The Gazebo

“So, that’s the Cliff’s Notes version,” Stone said. “Think you can add anything more?”

“Cade, for God’s sake! I know you’re doing this under duress, okay? Your objection has been duly noted and thrown in the circular file. Now tell the man something useful or stop wasting his time.”

“This isn’t easy, Dee. I don’t want my family hurt.”

“Oh, yeah, and I’m just loving this. It’s so much fun,” Deirdre snapped.

“Mom said she’d had an affair with a man named Jimmy Rivermont. He was selling band instruments in the area, or something. She would leave me with another army wife while she…” Cade shrugged. “I don’t know the woman’s name. She lived next door to our parents.”

“In military housing?”

“Yes.”

“Where were they stationed?” Stone asked.

“Fort Benning, Georgia. Must have been, what? Thirty-three years ago.”

“Did this friend of your mother’s have a name?” Stone probed.

“I sure as hell never asked what it was.”

Deirdre tried to sound confident. “The Captain would know who Mom’s friends on base were, wouldn’t he?”

“You can’t ask him that!” Cade raged. “For God’s sake, Dee!”

“We’ll try other avenues first,” Stone said. “I promise you, Mr. McDaniel, I’ll try to make this inquiry as painless as possible for you and your family.”

“I’d be…grateful. Anyway, I’m out of here. I’ve told you all I know.” Cade’s jaw tipped up at that angle that always made Deirdre want to take a swing at it. “Except that Deirdre already has a father who loves her.”

“Damn it, Cade!”

“I know,” Stone said. “I mentioned that myself.”

Cade stalked to the door. Stopped. “I just have to say this one last time, then I’ll keep my mouth shut.”

“Yeah, right!” Deirdre scoffed, turning her back on him and bracing herself against the counter.

“Don’t do this, Dee.”

“It’s already done.”