Marcia asked a few questions about the remainder of Amanda’s tour then thanked her for her time and nodded at the cameraman, indicating that was a wrap. Then she chatted with Amanda for a few minutes, outlining their plan for tomorrow evening. “Since the local Christian station will be covering the event live, we would like to offer a different view-shots of backstage preparations and of you arriving at the facility with your husband and baby.”
“My husband has pressing business in Virginia and probably won’t be coming to Dallas,” Amanda explained, glancing at her watch. “And the baby and I will be arriving separately. His nursemaid will carry him onstage during the service.”
“I see,” Marcia said. “Well, we’ll take shots of you showing him off to…” She paused, uncertain about what to call people who attend revivals. Audience seemed too secular. “To the worshippers,” she said. “And I especially want some shots of you delivering your message taken from offstage. In my research I came across an incredible picture of your mother on the cover of Life magazine that was taken from offstage, and I plan to include it in the segment and then show you from the same angle.”
“Yes, I know the picture well,” Amanda said. “That’s very creative of you.”
“Is your baby here with you?” Marcia asked. “Maybe we could get some close-ups of the two of you now.”
Amanda’s expression changed slightly. “He and his nursemaid won’t be arriving until tomorrow.”
“Well, then, we’ll see you tomorrow evening,” Marcia said.
Amanda rose and Marcia followed suit. Amanda reached for her hand and smiled warmly. “Thank you so much, Marcia, for your time and professionalism.”
“You are very beautiful,” Marcia said, surprising herself. But it was true. Amanda Hartmann was positively radiant.
“Why, thank you, my dear,” Amanda said. “The years do seem to have been kind to me. I do hope that you enjoy the service tomorrow evening and feel God’s blessing upon you.”
“I look forward to it,” Marcia said. And she did. In fact, she would have liked to stay here in this room with Amanda a while longer, listening to her speak, watching her expressions change, her hands move. Amanda Tutt Hartmann was mesmerizing.
Marcia started for the door then paused. “Does your brother attend your revivals?” she asked.
“Not usually,” Amanda responded.
Jamie showered first and nursed Billy while Joe took his turn in the bathroom.
At first she hoped that he wouldn’t want to make love. She was too tense. Too preoccupied about tomorrow.
But what if this was the last time?
When Joe crawled into the bed beside her, she reached for him. Afterward, they held each other and cried for a time. Then they once again went over their plan for tomorrow.
During the night, they had their first quarrel. Jamie wanted Joe to unhook the RV and drive them to Oklahoma City, where she would turn herself into the police. She would explain to them what had happened to her that night at Ruby Duffy’s apartment house. Why Lynette’s baby was taken. Why Jamie had fled with her own baby.
“With Amanda having a baby to which she claims to have given birth with her here in Dallas, the Hartmanns can’t say that Billy belongs to them,” Jamie pointed out. “And Billy couldn’t be her baby anyway. There are people in Oklahoma City who can testify that I was in Oklahoma City with Billy while Amanda was in Virginia supposedly having a baby.”
“There’s a warrant out for your arrest in Oklahoma City,” Joe pointed out. “On that basis alone, they would take Billy away from you and put you in a cell at least until you are arraigned.”
Joe held his thumb and forefinger less than an inch apart. “Gus Hartmann’s people have come this close to killing you twice now,” he said. “Once in Oklahoma City and again down at Neptune Beach. What makes you think they wouldn’t find a way to finish the job? Gus Hartmann has already shown that he has the power to operate outside of the law. He has the power to have your throat slit while you’re in some jail cell and then lay claim to Billy.”
Jamie broke down and wept. “We don’t have a chance against him,” she said.
“Our plan is going to work,” Joe insisted, holding her close. “When we confront Amanda Hartmann, millions of people will be watching. They will be our jury, and we have right on our side. That has to count for something.”
Her whole world was here with her on this bed, Jamie thought. She found herself wondering if this world would end tomorrow. If tomorrow would be the last day of her life. If after all this running and hiding and planning and gut-wrenching fear, Amanda would end up raising Billy after all and he would never know that there had been this other woman who had given birth to him and loved him completely. “If it looks hopeless, I don’t want you to do anything idiotic,” she told Joe. “If they kill me, just get the hell out of there. And out of the country.”
“It’s all going to be on live television,” he reminded her.
She tried to take comfort in that fact. Usually people weren’t murdered in front of television cameras. But it wasn’t unheard of. It had happened once before in this very city, when Jack Ruby shot Lee Harvey Oswald.
Chapter Forty-one
FOR THE FIRST HOUR of the flight, Gus sat in the front of the jet with Randi and the babies. When Buck grew tired of being confined in the baby carrier, Gus unfastened him and walked up and down jiggling him. When he sat back down, he held the baby on his knees and talked to him, telling him what a fine boy he was.
“When I signed those papers in Dallas, I didn’t realize that I was going to be keeping you forever and ever,” Gus told baby Buck, “but that is exactly what I am going to do. You are going to be my son, and I will raise you. We’ll still live in Virginia but spend lots of time at the ranch. You’ll have the best education that money can buy-you and your cousin Jason and your little friend Amita-and the Mexican children, too. I’ll build Amita’s family a house there. And you three boys will raise chickens and have a vegetable garden and climb trees and learn to swim and ride on your very own ponies. Your aunt Amanda will come visit us from time to time, and probably she’ll take your cousin Jason on trips with her, but most of the time he’ll be with us. Such a happy life we will have.”
Gus had tears in his eyes just from imagining it. If only Montgomery were still alive to enjoy this new life with him. But he would have Randi and her family to help him with the boys. And having young children around would be good for his mother.
This new life had become what he thought about in the night and during his morning walks. He had trouble concentrating during the day because he was thinking about it. Only yesterday, he had been on a conference call discussing what to do about a holdout senator who refused to vote for an upcoming administration-sponsored bill when Gus realized that he had completely lost his train of thought and was focused instead on the playground he planned to build at the ranch.
Gus felt profoundly happy-except for the times he was thinking about Jamie Long and her boyfriend, whom, ironically, he held in high regard. He knew that they could not be bought or tempted in any way to back down. Not that he would barter with them. Things had gone too far for that.
Amanda may not have birthed that baby, but it never would have been born if it weren’t for her. And he had been born of Sonny’s seed. He was a Hartmann, and his rightful place was with the Hartmann family. Gus would fulfill his promise to his sister.