That’s compassion.
I get on my knees and crawl over to Ed. “We pulled it off.” I turn him over. “Nick didn’t realize it was all an act. He didn’t check if we were dead before driving off with Autumn.”
“I wasn’t acting,” Ed says.
“Bastard.” I stand and kick slush in his face. “I should’ve shot you for real when you started talking about Jake. Why’d you have to harass me again?”
“I didn’t know we had a script.” He pushes off the ground and stands. “It’s the truth anyway.”
“How do you know?” My anger gnaws. “Were you there? Were those your headlights Jake saw?”
“You know what I was up to that night. You already said it.”
“God, I’m so done with you. Give it to me!” My voice is gruff. “Now, Ed. Now!”
“I heard you.” He reaches into his coat pocket.
“You’ve never heard me.”
He shakes his head. “You shouldn’t read this note.”
“Don’t break the deal, or I will shoot you.” I shove him again. “You kept her note from me because you didn’t want people to know what I was doing that night. It connects to you. You wanted to protect yourself. I bet she wrote about the party.”
“No, she didn’t.”
“Give me that copy. That was the deal for letting you walk free.” I reach for his pocket, but he forces my hand away. My teeth gnash. “I want that copy of Heather’s note. We’re done talking. No more extortion of the bar, or snitch jobs, or any other shit. You mess this up, and Autumn turns over the surveillance video she has of you. It’s your vehicle, your license plate, you.” I poke his chest. “It’s you getting a payout from that dealer, and she has photos of you escorting the truck from the last two shipments. You, Ed. You.”
“I warned you to stay away from her!”
“Now!” My hand lifts, demanding the note.
He holds the folded slip of paper in the air and lets it drop in the puddle next to my feet, stepping on it as he heads out of the alley. “Good luck.” He pats my back. “Make sure you get my phone back from Autumn.”
I grab the paper and shake the water away.
“Did it work?” Kevin asks. “You guys fool ‘em or what?”
I sprint past them and out of the alley, carrying the note to my truck like it’s a live grenade, straining to keep it safe in my arms. Scared stiff, I lock my truck after getting inside, looking all around as if someone’s going to snatch her words away.
This is it. Either my life will end after I read it, or at last, it will begin again.
27
What Joel said to Lona during their fight was true, Heather’s note is cryptic. Wild scribbles.
I study it on my way to the Andersons’ while listening to the conversation between Nick and Autumn via FaceTime, lost between two women. Heather’s words have wounded me, and Autumn alone with Nick makes me anxious. The only thing that’s reassuring about the present situation is what Autumn said to me earlier today … Wise women plot and plan. Cocky men like Nick gamble.
And Autumn did just that—she plotted and planned. We needed two phones for me to eavesdrop, so she had Ed and me set up a call before he arrived in the alley. Then Autumn pocketed his cell, knowing Nick would take hers. I’m connected and able to hear their voices, but can’t see what’s happening inside Nick’s car.
“They’re dead,” Autumn tells him.
“I saw,” he says. “But I still want to hear what was said. Play it back for me.”
The last five minutes in the alley are played back on her cell, starting when Ed asked me where I got the gun. Autumn also saw this coming. She said Nick would ask her at the last minute to record us, believing the unexpected request would limit any chance of us conspiring against him. Predictable in these situations, he’d want to be sure Ed and I had an actual conversation, that it wasn’t all a scheme. Luckily, she’s one step ahead of him.
“I knew that kid couldn’t keep his trap shut. He didn’t last a day without telling you I wanted Dorazio dead,” Nick complains. “Betrayal like his always leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. At least he was easy to take out after he served his purpose.”
“Hey, what’re you doing?” Autumn asks.
“Your cell and Walther are going in the glove box.”
The compartment opens and clicks shut.
“Gee, Nick. Think you got enough coke in there?” she says sarcastically. “I remember you used to snort before we made out, back when you were desperate to get me to fuck.”
