The Final Play
Page 13
“So what are you saying then?”
“I’m saying, Carol, that I think it was Desiree who took off that night in the truck. But I think she went alone.”
“Because the jig was up, you mean?”
Pine nodded. “Yes. So, to answer your question, I think we head back to Georgia and see if we can pick up a very, very cold trail.”
“And Jack Lineberry? Will you stop in to see him while we’re in Georgia?”
To that, Pine said nothing.
She had mixed feelings about her biological father. And their last encounter had been disastrous. She was not expecting anything better a second time around. But ultimately the fault lay with him, not her. That’s just what happened when every word out of your mouth was a lie.
CHAPTER
PINE STARED OUT THE WINDOW of the rental car at Crawfordville, in densely wooded Taliaferro County, Georgia. Here, you’d never see an assailant coming before it was too late. Thick foliage was a killer’s best friend, whether they were hunting deer or people.
They had flown into Atlanta from Virginia, rented the car, and driven here. They had already checked in with Dick Roberts. He was the retired, straight-as-an-arrow county sheriff who had helped them when they were down here the first time. It had been Roberts who, years before, had answered the 911 call and found Joe Atkins’s body. The question had always been—who put the blade there? Roberts also had been with Pine when they had discovered Mercy’s old prison cut into a knoll some distance away from the Atkinses’ house, and when they had found and viewed the video chronicling her sister’s escape. Roberts knew that Mercy was Pine’s sister, and that this case was personal to her.
No, it’s not just personal. I’m betting my entire professional life on finally solving this thing. There is no going back for me.
A sense of panic seized her for a moment, like a swimmer who realized they were caught in a riptide with a limited and risky way back to shore. Then she glanced out the window, drew a long, calming breath, and silently chastised herself to get a grip, that she was acting like a child.
Roberts had given them the route that the Atkinses’ truck had to have taken that night to where it was later found. They were now retracing that route. It was along a rural road; all the roads here were rural and winding and devoid of living things, except for the critters residing in the woods. They counted only five homes along the way. Three of them were occupied; two were abandoned. They stopped and asked their questions and found out that none of the people living here now were there during the relevant time period.
After the last interview, Pine and Blum drove to the spot where the truck had been found. It was an old Esso gas station long since abandoned, with the four letters and the neon tubes backing them having been used for target practice over the intervening years; only the sign’s metal spines survived. It was a bare, eroded filament of civilization in a forest that looked determined to reclaim its own. They sat in the car next to where the gas pumps used to be. Pine took a look around, and the view was as desolate as her hopes. But then something occurred to her.
“Okay, the truck and Desiree ended up here,” said Pine. “But why here?”
Blum gazed around. “I think this is a place to meet someone. ‘Hey, so and so, come get me at the Esso station.’ It was probably the only such landmark around. Desiree didn’t know when the body would be found. She wanted to get away, but not in a vehicle that could be traced.”
“And the ‘so-and-sos’ are pretty limited. In fact, there are only two possible choices, to my mind.”
“Len and Wanda Atkins, her in-laws,” replied Blum. “But Sheriff Roberts said that he talked to them after Joe was killed and Desiree disappeared. They both said they hadn’t heard from Desiree.”
“And they were both probably lying to save their own asses. You saw the picture of Mercy with them. They knew she was being held against her will. They knew if this all came out, they were going to prison. That’s why they got the hell out of here pretty soon after Mercy escaped and Joe was killed. I’m now certain that Desiree called them that night and told them what had happened. They arranged to meet her here where she abandoned the truck. They drove her somewhere, maybe a bus or train station. And off she went to start a new life with a new identity. Then they went back to their trailer and were there when they got the word the next day about their son.” She eyed Blum. “Any of that seem unlikely to you?”
“No, it all sounds spot-on, Agent Pine.”
Then Pine’s eyes narrowed and her look became less certain. “But it does seem unlikely that they would just take Desiree’s word for it that he was dead. They might have thought they could still save him, or that she was even lying about it. But if he was dead, they would have been terrified that animals could have torn Joe’s remains apart overnight. And we know that didn’t happen.”
“So maybe they were the ones to make sure their son’s body wasn’t desecrated?”
“Which means we need to find Len and Wanda Atkins and ask them that directly.”
“If they’re still alive.”
“If they are, they would be getting Social Security and Medicare. We could find them that way.”
“And he was a Vietnam vet. He was wounded. So . . .”
Pine picked up this thought thread. “That means he might be in contact with the VA for meds and treatments and the like. That would actually be faster for us than going through the HHS bureaucracy, because I don’t really have good contacts there.”
She pulled out her phone.
“Who are you calling?” asked Blum.
“Who else? John Puller. He already helped me get Len Atkins’s military records.”
She spoke with Puller, who told her he was recovering quickly from his injuries. He also said he knew several people at the VA because of his father being in one of their facilities, and he would do all he could to help her locate Len Atkins.
She thanked him and clicked off. “Okay, we’ll let him work his magic.”
“While he’s doing that, do you think you should go and visit Jack Lineberry?”
Pine’s expression hardened and she glanced out the car window. Lineberry’s image swelled up in her head like a nightmare. “You asked me that before.”
“And you never answered me, which is why I’m asking again.”
“Why should I go see him?” asked Pine, her tone heated.
“Like it or not, he is your biological father. And the way you left it with him?”
“Look, I’m not proud of what I did.”
“And now it’s time to move on to another level with him.”
Pine glanced sharply at her friend. “And why do I have to do that?”
“Because you’re going to need his help, whether you find your sister or not.”
