All The Way Back

by David Kearns

  Chapter Twenty Six

  Emily stood by the open front door as I walked back towards the house. Sandy had picked the shotgun up from the porch and held it against her leg.

  As I walked up the steps onto the front porch I told Sandy to give me two minutes. Emily had a sour expression on her face as I passed. I went inside and walked back down the hallway towards the bedroom. The scent of bacon and eggs was still strong.

  “Right,” I thought. “We were having breakfast before Emily decided to kill Sandy in the front yard.”

  I pulled on my running shoes before I picked up my cell phone and slid it into my back pocket. I put my gun inside the duffel bag, took one last look around the bedroom, and came back out through the front door.

  Sandy was standing by the driver’s side door of the Camaro. Emily hadn’t moved. I walked past her without saying a word, and then went down the steps and across the yard.

  “Are you leaving?” Emily said to my back. She sounded as if she thought I’d betrayed her. I ignored her and kept walking.

  “You still willing to take me with you?” I asked Sandy.

  “Only if you’re ready to leave,” she said.

  “I am.”

  I opened the passenger side door, tipped the seatback forward, and put my duffel bag on top of the shotgun.

  Eccles’ rental Buick pulled up behind Sandy’s Camaro. I watched Eccles get out of his car. He appeared to be wearing the same clothes he’d had on the day before.

  “You were headed for the airport the last time I saw you,” I said.

  “I changed my mind,” Eccles said. “May I speak to you?” He gestured with his hand towards the interior of his car.

  I said “Sure.” I told Sandy that I needed to talk to Detective Eccles for a minute and asked her if she would wait for me. She nodded.

  Eccles and I got into his rental car. He looked past me towards Emily’s house. Emily was still standing on the front porch and had her back against the door frame. Her eyes were closed, her head was tipped back, and her arms were folded across her chest while her body heaved with sobs. The dog sniffed at the corner of the porch where I’d retrieved the gun.

  “How did you find me?” I asked.

  “Well, since your phone appears to be turned off, I contacted Marshal Fullmeyer through the Federal Marshal’s service, and he directed me here. Looks like I just caught you.”

  “You did,” I said. “Another thirty seconds and I would have been gone.”

  “So I gather,” he said. “Is your lady friend okay?” He jerked a thumb towards the porch.

  “No,” I said. “Not by a mile.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that. Well, I thought about what you said yesterday. It made me mad, as truth sometimes does.”

  “How’s that?”

  “What you said about me being more concerned about my career than about justice.”

  I shrugged.

  “I don’t think that we can get a conviction on Peck with the evidence we have today,” he said.

  “I still know that he’s guilty,” I said. “You do, too.”

  “You thinking about going hunting?” he asked.

  “I’m thinking about disappearing,” I said.

  “I’m surprised that you’re willing to do that. You seemed hell-bent on revenge the last time we talked.”

  “I can’t see a way through this that won’t get other people hurt. Even if I was able to get at Peck and then find a way to get myself clear, Peck’s people would hunt down everyone I know and make them pay for what I did.”

  “I’m surprised at how sensible you can be. I think you’re right, though.”

  “Sadly,” I said.

  “I want to help you, but if you want him to go to jail, we need more evidence.”

  “Give me an example.”

  “Like him telling you that he did it. You’d have to meet with him and wear a wire,” Eccles said.

  “That seems like a long shot,” I said. “You think he wouldn’t expect that?”

  “Maybe not if you get him off guard. Make him think he’s got the upper hand.”

  “How?”

  “You said he wanted to meet with you. Tell him you want to meet face to face. You could say that you’re going to talk to the newspaper or the authorities that monitor gambling establishments and wanted to talk to him first. Hint that you’re looking for a relocation bonus to move away and forget about the past,” Eccles said.

  “You think he’ll buy that?”

  “No, but I think he’ll agree to meet with you. He doesn’t like loose ends, and he can’t afford to have you making trouble at an inconvenient time.”

  “So you want me to put my head in a noose and hope to get him on tape admitting to everything?” I said.

  “More or less,” he said. “There’s an alternative, though.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Get Peck rattled in public. Make him feel trapped. Maybe he’ll blow his top and we’ll get something incriminating on tape,” Eccles said.

  “A public confrontation?”

  “A public humiliation of some kind.”

  “Does your boss know what you’re up to?”

  “I told him I was taking a few personal days here to soak up the scenery,” Eccles said.

  “It’s going to cost you when he finds out different.”

  Eccles shrugged. ”Sometimes you’ve got to grab the bull by the horns if you want to brand him.”

  “Another campfire metaphor,” I said.

  “Seems to fit in this case.”

  I thought about Eccles’ suggestion.

  “Looks like we have company,” Eccles said.

  I looked over my shoulder and saw Eric’s van pull up behind Eccles’ Buick.

  “You know this guy?” Eccles said.

  “Eric Fullmeyer,” I said.

  “I finally have a face to put with the name,” Eccles said.

  I got out of the Buick. Eric stepped from his van and motioned with his chin towards Eccles’ car. Eric was wearing pressed jeans, a white dress shirt, and black and brown saddle oxfords.

  “What’s up?” Eric said.

  “This is Detective Eccles. We’ve been … strategizing,” I said.

  Eric said “He said he wanted to talk to you. I couldn’t get through to you on your phone, so I sent him by.”

  “It’s all right.”

  “Well,” Eric said. “I’ll leave you to it. I need to talk to Emily.”

  I looked towards the front porch. Emily uncrossed her arms and then took hold of the dog by the collar and dragged it inside. Once inside, she slammed the door.

  “I don’t envy you,” I said.

  “I don’t envy me, either,” Eric said. “I signed up for it, though, so I honestly don’t care how foul a mood she’s in.”

  “You should know that she tried to shoot Sandy a minute ago.”

  “Are you kidding me?”

  I stared at him.

  “Is Sandy okay?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Does Emily still have the gun?” Eric said.

  “I threw it down the storm drain.”

  “Did anyone call the police?” Eric said.

  “Not that I know of.”

  “Did Emily discharge her firearm?”

  I nodded.

  Eric’s shoulders sagged. “What a cluster,” he said. Then he walked across the grass towards the front door.

  I tapped on Eccles’ window and he rolled it down. “We need to include Sandy in this conversation,” I said.

  “That would be the lady in the car in front of us.”

  “It would.”

  “If you don’t mind my saying so, you switch partners more often that a cowpoke at a square dance.”

  “It’s a long story,” I said.

  “You’ll have to tell it to me sometime,” Eccles said. “Well, let’s go talk to your new lady friend. I was just getting used to the other one.”