“Desperate?” He chuckles. “Right. You were crazy for me. It didn’t take long.”
“Smitten by your position,” she corrects. “You said you’d be my fast track to a higher rank in the force.” There’s dead air until Autumn breaks the silence. “I really liked Dylan, you know.”
“What’d he have to offer? Free beer from that slummy bar of his?”
“He was human.”
“Human?” Nick pauses, perhaps unable to come up with a good response. I tend to believe she intimidates him, not the other way around. He knows she’s closing in on the drug ring in District D. He knows that among all the cops, Dorazio is top dog with the main dealer. Nick knows because he put Ed there. That’s what Autumn figured out. Nick Faulkner gets his coke from the chief drug lord in the city. And he hired Ed to help watch over the shipments coming in, to cut out the competition, and to bring him his supply.
“Dorazio had to go,” Nick says. “I don’t need an unflattering police corruption story unfolding during the next election. And that kid you liked knew way too much.”
He feigns innocence, as if Ed is some random unknown cop not connected to him. He wanted him killed before Autumn got too close. Only he missed the boat. She’s seen the exchanges in Nick’s office. She has photos. She’s watched them through her telescope—Ed dropping off drugs and picking up cash behind closed doors.
“Human?” Nick repeats, still mulling over what she said.
“Dylan was also a man,” Autumn says.
“Oh, human and a man. Special guy. Don’t fret; more men are out there. Better ones. Older and wiser ones.”
“Lucky me.” She lights a cigarette. The window opens. “Can I smoke in here?” she asks after the fact.
“Is that your last request?”
Last request. I’m not surprised. Everyone connected to Nick’s supplier and that drug ring will be taken out.
“I asked if that was your last request.”
“I heard you, and I doubt you’ll kill me just because I know you put a hit on Dorazio. And so what if I figured out he was a dirty cop? No one will care anymore now that he’s dead.”
Except for Nick, he cares because the guy Ed was protecting leads right back to him, just like my night at the river leads back to Ed. Luckily, it’s not as easy to remove her as it is to erase Dorazio and me. Nick won’t grab her gun and shoot the police commissioner’s daughter in his car. Someone else will do it. Autumn knows that. And she knows she has only a small window to finish this.
“What’s your angle, Autumn? I can sense something’s going on here. You’re not invincible, you know.”
“Neither are you.”
“Oh, right. I’m the mayor, and you’re a kid who couldn’t last six months on the force. I think I’m safe.”
“A woman, not a kid,” she says. “And to answer your question, my angle tonight is to get home and start over. Dump Dorazio’s files in my trash bin and start a new case.” She exhales a long breath. The window closes. “You wanted Trevor to disappear before he became a disgrace and ruined your chances of being re-elected. You wanted Dorazio gone for the same reasons. No scandals in the city, no investigations, just silence. You want everything swept under the rug, so everyone believes there’s no better man for the job. You got it. Good for you, Nick. Your city is perfect. And not a soul has caught on that you’re a coke head … except for me.”
“
Casual user.”
“That’s laughable.”
“Is it?”
“Honestly, Nick, forget it. Forget about all of it. I don’t care. I just don’t care anymore. Take me to my car, so I can go home and disappear for a while. You ruined my chances of building any credibility to get my business up and running. Now I have to start over from scratch.”
“Ah. See, you do care.”
“Yeah, about my career.”
“Come off it. You’re upset I had you kill Dylan so Farren could keep his job. You’re upset I have that leverage.”
The distance from her dad was intentional, specifically for this case. She thought her dad would take it over and assign other people to it, pushing her aside. That’s what she was talking about in the tub, wanting recognition, credit for doing this on her own. Plus, it’s a screw you to the cops for harassing her for being a woman.
“Blackmail,” Autumn says. “Call it what it is. You want to fire my dad for no reason.”
“My city could use a new police commissioner.”
“Whatever. Go ‘head and do it. Then I’ll be sure to tell the press how much my virginity was worth.”
