Down the Broken Road

by J. R. Backlund

  Rachel dove in front of the sofa and covered her head with her arms. More bullets came in, and someone outside yelled, “Hold it! Stop firing! Cease fire!”

  And then it was over.

  FORTY-THREE

  Rachel heard Braddock calling for her. His voice was distant, but it rose above the flurry of activity outside. It grew louder. Suddenly, he was at the door. She stood and slid Stoller’s phone into her pocket and started walking toward him. When he saw her, he nearly collapsed. He bent forward and put his hands on his knees to take a breath, then rushed to her and smothered her with a tight hug.

  He pulled away and looked her over. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

  She shook her head and tried to smile. The concern in his expression told her that she must have looked like she was in shock.

  “Do you want to stay in here for a minute?” he asked.

  She shook her head again. He put his arm around her and guided her outside.

  The light made her squint. When she could see clearly again, Stoller’s body appeared. Facedown, a mound of riddled flesh. Officers were standing around him. They looked proud to have downed the beast. The monster that had been in her life for nearly a year.

  Some part of her wanted to be sad, but she knew that couldn’t be right. It was a good thing that he was dead. She was supposed to have wanted him captured, taken alive so he could be jailed and put on trial for his crimes. But in her heart, she had wanted to see this. His lifeless body. The certainty that he could never harm another soul. Now that it had happened, she didn’t know what to feel.

  The officers all looked at her with approval. If she had looked back at them the right way, they might have cheered, but they could see it in her eyes—she was traumatized.

  Braddock guided her past Stoller and out to the street. Hughes walked over, put a hand on her shoulder, and gave her a nod. Morrison was right behind him. She said, “Good job, hon. I’m glad you made it out of there okay.”

  LeMay was a few cars down, talking to an officer. She looked over and saw Rachel, held her gaze as a moment of understanding passed between them. Then she turned back to the officer. Nearby, Morrison approached Corey and Ryan and led them away, most likely to reunite them with their parents, who were being kept safe somewhere away from the house.

  Down the street, a pair of patrol cars blocked the entrance at the intersection. News vans were parked on the other side. Arnold was there making a statement for a group of reporters. To their right, behind the last van, a black sedan sat in the grass on the side of the road. Ross Penter stood by it, watching. Rachel thought she could make out a smile on his face as he opened the door and climbed in. Then the sedan backed away, and he was gone.

  * * *

  A few hours passed, and things calmed down at the scene. The medical examiner arrived and took Stoller and the fallen officer away. LeMay had gotten a ride back to Monroe with one of the detectives from Union County, who had shown up long enough to get an official update on the fate of Gulani’s attacker. After that, Chief Arnold left, taking half of his officers back to the station with him to start on the paperwork.

  Rachel sat on the curb of a storm drain across the street from the house, holding Stoller’s phone to her ear and staring at the spot where he had made his last stand. She listened to his confession twice, then copied the audio file, attached it to an email, and sent it to herself.

  Hughes and Braddock were talking in the middle of the street, giving Rachel a little time to herself. They approached a few minutes later, and Hughes said, “We’re thinking about putting together some sort of meeting with representatives from each agency and the DA. Have a sit-down so we can work through all this mess. We’ll obviously need you there.”

  Rachel nodded. “Of course.”

  “It’ll probably be in a week or so. There’s a lot to do between now and then. In the meantime, you all should get some rest.”

  “Roger that,” Braddock said.

  “We’ll have someone take you back to Monroe whenever you’re ready to leave. I’d better get back to work.”

  “You’ll need this,” Rachel said, and handed him the phone.

  He looked at it, wearing a look of confusion.

  “It’s Stoller’s,” she said. “He left a confession in the voice-recording app.”

  “Seriously?”

  She shrugged. “He wanted me to have it. The password is all sevens.”

  Braddock shook his head in disbelief.

  Hughes said, “I better get this into an evidence bag.” He started to leave, then paused and turned back. “Oh, and don’t forget, Miss Carver, you still owe me a murder weapon.”

