“I got a ladder in my van outside.”
“Go get it.”
Decker came around to the back of the desk and looked over the shoulder of the dead man. He eyed the weapon, the twine, and the position of the body. It all fit together, he had to admit.
“See anything of interest?” asked Jamison.
“Yeah, a dead guy with no head and it’s too early for Halloween.”
Decker looked down at the twine, then squatted and studied the desk. He leaned in for a better look.
He straightened and looked at the doorway as Leakey came in carrying a ten-foot ladder. Decker held it for him while Leakey climbed up it and took the pictures.
“Measure the twine, too,” said Decker.
“The twine?” said the tech.
“Yeah, the twine. I want to know exactly how long it is.”
Jamison said, “Decker, what’s going on? What are you thinking?”
“I’m not sure. Yet.”
When the tech was done with the photos and the measurements, Decker crossed the room and sat in the same chair he had used when they had come to visit Dawson that first time. Jamison came to stand next to him.
“Looks pretty straightforward, I guess,” she said.
“Yeah, except it’s always the straightforward ones that end up going sideways on you. And I still don’t see how this gets us to the ticking time bomb.”
“I’ve been telling you that for a while now,” Jamison pointed out.
When Decker didn’t respond she added, “Well, at least we don’t have to ferret out the cause and manner of death on this one.”
“Don’t we?” replied Decker, staring resolutely at the dead man.
“CAROLINE, WHY DID YOU GO out to your dad’s house?” asked Jamison.
It was the following day, and she and Decker were in the woman’s hospital room where the woman was lying in the bed, groggy and pale.
Liz Southern sat silently in a chair across from her, gazing at her friend sympathetically.
Caroline gazed up at Jamison and Decker, who hovered over her.
“W-what?”
“Why were you at your dad’s house?”
Caroline closed her eyes and fell asleep.
Southern said, “Let’s step outside. She needs her rest. I think she was more concussed than they originally thought.”
Out in the hall Decker looked at Southern. “Hugh Dawson told us you and Caroline had become good friends, sort of like sisters?”
Southern smiled. “I would be quite the older sister, but yes, we have become friends.” Her features turned somber. “When I heard about what happened I couldn’t believe it. The nurse told me they gave her some meds to help her rest. She didn’t sleep all that much last night, apparently. They said she’s probably in shock after what happened to Hugh.”
“Did you talk to her?” asked Decker.
Southern nodded. “Just for a few minutes. Off and on.”
“Okay, then you know more than we do. What did she tell you?”
“From what I could understand, she went there to have it out with her father over some business issues. She didn’t tell me what they were.”
“That’s right, you don’t know,” said Jamison.
“Don’t know what?”
“Hugh Dawson sold out to Stuart McClellan.”
Southern gaped. “ ‘Sold out’? What does that mean?”
“He sold his business, all his properties, to McClellan.”
“Everything, including Maddie’s?” Southern looked even more stunned.
“Yes,” said Jamison. “Including Maddie’s.”
Southern shook her head. “So I guess that explains why she was going out there. That would have been devastating for her.” She paused. “So Stuart kills himself and then Hugh does, too?”
“McClellan may not have been a suicide,” said Jamison.
“You mean someone murdered him?”
Decker interjected, “What else did Caroline tell you?”
“She wasn’t making a whole lot of sense, but she did tell me that Hugh had betrayed her trust, only I didn’t know what she meant until now.”
“What else?” asked Jamison.
Southern’s features turned grim. “She told me she walked into his office ready to have it out with him and then she saw him . . . dead. She started to become hysterical at that point. I went and got a nurse, and she gave her the medication.”
At that moment Shane hurried up to them, looking wildly around.
“What the hell is going on? I just got back to town. Joe texted and said Caroline was in the hospital but didn’t say why.”
Jamison said, “She’s going to be fine, Shane. But she’s had a shock. Her father’s dead.”
Shane whirled around to look at Jamison. “Dead! What are you talking about?”
“He was found dead in his home last night. It looks like he killed himself.”
“Where’s Caroline? I need to see her.”
“She’s asleep.”
“I still need to see her.”
They went back into the room. Shane hurried over to the bed and looked down at Caroline. “You’re . . . you’re sure she’s going to be okay?”
“Yes,” said Southern. “She had a concussion and just needs to rest.”
He backed away from the bed as Caroline stirred in her sleep and said in a lower voice, “Why would my dad kill himself?”
Decker glanced at Jamison before asking Shane, “Did you know your father and Hugh Dawson were doing a deal together?”
Shane glanced at Southern before plopping down in a chair. “Yeah, I knew they were doing some deal, but no details. He probably didn’t trust me with the information. And I knew they had been meeting on the sly. But I didn’t know it was for the whole business.”
“Did it surprise you?” said Jamison. “That your dad was buying Dawson out?”
“Hugh Dawson has been sick of this place for a long time, and who can blame him? All you got are companies digging the land up to get the oil and gas. And you got all these people coming here who don’t give a crap about this place. They just want to make their pile and go back to where they came from when it’s all gone.”
