Booktree.ng_Forgotten-Witness

he should tell Johnson the rest. In the end, he had to. “There
might be one more problem. Ian Francis didn’t come back
with Amelia. She left him with relatives. I get it, of course.
Poor kid probably couldn’t take it anymore. But if anyone
finds out about the house from him then I am majorly
screwed.”
“And how are they gonna find out, Bernard?”
“I don’t know,” Reynolds mumbled. He put his hands in his
pocket and refrained from telling Johnson that he just wanted
someone else to worry with him. “I always felt bad about him.
He was such a nice guy. But he brought it on himself, you
know. There was no choice, really. I did what I had to do.”
“Collateral damage, my friend,” Johnson commiserated.
“We all follow orders.”
“Still, if he managed to put a cohesive thought together.
Whew,” Bernard mused. “I mean, whew, a lot of people would
be unhappy.”
“Yeah, well, he can’t and nobody will find out unless you
get squirrely.” Johnson got up and walked to the door and
opened it. “Just keep doing what you’re doing. Everything will
be fine.”
“Yeah, but I keep thinking–”
“I think you should go to bed and get some sleep.”
Johnson gave the door a little shake and Bernard left,
walking off into the night. Johnson stood there long enough to
hear the door of Reynolds’ house open and close. He looked at
his watch and then at the main house. In the next five minutes
he heard the sound of car wheels on gravel. The night girl
arrived, late as always. Pulling a pack of smokes and a lighter
out of his pocket, Johnson leaned against the doorjamb, lit his
cigarette and inhaled deeply. Like clockwork, the night girl’s
buddy showed up. Johnson didn’t think the night girl did
anything but sit on her butt and gossip with the other girl every
night. Lazily, he wondered if Bernard knew about this. He
didn’t see how the man could miss it. Johnson could set his