Not thinking about changing.” I pulled my hand away. “And his
grandmother is here. Show some respect.”
“I am very
respectful,” he said, his eyes lighting up surprised at my comment.
I smiled at him.
“That you are you are. Usually.” I looked at him. “I take that back. Okay?”
He nodded slowly “So.
Are you saying you won’t even give me a chance?”
I nodded. “Yes.
That’s what I’m saying.” I shook my head. “No.” I chuckled. I didn’t want to
confuse him. “I won’t give you a chance.”
He cocked his head
to the side. “Even after I helped you with that Forest Service officer?”
I laughed and
punched his arm. “You didn’t help me.”
“Yes I did,” he
said. “Riley was trying to throw you under the bus.”
“Yeah. I don’t
know what that was about,” I said. I wanted to agree with him and have a
conversation about it, especially after my meeting with Detective-Two-Names, but
we were all part of a team. We shouldn’t talk about each other. And I was the
leader of that team. I had to set a good example.
“Riley’s jealous of
you, you know,” he said. “She thought she’d have a bigger part in this dig. And
then you got the job.”
“What’dya mean?” I
asked. “She thought she’d be in charge of it?”
“No,” he shook his
head. “But she thought she’d be number two. She was working on her way in.
Looks like that fell through, though.”
“I don’t
understand,” I said.
“And here’s comes
somebody else that trying to throw you under the bus,” Bugs said and nodded his
head past me.
I turned around
and looked. It was Steven McHutchinson. I scrunched up my nose. Why would
Bugs say that about the Director?
Director
McHutchinson was tall and slim, with broad shoulders and long legs. His wavy,
sun bleached blonde hair grazed the back of his long neck. A had a dimpled chin
and dark stubble along his jaw line. He was dressed in a dark navy suit, white
shirt, power red tie and a flag lapel pin.
“Good morning. Mr.
Reid. Dr. Dickerson,” McHutchinson nodded and spoke as he approached us.
“Morning,” we said
nearly in unison.
“Good to be back?”
he said, asking no one in general.
“I’m glad to be
back,” I said. “Anxious I guess is a better word. So much work to do.”
“Finding more than
you bargained for, eh, Dr. Dickerson.”
“Yes. Quite
unnerving,” I said. “Not used to having skeletons jump out at me.”
“It scared her,
alright,” Bugs said. “We heard her scream all the way out here. And when we got
to her she was so jumpy.”
“Yes. I heard,”
McHutchinson said. He looked at me and paused momentarily before speaking
again. “I have to get back on the campaign trail soon.” He licked his lips.
“And I need this place to take care of itself.”
“Oh. We’re good,”
I said. “Everything is right on track.” I bit my lip. “Well, it was until this.
I waved toward the area that had been the source of the trouble. “How is your
campaign going?” I wanted to change the subject. He was running for state
senate and I knew any mention of that and he’d drop the conversation about the
bones I’d found.
“I’m a couple of
points ahead of my opponent, which is good,” he said. “Going from an agency
director to politician I don’t see as a big leap, but some of the voters did. I
had to prove my worth to make it through the primary. Convince all of our
constituents that I would do what is best for our state.”
“Too bad I’m not a
registered voter in Georgia,” I joked. “Because you’d have my vote.”
“I just hope I can
count on you in other ways that’ll make my campaign move forward without any
bumps. I do need you to help me get elected.”
I raised an
eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“Georgia is a
state rich with history. We’re one of the thirteen original colonies. I’m sure
you know that with your background in history and all. And Track Rock Gap is a
big part of our history. If I’m
Learning to Kill: Stories