The Whole Lie (37 page)

“'Fraid not, Saginaw. Lieutenant governor. One term as second banana, and then you're done. With a
girl
for a boss, no less. From what I've learned about you, it's going to be a lousy four years.”

“What are you gonna do, though? Tell some reporter a fairy tale? Who'd believe a convicted killer, Sax?”

“They wouldn't believe me,” I said. “But they'd believe the pictures.”

The smirk vanished. In the hall, momentum was dying. Betsy Tinker looked pissed.

A state cop was walking our way.

“I kept a set,” I said. “And I made a few copies. Anything happens to me, the photos go to three separate news organizations.” That wasn't true, but I did have a plan: Lacross would get a copy of the photos. Neither of us exactly trusted the other, and neither could release the pics without heavy personal repercussions. It was perfect.

I clapped Bert Saginaw on the shoulder and said, “Go get 'em, Loot.”

The crowd gave him a nice hand.

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

I knocked on the door a long time. Felt, rather than heard, hallway footsteps. Then a porch light went on. I took a step back, made myself visible.

Nothing happened for a while.

Then a dead bolt shifted. The door opened four inches.

Charlene looked at me. She said nothing.

“Of the past forty hours,” I said, “I spent twenty-four driving.”

“You look it.”

“You know I think when I drive. I got to think a lot.”

She said nothing.

“Can I come in?”

She paused half a beat, then stepped back. She wore a sweatshirt, flannel pants, fluffy slippers.

I stepped into the hall, closed the door behind me.

From the great room, far to my right, came election-coverage sounds.

Charlene folded her arms. “What conclusions did you reach during your drive-a-thon?”

“This was where I wanted to be.”

She said nothing.

“This was the
only
place I wanted to be.” During the drive, I'd planned to say a lot more. Had put together a pretty good speech.

I couldn't remember any of it.

“You chose a dead girl over me.”

“I didn't.”

We stood. A light went on in the upstairs hall. Charlene didn't notice—her back was to it.

“In my more reasonable moments,” she said, “I know you didn't. But it
feels
like you did.”

“It was Barnburner stuff.”

“Which you will continue to do.”

This was the part I'd feared during the long drive.

“Yes,” I said.

“Yes,” she said, taking a small step toward me. “You're not the only one who's been thinking. I'm not Martha Stewart. I'm not Henrietta Homemaker.”

“You don't have to be.”

“My daughters do all right by me. All things considered.”

“They do.”

Charlene looked up. Her eyes locked mine. “Can we?”

“We can try.”

Then it was my turn to take a small step.

And wrap arms around her.

We stood that way a good long while.

I began to shake.

I guess Charlene thought I was crying. “It's okay—” she began. Then: “What's so funny?”

I turned her gently so she could see what I'd already spotted: Sophie's head hanging from the second-floor landing, an upside-down grin plastered to it.

I looked at Charlene looking at her daughter.

Laugh lines.

 

Also by Steve Ulfelder

Purgatory Chasm

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Steve Ulfelder is an amateur race-car driver and co-owner of Flatout Motorsports, a company that builds race cars in Bellingham, Massachusetts. He was a business and technology journalist for twenty years. In addition to trade and automotive magazines, he wrote for
The Boston Globe, Boston
magazine, the
San Francisco Chronicle,
and many others. His first novel,
Purgatory Chasm,
was an Edgar Award Finalist. Visit Steve online at
www.ulfelder.com
.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.

THE WHOLE LIE.
Copyright © 2012 by Steve Ulfelder. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin's Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

www.stmartins.com

Cover design by Ervin Serrano

Cover photographs by Shutterstock

The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:

Ulfelder, Steve.

The whole lie / Steve Ulfelder.—1st ed.

         p. cm.

ISBN 978-0-312-60454-7 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-1-4668-0242-1 (e-book)

  1.  Automobile mechanics—Fiction.   2.  Murder—Investigation—Fiction.   I.  Title.

PS3621.L435 W47 2012

813'.6—dc22

2012005473

e-ISBN 9781466802421

First Edition: May 2012