The Fallen

by David Baldacci

  In the cemetery, some of Ross’s men fired up at the chopper and at the armed men who had suddenly appeared at the top of the brick wall.

  Shots rang out all over. The burial ground was quickly shrouded in smoke from all the discharging weapons.

  Flash-bangs went off and people screamed. The smoke grew denser. The screams grew louder.

  Decker quickly pushed Fred Ross’s wheelchair over next to one of the SUVs.

  “Keep your head down,” he told the old man before rejoining the others.

  Jamison shouted to Decker, “I’ll get Amber and Zoe.”

  She sprinted forward, with John Baron joining her.

  Ross and one of his men had also raced toward the hostages.

  The two groups clashed right in front of Amber and Zoe.

  Ross started to point his weapon at Jamison.

  “You piece of shit!” screamed Jamison.

  She kicked the gun out of his hand and drove her fist into his nose, and when he staggered back in pain, she nailed him with her knee directly in his crotch. He went down and stayed there. Just to be sure, she jerked his hands behind his back and cuffed him.

  Meanwhile, Baron gripped the gun hand of the other man, stripped him of the weapon, bent his arm behind his back, and launched him headfirst into a granite tombstone. The man slumped to the ground and didn’t move.

  Jamison lifted Zoe up into her arms and Baron helped Amber to her feet. They took cover behind a crypt as the firefight continued.

  Jamison slipped off Zoe’s gag and the little girl looked up in amazement at her aunt.

  “Aunt Alex, what you did, that…that was so cool.”

  At the gate of the cemetery, something came out of the smoky darkness and struck Decker. He stumbled to the side, slammed into the wrought iron gate, lost his balance, and fell down.

  Cindi Riley helped him up as shots continued to ring out and people screamed inside the grounds.

  Decker could hear feet running away into the darkness. It had to be the person who had struck him.

  He looked into the graveyard and as the smoke cleared he saw several of Ross’s men down on the ground. Others were on their knees, their hands over their heads.

  Body-armored DEA agents with assault weapons were swiftly moving in and taking control of the situation. The short battle was over.

  The chopper had landed next to the cemetery and Agent Kemper jumped out and hurried over to them.

  She said, “I have to tell you, that text you sent telling me to come here blew me away. But I trusted you and it damn sure paid off.”

  Decker nodded and looked over at where Baron and Jamison were escorting Amber and Zoe to a group of DEA agents.

  “Did you use rubber bullets?” asked Decker.

  She nodded. “Like you suggested. We figure we can get these guys to turn on whoever they’re working for higher up the food chain.”

  As the smoke cleared further, Riley said, “Decker, I see Ted Ross, but not Lassiter.”

  They all looked over to see Ross, his face bloodied from Jamison’s blow, being hauled to his feet by two agents.

  Decker said. “Someone ran off back toward the house. It was probably Lassiter.”

  “We’ll get her,” said Kemper confidently. “This place is surrounded. I have agents barricading the road up. There’s no way out.”

  Decker glanced over at the SUVs. Ross and his wheelchair were gone.

  He rushed over there only to find pieces of duct tape on the ground. The old man must have managed to free himself somehow.

  Kemper joined him a moment later.

  “What is it?” she said.

  “Fred Ross is out there in his wheelchair somewhere,” added Decker.

  Kemper smiled. “Again, not a problem. Thanks for the assist, Decker.”

  She left to confer with some of her men and to confront Ted Ross.

  Decker watched her go for a few moments and then looked at Riley.

  “Go help the others. I’ll be back.”

  Before Riley could say anything, he had already hustled off.

  A few minutes later he emerged from the road to the cemetery and looked up toward the house. He stopped and gazed around, listening for someone running. He heard nothing and started moving again. He was listening for the sound of Ross’s wheelchair, but again he heard nothing.

  Where could the old man have gone?

