He said, “Hank is what happened to my face.”
“Hank?”
“Right before he went to correct an I-beam misplacement for the tabernacle that’s under construction. Did you know about that?”
“Couldn’t live here and not know about it. Hank says it will be the fulfilment of God’s plan for his church.”
“Well, God may want to anoint a new architect. This one fucked up the I-beams.”
“Did Hank slug you for making a crack like that? Or did it have to do with Glenn’s anxiety attack?”
“So you know?”
“Hospital grapevine. I’m told it was alarming but not life-threatening.”
“I’m grateful it wasn’t worse.” He pointed to his injured cheek. “Hank blames me for maxing out Glenn’s stress level. I contributed to it, I’m sure. But I’m told you two had a visit this morning, and that Glenn was upset after it. How come?”
Th
e Major hesitated.
“Well?”
“I told him everything, John. Beginning with Debra’s diary and how you used it to persuade—”
“Force.”
“To force me to retreat from the public eye. I told him about the conclusions you’d drawn about the bombing and your certainty that there’s a correlation between it and the attempt on my life.”
“You mention Thomas Wilcox?”
“I told Glenn you suspected him of some involvement.”
“What did he say to that?”
“I got no indication that he’d ever heard of Wilcox, but he said you must have something on the man or you wouldn’t make such serious allegations.”
“Nice of him to say. What did you come back with? Did you tell him you think I’m delusional?”
“No, I told him I think you’re right.”
That being the last thing he’d expected to hear, Trapper’s heart bumped hard against his ribs. He was at a loss for words.
With tight-lipped reluctance, The Major continued. “I don’t know if all your hypotheses are correct, but, along with your stubborn streak, you also have integrity that’s equally ironclad. You wouldn’t condemn a man on a whim, or for self-gain, or for any reason other than your conviction of his guilt.”
Trapper was relieved of having to respond when a nurse entered the room to exchange bags on The Major’s IV drip. Trapper left the chair and went over to the window, where he stared unseeing across the hospital parking lot and tried to come to terms with receiving even a backhanded compliment from his father.
Call him a cynic, but he couldn’t help but wonder why the stroking was coming now.
He could validate his father’s flattery by telling him about Wilcox’s visit to his office, his willingness to make a deal with prosecutors, his admission that he needed Trapper in order to do that.
But Trapper was reluctant to share that just yet. Not yet.
He stayed at the window for as long as it took the nurse to go through her routine, then turned his back on the splendid sunset and faced The Major. “I went out to your house this afternoon.”
“What for?”
“Ostensibly to get your bathrobe.”