At the bottom of the stairs, I turn and go into the kitchen, where my mother waits, her face haggard with exhaustion and guilt. Peggy Cage is remarkably beautiful for a woman of seventy-one, but the past two days have taken a toll, and for once she looks her age. Sitting on the stool beside her, I lay my right hand over hers.

“Annie’s finally asleep. Mom, you’ve got to tell me what’s happening.”

She nods, but her expression doesn’t inspire much hope.

“I simply can’t believe Dad would leave you without some way of reaching him.”

“But he did, Penn.” Her eyes look sincere, but I’ve had so little experience of deception in my mother, how would I recognize it? “I don’t think Tom wanted me to be in a position where I would have to lie to the police.”

I give her a few seconds’ grace. “Still. I don’t believe he’d leave you to face all this alone.”

She turns her hand over and squeezes mine. “But I’m not alone. You’re here. Tom knew that he could count on you to take care of me.”

“The last time you saw him was midday today?”

“Yes. An hour after I drove him home from the hearing, he drove himself to the office. I tried to stop him, but he wouldn’t listen.”

“Did he say anything when he left?”

“No more than usual. But there was something in his face that told me he wasn’t coming back. Not for a while, anyway.”

“And you didn’t try to stop him?”

She gives me a look that says, Are you serious? “You know your father.”

I nod. “I thought I did. After these past two days, I’m not so sure.”

“Oh, hush. This is going to come out all right. You’ll see.”

Is she really that naïve? “Mom … I don’t want you to panic, but you have to know how things stand. Now that Dad has jumped bail on a murder charge, any cop can shoot him down with impunity and say he resisted arrest. I suspect that Sheriff Byrd and some Louisiana State Police officials will quietly give orders to do just that, once they know he’s gone.”

At last I see fear in her eyes.

“If Dad contacts you in any way, you’ve got to do everything in your power to persuade him to come home.”

“I realize that.”

As her voice finally cracks, I voice one of my deepest fears. “Dad’s not running for real, is he? I mean, leaving the country.”

She looks up at the ceiling and blinks back tears. “You know better than that. Tom’s never run from anything in his life. Judge Noyes said as much from the bench yesterday.”

“So what the hell is he doing?”

“Keep your voice down. Remember Annie.”