Southern protested, “That’s not really true anymore, Shane. There are more families coming here and putting roots down.”
He waved this off. “It’ll always be a mining town. And when everything’s sucked out, what then? You really think people are going to stick around here?”
Decker said, “So Dawson wanted to get out? You know that for a fact?”
“When Maddie was alive they were fixing to go to France. All of them, Caroline too.”
“But then Maddie died,” said Jamison.
Shane nodded. “And Hugh built his big house. But I could tell the man’s heart wasn’t in it.”
“So he might have wanted to sell out?”
“Yeah, and my old man would be the only one with the money to buy him out. And it would help his business. Hell, he’d pay his workers to get the oil and gas out, and they’d pay him all that money back in rent and food and whatnot.”
“Like the old company coal-mining towns,” observed Decker.
“Right.”
Decker said, “I want you to take a few deep breaths, Shane.”
“Why?”
“Because I have something to tell you that will be upsetting.”
“Hell, Decker, I’ve seen my buddies blown to pieces in Iraq and Afghanistan, okay?”
“Okay. So do you have any idea why Dawson would leave a suicide note saying that he killed your father?”
The blood slowly drained from Shane’s face. “Hugh said he killed my dad.”
“We found a note that said that. And there is some forensic evidence pointing to his having done so.”
“What kind of evidence?” asked Southern quickly.
“We can’t get into that,” replied Decker.
Shane rose on wobbly legs. “He killed my old man?”<
br />
“At least that’s what the note said,” said Jamison.
“You sure he wrote it?”
“Several people identified it as his handwriting.”
“Son of a bitch.” He turned and looked at Caroline. In a low voice he added, “Does . . . does she know about this?”
Decker shook his head. “No, she doesn’t.” He paused and sized Shane up. “Of course with your father dead, you’re a very wealthy man.” He glanced at Caroline. “And she’s a very rich woman.”
Shane glanced at him. “If my old man left me anything.”
“So you haven’t seen his will?”
“Never had a reason to.”
“Not into money?” said Decker. “With all that you could live in grand style.”
“Never been one much for style,” said Shane. And with that he went over to the bed, bent down, kissed Caroline on the forehead, and walked out.
Southern watched him go with a sad expression. “I’ve known him since he was a baby,” she said. “Him and Joe. Watched them grow up together with Caroline.”
“We understand they were pretty tight,” said Decker.
“Inseparable was more like it. This was before Hugh and Stuart were all supercompetitive with their businesses. The kids could just be kids. Caroline was like a sister with her two protective brothers, least she was back then.”
“What about her actual brother?” asked Jamison.
“Junior was always quiet and kept to himself. He was uncomfortable around his family, especially his father. Caroline, Joe, and Shane would roughhouse, but not Junior.”
“I guess later, when he came out?” prompted Jamison.
Southern’s lips pursed. “Caroline and his mom stood by him, that was for sure. But Hugh was especially brutal.”
“That’s what Kelly told us.”
“Hugh wanted sons like him—strong, aggressive, kick-ass, none of the things Junior was.”
“So did he see Kelly and Shane as sort of his sons?” asked Jamison.
“That’s very perceptive of you because, in a way, he did, yes. He went to all the football games. Junior was the drum major of the marching band at school. He could play pretty much any musical instrument. But did his daddy acknowledge any of that? No. He just cheered on Joe and Shane scoring touchdowns.”
“And when they got older?”
“Hugh and Stuart were at each other’s throats by then. Caroline got sent off to college to learn what she needed to learn to inherit the business. Joe became a cop, as you know. Shane joined the Army right out of high school. So like that, everything changed. The gang went their separate ways.”
“Kelly was the only one left here,” said Jamison.
“Yeah. I’d see him around town. He looked like a lost pup.” She smiled sadly. “I felt badly for him. His two best friends, gone like that. Then Caroline graduated and came back. After that Shane returned home. But it was never the same. Then Maddie died. That nearly destroyed Hugh. I didn’t much care for the man, but I have to give him credit where it’s due: He loved his wife.”
“You seem to have definite opinions of all of them,” noted Decker.
Southern gazed at him. “And that’s what they are, my opinions. You can accept them or not.”
Jamison glanced over at the sleeping Caroline. “And what about Caroline? Kelly and Hugh had a discussion about her. Kelly thought her father wanted Caroline to move to France with him, to find a man there to marry, and have a big family.”
“Hell, I thought she might stay right here and marry Joe, or Shane. But that never happened. If you want my two cents, I think her seeing how her father treated her brother just wrecked her. The names he would call his own son, right out in public. The ridicule. It was like watching a TV show from the sixties or something. So cruel, so mean.” She shook her head. “So to answer your question, I don’t know if she’ll ever find someone. I hope she does. She deserves to be happy.”
“Daddy’s perfect little girl,” said Decker.
“What?”
