[_Talk about denial, hmm?” _]
Irene clutched the cell phone. “Can you hear this, Luke?”
“I can hear it,” he said softly. “Webb is a pedophile, and he’s getting set to run for president. You’r ight, what you’re looking at is a hell of a motive for murder—a couple of them, in fact.”
“Pamela and Hoyt Egan.”
“I’ve got to call Tanaka,” Luke said. “I want him to find out where Webb is right now. Once I kno he sonofabitch isn’t anywhere near Dunsley, I’ll feel a little better. Meanwhile, make sure Tess’s doors are locked.”
Tess was close enough to hear Luke’s voice coming out of the small phone. She was already on her feet. “I’ll take care of it.”
“I’ll be there as soon as I can get away from here,” Luke said. “Don’t let anyone in except Phil.”
“Understood,” Irene said.
Luke cut the connection.
Tess hurried back into the living room and sat down on the couch. “We’re all secure, as Phil would say.”
On-screen, Pamela lowered her wineglass.
“You’ll see from the charge card expenses and flight records that I’ve included in [_one of the _]
other files that Daddy’s done a lot of traveling abroad in the past few years.
Southeast Asia
used to he his favorite destination. Lots of kiddie brothels there.
“But there are plenty of similar operations in other parts of the world. Last year Daddy found
the one in Europe that you just saw on the film clip. It’s his favorite these days. I [_included the address for you, Irene. I know reporters like lots of details.” _]
Tess looked at Irene. “This is devastating stuff. Ryland Webb’s campaign will go down in flames when this hits the media.” Irene did not take her eyes off the screen.
“Yes.”
“if you got this far, Irene, you’ve probably already figured out that I want you to [_be the one to _]
go public with the news about Daddy’s little hobby. I owe you that much, at least.”
“She knew you had become a reporter,” Tess said thoughtfully. “She kept track of you over the years.”
“Evidently.”
On-screen, Pamela leaned back into the corner of the sofa and stretched out one long leg.
“But before you break the big story, I have to tell you what really happened to your [_parents. _]
I said I was responsible for their deaths, and that’s the simple truth. You see, at [_some point that summer, your mom began to suspect that I had been abused.” _]
“Webb raped his own daughter,” Tess said, face tight with anger.
“You may have wondered why your mom would never let you stay overnight at my [_house when Daddy was in town that summer. She needn’t have worried, though. _]
Daddy was no longer
coming into my room in the middle of the night in those days. I was too old at sixteen. He liked me better when I was younger. It started when I was ten, you know. Stopped when I was about thirteen.”
“Poor Pamela,” Irene whispered. The weight of a great sadness pressed down upon her. “I never knew. She always seemed so incredibly sophisticated and cool and worldly.”
“I pretended that nothing had ever happened, of course. That’s what kids do in those situations. They keep the secret, sometimes even from themselves. I never even told any of the therapists
I saw over the years. I can’t explain how it works. I think they call it [_compartmentalizing. I _]
read somewhere that it’s a survival mechanism or something. Whatever, I was real [_good at it.” _]
“I wonder how Mom found out,” Irene said.
“Your mother was a very intuitive person, Irene. She started talking to me that summer, asking me questions. At first I blew her off. But then, one day I suddenly got the urge to let her discover the truth. Didn’t have the guts to do it in person, of course. But I knew where Daddy kept his favorite video, the one he had made of the two of us.”
Irene went very still. “She gave that video to my mother, who would have told Dad.”
“Who, in turn, would have done something very serious about it,” Tess concluded quietly.
Irene drew a deep breath. “Yes.”
On-screen, Pamela was gazing very intently into the camera.
“I arranged for your mother to find the video. That same evening I made sure that [_you were _]
with me. I couldn’t stand the suspense of not knowing what was going to happen, [_you see. _]
I didn’t want to be alone.”
“She wouldn’t take me home.” Irene laced her fingers very tightly together in her lap.
“Kept me out past curfew. Made me drive all the way to Kirbyville with her. I was so angry. I knew my parents would be furious.”
“I thought I had it all planned out, Irene. But I made a terrible, terrible mistake. I can’t really explain why I did it, except to say that, having made the first move to share my secret with your mother, I could no longer pretend the secret didn’t exist, [_if you see what I mean. All of a sudden, _]
it was boiling up inside me. So that afternoon, before I picked you up to go to the movies, I told someone I thought I could trust about the video and what I had done with it.
“Later, after I heard what happened to your folks, I realized that person must have [_called _]
Daddy in San Francisco.”
“Only a couple of hours away,” Tess whispered.
“Ryland Webb knows how to handle a gun,” Irene said. “He goes hunting every year with his father.”
Pamela blinked a couple of times. Irene got the impression that she was trying to get rid of tears.
“You’ll never be able to prove that Daddy killed your parents, of course. I’m very sorry about that,
Irene. But we both know that too much time has passed. Any hard evidence that might have existed disappeared long ago.”
A key turned in a lock. Irene and Tess both started.
The door opened. Phil loomed in the entrance, a small duffel bag in one hand. He looked very reassuring, Irene thought.
“I hear Luke wants me to keep you company until he gets back to Dunsley Irene.”
Phil closed the door and locked it. “What’s going on?”
“You’ll never believe this.” Tess scooted closer to Irene to make room for him on the couch. “Take a look.”
Pamela was talking again.
“.. . It’s too late to get justice for your parents, Irene. But you can make sure that [_my father _]