Chapter 5

Kendra led the way into the family room, where Phillip saw a man who, although casually dressed in jeans and golf shirt, was immediately recognizable as the senior military officer Phillip knew him to be. Davis stood up and extended a hand. "Matt Davis," he said. "Good to meet you, Phillip. Kendra tells me that you two met at the Thornton Fellowship conference last summer, and that you landed an internship there. Good work."

"Thank you, sir. I was as surprised as anyone, to be honest."

"Well, I'm sure you'll do well there. Come and meet Kendra's mother. Deborah, this is Phillip King."

"You'll excuse me if I don't get up, Phillip; I've been rather under the weather recently and I don't have a lot of strength."

"Kendra mentioned that you'd had some health problems, Mrs. Davis, so of course I don't mind if you don't stand up."

"I've recently been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, you see, and it's thrown me for a loop. I'm a first-grade teacher at Lyon Elementary, but this diagnosis means that I'm not going to be able to finish out the school year. I think I know your younger half-sister Emily Stetson, though. She's in Ms. Caperton's class, but of course all of us know the other teachers' students. She's quite a live wire."

"That's a polite way to put it, ma'am; Lee calls her his "Little Whirlwind" and says it's poetic justice that he got a child like Emmy, considering what a challenge he was to his Uncle Bob when he was a child."

"And there's a brother in third grade, too, isn't there?"

"Robert, yes. He's named for Uncle Bob and he's just like him – neat, methodical, always on time… Lee swears that if he hadn't been in the delivery room when Bob was born and saw the nurse put that little bracelet on his arm, he'd swear they gave Mom somebody else's baby to take home."

Deb laughed. "Two children born to the same parents within a couple of years of each other, but as different as night and day – you'd be surprised how often that happens."

"So I understand, ma'am. I'm sorry to hear about your diagnosis, though."

"Thank you. I don't want to keep you here when I'm sure you and Kendra want to go out and get something to eat."

"It's all right, ma'am. We were just going for pizza, nothing fancy."

"Daddy's making burgers on the grill and there's plenty if you want to stay here, Phillip," Kendra said.

"Sure, that sounds good."

"I even bought some good German beer, Phillip," Matt said. "I've got it chilling in the fridge if you want one now."

"That sounds great, sir. I never have more than two when I have to drive, but I do like a good German beer."

"Great, and call me Matt. Come with me and we'll open a couple of bottles and get those burgers on to cook."

While they tended the burgers, Matt and Phillip talked.

"Kendra says you have a brother who's only a couple of years younger."

"That's right. His legal name is James, but we always called him Jamie when he was younger. He changed it to Jim about ten years ago, and now he's back to James, although Bobby and Emmy call him Jamie. He just finished a B.F.A. at Pratt in New York; he's a photographer. About ten years ago, Lee gave him an old 35- millimeter SLR and he discovered he has a real talent for it. He hopes to become an art photographer, but right now he's doing commercial work – weddings, family portraits, that kind of thing. It pays the bills."

"Always an important consideration. I met Lee about fifteen years ago when our paths crossed on a case the Agency was working on; we didn't exactly hit it off. I like to think I've gotten a little less pugnacious since then, though, and I'd like to meet him again."

"Lee's mellowed too, from what Mom says. I'll ask her about it. Where are you currently assigned, Matt?"

"Army Training and Doctrine Command, Fort Monroe, but this is the end of the military road for me; I'm putting my papers in and retiring as soon as they'll let me out. Somebody needs to be here to take care of Deb, and Kenleigh – her full name is Kendra Leigh, but when she was just starting to talk, she named herself "Kenleigh" – has her own life to live, especially if she's going to be working at the Agency."

"Kendra said you graduated from West Point in 1972 and got married right away."

"Yeah, the Cadet Chapel, eight bridesmaids, the arch of sabers, reception at the Hotel Thayer- the whole bit. I chose the armor as a branch, so they sent us off to Fort Knox for the Officers' Basic Course, and then to Germany. Kenleigh was born in the army hospital in Nuremberg."

"The Agency sent us to Munich when I was eleven; they needed Mom's help to handle a sensitive situation, so they arranged a 'sweepstakes prize' trip and we all got to go - Mom, my grandma, Jamie and I. I loved the Glockenspiel."

"We went back again in '84 and stayed for three years, but in Heidelberg that time. We got there when Kenleigh was eleven and stayed the whole time she was in middle school, and she loved it. We went all over the place, including Munich, of course. We even took the duty train to Berlin in the days before the wall came down."

"Did you go into East Berlin?"

"Oh, yes, but under very close supervision and on a tour bus. We weren't allowed to leave the tour group or explore on our own."

"That must have been fascinating. Where did she go to school?"

'The Department of Defense had its own school system. We lived in Mark Twain Village, close to where I worked at US Army Europe headquarters, and the middle school was in another housing area across town, but there was a bus, and she was in Girl Scouts, played softball, things like that. We came back stateside in '87 to an assignment at the Pentagon and bought this house, but a few years later we mutually agreed to split up, or rather I wanted to leave and Deb let me go. Stupidest thing I ever did, walking out on Deb and Kenleigh. Oh, looks like these burgers are ready. Would mind going and getting a plate to put them on from Kenleigh?"