Chapter 39

Moments

"Mrs. Wilson, I'm glad you could come," Mr. Ripley said. "I hope my driver didn't hit too many bumps bringing you here."

"Oh no," Mrs. Wilson replied. "That big fancy car rides so smooth, I couldn't feel the bumps if he did hit them."

"Good. I told him you were a very important guest, and he'd best not cause you any concerns. As a matter of fact, my entire staff has been told how important you are."

"Now why in the world do you think me so important, Mr. Ripley?"

"Well, it looks like you're going to be my Regina's future mother-in-law, or at least the closest thing to a mother-in-law she could have."

"She calls me Momma sometimes."

"I know, she told me she loves you just like she loved her mother."

"Tell me about Regina's mother," Mrs. Wilson asked. "What was she like?"

"A lot like you," Mr. Ripley replied. "She was a southern belle with all the charm, and grace in the world. She was perfect in every way."

"What happen to the two of you, Mr. Ripley? Why didn't you stay married to her?"

"The same reason Junior's mother left me." Mr. Ripley answered. "I was so busy with my business, I failed to see that I was ignoring her and Regina. I guess a woman can only tolerate a man like that so long."

"Well I'm honored that Regina loves me so much, but is that why you invited me here, Mr. Ripley?"

"I will admit that's only part of the reason you're here, but I was hoping to wait until after dinner, and a few glasses of wine to tell you the rest."

"Very well then, Mr. Ripley, why don't we wait until after dinner."

"Good," he replied, "come on into the dining room, and I'll have Alice serve our dinner."

*****

Regina and Danny were laying arm in arm in the king size bed of the master bedroom of her father's beach house. Regina was wondering if this mess would ever be over so their lives could get back to normal. Danny was all she could think about, and even though their problems had caused her a lot of pain, Regina could not imagine life without Danny. "Danny," she said, "what do you want to do with the rest of your life?"

"I just want it to get back to normal," he replied.

"I know, but what do you want to do when all this mess is over?"

"I donno, I was thinking about buying Mr. Melvin's trucks and equipment, and maybe starting my own construction business."

"Do you think you could make it work? Mr. Melvin doesn't make very much money, does he?"

"He does okay when he works, but he prefers to fish most of the time. I told him I'd fish most of the time if I was as old as he is."

"I don't think so," Regina said as she began to kiss him, and move her hands across his chest. "You're not going to have much time for fishing."

"You wouldn't stop me from fishing, would you?" Danny asked with a grin.

"I might," Regina said as she rolled on top of him.

"But I like fishing..."

"Shut up silly," Regina said with a moan.

*****

"Sheriff Pendergrass," the sheriff said answering the telephone in his office.

"Agent King here, Sheriff."

"What's going on down at the FBI, Agent King?"

"I thought you might like to know we picked up a couple of the guys who work for John Knight during a raid in Dallas, Texas last night."

"Was Junior Ripley with him?"

"No, Junior was no where to be seen."

"What about the rest of the gang? Were they there as well?"

"No Sheriff," Agent King answered, "We thought we might find all of them there, but if they were they got away."

"Oh well," the sheriff replied, "we can't win ‘em all."

"We're not sure, but just before we moved in, a man matching Tommy Smith's description was spotted near the scene."

"Did anyone go after him?"

"Unfortunately, the agent who spotted him worked out of our local Dallas office, and he didn't know Smith was a suspect until after we were done with the bust and comparing notes."

"Are you sure it was Tommy Smith?" the sheriff asked.

"We can't be sure, but our agents are trained to notice everything, and this particular agent is thought to be a very good man. His supervisor says he'll be one of our best in a few years."

"That's rather interesting, don't you think, Agent King? It was my belief that Junior was the link between Tommy and Mr. Knight, but it might be we've been looking at this thing all wrong. I'll poke around and see if Tommy has been on any trips lately."

"Great Sheriff. In the meantime, we're going to be looking for ties that Tommy Smith might have to any of the other business people that Knight and his friends have ruined in the last few years."

"Let me know what you find, Agent King."

"I'll call you as soon as we find anything. Good luck, Sheriff.

"You too," Sheriff Pendergrass said. "Talk to you soon."