"Is that so?"

"And I think we had a five pound bet, did we not?"

"Yes we did."

"Then it is time to settle up."

As the deafening roar of departing 747 drowned out all conversation, a five pound note changed hands. As the roar faded, she moved closer, to be sure he could hear her.

"I would like nothing better than to leave you with a hug and a kiss, but I see that your mother and son are watching, so I will politely shake your hand. Good-bye!"

"Good-bye Angel. There is a chance I may be back to London. If I do, I will give you a call."

"Please do that." She turned and walked away without looking back, and Travis returned to his group. As he approached, his mom asked, "Is that the contract?"

"Yes, fresh from the desk of Aaron Bagley!"

"Well, are you going to open it up, so we can see it?"

"No time right now. I may open it on the plane. Or I might wait until I get home to open it, just to keep you in suspense."

Sat.u.r.day morning, as Travis was on the plane, headed home, Miranda was dressed in black for the 10:00 funeral for Lennie. He was to be buried beside his parents in Tuscaloosa.

The funeral home brought Lennie's plain casket to the grave site, where orange clad Tuscaloosa County work-release prisoners were waiting to shovel the dirt back in on the grave they had just dug. They were also used to carry Lennie's casket to the grave. She couldn't imagine a rougher looking crew of pall-bearers. Nor could she imagine a less dignified way to bury someone, than what she was seeing, but it would soon be over. It broke her heart that she was literally the only person there to pay respects to Lennie, except for the elderly pastor who was conducting the ceremony. No family, no friends, just her, the pastor, and a half dozen prisoners waiting to close the grave, watched over by a county deputy with a shotgun.

As the pastor spoke his words over the casket, she wondered just what kind of friend she had really been to Lennie. Deep down, she had to admit that she was more relieved that he was dead, than grieving his loss, because with his death, a lot of her worries melted away. From her selfish perspective of life, Lennie's death was perfectly timed, and so convenient, that if anyone had known the details, they might conclude that she had actually killed Lennie herself.

And in a sense, she felt that she had.

True, he had been dying anyway, because she heard the doctor say so. And it was true that Lennie wanted to help her out. But it was wrong of her to take advantage of such a simple-minded man the way she had. She had made him feel selfish, for not dying and helping her out. As she stood looking into his grave, she asked herself, what kind of a monster am I?

When the brief ceremony was over, the pastor walked over to her, took her hand, and said something that was meant to comfort her, but instead, it cut her to the bone.

"G.o.d bless you, child, for being Lennie's only friend in life, and in death."

As she left the cemetery, she looked about to see if she could see one of the police detectives that she was sure were tailing her, but she saw no one at all. A maintenance man was in the distance weed-eating, but that was the only human in sight.

She left Tuscaloosa and drove straight home to Kellerman, the small community that bore Lennie's last name. She remembered Lennie telling her one time that his ancestors were the first people to settle this area, so that was why it was called Kellerman. Lennie was the last of the clan, and now he was gone.

She quickly changed out of her funeral clothes, into a yellow sun dress, and began making preparations for the pool party, that was to begin in 30 minutes. Janice and her kids would probably be here before then. She had invited her daughters from school in Atlanta, but she knew they would probably not be there. She had earlier sent out invitations to four families that lived on Kellerman Road, as well as to the Rosewoods next door. She had done that just for appearances, to pretend that she was just a regular neighbor, like everyone else.

She had to pretend that she did not know that Mrs. Rosewood was in Europe, or that Mr. Rosewood was not at home. No one would know it, but the Judge would definitely be at the party, though Miranda hoped he would not make himself seen, as he did the day before. The pool party was an opportunity to make things appear to be normal in her world, when she knew they were not.

She was surprised when her neighbors actually began showing up. The Smith', from three drives down. The Culpeppers, and the McMeads, and of course all their kids. There were twenty people there before Janice arrived with Rebecca and the boys.

She was glad that she invited everyone, because it was the first time she had actually met any of her neighbors (except for Lennie and Leon, and they were both dead. One could look at this another way. It was probably just coincidence, but every Kellerman resident who had so far befriended Miranda, had ended up dead. Had these neighbors realized that, they might have been leery about responding to her invitation.) Miranda was pleasantly surprised to see that they were all likeable people, and were grateful for the invitation.

Of course, she and Rebecca had a special friendship, because at one time, she was planning to marry Rebecca's step-dad, Gene Austin.

And of course, she knew Janice, almost as long as she had known Travis. If there was one woman in the world that she was envious of, it was Janice, for obvious reasons.

Janice and Rebecca helped her get out the refreshments and snacks. Being that this was a pool party, everything was out by the pool. The kids quickly organized a game of 'shark'. Miranda took the time to stand by the pool and watch the fun, and she was also looking for anything in the water that resembled a headless torso. She enjoyed watching them enjoy her new pool, but she was not getting in herself.

When the travelers returned home, things quickly got back to normal. Drew resumed football practice, for their first game, which was in less than a week.

