by Rachel Ford
And I’d assure them it was no problem at all, and hand them my card. “If you do see them, let me know. We need to do a wellness check.”
So I got my pictures in order and knocked. I expected it would go similarly with Edith Miller. Although, probably, with more conversation.
I was wrong.
* * *
The kids were grumpy, and tired, and way too hyper after all the ice cream sandwiches they’d eaten. They hadn’t brushed their teeth since the morning of their kidnapping, which sent Maisie on a verbatim lecture straight from her dentist about tooth decay.
Chief listened to it all with amusement, shook his head, and told Jimmy and Marco, “Good luck with that.” Then, he ushered us away.
The Carters had already gone, with Shannon and Sal. Tony and two other guys had also disappeared. “Tyler’s with the rest of my crew,” Chief explained to Jimmy, “on watch outside.”
All of which explained why Marco had taken so long to eat. He’d been making sure Shannon and Jimmy were never in the same room together. Because if they never saw each other, maybe they wouldn’t think it was so weird that they never saw Tyler either.
Daniel didn’t get up when Chief signaled for us to move. He folded his arms and tucked himself into the sofa.
“Let’s go, Dan,” I said.
He didn’t budge.
“Come on, bud,” Chief said. “On your feet.”
“No.”
Chief glanced at Jimmy, who was full on scowling. “Take a look at him. Does he look like someone you want to piss off?”
“That’s a swear,” Maisie said.
“It doesn’t matter,” Daniel said. “My uncle is going to kill him anyway.”
Chief’s eyes opened wide in surprise, but then he burst into laughter. “Is he now?”
“Dan,” I warned, “let’s just go.”
He ignored me. “Yes. He was in the Army, you know. He’s killed bad guys before.”
“Has he? Well, bad news for Jimmy,” Chief said. “Because he’s definitely a bad guy.”
“Yes,” Daniel agreed.
“Bad guys go to hell,” Maisie said. “That’s what mom says.”
“Yes they do,” Chief said. “My mom says the same thing, and moms are always right. They’ll be the first to tell you that. So I guess you’re really in trouble, Jimmy.”
His eyes were twinkling. Jimmy’s weren’t. “We going to do this or what?”
Chief started to speak, but everyone fell silent. A pair of headlights swept across the living room. We all turned to the window in unison. An absolute silence filled the room, until the noise of crunching gravel replaced it.
“Who the hell is that?” Chief asked, turning first to Jimmy, who shrugged, and then the Millers.
“I don’t know,” Edith said.
Chief glanced back at Jimmy, the question in his expression.
“Don’t look at me, boss. I got no damned idea.”
Chief nodded to Marco, who disappeared into the hall. He came back a minute later, looking paler than before. “Some kind of cop. They got ‘sheriff’s department’ on the side of their car.”
“Jesus fuck,” Jimmy said, his tone rising. “They found us. How the hell?”
Chief raised a hand. “They’re not running their lights, or their siren.”
“No,” Marco confirmed, though without much need. We’d have seen the flashing lights, just like we saw the headlights. We’d have heard the siren, like we heard the gravel.
“So they don’t know we’re here,” Chief concluded. “If they did, it wouldn’t be one car, and it wouldn’t be lights off. So they’re here for something else.”
“What do we do?” Marco asked. “Too late to pretend no one’s home. They’ll have seen the lights on.”
Chief glanced at the Millers, at Edith and her oxygen tank, and at Fred and his walker. “You’re going to answer the door,” he told Fred. “You’re going to find out what he wants, and you’re going to make damned sure he doesn’t know anything’s up. Because we don’t want anyone to get hurt, right?”
Fred nodded slowly.
“We got your wife right here,” Jimmy said. “You better keep that in mind.”
“You involve that cop, there’s a good chance we’re going to need to kill him,” Chief said. “And I don’t want to do that. I don’t want that on my conscience. I’m pretty sure you don’t, either.”
Fred stood slowly and got in position behind his walker. He moved stiffly, like an old man who had been confined to a chair for days on end might.
