The Summons (Page 62)

"Give me a break here," Ray said. "You didn’t know what to do with the money, neither did I. As soon as I found it, someone, and I guess that someone was either you or your buddies, started scaring the hell out of me. You can’t blame me for running with the money."

"You lied to me."

"And you lied to me. You said you hadn’t talked to the old man, that you hadn’t set foot in the house in nine years. All lies, Forrest. All part of a hoax. Why did you do it? Why didn’t you just tell me about the money?"

"Why didn’t you tell me?"

"Maybe I was going to, okay? I’m not sure what I had planned. It’s kinda hard to think clearly when you find your father dead, then you find three million bucks in cash, then you realize somebody else knows about the money and will gladly kill you for it. These things don’t happen every day, so forgive me if I’m a little inexperienced."

The room went silent. Forrest tapped his fingertips together and watched the ceiling. Ray had said all he planned to say. Allison rattled the doorknob, but did not enter.

Forrest leaned forward and said, "Those two fires – the house and the airplane – you got any new suspects?"

Ray shook his head no. "I won’t tell a soul," he said.

Another pause as time expired. Forrest slowly stood and looked down at Ray. "Give me a year. When I get out of here, then we’ll talk."

The door opened, and as Forrest walked by, he let his hand graze Ray’s shoulder, just a light touch, not an affectionate pat by any means, but a touch nonetheless.

"See you in a year, Bro," he said, then he was gone.