Tail Spin

expected since it appeared he did everything needful in his hideaway.
    Jack could only shake his head at his willingness to jump to conclusions. Truth be told, he’d been expecting a stereotypical hillbilly in a flannel shirt with a big beer gut—was he ever an idiot. “You’ve got a beautiful home,” he said instead, and meant it.
    “Thank you. Rachael drilled, hammered, mowed, you name it. I’m glad you got here okay, sweetie. It’s getting dark fast. Come inside. I’ll feed you both, then you can tell me what’s going on.”
    “I don’t suppose you’ve at least got a still out back?” Jack asked hopefully.
    Gillette Janes laughed. “No, but I’m told my grandmother did.”

SIXTEEN
    Slipper Hollow
    Monday night
    “Why is it called Slipper Hollow?” Jack asked as he spooned up the last bite of vegetarian stew. It was loaded with every vegetable under heaven, a recipe he should get for Savich.
    Gillette Janes chewed a moment on a saltine cracker. “The story goes that two young lovers met here in the deep of summer when wildflowers carpeted the ground, for even then no trees grew in this hollow. Alas, her father found them one day, shot the boy, hauled off his daughter kicking and screaming to go back to her dead lover. In her struggles, her slipper came off.
    “Years later, it was said you could hear her crying for her lost slipper—not her unfortunate dead lover—thus the name attached itself to the land.”
    “Any proof of that tale, Uncle Gillette?”
    “Not a whiff, as far as I know,” Gillette said. “I’ve never heard her crying for her slipper, and I’ve been here nearly all my life.”
    Rachael played with her crystal wineglass. “We’re safe here. No one knows about Slipper Hollow except for a few old-timers in and around Parlow. And none of them would give directions to a stranger.”
    “Glad I made the decision to keep the place private,” Gillette said, rising to stack stew bowls in the dishwasher. “After you and your mom moved to Richmond, I even began doing most of my shopping in Heissen’s Dome, about an hour’s drive north of here—people know my face, maybe my name, but not where I live.
    “Jack, these people after my girl, it’s doubtful they’ll find her here since she’s not been part of the area for years. So tell me, Rachael, you believe in your heart of hearts that Senator Abbott’s siblings murdered him, then have tried to murder you twice?”
    Rachael said simply, “There is no one else.”
    “They acted so quickly. Tell me about them.”
    “Most of what I know is from Jimmy since I was only with them three times before he died. Their names are Laurel and Quincy. They’re brother and sister and they give sharks a bad name. Jimmy told me that right after his election to his first Senate term, Laurel managed to oust Quincy from the CEO position of the Abbott corporation. They’re quite diversified, but their primary interests are in commercial real estate development worldwide—malls, skyscrapers, those sorts of projects.
    “The fight between Laurel and Quincy was real nasty, Jimmy told me. But the old man—his father, Carter Blaine Abbott—came down on Laurel’s side. She ran things after Carter Abbott loosened his grip on the reins five years ago.
    “Fact is, I think Laurel and Quincy are equally grasping, condescending, and arrogant. I can also see the two of them joining forces to remove the bigger threat—their brother—probably right after he told them about killing Melissa Parks and that he was going to come clean, resign his Senate seat, go to the cops, the press.”
    “Laurel Abbott,” Gillette repeated slowly. “Didn’t she marry some Greek shipping magnate? What’s his name ? ”
    “Stefanos Kostas. Now there’s a guy who’s suffering from ego inflation. He thinks he’s slick and stunning, that women can’t resist him. Jimmy said he was unfaithful even after he proposed to Laurel. The way he looks at women—me included—it made me want to go take a shower.”
    “I’ve seen photos of him,” Gillette said. “He’s quite the fashion plate, looks smooth and tough, quite a combination. So you weren’t interested, huh?”
    Rachael shuddered. “If a shower weren’t available, I’d go for a hose. They’ve got two boys, both off at Standover, this fancy prep school in Vermont. Stefanos owns a Greek island, Scorpios, but he spends most of his time here.”
    “Tell us about Quincy,” Jack said, joining Gillette at