  He picked up his pace. And where was Lassiter? She couldn’t leave on foot. She would easily be caught. But with a vehicle she might have a shot at running Kemper’s barricade. Decker had the keys to the truck they’d driven up in. But he knew there was another vehicle available.

  He hustled toward the garage.

  Right as he got there, the truck started up. He heard gears gnashing and the old Suburban hurtled backward out of the garage bay.

  He had to throw himself sideways to avoid being run over.

  He rolled and sat up as Lassiter spun the wheel and the Suburban cut a one-eighty, its hood pointed toward the road.

  From a kneeling position, Decker settled the shotgun’s stock against his shoulder and took aim.

  “Get out of the truck, Lassiter! Or I open fire.”

  Her answer was five pistol shots fired at him through the open driver’s side window.

  Fortunately, she couldn’t really aim and drive at the same time, so her rounds sailed wide.

  Decker fired several shotgun blasts at the side of the truck.

  The pellets slammed into the old Suburban, blowing out both tires, shattering a window, and pockmarking the doors.

  Lassiter screamed and a few moments later the passenger door flew open. He heard feet hit the dirt and then she was running away.

  Lassiter came into his sightline and he watched as she ran to the front door of the mansion and disappeared inside.

  He slowly walked up to the truck and peered inside.

  He saw the blood inside the cab, so he knew he’d hit her.

  He followed the trail of blood to the front door and poked his head inside.

  He heard it before he could see her.

  Moaning.

  He made his way slowly down the grand hall, peering cautiously into each room he passed. The sounds of moaning were growing louder, but in this cavernous place they seemed to echo everywhere.

  He stopped and listened intently.

  “Decker?”

  He took a few steps forward and peered into the gun room.

  Lassiter was sitting on the floor with her back against the wall.

  The arm that had been in the sling was bloody and hanging limply by her side.

  Decker fixed his gaze on the pistol in her right hand.

  “Yeah?” he said.

  “Go to hell!”

  “It’s over, Donna. So put the gun down and I can get you some medical attention.”

  She laughed, grimaced, turned to the side, and threw up.

  She wiped her mouth with her gun hand and looked over at Decker standing in the doorway. “You got me good, Decker.” She touched the muzzle of the gun against the side of her bloody face. “Not so pretty anymore, am I?” She laughed and then doubled up in pain.

  “Why, Donna? You’re a cop.”

  She sat up straighter. “Too much money, Decker. Too damn much.”

  Lassiter groaned and slumped back against the wall.

  “You also wanted to stick it to Baron, because of your dad. And your mom.”

  She pointed to the bloody sling on the floor. “The plan was to take out Marty and Alice when we were transporting them. Then they were going to shoot at me and a couple others to make it look legit. Only the damn round glanced off my body armor and knocked out my left arm. Had to down some serious painkillers just to function. Then you really messed it up with your shotgun. Feels like it’s going to fall off. And I think my lung’s filling up with blood.”

  “You made a mistake in checking yourself out of the hospital. That’s what led me here.”

  She waggl
ed her head. “Had to. I couldn’t trust Ted not to screw me.”

  “Right, honor among thieves. Why all the crap with Beatty and Smith? Freezing their bodies and dumping them in that house?”

  “I knew our ME was incompetent. But we knew the DEA might swoop in after they were identified, so Ross thought the freezing would help us there.” She coughed up some blood. “But if I’d known you were in the house behind it, believe me, we’d have dumped them miles away.”

  “Put down the gun, Donna, and let me get you some help. You’re not going to make it otherwise.”

  “Who gives a shit!” She paused and took in a long, ragged breath, no doubt drawing more blood into her damaged lung. “Baronville! This place sucks all the life out of you. Every time I saw that name on every damn street or building, it made me want to blow my frigging brains out. My dad was a good guy. This place ruined him. It ruined everything!”

  Decker said, “You went to Philly for college. You could’ve stayed there.”

  She shook her head. “Had to move back here, take care of my mom. Then she killed herself anyway. By then, I’m stuck.”

  “Right, your crappy life, it’s somebody else’s problem.”

