THE TAINTED TRUST (Volume 2 of The King Trilogy)

CHAPTER 79

         Saturday, August 25.

Kerri awoke at nine, showered, put on her pink gown and hurried to the kitchen. She found Phillip sitting at the bar and sipping a glass of orange juice. Same clothes. Blue Jay's cap on backward. His stubble ten hours longer. "Good morning," she said with a warm smile.

Phillip waved his right hand. "Hi," he replied with a lecherous smirk while he examined every inch of Kerri.

"Have you seen Louis?"

"Yah. He told me to tell you he went jogging. He left about fifteen minutes ago. He said he would be back in an hour."

Kerri poured herself a glass of orange juice, then sat on the stool beside Phillip. "Why do you hate Mike King?" she asked, looking straight ahead.

"How do you know I do?" Phillip asked, surprised by Kerri's question.

"I was standing in the doorway to the den last night. I heard you say it just before Louis introduced us."

"Do you know him?"

Kerri shrugged her shoulders, continuing to look straight ahead. "I know a man by that name but he's probably not the same Mike King...How old is he?"

"About fifty."

"What does he do for a living?"

"He owns Reserve Oil. It's a big gasoline company in Canada. Ever heard of it?"

Kerri shook her head. "Tell me what he looks like."

"He's a pretty big guy, about six foot two. He's got blond hair, but it's turning gray now."

"Would you say he's good looking?"

"Yah, probably."

"What color are his eyes?"

"Blue."

The coincidence was utterly preposterous. Even though Phillip had given Kerri all the right answers, she still found it difficult to believe they were talking about the same man, her father. She turned to face him. "Would you mind going upstairs with me? I want to show you something."

"Sure. No problem. Can I take my juice?"

Kerri nodded, then jumped from the stool and led Phillip to the master bedroom. She opened the bottom drawer of her dresser and removed her photograph of her father and mother from beneath her clothing. "Is that him?" she asked, handing the photograph to Phillip.

"Holy shit!" Phillip declared, staring at the photograph in astonishment. "That's him! Where the hell did you get this?"

Kerri was speechless, overcome with joy. She showed a half smile, but her inner jubilation had rendered her incapable of hearing the question. Under the most incredible of circumstances, she had actually found her father.

"Hey, Kerri! You still with me?" Phillip asked, waving the photograph close to her face.

Kerri's eyes focused on Phillip. "What did you say?"

"It's him. The guy in this photograph is my stepfather. He's married to my real mother. How the hell did you get this?"

"You sure?" she asked, still unable to accept the wonderful reality of her discovery.

Phillip glanced at the photograph again, then turned to Kerri. "I'd recognize that asshole from a thousand yards," he declared, scowling as he handed it to her. "Where did you get this?"