Then we heard the knock we all expected. “Go on,” Chief said.
Jimmy pointed his gun at Edith’s head. “Remember: one wrong word, and I blow her face off.”
Edith shook visibly. Fred said, “It’ll be alright, Edie.” Then, he started to walk. It was slow going, one deliberate step after the other, one careful foot after the other.
Chief turned to me, his voice low. “I don’t need to remind you what happens to people who get in the way of my money.”
Jimmy flicked his gun back our way. “I’ll shoot them both, and then you. So you get to watch them die.”
I glanced down at the kids, and said, “Shh. No one say anything, okay?”
The knock sounded a second time. Fred Miller reached the door a few seconds later. I heard it open, and a voice I recognized said, “Mr. Miller?”
“Can I help you, Deputy?”
“Yes sir. My name’s Wagner. Austin Wagner. We’re doing a canvass of this neighborhood. We’re looking for a couple of kids. We think they might have gotten lost somewhere in the area.”
“Kids?” he asked.
“Yes sir,” Wagner said again. “They’re tourists, from out of state. We think they might have got turned around in the woods, maybe them and their uncle.”
“I don’t know anything about that.”
“I have pictures of them,” Wagner said. “Would you mind taking a look, just in case they show up?”
“Deputy, look at me. I can barely move. I haven’t left this house in a week. I’m not going to see any kids.”
“Just in case–”
“Deputy, I’m missing my show. If I see any kids who look lost – which I won’t, because I don’t go anywhere unless the lady from the county shows up to take me – I’ll give you a call. Will that work?”
Wagner seemed nonplussed by that. He faltered for a moment, but then caught himself. “Uh, yes sir, that’d be fine. You have a good–”
“You too. Goodbye.”
Fred made his long way back to the living room. The car rolled out of the drive. Marco watched its lights disappear down the road.
Chief nodded. “Good job, Mr. Miller. But this changes things.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Deputy Austin Wagner, 7:55 PM
Something about my interaction with Fred Miller struck me as off, but I didn’t know why, exactly. It wasn’t the curtness. The world was full of rude people, and short of working in the retail or service industries, being in law enforcement was probably the quickest way to encounter them.
He’d been agitated, but that might have been because of his show. He’d said he was missing his show, and it had been close to the hour. Maybe I’d pulled him away from some kind of finale or something.
He was nothing like Mrs. Miller, that was for sure. She’d been only too happy to talk. She’d seemed to think my being there was exciting. And I’d only shown up to ask about a dog. I couldn’t imagine how thrilling she would have thought a family who wandered off trail would be.
Of course, husbands and wives often were unalike, with opposites attracting, and so on. It wouldn’t be the first time a sweet-tempered person ended up with a curmudgeon.
Still, something wasn’t right. I couldn’t say what, but – something.
I drove on, until the house was out of sight. I was still thinking about it when my phone dinged. I glanced at the screen. It was a text message – from Jade.
It
said, “I hope you find them.”
I stared at it. Then, I pulled over, because if I went staring too much longer, I’d wind up in the ditch. Which was full of swamp water here.
I hope you find them.
That was the first I’d heard from her since she left. There was nothing personal in that message, but there was no professional reason for her to send it. Our professional transaction had ended hours ago. Which meant…
What?
I started to tap out a reply. Then, I erased it, and started over. I wavered between a simple Thanks and something more personal.
She’d texted me first, so the lines of communication were open now. I was pretty sure of that. I could tell her what I was thinking.
Then again, she’d texted about the case. Maybe they weren’t. Maybe we really were done, and she was just being friendly. Like, I wish you the best in your new life kind of thing.
I glanced at the road. I wasn’t far from where Day had found Matthew Callaghan’s body, actually. A few hundred yards, maybe. I really needed to be thinking of the case; focusing on finding them before something bad happened.
Not…not trying to guess what my maybe ex-girlfriend meant.