  “You’re damn right it is.” She waggled her head again. “All that gold. What did he say, half a billion?”

  “Something like that. But it’s just money, Donna.”

  She laughed bitterly. “Easy to say unless you don’t have any.” She groaned and clutched her side. “Shit, it hurts so bad.”

  “Put down the gun, Donna. I can get you some help for the pain, but you have to put the gun down first.”

  She sat up straighter and her features calmed a bit. “I’m gonna get the death penalty, Decker,” she said quietly. “All the stuff I’ve done.”

  “Even if you do, it never happens fast.”

  Decker could tell that her blood loss was nearing the critical stage. She started to stammer. “I’m n-not going to prison. Ex-cop. Not going to p-prison. No way. N-no way.”

  “You don’t want to do that,” said Decker, seeing where this was going.

  “I was a g-good cop. I really was. And…and then it all w-went t-to h-hell.”

  Decker could see that her face was growing pale as her blood pressure dropped with each pump of her heart. There was clearly only one outcome now.

  “How’d you get hooked up with Ross?” he asked, trying to distract her.

  She seemed to perk up with his query and said clearly, “Known him forever. He needed some help on the inside. He knew about my dad, and my mom. He knew I was kind of desperate. He made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.”

  “Alice Martin didn’t know about you, did she?”

  She shook her head. “T-to her, I was the nice, good c-cop.”

  “What about Green?”

  She shook her head again. “Nobody knew about me other than Ross. He had Marty and a bunch of other cops on the payroll. But I was the f-fail-safe. Otherwise, Marty c-could’ve fingered me when you nailed him on Bond’s m-murder.”

  “Put the gun down, Donna.”

  “Not gonna do that.” She looked up at him with pleading eyes. “Shoot me, Decker.” She pointed to her forehead with her gun muzzle. “Right here. Please. Fellow cop asking a favor. Just do it.”

  “I’m sorry, I can’t do that.”

  “Okay, I just thought I’d ask,” she said grimly.

  She stuck the pistol in her mouth, closed her eyes, and pulled the trigger.

  Decker didn’t react to this. In fact, he knew it was the logical outcome. And maybe it was better that way. He stepped over to the body, which had slumped sideways. The wall behind Lassiter was smeared with her blood and brains.

  As Decker looked down at the body he closed his eyes as the electric blue color that he normally associated with death flashed across his mind. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and he felt slightly nauseous and claustrophobic.

  He almost had to smile, and would have if he hadn’t been standing over Lassiter’s corpse. She was a bad cop, for sure. But she was still a cop. And he wasn’t going to celebrate her death.

  Yet maybe tomorrow he would be the same old Decker after all, at least the one the blindside hit had created. And in a world that seemed to be nothing except unpredictable, maybe that was as good as it got.

  Chapter 74

  WHAT WAS THAT?”

  Baron, Jamison, and Riley were leading Amber and Zoe back up the road toward the house when Baron had stopped and stiffened. His gaze was pointed down the path that cut through the woods.

  “What was what?” asked Jamison.

  “I heard a sound down that way.”

  “You think it might be Decker?”

  “It’s not me,” said Decker.

  He had appeared in the road leading from the house.

  “Decker, where were you?” asked Jamison.

  “At the house, with Lassiter.”

  “What happened?” asked Jamison.

  Decker glanced at Zoe. The little girl looked exhausted and scared.

  “I’ll tell you later. I just got a text from Kemper. She called an ambulance for Amber and Zoe. It’ll meet you in front of the house. Alex, can you and Cindi take them up there and wait with them?”

  “Why, where are you going?”

  “I think John and I have someplace to check out.”

  Baron was still staring down the path.

  Jamison glanced at Baron and then back at Decker. “I think I’ll come with you.”

  “No, you need to go with your sister and niece. You have a gun and I don’t know who else might be out there. Kemper’s sending some agents to you. Until they get here, you need to stay with them.”

  Jamison looked torn.

