Forty-five minutes later, Lou’s sweat-drenched T-shirt was plastered to his chest like a second skin. Of all the cornfields Joey took him through, this one was proving especially difficult to negotiate. Loose soil and tall stocks from Chester Enterprises’ genetically modified corn crop made for extremely slow going. Joey offered to help push, but there was no way Lou would risk anything happening to the thumb he had helped to save.

If there was a positive aspect to the difficult and dusty passage, it was that his attention was largely fixated on moving ahead. Still, thoughts of Darlene were never far from the surface. Between reestablishing himself in the ER, demonstrating his work ethic at Physician Wellness, spending time with Emily, getting to meetings, and working out with Cap, he had precious little opportunity to meet women. AA was famous among its members for having a saying to fit every situation or occasion. The one he liked to fall back on when it came to having a social life, was Time is nature’s way of keeping everything from happening at once.

Unfortunately, there was no saying that applied to what was happening between him and the president’s wife.

As much as Darlene dared, she had decided to confront her husband when he returned from his campaign trip later in the day regarding Double M, Russell Evans, William Chester, the bellicosus termites, and the elusive trainload of corn. Her goal was to set up a meeting between the president and Lou to review the bizarre and sometimes deadly pattern of behavior that Lou had observed among the citizens of Kings Ridge.

Lou felt embarrassed about his near obsession with the woman, but decided that so long as he could keep his fantasies and projections from getting the best of him, he could only do what he could do.

Another useful saying.

Eventually, he and Joey emerged onto a narrow dirt road. Lou paused and scanned the track and the surrounding fields. “I know this place,” he said.

“Well, the mound I found is in the woods off the end of this road. Not far now.”

“This is near where I was attacked.”

“Attacked?”

“Never mind,” Lou said quickly.

He remained on high alert the rest of the way. If Chester’s corn was the source of all the troubles in Kings Ridge, it was likely that the mogul’s henchmen would be stationed someplace close by. The afternoon was virtually windless, and he kept a cautious lookout for any movement of the stalks, while at the same time scanning the dense rows in a futile attempt to spot Anthony Brite’s body.