Pine looked even more confused. “Come again?”
“I presume you still want to find your mother. And Tim Pine, now that you almost certainly know he wasn’t in that grave. And Jack can be a valuable asset in helping you do that. However, I’m not asking you to cut him any slack.”
“Good, because I don’t intend to,” interjected Pine.
“But,” continued Blum imperturbably, “I think he is trying his best to do the right thing. And he is your father. And if you don’t at least make an effort to have a relationship with him, I think you’re going to regret it later.”
“I regret a lot of things, Carol,” said Pine. But she put the car in gear and headed on to see the man who had lied to her more than any other person in her life.
Except for my damn mother.
To be published November 2021.
Click here to pre-order.
For more heart-racing thrillers from David Baldacci,
click here.
Critical acclaim for David Baldacci’s novels
‘Baldacci excels as a storyteller when it comes to FBI agents with baggage. He also knows how to craft a complex and compelling case for his stellar heroes to solve’
Daily Mail
‘The page-turner of the season’
The Times
‘As ever, Baldacci keeps things moving at express-train speed . . . this one will whet appetites for the next appearance of his agent hero’
Daily Express
‘A plot strong enough to make the bath go cold around you’
Independent on Sunday
‘One of his finest books. Great character, great story, great portrait of an era’
Bill Clinton on One Good Deed
‘David Baldacci is one of the all-time best thriller authors’
Lisa Gardner
‘A mile-a-minute read that proves once again why David Baldacci has readers the world over flocking for more’
Jane Harper, New York Times bestselling author of The Dry
‘Alternately chilling, poignant, and always heart-poundingly suspenseful’
Scott Turow, New York Times bestselling author
‘A typically twisty plot never flags, and benefits from having the likeably offbeat sleuth (whose gifts include synaesthesia and photographic memory) as its pivot’
Sunday Times
‘A multi-layered protagonist; a plot as deep and twisty as the setting’
Kathy Reichs
‘A fast-paced investigation with dark secrets, unexpected twists, well-drawn characters and an intriguing plot’
Candis Magazine
About the Author
David Baldacci is one of the world’s bestselling and favourite thriller writers. A former trial lawyer with a keen interest in world politics, he has specialist knowledge in the US political system and intelligence services, and his first book, Absolute Power, became an instant international bestseller, with the movie starring Clint Eastwood a major box office hit. He has since written more than forty bestsellers featuring most recently Amos Decker, Aloysius Archer, Atlee Pine and John Puller.
David is also the co-founder, along with his wife, of the Wish You Well Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting literacy efforts across the US. Still a resident of his native Virginia, he invites you to visit him at DavidBaldacci.com and his foundation at WishYouWellFoundation.org.
Trust him to take you to the action.
By David Baldacci
Aloysius Archer series
(A former soldier and wrongfully convicted ex-prisoner with a strong moral compass)
One Good Deed • A Gambling Man
Amos Decker series
(A damaged but brilliant special agent who possesses an extraordinary set of skills)
Memory Man • The Last Mile • The Fix
The Fallen • Redemption • Walk the Wire
Atlee Pine series
(A tenacious female FBI special agent assigned to the wilds of the western US)
Long Road to Mercy • A Minute to Midnight • Daylight
Will Robie series featuring Jessica Reel
(A highly trained CIA assassin and his deadly fellow agent)
The Innocent • The Hit • The Target
The Guilty • End Game
John Puller series
(A gifted investigator with an unstoppable drive to find out the truth)
Zero Day • The Forgotten • The Escape
No Man’s Land
King and Maxwell series
(Two disgraced Secret Service agents turn their skills to private investigation)
Split Second • Hour Game • Simple Genius
First Family • The Sixth Man • King and Maxwell
The Camel Club Series
(An eccentric group of social outcasts who seek to unearth corruption at the heart of the US government)
The Camel Club • The Collectors • Stone Cold
Divine Justice • Hell’s Corner
Shaw series
(A mysterious operative hunting down the world’s most notorious criminals)
The Whole Truth • Deliver Us From Evil
Vega Jane series
(The bestselling young adult adventures series)
The Finisher • The Keeper • The Width of the World
The Stars Below
Other novels
True Blue • Absolute Power • Total Control
The Winner • The Simple Truth • Saving Faith
Wish You Well • Last Man Standing
The Christmas Train • One Summer
Short Stories
Waiting for Santa • No Time Left • Bullseye • The Final Play
First published 2021 by Grand Central Publishing, USA
This electronic edition published in the UK 2021 by Macmillan
an imprint of Pan Macmillan
The Smithson, 6 Briset Street, London EC1M 5NR
EU representative: Macmillan Publishers Ireland Ltd, 1st Floor,
The Liffey Trust Centre, 117–126 Sheriff Street Upper,
Dublin 1, D01 YC43
Associated companies throughout the world
www.panmacmillan.com
ISBN 978-1-5290-7646-2
Copyright © 2021 by Columbus Rose, Ltd.
Cover images: Figure © Millennium Images, all others © Shutterstock
A version of this story first appeared in 2002 as part of the collection The Mighty Johns: 1 Novella & 13 Superstar Short Stories from the Finest in Mystery & Suspense.
The right of David Baldacci to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Pan Macmillan does not have any control over, or any responsibility for, any author or third-party websites referred to in or on this book.
You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Visit www.panmacmillan.com to read more about all our books and to buy them. You will also find features, author interviews and news of any author events, and you can sign up for e-newsletters so that you’re always first to hear about our new releases.