The Lucky One(79)

“Sounds good.”

“Either that or a fireman.”

Thibault nodded. “I’ve known a couple of firemen.”

“Or a doctor.”

“Hmm,” Thibault said. He began reaching for his bishop.

“I wouldn’t do that,” Ben said.

Thibault looked up.

“I know what you’re thinking you should do,” Ben added. “It won’t work.”

“What should I do?”

“Not that.”

Thibault drew his hand back. It was one thing to lose, it was another thing to lose continually. Worse, he didn’t seem to be closing the gap. If anything, Ben was getting better faster than he was. The previous game had lasted all of twenty-one moves.

“Would you like to see my tree house?” Ben said. “It’s really cool. It’s got the big platform that hangs out over the creek, and this shaky bridge.”

“I’d love to see it.”

“Not now. Some other time, I mean.”

“Sounds great,” Thibault said. He reached for his rook.

“I wouldn’t move that one either.”

Thibault arched his brow as Ben leaned back.

“I’m just telling you,” he added.

“What should I do?”

He shrugged, looking and sounding like the ten-year-old he was. “Whatever you want.”

“Except move the bishop and the rook?”

Ben pointed to another piece. “And your other bishop. Knowing you, that’s what you’ll try next, since you’re trying to set up your knight. But it won’t work either, since I’ll sacrifice the bishop for mine, and move my queen in to take the pawn over there. That freezes your queen, and after I castle my king, I’ll move my knight there. Two moves after that, I’ll have you in checkmate.”

Thibault brought his hand to his chin. “Do I have any chance in this game?”

“No.”

“How many moves do I have left?”

“Anywhere from three to seven.”

“Then maybe we should start over.”

Ben pushed his glasses up on his nose. “Maybe.”

“You could have told me earlier.”

“You seemed so serious about the game. I didn’t want to bother you.”

The next game was no better. If anything, it was worse because Elizabeth had decided to join them and their conversation proceeded in much the same way. He could see Elizabeth trying to stifle her giggles.

Over the last week and a half, they’d settled into a routine. After work, with overpowering rain coming down continuously, he’d come up to the house to play a few games of chess with Ben and stay for dinner, where the four of them would sit at the table, chatting amiably. After that, Ben would go upstairs to shower and Nana would send them outside to sit on the porch while she stayed in the kitchen to clean up, saying things like, “Cleaning to me is like being naked to a monkey.”

Thibault knew she wanted to give them time alone before he left. It still amazed him that she was able to stop being the boss as soon as his workday was done and shift so easily to the role of grandmother of the woman he was dating. He didn’t think there were many people who would be able to pull that off.

It was getting late, though, and Thibault knew it was time to leave. Nana was talking on the phone, Elizabeth had gone inside to tuck Ben into bed, and as Thibault sat on the porch, he could feel the exhaustion in his shoulders. He hadn’t been sleeping much since his confrontation with Clayton. That night, unsure how Clayton would respond, he’d gone back to his house and made it appear as though he planned to spend a normal evening at home. Instead, once he turned out the lights, he’d climbed out the window in his bedroom at the rear of the house and trotted into the woods, Zeus by his side. Despite the rain, he’d stayed out most of the night, watching for Clayton. The next night, he’d watched Elizabeth’s; on the third night, he’d alternated between his house and hers. The endless rain didn’t bother him or Zeus in the slightest; he’d rigged a couple of camouflaged lean-tos that kept them dry. The hard part for him was working after sleeping only the last few hours before dawn. Since then, he’d been alternating nights, but it still wasn’t enough sleep for him to catch up.

He wouldn’t stop, though. The man was unpredictable, and he looked for signs of Clayton’s presence when he was at work and when he ran errands in town. In the evening, he took different routes home, cutting through wooded areas at a run and then watching the road to make sure Clayton wasn’t following. He wasn’t afraid of the man, but he wasn’t stupid, either. Clayton was not only a member of the First Family of Hampton County, but also in law enforcement, and it was the latter that most concerned him. How hard would it be to plant something—drugs, stolen items, even a gun that had been used in a crime—in Thibault’s home? Or claim that Thibault had them in his possession and arrange to have that evidence discovered? Not hard. Thibault was certain that any jury in the county would side with testimony provided by law enforcement over a stranger’s, no matter how flimsy the evidence might be or what genuine alibi he had. Add to that the deep pockets and influence of the Claytons, and it wouldn’t be hard to line up witnesses fingering Thibault for any number of crimes.

The scary part was that he could imagine Clayton doing any of those things, which was why he’d gone to see Clayton and told him about both the disk and the videotape in the first place. Though he had neither—he’d cracked and tossed the disk soon after taking the camera, and the motion-activated recorder had been an inspired invention—bluffing seemed to be the only option he had to buy him enough time to figure out his next step. The animosity Clayton felt for him was dangerous and unpredictable. If he’d been willing to break into Thibault’s house, if he’d manipulated Elizabeth’s personal life, the man would probably do whatever he thought necessary to get rid of Thibault.