Lois had lots of photos and stories to tell about her adventures in England. And she gave her report to Janice, regarding Travis' behavior while away, and took credit for the fact that he had not been arrested, kidnapped, or caused any international incidents.

Janice was just glad to have her husband and son back home safe and sound. It seemed a miracle that he had not gotten into trouble this time, which was a first for him. And this was why she wanted to keep him from finding about her involvement with Penelope, and the possible trouble she could be in, if Penelope was convicted. But no need to bring all that up until she had to.

She told Travis all about being invited to Miranda's pool party, and what a good time they had. Travis had to pretend that any news about Miranda having a new pool was news to him. But what Janice told him, eased his mind about whether Miranda's plans had come together or not. Apparently everything went as planned, or else there would hardly have been a pool party.

Travis had to be back at work on Monday, so he sat down and took a good look at the contract from Jester Books. Once he had read and understood the terms, and even read the fine print, he called a few U.S. publishers to see if they could give him a better deal. What he found was that most U.S. publishers had still not realized how successful 'The Relic' was overseas, and were still reluctant to make an offer on his next book. Therefore, Jester Books seemed to be the best deal available, especially with the option to get royalties on future sales of 'The Relic'. That sealed the deal. Travis signed the contract, and returned it to Aaron Bagley. He was now officially represented by Jester Books.

About his 4th day back, Travis left for work early, and drove through Kellerman, to see Miranda. He had heard nothing on the news about Judge Rosewood, but then, why should he? His wife was not due back from Europe yet, so why would he be missing yet? He was lucky that he caught Miranda at home, because she was backing up to leave when he showed up. She was elated to see him. She gave him a big hug, then suggested that they go around back to see her pool. As they sat down at a patio table, she scolded him.

"You have been back for four days, and you are just now getting around to checking on me?"

"I've been watching the news. Nothing about Rosewood?"

"No, and that alone has me worried."

"Why?"

"Oh, lots of things have happened since you left, and I don't know if I handled them as well as I could have."

"Looks like they did a good job on the pool."

"Yes, they did."

"Everything go okay? Is the Judge resting peacefully?"

"Yes. He's under the pool. No problems with that." (She decided not to mention that not all of the Judge's parts made it under the pool. The head and p.e.n.i.s were elsewhere.) "Good, so everything is cool?"

"I hope so."

"I'm glad it worked out. But you know that the real test is going to come when his wife gets back from her cruise, and misses him. That is going to open up a whole new can of worms."

"I know." She hated to do it, but she had to tell him about Lennie. "Do you remember before you left, there was a r.e.t.a.r.ded man who kept calling me? He lived up the road, and watched everyone who came and went. His name was Lennie?"

"Yes, I remember him. I told you that somebody like that could blow your entire plan."

"Right. Well, after you left, I befriended Lennie, because I needed to know exactly what he knew, and guess what?"

"What?"

"He knew all about me and the Judge. He knew about me cutting the body up. He had pictures of you and me together here that day you were explaining how to put in the pool. He was sneaking around in the woods, taking pictures!"

"That's really bad. He has pictures, and knows everything?"

"Well he did. I got the pictures and destroyed them. Lennie didn't have a car, so I took him to Birmingham to see a doctor, and found out that Lennie had a brain tumor. He was dying. He knew he was dying, but he didn't care. I tried to coach him as to what to say, if the police ever questioned him about the judge, but it scared me how easy it was to get information out of him. I knew that if the police ever questioned him, it was over! He would unintentionally tell them everything. I knew I couldn't let him talk to the police. I offered to send him far away, on a vacation, until the search for the judge was over, but he got mad, and refused to leave home. He said he would tell the police that he had killed the judge, and hid the body, so I wouldn't have to go to prison. But I didn't trust letting him talk to the police, because I knew he would let something slip!"

"So where is Lennie now?"

"That's what I'm getting to. We don't have to worry about him talking to the police, because he's dead!"

Travis' eyes pierced hers, as he waited for her to explain, but he was afraid he already knew what happened. "You killed Lennie, to cover what he knew about the Judge?"

"No! I didn't kill him! He was killed on the highway! A truck hit him! I hated it, but I had to admit, it solved a lot of my problems!"

"Yes. I imagine it did. Are you sure that you didn't kill him? Because that sounds way too convenient!"

"Yes, Travis! I am sure! I did not kill Lennie!" But then she broke down and began to cry. "But I might as well had!"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I told him that I wanted to send him away on a long vacation, so he wouldn't have to talk to the police. And well, it offended him, that I thought he was too stupid to talk to the police, and he said that he wasn't going to leave home. He committed suicide, Travis! He knew he was dying with that brain tumor, and he knew that if he died sooner instead of later, that he would greatly help me out. So he deliberately steered his bike into that on-coming truck, and it killed him! He did it for me! I didn't mean for him to kill himself, but I guess he took it that way!"