“I told Caroline before that that’s what I think her dad saw in her. She said there was no such thing.”
“Well,” said Southern. “I think she’s right about that.”
“SO DAWSON KILLED HIS RIVAL and then shot himself. At least that part of the case is closed.”
After Jamison said this she glanced at her partner. She was driving them back to the hotel.
“Decker, did you hear me?”
Decker didn’t comment.
“And once again this has nothing to do with the ticking time bomb,” she added. “We’re still at square zero there.”
“Not quite.”
“What do you mean?” she shot back. “Are you holding out on me? I hate when you do that. I am your partner. I bet Robie doesn’t hold out on Jessica Reel.”
“I’m not holding out on you. I’m just thinking.”
“Of what?”
Decker closed his eyes and downloaded a memory. “Speaking of the ticking time bomb, remember what she told us Cramer said? ‘To maybe not grow our own food’?”
“Wait a minute, who said that?”
“Judith White. Cramer advised her not to grow food on her land. That’s what she told us when we interviewed her.”
“That’s right, she did,” Jamison said. “Wait a minute, their farm is right next to the Air Force facility. Are you thinking . . . ?”
Decker didn’t answer right away because another memory came to him. It was something Daniels had said. And it was perhaps even more ominous than Cramer’s comment.
“Let’s drive out to the Brothers’ place again.”
“Why?”
“Just humor me, Alex.”
“Okay, but you don’t make it easy,” she snapped.
“Since when have I ever been easy?”
“Well, you could make an effort every once in a while.”
Jamison cut a sharp U-turn and headed off in the opposite direction.
Forty minutes later they pulled to a stop in front of the metal farm gate that was the main entrance to the Brothers’ Colony. The gate was now closed.
Jamison put the SUV in park and said, “Okay, now what?”
Decker got out and started to look around. Jamison followed him.
“What are we looking for?”
He stared across the acres of farmland. “They’ve been here a while, right? The Brothers, I mean.”
“You know they have.”
“I mean at this location.”
Jamison looked uncertain. “Well, from the looks of things they’ve been here a few years. It would take at least that long to build all this up to what we’re seeing today.”
Decker continued to watch as twin John Deere tractors moved slowly across a field far in the distance. Beyond that was the Air Force station.
“I think you’re right about that.”
“But why is the amount of time they’ve been here important?”
“It’s just a theory,” he said absently.
“Can you explain your theory,” she said curtly.
He didn’t answer. Decker headed back to the SUV, and she followed, not looking happy.
“This can’t be right,” he said, stopping at the vehicle’s passenger door.
“What can’t be?”
“If it were on the Air Force property,” he began, but now Jamison saw what he was getting at and leapt ahead of him.
“The biochemical weapons. No one could get to them if they were on the Air Force property. Meaning they must be on the land they auctioned off.”
“Right. But I don’t see how they could be on the Brothers’ land. I mean how could anyone hoping to get to the WMDs go there without them knowing?” He paused and his confused look deepened. “But why else would Cramer have mentioned to Judith White not to eat the crops they were growing there.”
“Meaning she thought if the weapons were buried they might have leached out and contaminated the soil?”
“Exactly.”
Realization grew across Jamison’s features. “But, Decker, part of the auctioned land was leased. The Brothers don’t control it.”
He shot her a look. “The frackers. Come on!”
They ran to the SUV and jumped in.
After they had driven for a bit, Jamison pulled off next to the land occupied by the All-American Energy Company drilling site.
“Got your binoculars?” Decker asked.
She pulled the optics from the console and handed them across.
Decker focused the binoculars and surveyed the site. Then he looked in the distance at the adjacent Air Force station, and the ground in between.
After about a minute she said, “See anything interesting?”
“It’s more what I’m not seeing.”
“What?” she said.
“There’s nobody working the site. It’s empty. I wonder if they’ve finished fracking it?”
“Let me see.”
She slowly surveyed the property and then lowered the binoculars. “But if they’ve finished fracking, why isn’t there a gas flare on the vent pipe sticking up over there? Remember, I noticed that before and you called it a miracle. And I don’t see any rig pumping the oil up like the other sites have, either.”
“We need to ask an expert. And I know just the person.”
THEY SKIDDED TO A STOP at the oil rig that Stan Baker was staging and jumped out of the SUV.
They hustled up to the trailer. Decker didn’t bother knocking, he just burst in with Jamison right behind.
Baker was seated in front of the computer terminals. He whirled around to stare at them. “Hey, what are you two doing here?”
“The All-American Energy Company?” said Decker.
“What about them?”
“There’s nobody working the site.”
“What do you mean?”
“There’s nobody there. No trucks, no people, no activity.”
“Decker thought they might have finished fracking the site, but we couldn’t be sure,” said Jamison. “So we came to see you, since you’re the expert.”
Baker shook his head. “They couldn’t have finished fracking that well. They haven’t been there long enough. They haven’t even been drilling that long, so they couldn’t have gotten down all that far.”
Walk the Wire Page 30