Madman on a Drum Read Online Free PDF Page A

so?”
    â€œWhen it’s time for her to step up, she’ll step up.”
    â€œYou’re sure?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œAre you and Mrs. Dunston close?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œHow close?”
    â€œIf Shelby and Bobby should ever have a falling-out, I’d probably take her side.”
    Honsa raised an eyebrow at that. I didn’t know what he was thinking, and I didn’t ask.
    â€œWhat about Lieutenant Dunston?” he said.
    â€œWhat about him?”
    â€œSome family members—they feel that they need to do something. Lieutenant Dunston is like that. He’s acting like a cop. He wants to solve the case. That makes me nervous.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œHe’s wound so damn tight he could do anything. I have no idea how he’s going to behave when we start negotiating with the kidnappers. He could go off.”
    â€œDon’t worry about it.”
    â€œI am worried about it. I wish he would break down, release some of that tension, that anguish.”
    â€œAfterward, maybe. When it’s all over. For now he’ll do what he has to do. He won’t make mistakes. He won’t screw up.”
    â€œIs that a promise?”
    â€œYes, although when it’s over and Victoria is safe and the kidnappers are in custody, you don’t want him anywhere near the suspects.”
    â€œOr you, either.”
    â€œGoes without saying.”
    It occurred to me then that Agent Honsa was assessing me as he had the others. I wondered what he thought, but I didn’t ask.
    â€œHow long have you and the Dunstons been friends?” he said.
    â€œI met Shelby in college when she began dating Bobby. Bobby and I have known each other since the beginning of time. I don’t think we’ve ever gone more than a couple of days without speaking to each other. This house—I practically grew up here alongside him. When my mother died, I was about the same age as Victoria, and Bobby’s 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€œThat’s why you’re giving him the money.”
    â€œYep.”
    â€œHe didn’t even need to ask.”
    â€œNope.”
    â€œThe kidnapper knows that.”
    â€œIt would seem so.”
    â€œHow did you come into your money?”
    I explained about Teachwell, how I discovered him biding his time in his ex-brother-in-law’s 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 offered—approximately three million that my financial adviser had since grown to about five million. I didn’t explain that I have often regretted my decision.
    â€œI spoke to my money manager a few minutes ago,” I said. “The million should be in my checking account by eleven tomorrow morning. Maybe sooner.”
    â€œGood,” said Honsa. “Very good. We won’t tell the kidnappers.”
    â€œNo?”
    â€œWe’ll need time to prepare the money. I’ll brief Lieutenant Dunston on what to say when they call.”
    â€œWhat do you mean, ‘prepare the money’?”
    â€œThe kidnappers will ask for old, unmarked bills, tens, twenties, fifties, maybe hundreds, with nonsequential serial numbers. It’ll take time to get it together. It’ll take even more time to photocopy it.”
    â€œYou’re going to photocopy it?”
    â€œOf course we are. We have two objectives, Mr. McKenzie. First and foremost, we’re going to get the girl back, alive and