" In that case, we'd be treated to a symphony of sound every time we have a state dinner. I guess I must not be paying attention." You're never going ...o let me have any fun being king," he pretended to pout."I'm curious, Freidal, if you had fun last night." Ah!" he said with a hiss of pleasure. "Yes. I must say you have been properly obedient to the priests' wishes that I stay off my back." Oh, I'll make up for it later, when I get further along in my pregnancy." I'm glad I didn't hurt you or. And then, before he was halfway through his dream, a hand was shaking him awake.It turned out to be Beatrice."What time is it?" he asked,"I don't know," she responded. "My watch stopped, and I haven't bothered to ask anyone. We'll find out soon enough." How is Vicky?" he then asked, as if he was afraid to, and in a way he was."Your little wife is doing fine," Beatrice chimed, meaning every word because she wanted to more than anything else in the world. "In fact, she's out horseback riding and. The best surprise, though, was when SAC Charles Dupree showed up. Chuck was an old friend. A friend from when I first arrived on the mountain. He was in his signature rumpled suit, just as much out of place in Elk City as it was in the FBI. Suzy and I immediately invited him and his partner to lunch at Mabel’s.After lunch, while we were enjoying our coffee, Charles let me know that he would be retiring. But that he had one last assignment to take care of.I was a little apprehensive. I didn’t. “Find anything?”“Not much, turns out two of the fathers did know each other back in the day, but no real connection to any of the other families and as far as I can tell the two guys who knew each other haven’t spoken to each other in years...”“Well, I found something I want to follow up on. Twelve years ago there was a young woman raped and murdered near a roadhouse over on highway 19. The guy was caught and convicted but apparently the murder was pretty brutal.”“Got a name?” asked.