so?â
âWhen itâs time for her to step up, sheâll step up.â
âYouâre sure?â
âYes.â
âAre you and Mrs. Dunston close?â
âYes.â
âHow close?â
âIf Shelby and Bobby should ever have a falling-out, Iâd probably take her side.â
Honsa raised an eyebrow at that. I didnât know what he was thinking, and I didnât ask.
âWhat about Lieutenant Dunston?â he said.
âWhat about him?â
âSome family membersâthey feel that they need to do something. Lieutenant Dunston is like that. Heâs acting like a cop. He wants to solve the case. That makes me nervous.â
âWhy?â
âHeâs wound so damn tight he could do anything. I have no idea how heâs going to behave when we start negotiating with the kidnappers. He could go off.â
âDonât worry about it.â
âI am worried about it. I wish he would break down, release some of that tension, that anguish.â
âAfterward, maybe. When itâs all over. For now heâll do what he has to do. He wonât make mistakes. He wonât screw up.â
âIs that a promise?â
âYes, although when itâs over and Victoria is safe and the kidnappers are in custody, you donât want him anywhere near the suspects.â
âOr you, either.â
âGoes without saying.â
It occurred to me then that Agent Honsa was assessing me as he had the others. I wondered what he thought, but I didnât ask.
âHow long have you and the Dunstons been friends?â he said.
âI met Shelby in college when she began dating Bobby. Bobby and I have known each other since the beginning of time. I donât think weâve ever gone more than a couple of days without speaking to each other. This houseâI practically grew up here alongside him. When my mother died, I was about the same age as Victoria, and Bobbyâs mom kind of adopted me, gave me hell same as Bobby when I behaved like a jerk, used to call my father when I did something she thought he should know about. Bobby and I grew up together, went to school together, played ball together, chased girls together, went to the police academy together. I was best man at his wedding and godfather to his girls.â
âThatâs why youâre giving him the money.â
âYep.â
âHe didnât even need to ask.â
âNope.â
âThe kidnapper knows that.â
âIt would seem so.â
âHow did you come into your money?â
I explained about Teachwell, how I discovered him biding his time in his ex-brother-in-lawâs cabin on Lower Red Lake in northern Minnesota, waiting for the chance to escape into Canada and eventually to Rio de Janeiro. I explained how I retired from the St. Paul Police Department in order to collect the reward that the insurance company had offeredâapproximately three million that my financial adviser had since grown to about five million. I didnât explain that I have often regretted my decision.
âI spoke to my money manager a few minutes ago,â I said. âThe million should be in my checking account by eleven tomorrow morning. Maybe sooner.â
âGood,â said Honsa. âVery good. We wonât tell the kidnappers.â
âNo?â
âWeâll need time to prepare the money. Iâll brief Lieutenant Dunston on what to say when they call.â
âWhat do you mean, âprepare the moneyâ?â
âThe kidnappers will ask for old, unmarked bills, tens, twenties, fifties, maybe hundreds, with nonsequential serial numbers. Itâll take time to get it together. Itâll take even more time to photocopy it.â
âYouâre going to photocopy it?â
âOf course we are. We have two objectives, Mr. McKenzie. First and foremost, weâre going to get the girl back, alive and
Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton