by Gen Griffin
Katie quickly yanked off her wet t-shirt and pulled David's thick camouflage jacket on. The warmth of the fabric felt downright incredible against her chilled skin. She tugged the jacket closed over her chest and fumbled with the buttons until she got enough of them snapped that she figured she was decent. She stepped forward so that she was nearly touching David's back and then stood on her tippy toes.
“Addison's digging up a grave,” she whispered in his ear. “We think it's April Lynne.”
David stiffened and then nodded as he turned back around to face her. Their eyes met and they exchanged a solemn glance. “You sure it's her?”
“No.” Katie bit her lower lip. “Why do you think Addison said he had to dig it up?”
“Jesus fucking Christ.” David exhaled slowly and stepped back away from Katie. “Hey Sullivan, babysit the boat for me, will you?”
“Where are you going?” Sully jumped down into the soft sand of the bank.
“Gotta go find Addy real quick.” David scowled in the direction of the trail. “He went to take a leak. Must have gotten a little bit lost.”
“Uh huh. Sure he did.” Sully didn't look like he believed a word that was coming out of David's mouth. “The Game Warden is lost in the woods.”
David shrugged.
“Put a damn shirt on before you catch hypothermia,” Pappy hollered at David from the boat. He was dangling his own jacket from one hand. Pappy had been wearing a fleece-lined flannel shirt underneath his coat and he looked comfortable despite the cold breeze that was blowing across the water as the sun began to sink lower and lower in the sky.
David hesitated and then walked over to take the coat from the old man.
“Where's Malone really at?” Pappy asked as David slipped his muscular arms into the offered jacket.
“Can't tell you.”
“Can't or won't?” Pappy demanded.
“Don't want to. Ain't going to.” David ignored the glare Pappy shot at him. “Stay put. I'll back in a few minutes.” David jogged off in the direction of the trail and disappeared into the scruffy brush.
Sully leaned down so that his lips were close to Katie's ear. “What am I missing here?” he hissed in a low whisper.
“It's a long story.” Katie attempted to brush her wet, tangled hair back out of her face. She'd never been this cold before in her life.
“Condense it for me. Give me the important bits.” Sully had his arms crossed over his broad chest. Katie couldn't help noticing that he was mostly dry.
“Tell me why David went swimming in the bayou,” Katie countered.
“Ian and David decided to play chicken. Addison's boat is a busted heap of fiberglass now. David dove in to try to save Ian.” Sully was watching her expression closely.
Katie didn't even attempt to hide the shock she felt. “Ian's...dead?” She gulped.
Sully shrugged at her. “We're not real sure. The boat hit a stump and flipped going at least forty miles an hour. We know he went into the water but we never saw him come back up. David dove in after him.”
“He didn't find him.”
“No. He didn't. We put in a call to Baker County Search and Rescue. They should be here pretty soon. Might already be here. David refused to wait around for them. He insisted on searching for y'all.”
Katie felt number than she had five minutes ago. She wouldn't have thought that was possible. “What happened to Ian...?”
“I reckon they'll either recover a body or he'll turn up,” Sully glanced down at her and his hard expression softened. “Sorry. I guess I should have broken the news a little more gently. I keep forgetting that you're married to him. Probably because I can't ever remember seeing the two of you together.”
Katie swallowed and then exhaled deeply. “Ian stole Addison's boat.”
“We guessed that much,” Sully said. “How did he overpower Malone?”
“He didn't.” Katie glanced down at her own shaking hands. She'd stopped wearing her wedding ring Friday night but her finger was still pale and dented where the band had sat on her skin for so long. She reached up and touched the freshly scabbed over cut on her neck. “He grabbed me from behind and put a knife to my throat. He told Addison he'd kill me if we didn't let him take the boat.”
“Addison gave him the boat,” Sully guessed.
Katie nodded. “He didn't want to, but yes. He jumped overboard and Ian threw me off after him just like he'd promised he would. Ian took off with the boat and we swam to shore. Addison said we had a couple hours of walking before we'd be back in town. We started walking.”
“And then what?” Sully jerked his chin in the direction of the trail David had just gone down.
“We found a fresh grave.”
Sully didn't look remotely surprised. “Who was in it?”
Katie shuddered. “Addison stayed behind to dig up the body. I couldn't watch so he told me to walk out to the sandbar and wait for him. He thinks it's April Lynne. Ian told us....he said she was dead and he'd buried her.”
Sully flinched slightly and then glanced back towards the boat. Pappy was sitting ramrod straight on one of the seats in the front. His wrinkled face was set with a stormy calm that reminded Katie of Cal when things were going wrong.
“You told David it was April Lynne, didn't you?” Sully still kept his voice at barely a whisper.
Katie nodded. “He lied to Pappy because he didn't want him to know the truth until we were 100 percent certain ourselves.”
Sully pursed his lips and then nodded. “Why don't you get on the boat with the old man and make small talk. I'll go help David and Addison.”
“Okay,” Katie said. She took a deep breath. “Maybe you should see if Pappy has a tarp on the boat before you go. It didn't look like the body was wrapped in anything when Addy started digging. There wasn't any way Addison and I would have been able to carry her out with us on foot. He's limping pretty good. He hurt himself jumping out of the boat but he won't admit it to me. Now that there's three of y'all, though...”
“I'll see if I can turn up a tarp on the boat,” Sully said. “You think Joshua Walker's going to be able to handle seeing his granddaughter's dead body?”
Katie thought about it for a minute and then gave him a grim nod. “He's a tough son of a bitch. He'll be devastated but he'll have David here to break the news and keep him calm. David can handle Pappy.”
“You sure?”
“What choice do we have?” Katie asked. “He's not stupid. He knows David lied. He knows he's been gone too long. It wouldn't have taken more than a minute or two to find Addison and come back. He's just sitting here waiting for the bad news same as we are.”
“You may be right,” Sully agreed as they began walking back towards the boat.
Pappy greeted them by grimly holding a folded blue tarp out to Sully. “Take it and go,” the old man said to him.
“You heard us?” Katie frowned because she knew Pappy needed hearing aids in both ears and was mostly deaf.
“I didn't need to,” Pappy said. “I can read yall's lips. Funny how none of y'all have ever figured that out. Been doing it for years. Cal and David think I'm either a genius or physic. Those two ain't real bright sometimes.” He let out a soft, almost bitter laugh. “Good boys, though. They're good boys.”
“Oh.” Katie blanched and then looked down at her soggy boots. “Yeah. Cal and David are good guys.”
“Go get my little girl,” Pappy said to Sully. The old man's voice was shaking slightly. “Tell David and Addison that they better be careful with her. Tell them...ah hell... Don't bother. My boys know how to treat a girl.”
Pappy sat back down in his seat and stared out across the water. A single tear rolled out of the old man's eyes as Sully helped Katie into the boat and then went off into the woods in search of the others.
Chapter 63
Addison was puking in a palmetto plant when David came around the corner of the trail and found the small, sandy clearing where Ian's idiotic ass ha
d decided to dig April Lynne's grave.
“How bad is it?” He asked.
“You don't want to look,” Addison gagged the words out. He didn't seem at all surprised that David had come walking out of the woods.
David had never been much for following advice. Especially not when the advice was intended to spare him from misery and nightmares. He walked over to the painfully shallow grave. His stomach lurched as he took in April Lynne's bloody, ruined and completely distorted features. “Jesus. She's almost unrecognizable.”
“Ian said she shot herself under the chin with Cal's .357.”
David squatted down beside the body and glanced under her chin. It was a bloody mess. “I can see an entry wound. Exit wound would be the top of the head?”
“I assume.” Addy retched again.
David chewed on the inside of his cheek as he stood back up. “I'm not looking forward to carrying her out of here.”
“I can't carry her.” Addison abandoned the palmetto and wiped the last of the vomit away with the hem of his soaking wet shirt. “My ankle's fucking broken again.”
“You're kidding me.” David eyed Addison with disbelief. “Katie said y'all were walking out.”
“My boot is working as a splint. I'll bet you anything the damn bone is broken.”
“You would know. You've broken it...what? Two times? Three times?”
“Three.” Addison limped over to David. “I lied to Katie and told her I was fine. I'd rather walk ten miles on a broken ankle than watch her sit in a freezing cold swamp overnight in wet clothes with no way to start a fire.”
“Understandable, though you had to know I would come looking for y'all.” David put his hands on his hips and then shivered as the breeze blew through the trees.
“You would have come looking for us eventually. I figured it would be at least another couple of hours before you even figured out we were missing.” Addison quirked his head curiously at David. “It can't be any later than two or three o'clock. How did you-?”
“Someone found Joe Carmucci's body floating in the bayou this morning.” David stared unhappily down at April Lynne's body. “Ian's boat washed up a couple of hours later covered in blood with April Lynne's purse and shit in it. Pretty sure that even Kerry could have puzzled out that something had gone horribly wrong out here. Sully tried to call you a dozen or so times. He finally gave up and called me.”
“Ian stole my boat,” Addison explained. He held up his hand before David could open his mouth to ask why he'd let him take it. “He threatened to kill Katie if I didn't let him have it.”
“Ian wrecked your boat.” David cut his eyes sideways at Addison. “I hope you have great insurance because there ain't enough super glue and duct tape in the world to make it float again.”
“Motherfucker,” Addy muttered. “What happened?”
“He wanted to play chicken. Pappy told me to call his bluff.”
“Jesus.” Addy whistled under his breath. “Is Ian okay?”
“I don't know.”
“You don't know?” Addison did a double take.
“I was more worried about your stupid ass than his. He didn't come back up within five minutes of flipping. I went into the water and I couldn't find him. Either he swam away or...”
“Or he drowned,” Addison finished for him. “Ian didn't drown. Sucker swims like a fish. He can hold his breath longer under water than anyone else I've ever seen.”
“My suspicions is that he must have swum up into the slough and run away on foot while I was turning Pappy's boat around. He was probably halfway down the slough by the time I went into the water to look for him.” David rubbed his palms together. “He has to know his ass is grass. Ain't no one going to be able to save him.”
“He said April Lynne's death was an accident,” Addison said. “He claimed she shot herself.”
“If you believe that then you are the most gullible law enforcement officer I've ever worked with,” Sully said from behind them.
Addison and David turned to see him walk into the clearing with a tarp tucked under his arm. “You don't believe him?”
“You don't either.” Sully passed the tarp over to David so that he could get a better look at April Lynne's body. “One accidental death is believable. Two is a lot harder to swallow. Ian's killed at least three people. No one accidentally kills three people at three different times in three different locations. No one's luck is that shitty.”
“He confessed to shooting Joe,” Addison said.
“Only because he knew you wouldn't care that Joe was dead. Joe's a career criminal. The county is probably going to get stuck footing the bill for burying him. That's how little Joe Carmucci matters. Killing him was practically a public service.” Sully frowned down at April Lynne. “She's been dead maybe 24 to 48 hours.”
Addison nodded.
“Coroner will be able to tell for sure.”
“Need to send her up to Baker County,” Addison told him. “Maybe they'll be able to tell the difference between murder and suicide.”
“Or accidental shooting.”
“You don't accidentally shoot yourself after stealing almost 40 grand from your employer.” Sully gestured for David to hand the tarp back to him. “Help me get her bundled up. Try to keep as much of the evidence intact as possible. If Ian's still alive then he's going to prison for a very long time.”
David helped Sully stretch the tarp out on the ground and then the two of them very gently lifted April Lynne out of her grave and onto the plastic. David and Sully then lifted her up and began the long, slow walk back to the boat with Addison limping along behind them.
Chapter 64
“Give her to me.” Pappy's voice had cracked as he'd reached out to take April Lynne's body from David and Sullivan. They had hesitated and then David had gently laid April Lynne, still bundled in the tarp, in her grandfather's lap.
