EPILOGUE
THAT SUMMER
RUTH WARNECKI KNOCKED on the front door of a
small tract house in a subdivision of Midlothian, Virginia. Linda
Massey answered the door with two boys, both under the age of four,
clinging to her jeans, and a baby nestled in the crook of her arm.
She gave Ruth a harried smile. “I hope you’re not selling
encyclopedias,” she said. “This crew is still a little young and no
one else has the time.”
“No, I’m not selling anything,” Ruth said. “I do
have a story to tell you about your family that goes back to the
Civil War. I think it might interest you.”
Linda Massey, the closest surviving descendant
of Lieutenant Charles Breacken of the Union Army, was five hundred
thousand dollars richer.
Ruth left an hour later, feeling so fine she
clicked up her heels. She waved to Dix, who was leaning against his
Range Rover, waiting for her. She gave him a huge grin and a
thumbs-up.