Sins of the Fathers (31 page)

Authors: Patricia Sprinkle

BOOK: Sins of the Fathers

6.67Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub

The door opened. He stepped back to let her off first. “We already have. I arranged that last night while we were here. But I need to stop by the business office for a minute and sign a few more papers.”

She looked at him in fond exasperation. “Tom Murray, have I ever told you that sometimes you drive me crazy?”

“Occasionally.” He smiled. “Why don’t you wait on that couch by the door? You look a little peaky.”

She tottered toward the couch. Now that Tom had mentioned it, Katharine
felt
peaky. Seeing Hollis and Dr. Flo had made her aware how close they—and she—had come to death.

She discovered, however, that she wasn’t quite done with the island. Mona Bayard sat in a wheelchair by the curb, awaiting pickup.

Katharine regarded her through the glass wall beside the automatic doors and wondered what she should do. Her impulse was to go to Mona and express how sorry she was for everything that had happened, but how do you offer comfort to a woman whose entire world has exploded? Especially when you have been one of the agents of destruction? Would Mona want to speak with her, or did Mona never want to see her again?

Two women came up the walk. One looked with open envy at Mona’s navy pantsuit and matching pumps. As they came though the door, she said to her companion, “What do you reckon she paid for that outfit? The shoes alone cost her four hundred.”

The other heaved a big sigh. “Some women have all the luck.” They laughed as they headed to the elevator.

Katharine pressed one hand against the glass. It was no more solid than the events that walled her off from Mona. There was no point in offering her condolences. Some stories have no happy endings.

Mona’s cream Mercedes pulled up to the curb, and a tall man got out. He wore a black Western shirt with black slacks, and had thick gray hair. Katharine knew without seeing it that he had a black Western hat in the backseat. He came around the car and took Mona’s arm like she was made of porcelain. Other visitors came in then, so Katharine heard him say, “Come on, Sugah. Let’s get you back to Texas where you belong.”

Maybe for a Texan that would be happy ending enough.

But to lose your son, and your husband…Katharine shivered and could not stop.

Then Tom strode across the lobby—sturdy, familiar, and very dear. “Are you cold?” He immediately stripped off the jacket he’d worn to the hospital, and wrapped her in it.

Katharine looked up, memorizing his face for his next departure. “Have I ever told you I love you?”

“Not often enough.” He held out his hand. “We’re done here. Let’s go take a nap.”

She put her hand in his and gave it a squeeze. “Or some-

Acknowledgments

Four graves lie in a central North Carolina cemetery far from the sea, between two others that span the American Revolution. Their stones bear no names and no dates, but each is etched with a skull and crossed bones. Some people insist the skull simply represented death, but I can find no similar use of the skull with crossed bones. A Carolina legend claims pirates sailed far up the Neuse from the coast, but the Neuse turns northward miles to the east of this cemetery. For me, those grave stones were the mystery that birthed this mystery.

Bayard’s Island, the Bayard family, and other characters are figments of my imagination, but this book owes a major debt to
Early Days of the Georgia Tidewater: The Story of McIntosh County and Sapelo
by Buddy Sullivan, and to
The Confederate Privateers
by W. M. Robinson, Jr. I am also grateful to the excellent genealogy rooms in the Smyrna Public Library and the Atlanta History Center, and to the convenience of ancestry.com.

I am also grateful to Norman Burkett of the Bellamy Funeral Home and Randy Carmichael of Carmichael Funeral Home for explaining procedures for the disinterment of old graves, and to Jia Jordan, of the Human Resources Department of Spelman College, for her information about benefits a retired professor would receive. And finally, I must thank my agent, Nancy Yost, for her perseverance in finding this series a home; my editor, Sarah Durand, for her wise editing that made this a better book; and—as always—my husband, Bob, for patience and support far beyond the call of his marriage vows.

Joye Folsom and Jenny-Jill Roberts are as fictitious as other characters in the book, but bear the names of two readers who won a contest on my website. Happy reading, ladies!

About the Author

Patricia Sprinkle grew up in North Carolina and Florida, graduated from Vassar College, and afterwards spent a year writing in the Scottish Highlands. She has been writing mysteries full time since 1988, and currently lives in Smyrna, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. She and her husband have two grown sons. When she is not writing, Patricia is active in advocacy for abused, neglected, and deprived children. You can visit her website at
www.patriciasprinkle.com.

Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

By Patricia Sprinkle

Family Tree Mystery Series

S
INS OF THE
F
ATHERS

D
EATH ON THE
F
AMILY
T
REE

MacLaren Yarbrough Mystery Series

W
HAT
A
RE
Y
OU
W
EARING TO
D
IE?

G
UESS
W
HO’S
C
OMING TO
D
IE?

D
ID
Y
OU
D
ECLARE THE
C
ORPSE?

W
HO
K
ILLED THE
Q
UEEN OF
C
LUBS?

W
HEN
W
ILL THE
D
EAD
L
ADY
S
ING?

W
HO
L
ET
T
HAT
K
ILLER IN THE
H
OUSE?

W
HO
L
EFT
T
HAT
B
ODY IN THE
R
AIN?

W
HO
I
NVITED THE
D
EAD
M
AN?

B
UT
W
HY
S
HOOT THE
M
AGISTRATE?

W
HEN
D
ID
W
E
L
OSE
H
ARRIET?

Sheila Travis Mystery Series

D
EADLY
S
ECRETS ON THE
S
T.
J
OHNS

A M
YSTERY
B
RED IN
B
UCKHEAD

D
EATH OF A
D
UNWOODY
M
ATRON

S
OMEBODY’S
D
EAD IN
S
NELLVILLE

M
URDER ON
P
EACHTREE
S
TREET

M
URDER IN THE
C
HARLESTON
M
ANNER

M
URDER
A
T
M
ARKHAM

Job’s Corner Chronicles

C
ARLEY’S
S
ONG

T
HE
R
EMEMBER
B
OX

Copyright

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

SINS OF THE FATHERS
. Copyright © 2007 by Patricia Sprinkle. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Mobipocket Reader August 2007 ISBN 978-0-06-153601-4

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1