Atlee Pine 02 - A Minute to Midnight, page 39
“Maybe I’ll come out to visit you.”
“I would like that.”
“Just as friends, though,” he added with another grin.
“Nothing wrong with that, Eddie.”
She gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek and watched him drive off.
Then Pine climbed into her SUV and headed out, too.
Thankfully, the trip to Americus was mercifully short, because she wasn’t sure how much longer she could manage to hold it all together. She felt in some ways that she was walking the last mile to her own execution.
Jerry Danvers was sitting outside of Jack Lineberry’s private hospital room. He had been transferred from the ICU two days ago and was expected to be released in another few days.
Danvers looked at her with new respect and said contritely, “I guess you saved my bacon and then some.”
“Right,” she said absently.
“And who would have believed that about Straub?”
“I need to see Jack. Now.”
He looked at her funny. Pine knew she was acting oddly, but she didn’t care.
“Okay, you can go on in. He’s just finished his lunch. I’m sure he’ll be glad to see you.”
“I’m not sure about that at all,” said Pine.
She went in and closed the door behind her.
Lineberry was sitting up in his bed and looking much stronger.
She approached slowly and sank down into the chair next to the bed, never once taking her gaze off him.
He looked back at her with great trepidation, and sadness. And also with perhaps a bit of relief thrown in. He said, “I can tell by the look on your face that you finally know.”
“You’re my father,” said Pine.
“I am, yes.” Tears started to slide down his face as he said this.
Pine had something she wanted to say, and now was the time to say it. “But you have another daughter out there somewhere. And my mother, the mother of your children, too. Maybe together we can find them.”
Lineberry tentatively reached out his hand. “Do you really believe we can?”
Pine’s strong fingers closed around his as she said quite firmly, “I don’t think we have a choice.”
Acknowledgments
To Michelle, Atlee Pine rides again. Thanks for being with me every step of the way.
To Michael Pietsch, for being a great publisher.
To Ben Sevier, Andy Dodds, Elizabeth Kulhanek, Jonathan Valuckas, Brian McLendon, Karen Kosztolnyik, Beth deGuzman, Albert Tang, Bob Castillo, Kristen Lemire, Anthony Goff, Michele McGonigle, Cheryl Smith, Andrew Duncan, Joseph Benincase, Tiffany Sanchez, Morgan Swift, Matthew Ballast, Alison Lazarus, Rachel Hairston, Karen Torres, Christopher Murphy, Ali Cutrone, Tracy Dowd, Martha Bucci, Rena Kornbluh, Jeff Shay, Carla Stockalper, Thomas Louie, Sean Ford, Laura Eisenhard, Mary Urban, Barbara Slavin, Kirsiah McNamara, and everyone at Grand Central Publishing, for doing so much for me.
To Aaron and Arleen Priest, Lucy Childs, Lisa Erbach Vance, Frances Jalet-Miller, John Richmond, and Juliana Nador, for keeping me on the straight and narrow.
To Mitch Hoffman, for doing what you do best!
To Anthony Forbes Watson, Jeremy Trevathan, Trisha Jackson, Alex Saunders, Laura Sherlock, Sara Lloyd, Claire Evans, Sarah Arratoon, Stuart Dwyer, Jonathan Atkins, Anna Bond, Leanne Williams, Natalie Young, Stacey Hamilton, Laura Ricchetti, Charlotte Williams, and Neil Lang at Pan Macmillan, for being a brilliant publisher and such a positive force in my life.
To Praveen Naidoo and the team at Pan Macmillan in Australia, for keeping the Baldacci train going Down Under!
To Caspian Dennis and Sandy Violette, for being amazing, and also for loving wine as much as I do!
To Mark Steven Long, for copyediting.
To auction winners Beth Clemmons (Gloucester-Mathews Humane Society) and Max Wallis (Light of Christ Anglican Church), for supporting such terrific organizations.
And to Kristen White and Michelle Butler, for doing everything else, and it’s a lot!
About the Author
David Baldacci is a global #1 best-selling author, and one of the world’s favorite storytellers. His books are published in over forty-five languages and in more than eighty countries, with over 130 million book sales worldwide. His works have been adapted for both feature film and television. David Baldacci is also the cofounder, along with his wife, of the Wish You Well Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting literacy efforts across America. Still a resident of his native Virginia, he invites you to visit him at DavidBaldacci.com and his foundation at WishYouWellFoundation.org.
David Baldacci, Atlee Pine 02 - A Minute to Midnight