I typed out, “Me too.” I hit send. Then I added a new line. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I’d be late. Not just once, but all the times. I miss you, and I love you.”
And before I could change my mind, I hit send again. Then I set the phone down and started to pull onto the road.
I froze halfway into the move, though. My mind was back at the Millers place, and the new SUV with Wisconsin plates, the one replacing their old, crusty truck.
I was thinking of how long it had taken Fred Miller to get to the door. I was thinking of the walker, and girl from the county who drove him to town.
Why would a guy who can barely move much less climb into a tall vehicle, who doesn’t get out of the house unless someone else drives him, buy a big SUV?
I tapped a few buttons on my laptop and brought up what I was looking for: the details of the Carters’ vehicle rentals.
And there it was: Cody Carter had signed for a latest model blue Yukon with the same plates I’d seen in the Millers’ driveway.
“Shit,” I said. “Shit. I got them.”
* * *
Chief looked me square in the eyes. “I guess that call of yours worked after all.”
I said nothing.
“What call?” Jimmy said.
“What?” Chief asked. Then, “Oh, never mind. Point is, jig is up. The cops are looking for this guy and the kids. They’re looking here. They know he’s in the area.”
“So we kill him, and dump their bodies way far away,” Jimmy said. “Far away from us, far away from the target. Let the cops spin their wheels over that for a bit.”
“We’re not killing anyone,” Chief said. “I told Joey that, and I’m telling you that.”
Jimmy clenched his jaw.
“What do we do, boss?” Marco asked.
Chief thought for a long moment. “Go tell Sal to bring the Carters down.”
“What are we doing?” Marco asked.
“We’re going to have to bail,” he said.
“Bail?” Marco and Jimmy looked equally mortified at the prospect.
“They know about Callaghan, thanks to Day here. That ties it to Joey.”
“Joey’s dead,” Jimmy protested.
“But they don’t know that. And it doesn’t change anything. They know Joey’s in the area, they know Day was the only witness to Callaghan’s body, and they know Day is missing.”
“They think he got lost in the woods,” Jimmy said.
“Bullshit. You see any woods around here? Nothing but farmland and swamp for miles. They know he didn’t get lost in the woods, Jimmy. They’re just trying to keep the details out of the rumor mill. They don’t want to spook us.” He shook his head. “They’re trying to flush us out is what they’re doing. They know we’re here, and they’re trying to find us.”
“We can’t bail,” Jimmy said. “Not the day before the hit.”
“If they know we’re here, they’ll have figured out why. They’re not dumb, Jimmy.”
Jimmy said nothing to that.
Chief clapped him on the shoulder. “There’ll be other scores. Marco, go get the Carters. We’re going to have to secure them before we leave. To give ourselves a head start before they go calling the cops.”
“They’ll tell the cops all about us.”
Chief nodded grimly. “Yeah, they will.”
“It’ll be easier if we kill them.”
“It’s not up for debate. Marco, go.”
Marco nodded and left the room. A few seconds later, I heard the squealing cry of the old steps under his feet.
“This is a mistake, boss,” Jimmy said.
“The mistakes are already made,” Chief said. “Joey screwed this thing up from the beginning. He screwed up by taking Callaghan, and then by killing him, and by involving the Carters and Day. It’s been screwed up since the beginning. Now, we either clear out, or we spend the rest of our lives in a cell. You can do what you like, Jimmy. But I’m clearing out.”
Jimmy shrugged. “Okay.”
The stairs stopped squealing. A few stray footsteps sounded in the hall overhead. Marco had reached the second story. He’d be headed for the Carters’ room.
“Okay,” Jimmy said again.
Something in his tone drew my eye. I yelled, “Chief, look out.”
Chief had picked up on the tone too. But he was too late. We both were. Jimmy had already started to raise his gun, and now he fired it, three times.
Two holes ripped through Chief’s chest, and another obliterated his face. Blood and tissue sprayed the wall behind him.
The roar was overwhelming in the enclosed space. Not the sharp whine of a suppressed round. This was booming. Deafening.
