by A.R. Wise
* * *
Lincoln spent the morning reciting the story about the night before to a variety of police and detectives. The press was already pushing for information, but the police promised to keep them at bay for the time being. Daniel Barr came by to express his sympathies, and to give an update on Bentley’s improving condition. They expected the kid to make a full recovery, and the doctors were astounded by his fortitude.
Hector returned a couple hours later, and apologized for taking so long. Darcy’s apartment was now considered a crime scene, and it’d taken Hector a long time to convince them to give him what Lincoln had asked for. He got the present and even wrapped it before bringing it to the hospital.
“Help me up,” said Lincoln with Darcy’s present sitting on the bed beside him.
“I’m not sure that’s such a good idea, bossman,” said Hector. “They said you’re supposed to stay put.”
“You know me. Since when do I listen to what people tell me to do? Come on, help me up.”
“What about all these machines?” asked Hector as he reluctantly helped Lincoln to his feet.
“They don’t put them on wheels so they can stay in one place.” Lincoln grasped the pole that his IV bags were attached to and tried to steady himself. His feet hit the cold floor, which sent a shiver up his spine. “You carry the present.”
“I can just take it to her,” said Hector. “You don’t need to…”
“I’m going to see my daughter. I don’t care if leave a trail of blood and piss the whole way, I’m going to see her.”
He made the arduous journey, cringing with each step. Hector helped, and they managed to avoid the spying eyes of the nurses on duty. Lincoln got to Darcy’s room, and Ellen gasped when she saw him.
“What are you doing?” asked Ellen.
“Hush,” said Lincoln. “Don’t let the nurses see.”
“You’re not supposed to be up,” said Ellen.
“I want to see my girl.”
“Dad, what are you doing?” asked Darcy. She was sitting up in bed, in far better shape than her father. Her head was bandaged and bruised, but somehow she still managed to look beautiful.
“I had Hector pick up something for you.”
“Dad, please,” said Darcy as if embarrassed as Hector handed over the box. “I don’t want any presents. All I want is for you to get back in bed and get better.”
“I’ll be fine. Go ahead, open it.”
Ellen stood and glanced at her ex with a surprised, bemused sort of fancy.
Darcy ripped off the wrapping paper to reveal a plain, cardboard box. She opened the box, and then laughed before clasping her hand over her mouth as tears sprang to her eyes. She looked at her father, her blue eyes immediately glassing over as her words were silenced by welling emotion.
“What is it?” asked Ellen.
Darcy lifted the gift out, and then laughed again as she showed her mother the old, tattered, stuffed monkey with the stitching under its armpit. Then she took out the box of bandages that Lincoln had asked Hector to include.
“It’s Nanner,” said Darcy.
“We’re going to fix you up, kid. And I’ll be there for you. Any way you need me.”
Author’s Note
Lincoln Pierce’s journey won’t end here. I’ve got a feeling there’re a lot more mysteries for him to stick his nose into.
I wanted to make sure that this first novel ended with the mystery solved, but with more trials and tribulations for the characters still ahead. My goal was to provide a satisfying mystery, while also introducing readers to a family who they could become attached to. That way when the next book comes along, readers aren’t simply following along with the series to read a new mystery, but also to discover what’s going on in the lives of the characters they got to meet here.
Does Darcy have breast cancer? Will Lincoln quit drinking? How will this case affect their burgeoning business? What’s going to happen with Daniel Barr and Clyde Pettigrew?
These are all things that I hope to explore in the next book.
One of the things I’d like to talk about is the climactic battle in this book. Conventional wisdom would insist that the protagonist go toe to toe with the antagonist at the end, but here Lincoln’s forced to watch as his daughter fights with the killer. Lincoln’s helpless, and I did that on purpose. In my mind, Darcy’s fight with Devin is an allegory to her battle with cancer. Lincoln did everything he could to protect his daughter, but ultimately it was her fight, and he was forced to sit back and watch it unfold.
Throughout the entire book, Lincoln frequently recalls his daughter’s battle with cancer, and you get the sense that his alcoholism was a coping mechanism to help him forget the daily struggle he was forced to watch her endure. Yet that habit outlived her battle, and ultimately tore apart his life.
As the book starts, I wanted Lincoln to appeal to the reader as a cocksure, dapper, confident man. He rattles off quips and challenges authority every step of the way, exuding masculinity and control, even going so far as to be compared favorably versus James Bond, who has terrible taste in martinis. Yet as the book progresses, our opinion of him changes. For instance, when he first meets Bentley he chastises him for his ill-fitting suit and gold chain. When that happens, I hope the reader is amused by his take on Bentley’s lack of style. Lincoln chides Bentley, guessing that the kid reached into his closet to grab a suit he probably hadn’t worn since the last funeral he went to. Much later we discover that Lincoln was right, and that the suit Bentley was wearing was the one he wore to his own wife’s funeral, shortly before he tried to kill himself. Likewise, that gold chain Lincoln made fun of was holding Bentley’s wife’s wedding ring.
About halfway through the book, I hope that readers started to question Lincoln. This is around the time that he begins to make wrong assertions about who killed Betty and Devin, and the reader is well aware of the fact that the killer is still at large as Lincoln muses about the possibility of it being Trent who attacked Betty at the stream. I don’t want readers to look at Lincoln as an infallible protagonist, because he is clearly not. He’s a deeply flawed individual – A former motivational speaker who’s fallen in a hard way. To me, he feels very real, and I hope readers think so too.
Something else that I’d like to say about this book is that there are a lot of things here that I look at as a nod to former works of mine. In my opinion, this book has a structure that’s influenced by my work with the ‘314’ series, as evidenced by the chapters labeled ‘Arthur’ interspersed within. And the biggest callback is the inclusion of the stuffed animal at the end, which is similar to what happened at the end of ‘Deadlocked 4’. That last one’s a nod to all of those readers who’ve stuck with me since early on.
Finally, I’ve got to give my thanks to a man who’s going to play a bigger part in future books in this series, Mark. He’s only mentioned in this first book, and makes a call to Lincoln near the end. I just barely introduced you here, my friend, but just wait until you see what’s in store for you next time.
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