"Of course you didn't mean for him to do it, and it wasn't your fault he did it. You can't beat yourself up for that."

"Yes I can! I have to, because Lennie didn't have the IQ of a rabbit! I should have known better than to say what I did to him!" She broke down crying again, as Travis tried to absorb all this.

"Are you sure it was suicide, and not just an accident?"

She wiped her nose and replied, "The driver that hit him said that Lennie deliberately steered his bike into him! And then I did something really stupid. While no one was looking, I knelt down to his body and slipped the judge's wallet into Lennie's pocket!"

"What? Wait a minute. Back up. Where did you get the Judge's wallet?"

"Oh, before Lennie was killed, he and I went back into Leon's house to be sure there was nothing there that I had overlooked before. And it's a good thing I did, because I found all kinds of things that we overlooked before. While we were there, I deliberately had Lennie leave his fingerprints all over everything, so later the police would find them, and suspect Lennie. I found Leon's wallet, and took it, so I could dispose of it elsewhere. But when I heard the truck hit Lennie, I quickly decided to plant it on him too. At the time I thought it was a stroke of genius, but later I regretted it, because it might get the police looking for the judge before his wife returns, But so far, nothing."

"So you planted evidence on Lennie, after he was dead?"

"Yes."

"Miranda, you are cold hearted, do you know that?"

"I did what I felt like I had to do, to throw blame away from myself! What would you have done?"

"I would have picked up the phone and called the police, and reported that Judge Leon Rosewood had died of a heart attack, and that would have kept all this other mess from happening!"

"I'm tired of hearing that! Hindsight is 20-20, Travis! Looking back now, so would I, but what is done is done!"

"Okay, so there is good reason to think that the authorities already suspect that something is wrong. Because when they found the wallet on Lennie, I'm sure they tried to contact the judge."

"For that reason, and because the driver who hit Lennie said that he saw Lennie coming out of the Judge's driveway. So I'm sure they have tried to reach the judge by now."

"Hmm, that does throw a different light on things."

"But it's been almost a week since it happened, and I haven't heard a word on the news. No hint that the judge is missing. Not a blessed word! I don't think that they are looking for him yet."

"So all we can do is wait and see what happens."

"Is that what you recommend?"

"That's what I would do. Anything you do at this point can only draw attention to yourself, and you don't want that. It's best to do nothing. Does that make sense?"

"Yes it does. Oh Travis! I wish you had been here while all this was going on! I wasn't sure I was doing the right thing."

"Let's just wait it out and see what happens, okay?"

"Okay."

She decided not to mention the b.l.o.o.d.y torso she had seen in her pool. She knew it was not some ghostly apparition. It was just a visitation from her guilty conscience. Next, she would probably be seeing Lennie on his bike, saying Miranda, I love you!

The days pa.s.sed.

Mrs. Rosewood returned from Europe.

More days pa.s.sed.

Weeks pa.s.sed, and then months.

There was no mention on the news of any missing Federal Judge.

Travis didn't understand it, and neither did Miranda, but she was certainly not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

The damage that Travis' boys did to the casket would not be found for years, after which time the statute of limitations had run out for any punishment. Yea, it is hard to punish adults for something they did as teens. At every family reunion, the adventure with the casket would be recounted again and again, as one of their greatest pranks.

Despite attempts by Penelope's lawyer to get the murder and arson charges against her dropped, her trial went ahead. But the lawyer had done a good job of coaching her, and he did exactly as he said he would do. He painted Bob Deason as the most despicable piece of human trash imaginable. And when Penelope testified, under oath, (as they had previously rehea.r.s.ed) about what really transpired at the Deason house that day, the jury's decision was unanimous: not guilty.

This freed Penelope from the protective custody of the state, where she would have been better off, and could have gotten help for her problems. Instead, it released her back into the same world that had been so cruel to her, and it didn't take long for her to continue her downward spiral through alcoholism, and drug addiction. She met her untimely death one rainy night, as she attempted to dart across busy highway 31 to reach the liquor store. There were no mourners at her funeral.

After Penelope was acquitted, any charges that might have been brought against Janice, as an accessory to the crime were also dropped. Miraculously, Travis never found out that his wife had been involved. But then, Janice knew that Travis was not the sharpest knife in the drawer. She loved him, but she knew how to keep things below his radar.

Travis signed the contract with Jester Books, giving them the right to publish his second novel, 'Behind the Green Door'. As a bonus, they agreed to pay him royalties on any future sales of 'The Relic'. 'The Relic' continued to occupy the #1 spot in Britain for 17 weeks. Less than two months after its release, 'Behind the Green Door' would also attain the #1 spot, a.s.suring Travis of success as a writer, and eventually providing him with a supplemental income while he turned out more and even greater literary works. This was good, because as it turned out, he would be needing a supplemental income. Coal mines have to make money to stay in business, and the price of coal was already starting to nose-dive on the world markets. Within a year, there would be ma.s.sive lay-offs in the industry.