She sat back, her look not one so much of triumph, but of defiance, like she'd shown on TV during the press conference King had seen.

"That isn't possible. Just trust me. Call it the worst timing in the world, that's all."

"I'm sure you won't be too surprised if I don't take your word for it."

He sat there in silence, for so long, in fact, that Michelle finally rose. "Look, thanks for lunch and the wine lesson. But you can't tell me a smart guy like you doesn't look in the mirror every morning and wonder, what if?"

As she started to walk off, her cell phone rang. She answered it. "What? Yes, it is. Who? Uh, that's right, I did talk to her. How did you get this number? My card? Oh, that's right. I don't understand why you're calling." She listened for a bit more and then turned pale. "I didn't know. My God, I'm so sorry. When did it happen? I see. Right, thank you. Do you have a number where I can call you?" She clicked off, pulled a pen and paper from her purse, wrote the number down and slowly sat in the leather chair next to King.

He eyed her quizzically. "Are you okay? You don't look okay."

"No, I'm not okay."

He leaned forward and put a steadying hand on her quivering shoulder. "What happened, Michelle? Who was that?"

"That woman I talked to who worked at the hotel."

"The maid, Loretta Baldwin?"

"That was her son. He found my name on a card I left there."

"Why, did something happen to Loretta?"

"She's dead."

"What happened?"

"She was murdered. I asked her all these questions about theRitter killing, and now she's dead. I can't believe it's connected, but then I can't believe it's not either."

King jumped up so quickly it startled her badly.

"Is your truck filled with gas?" he asked.

"Yes," she said, looking confused. "Why?"

King seemed to be talking to himself. "I'll call my appointments for the rest of the day and let them know."

"Let them know? Let them know what?"

"That I won't be able to meet them. That I'm going somewhere."

"Where are you going?"

"No, not just me-you and me. We're going to Bowlington, North Carolina, to find out why Loretta Baldwin isn't living anymore."

He turned and headed to the door. Michelle didn't follow; she just sat there, bewildered.

King turned back. "What's the problem?"

"I'm not sure I want to go back there."

King came back and stood in front of her, his expression very stern. "You came to me out of the blue asking a lot of very personal questions. You wanted answers and I gave them to you. Okay, now I'm officially interested too." He paused and then barked out, "So let's go, Agent Maxwell. I don't have all day!"

She jumped to her feet. "Yes, sir," Michelle said automatically.