  He winked at her and left.

  Braddock said, “He told me an interesting bit of info about the car Stoller borrowed.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah, turns out he stole it from some old couple. Broke into their house and tied them up in the bedroom. Didn’t hurt ’em, though, which seems like a miracle.”

  “There was no use in it,” she said.

  They stood around and watched the activity around the scene for a while, then Rachel turned to Braddock and asked, “Can I stay with you? Just for a little while?”

  “As long as you want,” he said.

  “Thanks. We might as well get going.”

  They loaded up with a uniformed officer and rode back to Braddock’s Explorer, still parked at the hospital in Monroe. Before leaving, they went inside and asked about Gulani. He had survived the surgery but still faced a difficult road ahead. He would be in the ICU until he improved.

  It was late afternoon when they finally got on the road heading toward the mountains. They arrived in Dillard City just after dark. As they were getting close, Braddock had ordered takeout from Lexington Barbecue. They picked it up on the way home. When they got to Braddock’s house, Rachel took a shower while he made a spread on the kitchen table.

  Rachel managed to eat half a pulled-pork sandwich and a few fries. Then they went to bed. He offered to sleep on the couch, but she wanted him to stay with her. She asked him if he could hold her until she drifted off, and he wrapped her up in his arms and let her use his shoulder as a pillow.

  The next morning, Braddock called in and said he was taking the day off. They lounged around his house and watched TV until noon, when Rachel decided she was ready to venture out. Braddock took her to Everett’s Diner on Main Street for lunch. She had the meatloaf with mashed potatoes and a Mountain Dew. Then they walked the town, lingering on the bridge to watch the Tuckasegee flow beneath them.

  Carly called Braddock to let him know she had just left the State Crime Lab in Asheville and was on her way to Raleigh to drop off the hair and the DNA evidence she had collected from the Camry and Rachel’s gun. Their boss, Sheriff Ted Pritchard, had signed a rush request, and the lab had told Carly that, given the nature of the case, they were pushing her to the front of the line.

  Then she asked about Rachel.

  Braddock glanced over and smiled. “She’s good. We’re just taking a stroll around town.” He hung up and said, “Carly said she wanted to call you herself, but she figured you probably just wanted to be left alone for a while. She wants you to know that she’s thinking about you.”

  “That’s really sweet of her,” Rachel said. “We’ll see what she’s thinking about me when she finds out what I did to her truck.”

  They laughed at that and continued walking for a little while longer. It was a clear day, and the sun was burning away the cool air that had settled in the valley during the night. Rachel felt a drop of sweat running down her side as they climbed into the Explorer. They were headed for the Walmart in Franklin so Rachel could buy some more clothes. She wasn’t ready to go back to her apartment yet. Not only did she not want to be alone, but the manager had said her door wouldn’t be repaired until Thursday at the earliest.

  On the way to Franklin, Braddock got another call. He listened and said “All right” several times before finishi
ng with, “Sounds good, we’ll see you there.” Then he dropped the phone in the cup holder. “That was Hughes. The meeting’s set for next Monday at the district attorney’s office in Hillsborough.”

  And suddenly, Rachel found herself thinking about the case again. There were three things that still needed resolution: Martin had to be located; Rachel had to figure out exactly what role LeMay had played in this conspiracy; and someone needed to find a way to prove that Gordon had killed Adam Hubbard.

  The last one could be the biggest challenge. Union County had already charged Kyle Strickland for that murder. They wouldn’t jump at the chance to prove that they had made a mistake.

  Rachel stared out the window at the lush mountains and thought about Lauren Bailey’s son.

  FORTY-FOUR

  The meeting was scheduled for 10 AM, so Rachel, Braddock, and Carly drove to Hillsborough together on Sunday evening and stayed the night at a hotel. The next morning, they went early, expecting to be the first ones there. As they turned into the parking lot of the DA’s office, Braddock said, “I’ll be damned. Look who it is.”

