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“Very funny. You know I’m going to find out.”
Bill Covington and his wife, Lauren, joined us, putting an end to Serena’s interrogation.
I’d had only a short chance to catch up with the Covingtons when Dad corralled me to join him.
He re-introduced me to Doug, Brittney’s brother, who had been one of Zack’s friends from way back. Doug had joined the Marines and was on a short leave from Okinawa. Having been a Marine himself, Dad was enthralled with Doug’s stories of his current life in the Corps.
Dad set his beer down. “Excuse me, I’m going to have another go at Zachary.” He took his cane and strode toward my brother.
“What’s that about?” Doug asked after Dad was out of earshot.
I lifted my bottle. “Zack hasn’t escaped the family company yet, and Dad is trying to convince him to go to London for more training.”
“I bet Zack can hold his own.”
“We’ll see. Dad can be a pretty irresistible force, if he wants to.”
“I hear you got out of the family business, though.”
“Yeah. It wasn’t easy, but I like being my own boss.”
“No orders from above, huh?”
“No direct orders, but I do work for the board, and the Wall Street bozos who take every opportunity to tell me what they think I’m doing wrong. It sucks.”
Doug nodded.
“Not a one of them has run so much as a successful hot dog cart.”
Doug swigged more beer.
I listened from a distance, and luckily for Zack, Dad didn’t seem to be putting on the hard sell.
After a moment, Phil Patterson, another regular at our Habitat for Humanity weekends, came up and rescued Zack from Dad’s clutches.
Not one to give up easily, Dad followed them into the house.
A few minutes later, Phil jogged up to us. “Dennis, you gotta fucking come to the front right now. There’s news about Debbie.”
I put my beer down and sprinted to the front door. Debbie was a name I hadn’t heard in a very long time. We never spoke of her abduction and death.
When I reached the door, Zack and Dad were talking with a woman and a man in FBI windbreakers. Closer to the street were two sheriff’s deputies.
“Phil said it’s news about Debbie?” I asked breathlessly.
Phil arrived right behind me.
The short woman spoke. “We have evidence that she’s alive.”
“And may be involved in a bank robbery,” the other agent added, which earned him a stern look from the woman.
Dad grabbed my shoulder. “Dennis, you’re the oldest. You need to go out east and learn everything you can. Get back to me when you have something solid to report.”
I had a better suggestion. “Vincent’s already in Boston. Why don’t we call him?”
Dad’s jaw ticked. “You’re the oldest. It’s your job.”
Clearly this was not up for debate. I was the oldest, and with that came responsibilities.