  “Okay, but can you at least tell me where you’re going?”

  Decker, his gaze on Baron, said, “Maybe into the past.”

  * * *

  As Baron and Decker headed down the path, Baron looked at him. “You know where this leads, right?”

  “I do.”

  “And do you hear what I’m hearing?”

  “I do,” Decker said again.

  “But he would have no way of knowing about this. He would never have been here.”

  “He would have one way of knowing about it,” replied Decker.

  They cleared the trees and in front of them the large pond appeared.

  They stopped walking as they both saw it at the same time.

  Fred Ross was in his wheelchair at the edge of the water.

  “Mr. Ross?” said Decker. “Going somewhere?”

  Ross swiveled around in his chair and saw them. His mouth freed from the duct tape, he hurled one curse after another at them.

  Baron started marching down toward the old man and Decker followed.

  Before they reached him, Ross lurched sideways and turned over his wheelchair. He started clawing his way to the water, his useless legs dragging in the mud.

  Baron stepped in front of him and looked down.

  Ross looked up at him. “If I had my damn shotgun,” he snarled.

  “Only you don’t,” said Decker. “How’d you manage to get loose?”

  “You didn’t tape my arms that tight. Had some wiggle room. All I needed. Probably thought because I’m old I’m weak. Well, I’m stronger than I look, fat boy, from working hard all my life and pushing myself around in that metal cage all this time.”

  Baron said, “How did you know this pond was even here?”

  Ross laughed. “How do you think I know?”

  Decker knelt down next to Ross. “Why did you kill his parents?”

  Baron shot Decker a stunned look and then stared back at Ross.

  “They were Barons. Ain’t that reason enough?”

  “Why in the pond?”

  “Because I didn’t want to get caught, that’s why, you dumb son of a bitch.”

  “Why were you up here in the first place?” asked Decker.

  “Looking for it, wasn�
��t I?”

  “The treasure?”

  Ross eyed him shrewdly and nodded.

  “How’d you even hear about it?” asked Baron.

  “When she was younger, my grandmother worked up at your damn mansion as a maid. That fancy-ass butler was an old man then, and he would get drunk and run his mouth in the kitchen. Right before he died, he bragged to my grandmother that he was going to be buried with Baron. He was so giddy about it. Like that made him somebody. And he said that Baron wasn’t going to leave much of anything to his kids. He was just going to hide his money from those spoiled brats because they were nothing to him. Somewhere up on the estate, he said. Well, she told my mom and my mom told me. One night years later, I went up there to look for it, but couldn’t find it. Figured I’d get the damn Barons to tell me.”

  “They didn’t know either, you idiot!” roared Baron. “Do you think if they did they wouldn’t have already gotten it?”

  Ross ignored him and kept his gaze on Decker. “Only they wouldn’t tell me. I got even more pissed and knocked ’em in the head, put ’em in their fancy car, and drove it over here and rolled it right into the water.”

  “But how did you know about the path or the pond?” asked Decker.

  “My grandma told my mom.” He looked at Baron. “She said the high-and-mighty Barons used to come here for picnics and shit. I figured I’d give ’em a picnic, all right. Twenty feet under.” Ross eyed the water. “And then I went back to work at the damn textile mill and got paralyzed.” He glared at the wheelchair. “Been trapped in that piece of shit ever since.”

  “Well, they say God works in mysterious ways,” said Decker disdainfully. “But what are you doing here now?”

  “Hell, I ain’t going to prison. Rather drown my ass.”

  Baron pulled his gun and pointed it at Ross. “How about I do the honors?”

  The old man grinned maliciously up at him. “Yeah, you go ahead, prick. Pull that trigger.”

  Baron cocked the hammer.

  “Do it, rich boy, do it. I dare you,” squealed Ross.

  Decker said, “He wants you to do it, John, because then he knows I’ll have to arrest you. It would be like he’d be killing you too, just like he did your parents. You gonna let him sucker you like that?”