  Rachel looked over. Standing by the front door was a man she had met while investigating the Lowry County murders. An SBI special agent with a taste for expensive suits and large amounts of coffee. He was either prematurely gray or had great skin for his age. He smiled broadly when he saw them stepping out of the Explorer. His name was Mike Jensen.

  “Hey there, you three. It’s great to see ya again.”

  “Mike,” Rachel said, shaking his hand. “Let me guess. You transferred to Raleigh?”

  Jensen was a political opportunist, Rachel had learned. It had put them at odds during their last encounter. Despite that, it was hard not to like the man.

  “Yeah, AD Penter’s promotion left a nice little vacancy to be filled.”

  “So they made you the new special agent in charge?”

  “They did, yep. They sure did.”

  “Congratulations. That’s great.”

  “Thank you, Rachel. I’ll tell ya, it feels like they’ve thrown me right into the deep end with this one. I’m glad to have you here to help me through it.”

  “Don’t worry, Mike. We’ll get you out of here in one piece.”

  He laughed, as if the comment hadn’t bothered him. He was good at faking it like that.

  Others began to arrive and gather by the entrance, separating themselves into little groups. The Union County sheriff was there with one of his detectives. Hughes was huddled with Morrison and Arnold, talking quietly. Rachel, Braddock, and Carly stood off to one side. Jensen made his way around, introducing himself to everyone.

  The district attorney showed up right on time and led everyone to a small conference room. The space started to feel cramped as everyone filed in. It only got worse with three late arrivals. The first was a detective from the Raleigh Police Department whom Rachel recognized. Second was the Wake County Sheriff’s Office detective she had worked with during the Larson murder investigation. The last man in was a grim-faced assistant district attorney from Union County.

  Once everyone was seated, they went around the table introducing themselves. Then the DA said, “Well, isn’t this one heck of a party. I guess we’d better get started or we’ll never get out of here. Who wants to go first?”

  All eyes fell on Rachel.

  She started from the beginning, sparing no details as she told the story, tying together all the bits and pieces that each individual agency had into a single narrative that seemed to span almost the entire state. There were some skeptical looks and grunts along the way, but in the end, the pieces fit. No one could refute her, despite the fact that the ADA from Union County looked like he wanted to try.

  “Well, ain’t this a helluva thing,” the sheriff said. He swiveled in his chair to look at his detective. “Looks like we’ve gotta take a hard look at our investigation into the Hubbard boy’s murder.”

  The detective nodded.

  “We’d like to help ya with that,” Jensen said. “If it’s all right with you, Sheriff?”

  “Why not?” he said. “After all, we’d never get by if we didn’t have a little help from the state every now and again.”

  Jensen smiled.

  The sheriff looked at Rachel. “On another note, Manish Gulani’s awake and talking. We met with him the other day, and he confirms that he did indeed call Dr. LeMay to tell her you were planning to break into his office. I guess we’ll have to question her about what happened next.”

  The sheriff’s detective said, “We searched Gordon’s barn. Someone must’ve gone through there and cleaned it up. There was no sign of any drugs or guns. Or the prepaid mobile you said they took from you.”

  The ADA said, “That will, of course, make it next to impossible to charge Gordon with kidnapping and attempted murder.”

  “Has anyone been in touch with the Army about Stoller’s phone confession?” the sheriff asked.

  “We’ll take care of that,” Jensen said.

  “Back on the subject of guns,” the DA said to Rachel, “I understand you promised us a murder weapon?”

  Rachel nodded. “The gun used to kill Officer Ramirez and Bryce Parker was mine.”

  That raised eyebrows around the room.

  She said, “Colin Stoller broke into my apartment and stole it.”

  The detective from Raleigh spoke up. “We investigated the burglary at Miss Carver’s apartment.”

  “So where’s the gun now?” the DA asked.

  “I surrendered it to the Lowry County Sheriff’s Office for forensic examination.”

