Stayaway Hideaway
Page 10
Jesus Christ. You killed him. Says Walters.
You know you can’t make it out of here alive either, Dick.
Walters nods and tosses me the backpack. He kicks Duke’s flacid, lifeless body and takes one step closer to the fire.
I’m cold.
I would imagine so. You’re losing a lot of blood.
I bend down to pick up this backpack. Fucking Walters threw it too short and it landed in some of Duke’s blood. Disgusting.
What’s in the backpack?
I don’t think I’ll be alive long enough to tell you. Take it back to the office. Give it to Peterson. He’ll know exactly what it is when he sees it.
There is total silence as I stare deep into Walters’ eyes. I can sense that he is filled with regret. Regret for which he knows he will have to pay the ultimate price. If there’s one thing I can say about Richard Walters, it’s that he is a real man for accepting his fate and taking responsibility. A real man owns up to what he’s done, no matter the cost.
But I will never let him know that.
Can you shoot me? I’m freezing over here. Says Walters.
I think this is a fair punishment.
Walters smiles and takes a seat a mere three strides from the burning cabin. The explosive heat must be scalding him. Yet, he looks unharmed. He appears to be at peace with himself. Reminiscent of that Buddha who lit himself on fire protesting the Vietnam war. I guess I never really got that until now. Obviously these men are nothing alike, and did what they did for vastly different reasons. But it just reminds me of it is all.
Time to get out of here.
See you around, Dick.
Thanks for letting me speak, Pete. I hope life gets better for you.
I hope so too.
Chapter 26. The Handshake
December 26, 2020
Detective Larry Pete
I’m doing this. I need to do this. Just knock on the door, Pete. You need this. She needs this.
I knock and the door swings open by itself. Must not have been locked. Who does that nowadays with all the rapists and murderers out there? What the fuck is Katherine thinking she has a –
Stop it, Pete. You’re not here for that.
Hello? I say as I project my voice through the halls.
No answer. That doesn’t surprise me. Katherine is slightly deaf in her right ear. It happened when she was a young girl. Her brother snuck up behind her one day at recess and screamed into her eardrum. She said he was trying to impress his buddies. Even for a ten year old boy that’s concerning. You have to scream pretty loud to permanently rupture someone’s eardrum. You have to mean it. On the bright side, karma got him in the end and now he’s got ten more years on his twenty-five year sentence in Plymouth.
Kath? I scream slightly louder as I maneuver my way through the halls.
Larry? What the fuck are you doing here?
Ah, my wonderful wife. Ex-wife.
Yes it’s me. Can I come in?
You’re already in! How the fuck did you get in? She screams hysterically from one of the upstairs rooms.
Standing directly below the second floor, I can hear the footsteps of my ex-lover pace back and forth around her room. She used to do that when she had any sort of conflict. Any sort of major decision to make. This must be killing her right now. It’s been so long since we spoke. I can barely even remember what she looks like. The woman I thought I’d spend of the rest of my life with, and I can’t even remember what she looks like.
Can you just come down? I need to tell you something.
If you’re going to tell me that you killed Jim Duke I already know. Jared’s partner told me.
Oh what is she fucking him too?
No. Stop, Pete. You are not here for that. She needs to see your genuineness. And you will be genuine, because you feel genuine about this.
It’s not about that.
Suddenly, the pacing stops. Then even more suddenly, they begin again at a booming, rapid pace. This is it, Pete. She gets to the top of her staircase and looks down at me. Between her yellow walls and oakwood staircase boards, she looks just about damn perfect. God damn does she look perfect.
So you don’t want to say anything about the case that catalyzed the disintegration of our relationship?
Actually there is one thing. After I shot Duke his accomplice gave me his bagpack. Inside was some further evidence of Duke’s guilt. A journal, a mock death note, some addresses for leading clan members. But the one thing that really truly got me was a newspaper headline written on a sticky note. “World Ending” it said. Dated December 26, the year we separated. I just couldn’t figure out why it was in there. Maybe Duke was fucking with me one last time. Or maybe it was just pure coincidence. Whatever it was, it really hit home with me.
Go on.
My world ended on December 26. This day, all those years ago. When you brought Jared home-
Listen Larry, if you’re here to just attack me I will have none of it.
No- No I’m not here for that.
What are you here for then?
