Page 13 of Homecoming

Chapter

Four

Walter was right on time,pulling up in a maroon sedan that had to be at least twenty years old but shone as if it’d just been washed. He jumped out of the car and came around to shake hands with Dan.

“Good to meet you. Read a lot about you last night. Impressive stuff.”

Dan was relieved that the man seemed sober. He was in his mid- to late-fifties, balding, with a reddish complexion that indicated either a history of drinking or sun exposure, possibly both. He wore a light blue dress shirt that had been badly ironed and khaki pants. “Nice to meet you, too. Thanks for doing this.”

“It’s my pleasure to drive the celebrity lawyer around.”

The hint of New England in his words reminded Dan of Ned Saunders on Gansett. “No need to make a thing of that.”

“Oh, the whole town is abuzz with the news that the Ballards brought in the big gun to defend their boys.”

“The big gun, huh?”

“Yep, that’s what they’re calling you.”

“Lovely.” He laughed to himself at how Kara would make fun of him if she heard him referred to that way.

Walter held the back door for Dan, waited for him to get settled, then closed the door and ran around to the driver’s seat.

Dan was amused at Walter’s excitement. “I assume you know where we’re going?”

“Yes, sir.”

“You can call me Dan. Sir isn’t necessary.”

“Got it.”

“What’s the word around town about the case?”

Walter glanced at him in the mirror, seeming hesitant to speak his mind.

“It’s okay. You can tell me.”

“They’re your family, so it must be strange to be dealing with something like this.”

“Not really. I barely know them. My wife hasn’t lived here in years, and I only met them at the wedding.” He didn’t add the part about bailing some of them out of jail before the wedding.

“That family is something.”

“I want you to speak freely with me. I’d appreciate any insight you have.”

“Don’t like to gossip.”

“It’s not gossip if it’s true, right?”

Walter shifted in his seat. “I… uh…”

“Let me put it this way. The Ballards, as a family, mean nothing to me. Their daughter Kara has my whole heart and soul. Our life together doesn’t really include them, so there’s nothing you could say about them that would bother me. However, it would bother me if anything we talked about in the car got around town. Does that help to clarify things?”

“It does, yes. Heard some talk about how Kara left and never came back after her sister married Matt Gallagher. People thought he was Kara’s boyfriend.”

“He was until he wasn’t.”

“Oh, damn. I wondered how that went down.”

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