My ears rang. The kids screamed, and so did the old folks. But they sounded like they were in another room.
I didn’t hesitate or wait for my hearing to clear. I didn’t pause to find out what happened next, though. I knew what would happen next – what Jimmy had been pining for all this time.
I whipped out the straight razor Maisie had snagged for me and leaped forward. Jimmy turned at the same time. The blade slashed across his gun hand.
He screamed and recoiled. The gun clattered to the floor. I heard it thump, louder than I’d heard anything else since the shots.
I jumped for Jimmy. He sprang backward just as quickly, grabbing the old man by the throat. “Drop it,” he said. “Drop it, or I break his neck.”
“He’s the only thing keeping you alive,” I said. “You kill him, I kill you.”
He stared at me, smirking at first. But then the smirk faded. I meant it. He knew I meant it. Footsteps scrambled overhead. The stairs started to squeal.
Daniel darted forward and grabbed the gun from the ground. He pressed it into my left hand. Not my dominant hand, but the right held the razor.
“Come on, kids,” I said. “Let’s go.”
“I’ll kill you,” Jimmy said.
“Let’s go,” I said again.
The kids clustered around me. I kept the gun trained on Jimmy.
“Shoot him,” Daniel urged.
And I might have, if not for Mr. Miller. I was a good shot. Jimmy had about three inches of his head visible behind the old man’s. But no one hit a hundred percent of the time.
As for Jimmy, well, I figured Marco and his guys would sort things out as soon as they came downstairs. In the meantime, we needed to put some distance between us. Just in case Chief’s crew wasn’t as benevolent as Chief himself.
Maisie shuddered as we neared Chief’s body. But she stepped over it anyway. So did Daniel. We got into the hall and started to move for the door.
That’s when I heard Marco’s voice. “Drop it. Drop it, you son of a bitch, or I’ll shoot.”
Someone else called, “Chief? What’s going on?”<
br />
I froze. “Marco, Jimmy shot Chief. I got the gun from him, but it was too late.”
At the same time, Jimmy called out, “He got my gun and killed the boss. Shoot him, Marco. Just shoot him, like he shot Chief.”
Marco squeaked his way down the steps with the rest of his crew behind him. He stepped into the hall and stopped at the living room. He stood there for a long moment, staring at Chief, unblinking.
“You killed him,” he said, turning toward me...
“I didn’t,” I said.
“He didn’t,” Maisie said. “Jimmy shot him, not Uncle Owen.”
“Jimmy’s a liar,” Daniel said.
“They’re lying, obviously,” Jimmy said. “Shoot them, Marco. You can’t let them get away with killing the boss like that.”
“Drop the gun,” Marco told me.
“Marco–”
“Drop the gun,” he interrupted. “Or I will kill you.”
I didn’t doubt him. I dropped the gun. At the same time, Jimmy scrambled forward.
“You stop too,” Marco said. “Now. Freeze.”
“Me? Marco, come on, you don’t believe this clown?”
“Ask the old folks,” I said. “They saw the whole thing.”
Jimmy blanched. I saw it, and so did Marco. So did the rest of the crew.
“Looks like the jig is up, Jimmy,” I said. “They know.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Deputy Austin Wagner, 8:08 PM
I called in what I found. The sheriff wanted to send in a team, right away. Travers said to hold off. His boys were still on their way. “Wagner, I want you with eyes on the place. Sheriff, keep your men ready to mobilize, just in case this enters a hostage crisis situation. But I don’t want anyone visible, to anyone. You copy?”
So I killed my lights and turned back around. I stopped a ways from the house. I could see the lit up living room windows, and lights in another few rooms. Maybe the kitchen or dining room. There were lights on upstairs, too, in the front part of the house. The back was completely dark.
I could see dark forms inside, moving now and then. Moving a lot more spryly than the Millers.
I waited. The sheriff was working with the FBI to mobilize a SWAT team. It was going to be a big production from the sounds of it, with federal and county and state officers and agents all working together.