When you brought Jared home a large part of me died. I haven’t been the same since and you have mentally consumed my life. But, lately I have had awakenings of sorts. Nothing crazy, or black magic-y. More-so enlightening. I realized that it wasn’t you. It was me. I was a bad husband. I was a bad friend. You were dealing with some pretty tough stuff, and I did nothing but make it worse. I became selfish. I became unruly. I spent long days at the office, only to come home and not speak a word to you. Life was miserable. I can only assume it was that much worse for you. The truth is, I always blamed Duke for our marriage falling apart. I always thought to myself, “If I had never taken that stupid fucking case I would still have my wife”. As if you were an object. I’m sorry, Kath. I am so sorry. You never deserved the life that we had before all this. You deserved so much more and I hope Jared is giving that to you. I miss you every day, but I know that you are better off with him. It’s my job now to accept that and to accept that it was my fault our marriage split. I need to accept that you really gave everything you had to make it work. I’m sorry.
Well, she reacted exactly as I thought she would. A deer in headlights. She’s thinking, or frozen. One or the other. For us to not have spoken in years, and for me to say something as genuine as that, god it must be confusing her in all sorts of ways.
Then suddenly, she begins to cry. A happy cry? Hard to tell. It doesn’t feel like a sad cry.
You okay, Kath?
She sniffles.
Yes, yes I’m sorry. I just need a second.
Take all the time you need.
Well, maybe not all the time I am pretty hungry. But that can wait, Pete. Just hold on out. You need to finish this conversation. For your love. She needs this just as much as you do.
Why couldn’t you have said things like that when we were together? She says jokingly through the tears.
I laugh also. A sad laugh. But a laugh nonetheless.
I won’t stay long. I know the kids are coming home from school soon. I won’t be here for when they come home. But just know that everything I said was the truth. You are the most wonderful person I have ever met. And I’m the biggest fool on earth for letting that go. Goodbye, Kath. I love you endlessly.
I reach out my hand to shake Katherine’s. She has a river of tears flowing as she reaches out to grab it. Her eyes always got so blue when she cried. I always kind of loved that. Being the one to turn those tears of sadness into tears of happiness.
Thank you for that, Larry. I needed that.
We shake.
All right, Pete. Turn around and get yourself out that door. That was tough. That was really fucking tough. But it’s for the better. I’ll always love her. But now I need to move on. I need to progress instead of regress. And you know what? I’m really fucking looking forward to it.
First thing I’m going to do is drive right to the Ninety-Nine, grab myself a big fat cheeseburger and fries, the
n head right to the bars downtown. I’m going to meet a nice, new woman and I’m going to see how it goes. It’s finally time, and for the first time in my adult life I am fucking excited. Can you believe that? I haven’t felt true excitement in that long.
Life struck me out once, and I decided to throw the game. It’s time to start again. It’s time to take control of my life. Duke can’t hold me back. Walters can’t hold me back. Katherine is happy and at ease. Steve has his bread crumbs. And I am at the wheel of my own fucking life.
Through adversity, we grow. My father told me that. Must be the only memory I have of him when he wasn’t being a narcissistic asshole. It actually showed his good side. The side that made me happy he was my father. He was right about that. Through adversity we do grow. We grow into mature adults, who recognize that everyone is wired differently. Instead of assuming, which is the worst thing you can do as a detective, you should try to understand. That is matureness. That is growth. That’s what I experienced in my life. It is not a life wasted, it is a life earned. I earned what’s to come next. I earned this.
As Abraham Lincoln said;
In the end it’s not about the years in your life, it’s about the life in your years.
The End.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1. The Note
Chapter 2. The Finding
Chapter 3. The Daughter; Part One
Chapter 4. The Daughter; Part Two
Chapter 5. The Truth
Official Police Report
Chapter 6. The Unknown Truth
Chapter 7. Happy Wife, Happy Life
Chapter 8. The Search for Randall Adams
Chapter 9. Consciously Aware
Chapter 10. Tracking the Herring
Chapter 11. The Incarcerated Little Man
Chapter 12. The Meeting
Chapter 13. The Anniversary
Chapter 14. Another Note?
Chapter 15. Catching the Herring
Chapter 16. Why the Herring swam west
Chapter 17. The Cigarette
Chapter 18. Man & Beast
Chapter 19. The Fued
Chapter 20. The Bridge
Chapter 21. The Mother She Never Had
Chapter 22. The Act of God
Chapter 23. Sisterly resolution
Chapter 24. The Mailman
Chapter 25. The Showdown
Chapter 26. The Handshake