Page 134 of Putting Out
“It’s not my call. I guess I just hate to see you leave the LPGA. It’s smaller and more intimate. I can actually see you putt when I watch you play. You end up on the men’s tour you’ll be surrounded all the time by gapers. Everyone will want a piece of you. Sponsors. Fans. They’ll be all over you.”
“That would be the downside, I suppose,” Reilly said dryly.
“Sorry,” Mark chuckled. “I didn’t mean to be so grim. I suppose I’m jealous. When you play on the women’s tour I feel like I have you all to myself.”
“Like I said, it’s just something to think about.”
Mark leaned over the wheel more. “Hey, do you have a second? I want to show you something I think you might be interested in seeing.”
Reilly glanced out the window. All she saw was tall grass on either side of a road stretching on endlessly, broken up by the occasional trailer parked just beyond the edge of the road.
“Trust me,” he prompted.
“You’re driving.”
* * *
“I’m notsure I want to leave. This place offers some excellent service.”
Kenny was sitting up on the bed while Tessa was helping him with his coat.
“Don’t get used to it,” she warned him. “I’ve had a lot of time to think about us and I’ve decided I’ve been far too accommodating with you. If we’re going to make this work we’re going to have to find a way to be on equal ground.”
“Please,” Kenny snorted. “Once the baby comes we’ll both be outdone by something even needier than we are.Itwill be the great equalizer.”
“Good point.”
“I can’t believe I’m going to be a great-grandfather,” Pop said from a chair. “I’m thrilled but it makes me feel old.”
Luke patted him on the back. “You’re as young as you feel, Pop. If you’re ready, Kenny, we’ve got to…”
“Excuse me.”
The door opened and Luke recognized the detective in charge of the Walters case. He’d forgotten his name in all the hoopla of yesterday, but the drooping mustache and the heavy southern accent identified him.
“Detective?”
“Mr. Nolan, would you mind a word with me outside. Nothing important folks, just some details I need to clear up.”
Luke and Kenny exchanged a glance, but Luke shook his head as if to indicate there was no need for concern. He couldn’t imagine there was since the attacker was dead.
He let the door close on the room and waited. The detective touched the edge of his mustache as if uncertain where to start. The gesture made Luke more nervous than he should have been.
“I’m confused, detective, what’s left to talk about?”
“You told us the federal agent involved in the shooting worked out of the Atlanta field office?”
“Yes. Agent Leonard. Mark Leonard. He wasn’t officially looking into the stalking issue. It was at the request from a friend of mine in DC.”
“Right. Here’s the thing. I called the FBI’s Atlanta field office today to get in touch with him and there is no Agent Leonard assigned there.”
“What?”
“There is no Agent Mark Leonard. An agent watching the event saw the shooter identify himself to the crowd as FBI and wondered who the hell he was. They’re looking into it on their end now.”
Luke closed his eyes and shook his head.
“This doesn’t make sense. The man had a badge and gun and…this doesn’t make sense.”
