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“Why not?”
“As of today, the Tacketts are in the news again.”
“So?”
“So reporters are going to be crawling over Eden Pass like ants on a picnic ham. Until a hotter story comes along, that is. When they don’t get anything out of me—and they won’t—they’re likely to come sniffing after you for a statement. Bowie,” he said, looking at the pumper, “keep an eye out for her, okay? If she inspects any oil wells, you go with her.”
Bowie glanced uneasily at Janellen. “Meaning no disrespect, Mr. Tackett, but she’s the boss.”
“Boss or not, do it as a favor to me. I’m asking as her brother.”
Again Bowie’s eyes darted toward Janellen. She was fuming and didn’t trust herself to speak. With uncertainty, Bowie said, “Okay, Mr. Tackett.”
“Call me Key.”
“Yes, sir. Well, ’bye, y’all.”
He wasted no time in getting to the company truck and driving away. In fact, he looked grateful to be escaping with his hide intact.
Janellen rounded on her brother. “I don’t need a keeper!”
“Well, I do,” he replied, unfazed by her anger. “If a reporter pesters you, I’ll go after him wanting to kick ass. That’ll create more news and make a bad situation worse.”
She resented his taking charge of her employee, of making it appear that she was incapable of taking care of herself. But his explanation was well founded. If a reporter did ambush her demanding a statement, and Key found out about it, there was no telling what he’d do. Once, when she was in high school, she’d come home from a date in tears. Key had almost throttled her terrified escort before she could explain that they’d just seen a sad movie.
Knowing that he was looking out for her best interests, she let her anger subside. “The situation is already worse than you know,” she told him. “Lara Mallory called here a while ago wanting to talk to Mama. Dr. Mallory thinks she tipped the media about her being here in Eden Pass.”
Key ran a hand around the back of his neck. “Well I’ll be damned.”
“Does that surprise you?”
“No. What surprises me is that the doctor and I are beginning to think alike. I also figured Jody was at the bottom of this. I know plenty of smart reporters, but no more than a handful of them knew Lara was involved in the Leonard girl’s case; it would have been a bizarre coincidence if one of them had added two and two and come up with four.” He looked toward the second story of the house. “Shrewd old bitch.”
“Don’t talk like that about our mother.”
“I meant it as a compliment. You’ve got to give her credit for creative thinking.”
“Was it so creative?”
“Meaning?”
Worriedly, she said, “You were there, Key. You saw everything. Was Dr. Mallory negligent? Do the Leonards have grounds for a malpractice suit?”
“I was concentrating on flying the chopper, but from what I saw, Lara fought like hell to save the kid’s life. According to the autopsy report, that embolism was a freak of nature. Could have happened anytime. And another thing—the Leonards didn’t seem the kind of people who’d be vengeful. They’re faithful Christians.”
“So it surprises you that they’re looking for a scapegoat?”
“Right. I wouldn’t put it past Jody to circulate a rumor of a malpractice suit, whether or not there’s any truth to it. Lara’s an easy target.” Janellen looked at him quizzically. “What?” he asked.
“Several times you’ve referred to her as Lara. It sounds odd.”
He hesitated, then said querulously, “That’s her name, isn’t it?”
Janellen had too many other pressing matters on her mind to pursue something so trivial. “She sounded awfully mad, Key. She said to tell Mama and you that she wouldn’t be driven out of town like she was before. What did she mean?”
“She’s referring to when she and Randall Porter went to Montesangre.” He frowned. “She’s got it into her head that Clark engineered the
appointment for Porter by flexing some muscle in the State Department. His appointment looked and sounded good, but it was practically legalized banishment.”
