Blow Fly

105

SCARPETTA'S TENSION MOUNTS AS SHE and Albert watch baggage go by on the carousel inside Baton Rouges main terminal.

The time is almost seven p.m., and she is beginning to entertain real worries that no one has come to meet him. He collects one suitcase and clings to Scarpetta's side as she reclaims her own bag.

"Looks like you found yourself a new friend." Weldon Winn is suddenly behind her.

"Come on," she says to Albert. They walk through automatic glass doors. "I'm sure your aunt will drive up any minute. She's probably having to circle because cars aren't allowed to park at the curb."

Armed soldiers in camouflage patrol inside the baggage area and outside on the sidewalk. Albert seems oblivious to the unsmiling military presence, to their fingers resting on the trigger guards of assault rifles. His face is bright red.

"You and me are going to talk, Dr. Scarpetta," U.S. Attorney Winn finally says her name and dares to wrap an arm around her shoulder.

"I think it would be a very good idea for you to keep your hands off me," she quietly warns him.

He removes his arm. "And I think it might be a good idea for you to learn how things are done down here." He watches cars pull up to the curb. "We're going to meet, all right. Any information about ongoing investigations is important. And if someone's an informant…"

"I am no informant," she interrupts his outrageous intimation that if she doesn't fully cooperate with him, he'll subpoena her for deposition. "Who told you I was coming to Baton Rouge?"

Albert begins to cry.

"Let me let you in on a little secret, pretty lady. Nothing much happens around here that I don't know about."

"Mr. Winn," she says, "if you have a legitimate need to talk to me at some point, I'll be happy to do so. But in an appropriate venue-which a sidewalk outside an airport clearly isn't."

"And I'll certainly look forward to that." He holds up a hand and snaps his fingers, signaling his driver.

She slings her bag over her shoulder and takes Albert's hand. "Don't worry. It's all right," she tells him. "I'm sure your aunt's on her way. But if she's been delayed for some reason, I'm not going to leave you all by yourself, okay?"

"But I don't know you. I'm not supposed to go anywhere with strangers," he whines.

"We sat together on the plane, didn't we?" she replies as Weldon Winn's white stretch limousine pulls up to the curb. "So you know me a little bit, and I promise you're safe, perfectly safe."

Winn climbs into the backseat and shuts the door, disappearing behind dark tinted glass. Cars and taxis stop for pickups, trunks popping open. People hug loved ones. Albert's wide, runny eyes dart around furtively, his fears quickly broaching hysteria. Scarpetta senses Winn looking out at her as the limousine drives off, and her thoughts are scattered like marbles dashed to the floor. It is hard for her to sort through what she should do next, but she starts with dialing directory assistance on her cell phone and finds out in short order that there is no listing for a Weldon Winn or anyone with the last name of Winn in New Orleans, where he claims to have a place in the French Quarter. His number in Baton Rouge is unlisted.

"Why am I not surprised," she mutters, and all she can suppose is that someone told the U.S. Attorney she was arriving here in the early evening, and he flew to Houston and made sure he was on her connecting flight and seated next to her.

Added to that disturbing and enigmatic development is her responsibility for a child she doesn't know, whose family seems to have abandoned him.

"You have your aunt's phone number, don't you?" she says to Albert. "Come on, let's call her. And by the way," it occurs to her, "you haven't told me your last name."

"Dard," Albert says. "I have my own cell phone, but the battery's dead."

"I beg your pardon? What did you say your last name is?"

"Dard." He hunches a shoulder to wipe his face.