  Carly said, “It’s presently at our office, along with Miss Carver’s vehicle.”

  The DA said, “Forgive me for wanting to be thorough, but what exactly did your forensic examination reveal?”

  “I swabbed the gun for touch DNA testing and took the swabs and comparison samples to the State Crime Lab in Raleigh. They were able to establish two matches. Rachel and Colin Stoller.”

  The detective from Union County said, “That’s odd. I mean, we found gloves in his truck. I’m surprised he wouldn’t use them if he was trying to frame you.”

  “Following Rachel’s suggestion,” Carly said, “I swabbed the edge of the slide near the muzzle. That swab returned the positive result on Mr. Stoller.”

  The detective looked confused.

  Rachel said, “He was probably wearing gloves, like you would expect. But when he had to pick me up and carry me to my car, he had to do something with the gun. I figured the obvious thing would be for him to stick it into the waistband of his pants. And I was betting that, as he tucked it in, the edge of the slide likely scraped off some skin cells from the small of his back.”

  Hughes spoke for the first time, looking impressed. “I’ll have to remember that one.”

  Braddock asked him, “Has the Staples boy shed any light on what he saw?”

  “Afraid not,” Hughes said.

  “There’s a sad irony there,” Morrison said. “Stoller’s attempt to silence Corey may have worked. As of now, his mother won’t let us anywhere near him.”

  The DA sighed. “Well, I guess that’s all there is to say for now. Thank you all for coming.”

  Arnold raised his hand.

  “Yes, Chief?”

  “I’m sorry I didn’t think of this before we got started, but, in addition to the victims, I’ve lost two officers to this ordeal.” He nodded at Rachel. “And Miss Carver has lost a friend. If everyone wouldn’t mind, I’d like to observe a moment of silence for them, and maybe a silent prayer, for any who have faith.”

  He put his head down, and everyone in the room followed suit. With her eyes closed, Rachel saw Parker’s face, eager and smiling.

  * * *

  When the meeting broke up, Rachel approached the sheriff. “If you’re still willing to have me on as a consultant, I’d like to help finish this.”

  He looked a little uncomfortable as he glanced at the ADA, still at the tab
le, packing his briefcase. “I’m sorry, Miss Carver, but it seems the DA’s office has gotten wind of the fact that you’ve been working for Kyle Strickland’s lawyer. They’re insisting that we keep you out of the investigation from this point forward.”

  “I see.”

  “It’s a shame, though,” he said. “You’re one hell of an investigator.”

  “Thank you, Sheriff.”

  FORTY-FIVE

  The sheriff agreed to release Carly’s Tacoma, so Braddock drove them to Monroe to retrieve it. Standing there, staring at its rear end, Carly looked like she wanted to cry.

  “I’m really sorry,” Rachel said. “I’ll pay for everything.”

  “It’s no big deal,” she said, sniffing. “I’m just glad you got away safe.”

  “I’ll stay right behind you,” Braddock said. “Make sure you don’t get pulled over.”

  They made the trip to Carly’s cabin. Despite her attempt to protest, Rachel arranged for a body shop in Asheville to pick up the Tacoma, giving them her credit card number to cover the repairs. Carly hugged her and kissed her on the cheek. Rachel thanked her and said good-bye.

  Braddock drove Rachel to the garage to pick up her Camry. Then they went back to his house so she could pack up. When she had stuffed her new wardrobe and toiletries from Walmart into a plastic bag, she walked over and hugged him tightly.

  “You know I can never say thank you enough.”

  He smiled. “You don’t have to. You know that.”

  She looked into his eyes, reached up for the back of his neck, and said, “Come here.”

  He leaned down, and she kissed him. Their lips held together, as if testing, trying to decide how much further they wanted to go. Braddock pulled free, kissed her on the forehead, and backed away.

  “You have no idea how much I want that.”

  She felt a rush of sadness, knowing what was coming.

  For a moment, he looked like he might give in. Reach out and take her into his arms and carry her into his room. But then the look vanished.