“You have no proof of that.”
She sighs. The window opens and shuts as if she’s playing with the controls.
“How much information do you have on Dorazio?” he asks.
“If I had sufficient amount, he’d be under arrest. It’s irrelevant anyway. Ed’s dead. Dylan’s dead. I think we’re even. Leave my dad alone, and I’ll keep quiet about our past and all the coke you snort.”
He releases a callous laugh. “People are never even. That’s wishful thinking on your part. I could fire Farren tomorrow if you stop doing as I say.”
“Well, good for you. This isn’t about the coke anyway. It’s about the contract killings and blatant disregard of moral values.” The car’s blinker chinks. “I parked in the back lot,” she tells him. The car slows. Autumn exhales forcefully. “Not here, Nick.”
“You can walk from my garage. I don’t want to be seen dropping you off.”
She knows she won’t be walking out of his garage.
“Is your wife here?” she asks.
“She’s at her sister’s place. Why? You wanna have a threesome?” He laughs. “I can call her. We can’t do it in the garage though. Trevor’s body is still down here. Even I have my limits.”
“No.” Her voice trembles. “Why is Gage down here?”
“He’ll take it from here, Autumn.”
“Wait.”
“Too late.”
The call is unclear while she shifts. “Nick, rethink this. I could have you arrested for murdering Trevor. Tell me how you’ll explain his body being here if the cops show up?”
He chuckles. “After you’re dead, somehow, you’ll magically have me arrested?”
“Yes, for putting a hit on Trevor, and for felony distribution and possession.”
“Hold up, what?”
“I have photos of you exchanging coke for sex with women.”
“Gage!” A window opens. “You’re dead, Autumn. No one knows about that. No one!” He unbuckles his seat belt, hollering again for Gage. “Kill her and put her in a grave with Trevor. Then go to her loft and wipe it clean. Computers, phones, files, everything!”
“Put it down!” A powerful voice echoes in the background, and then several voices start to shout. Autumn pulls Ed’s cell out of her pocket, removing me from the darkness so I can see what’s happening in the garage.
“Lower that gun,” someone shouts from outside. “Drop your weapon!”
“Get down!” a second voice shouts. “Down on the fucking ground!”
Multiple shots fire out. A bullet enters Gage’s chest. A second one strikes his forehead, sending him to the ground in a heap.
Nick glares out the back window. “DEA? Son of a bitch!” He slams Autumn’s head into the dash and then grabs her Walther from the glove box. Shots ring out, shattering the car’s windows. Blood spatter lands on the phone screen, the garage rocked with an uproar that they got him.
“The mayor’s hit.”
“He’s down!”
“We got him.”
Nick slumps onto the steering wheel. His hand lands in Autumn’s lap. She pushes him and the glass pellets away, hurrying to pick up her Walther and cell.
“You okay?” A DEA agent helps her out of the vehicle. It’s Miles; one of the guys who picked me up from the lake. “He bashed you pretty good. You have a red mark already.” He lifts her chin to examine her forehead. “Can you see all right?” He holds up three fingers.
“Yeah, three. It hurts like hell, but I think I’m okay.” She peers inside the car. “There’re a couple of bags of coke in the glove box, possibly more upstairs.” She pulls a flash drive from her pocket. “Too bad you won’t be able to bring him in for questioning about the drug ring.”
Miles bends over to view the scene inside the car. “Yeah, doesn’t look like that’s gonna happen. He wouldn’t have talked anyway.”
She holds up the drive. “We have a deal, right? I still want immunity for Dorazio and his partner, in exchange for the drug-trafficking information.” She taps the flash drive. “This is the info on the drug lord, where his shipments go, the houses he uses, the pushers, everything. It’s all here.”
“The deal stands,” Miles says.
She hands over the drive. “I wanted Nick in prison, not dead.”
“It came down to you or him.”
