Robie.
“Goes to show that money doesn’t buy class.”
“So you didn’t do their legal work?”
“Hell no. I wasn’t established enough. They used Parnell and Longstreet. Been here forever. The founding partners have long since died. Stuart Longstreet is still here, though. He handled their affairs when they were livin’ in Cantrell.” His father studied him. “Why all the questions about the Barksdales? What’s going on?”
“It’s pretty simple. Regardless of what you thought, I loved Laura. And I just would like to know what happened to her.”
“Well, good luck with that. Not that she’d care. You just up and left all of us, didn’t you? Her included?”
“Looks like gibberish to me,” said Reel.
“Where’d this come from?” asked Little Bill.
“I’d prefer not to say.”
He stared up at her. “Why?”
“I’d also prefer not to answer that.”