The ride back to the landing had been a grim one. Katie had tucked herself underneath Addison's shoulder as David had piloted the bass boat past the search and rescue crew from Baker County. Addison's boat was a mangled mess. It was being hauled out of the water in chunks. Sully had made David stop so that they could talk to the search and rescue guys. Ian's body had yet to be recovered. With every passing hour, it seemed increasingly likely that Ian had used his superb swimming abilities to evade David and Sully earlier in the day.
Sully had asked the search and rescue leader to put in a call over the radio for an ambulance. It was waiting at the landing when they pulled up to the dock, along with several familiar vehicles.
“Y'all have done it again,” Officer J.B. Mooney said as he watched Addison limp his way down the wooden dock. “I swear to God. I don't know how you get into these messes.”
“Me neither,” Addison admitted.
“Frank is going to love this one. I called him but I didn't get an answer.”
“You leave a message?” Addison was dreading talking to Frank Chasson.
“A real vague one. You and Sullivan can explain yourselves to him when he calls you. I just put in a call to cover my own ass. Y'all are grown ups with your own badges. I'm not risking mine to cover for you.”
“Wouldn't expect you to,” Addison told him. Mooney shook his head and then began heading down the dock towards the paramedics and Sully. Addison kept heading for the parking lot. His sister was sitting on the hood of Cal's gold Chevy and Addison had never been more glad to see her.
“You've broken your ankle again, haven't you?” Gracie walked over to Addison and laid her head on his shoulder. His other arm was still wrapped around Katie.
“Yeah.”
“Is the ambulance for you?”
“No. I figure Katie can drive me to the ER once the dust settles.” Addison jerked his thumb in the direction of the paramedics. They had gone over to the boat with a stretcher. David was gently pulling April Lynne's dead body out of Pappy's arms. The old man was crying. Cal was standing on the dock looking stoic. His arm
s were crossed over his broad chest as the paramedics began strapping April Lynne onto their gurney. Cal's parents, Loretta and Jerry Walker, were waiting unhappily next to their Cadillac SUV in the closest parking spot to the water.
“I can take you to the ER,” Gracie offered.
“You need to be with Cal,” Addison told her. “April Lynne is dead.”
“Cal isn't really that upset,” Gracie whispered under her breath. “David called us about twenty minutes ago and told us y'all were coming back in off the water with April Lynne's body. I'm not saying Cal's happy. It's just that he never could stand April Lynne for more than about five minutes. He's more annoyed than upset.”
“Knowing Cal, he probably blames her for bringing this on herself,” Addison swallowed dryly. “If she hadn't teamed up with Ian and stolen everything out of the safe at the store, she'd most likely still be alive.”
“You know Cal too well.” Gracie wrapped her arm around her brother's waist and then looked at Katie. “Are you okay?”
“I'm okay,” Katie said.
“Ian's still missing, right?”
Katie nodded.
“I'm sorry?” Gracie made it a question.
Katie shrugged at her. “It is what it is. Like Addison said a minute ago, none of this would ever have happened if he hadn't been such a scuzzball to begin with.” She took a deep breath. “I loved Ian more than anything when I married him, but I'm not a complete idiot. When a guy cheats on you, burns down your house and puts a knife to your throat, the relationship is over. Really, really over.”
“True.” Gracie quirked one blonde eyebrow at her and opened her mouth, but her words were drowned out by a scream for the paramedics.
The three of them turned as one to see Loretta Walker kneeling on the ground beside her husband's limp body. She yelled again as the paramedics nearly dropped April Lynne's corpse into the water. The EMTs hurried back up the dock and onto land. Cal and David were running towards her as well. The next few minutes fell into a blur of frantic, panicked activity. Later on, Addison would vaguely remember the excruciating pain that had shot through his ankle when he'd gone down to his knees on the asphalt beside David. He would recall struggling to find a pulse in Jerry's neck. He would remember that Jerry's skin had still been warm when he had started chest compressions. He would remember having to yank Cal backward out of the way so that the paramedics could use the defibrillator on his father.