“I know, but he should’ve rotted in a cell. I have so much on him.” She crosses her arms. “I have a recording of him asking me to kill Trevor. And when I said I wouldn’t do it, he did it himself.” Her words dart out, wanting Miles and the other agents to believe she’s distraught. “He said he had the body down here, but I didn’t believe him until I saw it when we pulled in. He killed his son, Miles.”
Clever. She’s pinning Trevor’s murder on Nick.
“Detectives are on their way to take care of the body,” he says.
The underground garage is an icebox. The environment is similar to the abandoned house where Trevor was first left. They’ll believe he was stored in the garage for some time.
“And I have photos of him picking up women and exchanging coke for sex.”
“Autumn, it’s okay.” He puts his hand on her shoulder. “It’s obvious he would’ve gone down.”
She nods, her lips forming a hard line. “I had it all. I had him.”
“I know. But our focus now is on the drug lord. And I agree about Dorazio. He’s a disgrace to the force for escorting some of the shipments and delivering coke to Nick, and that phony protection racket he’s got going on, but none of that compares to this.” He holds up the flash drive. “It doesn’t even come close. I know you’re upset you didn’t get to watch Nick crash and burn, but this is gold to us.”
She nods again, glancing down at Ed’s cell, sending me a wink.
I told Autumn about Heather leaving her cell in my room the night she died. She couldn’t call. Because of that, Autumn made sure I was with her, that we stayed connected.
The screen fades to black. I put my cell away and stare at the Andersons’ house through the side window of my truck. “I’m almost back where we left off, back to the beginning with you,” I whisper, looking up at Heather’s bedroom window, downward to the lost maple tree, and to the note in my hand. “I can almost breathe again.”
I drop my gun under the front seat and step outside, my jack-rabbiting heart leaping to my throat as an empty sinking feeling lands in the pit of my stomach.
28
I clench Heather’s note in my hand and stare at the stone angel where the old maple tree once stood. I don’t know when dawn became day. I don’t know how long I sat in my truck, agitated and disturbed, or how long I’ve been standing outside the Andersons’ home, transfixed by the voices of Joel and Lona in the thick of another nasty fight.<
br />
Morning sleet changed to rain after a dense fog rolled in and blanketed the city, drenching my clothes and hair, putting me in a miserable state. I’m far from being calm. A bomb has exploded in my mind. My white-knuckled fists are ready to pound Lona Anderson’s face. It’s a fit of anger that blurs my vision and makes my blood boil.
I look over the copy of Heather’s note for the hundredth time, saddened by the spots where her tears or wet hair had originally smudged the ink. As Ed said, she showered at some point. I think she was wasted and tried to wash away the pain of her mom’s pregnancy and her parents’ crumbling marriage, just like I could use a stiff drink to deaden the pain of her first words.
Pregnant. I told you. It was a blow to the heart!
Her parents got it wrong. She wrote it was a blow to the heart, not the head. I know her handwriting.
“That’s an rt, not a d,” I whisper.
I gaze at the house, picturing Heather in the kitchen as she wrote the note. She was likely pacing, sobbing, nursing a bottle, every so often marching up to the piece of paper to jot down another short phrase. And that’s all it is—fragmented thoughts scattered on every side, upside down, and sideways as if she kept turning the paper in circles as she wrote. I’ve guessed at their order, reading it clockwise, coming up with my own sequence of sentences.
Pregnant. I told you.
It was a blow to the heart!
Cold. So cold.
Twig did it.
She’s not having it.
What happened to you?
That maple. It needs to go.
I can’t stand to look at it.
No more autumn leaves.
No Twig.
No more sticks!
Gonna hang.
It’s over!
My heart is in my throat. Her words seem to be written by a stranger. I’m alarmed by her apparent disdain for me. I shouldn’t be, she was dealing with her twisted, cheating mom. She found out her idyllic family was an illusion and in ruins, and in the same night she was appalled by what I had done, leaving her alone when she was in tears.
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