A Welcome Grave lp-3

by Michael Koryta

  “Once you learned all that, why not make an appeal? Get someone looking at your case.”

  “Because it would have given them time.”

  “What?”

  “Think about it, Perry—I had to sit in prison and wait for people on the outside to look into it. As soon as the first call was made, Jefferson would have been back on it, pulling more of the same shit that got me locked up in the first place. I was supposed to trust another asshole attorney to do a better job than the first one had? Trust the cops? Not happening. It was my score to settle, in my way. You get that? It wasn’t just about a prison sentence, it was about Monica.”

  Doran shifted on the rock above me, taking a few steps to the right, his footwork steady even on the slippery surface. The rain was still falling, and both of us were soaked. Every so often the wind off the lake would pick up and seem to drive the cold water right into me.

  “I called Jefferson the day I broke out,” Doran said. “Called him and told him I was coming for him. He denied everything, of course, pretended not to have any idea who I was, but the fear, Perry, the fear came off him and rolled right through that phone line, filled the booth I was in. Then I came for him and the son. The son got it. He understood what the end would be like. Believed me from the start. But not his father. I was ready to kill him, you know, ready to end his life, and the prick didn’t even get that. Thought he’d handled it.”

  “He sent someone to kill you.”

  “And offered a disappointingly low price for such a wealthy man. Convincing his, uh, employee, to change plans was not a difficult job, Perry.”

  My hand was high on my hip, inches from the Glock, and Doran didn’t seem to notice. He was calm enough right now, and pointing the gun at the ground, but that didn’t mean I should trust him to stay that way.

  “You’re setting me up,” I said. “And it’s working. That really what you want? To send another innocent person to jail? I’m the one telling the cops what happened to you, Doran. I’m trying to help.”

  “You were warned, you were given simple instructions, and you did not listen. That’s not on me.”

  “How’d you get the fingerprints on that money?”

  “Wasn’t my idea.”

  “Wasn’t your idea? Well, you did it, asshole. I’m supposed to think you’re some sort of innocent in this, pushed along against your will?”

  “Yeah, you should think that. It’s the truth, my friend. It’s what I always was. You want to thank somebody for your troubles, thank Jefferson.”

  “You got what you wanted,” I said. “Killed Jefferson and scared his son to death. Walk away, then, Doran. The score’s been settled.”

  He spread his hands, the gun now pointed up at the trees. “Walk away with what? Where can I go? Right back to prison, with more years tacked onto the sentence?”

  “You’ve done a good job of staying out so far.”

  “I need the money. And taking it from Jefferson’s bitch? I gotta be honest—that shit appeals to me.”

  “She’s not going to pay.”

  He dropped his arms and looked at me with eyes that seemed almost sad. “Then people are going to die, Perry. People are going to die.”

  The menace that had been in his voice the last time we’d met was back in full force. He moved again on the big rock, turning away from me slightly to look down at his footing as he stepped. I hadn’t even planned on going for my gun, but when he turned away like that, the opportunity was there, maybe the only good one I was going to get. The holster at the small of my back had a Velcro security flap instead of one that snapped, and a single, quick tug was all I needed to free the Glock. I drew it faster than I’d ever drawn a gun in my life, got it out of the holster and brought it around to bear on Doran’s chest, and right then he said, “Got ya.”

  His back was still to me, his head turned so that his chin was against his left shoulder, looking back at me. The Colt Commander was pointed at my stomach, just off his right hip. It had been a staggeringly quick move; when instinct would have called for turning and facing me, he’d simply looked back over his shoulder and reversed the gun in his hand. Even standing there with his back to me, he’d beaten me.

  “Feels like a tie,” I said. That awkward position, calling for him to fire almost behind his back, should have given me a clear advantage. But when the distance between a gun and the target is about four feet, that advantage disappears. If he squeezed the trigger, he couldn’t help but hit me.

  “Gonna kill me, Perry?”

  “Could be.”

  For a moment we were frozen there, our guns not wavering. Then Doran shrugged his shoulders and lowered the Commander.

  “I took a big risk coming to find you. But I’ve been watching you. Got the idea you knew who I was, that you were getting a sense of the situation. Figured I owed you a real explanation. I’ve given that. Want to take me down, now’s the time.”

  I took one step forward. “Put the gun on the rock, Doran.”

  He shook his head. “Nope. You want the gun, you better shoot me.”

  Another step forward, but Doran countered by moving away, sliding backward. “Not ready to take the shot?”

  “I’ll take it if I need to take it.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you’re a murderer, Doran.”

  “Killing a man who set me up for his son’s crime, that’s not murder—that’s justice.”

  “Not in anyone’s world but yours.”

  “Then take the shot!” He stuck the Commander in his waistband and held up his empty hands, spread them wide. “Take the shot, Perry. You think that Jefferson didn’t deserve to die? Here’s your chance to settle it up, then. I know you owe him a whole hell of a lot, right?”

  “I don’t owe him shit.” I kept shuffling forward, closing the gap. He was higher than me, though, my head even with his chest as he stood on the rock, daring me to shoot him.

  “But I did?”

  “He deserved to go to jail, Doran. Not to die.”

  He threw back his head and laughed, and even as he did it he took another quick step backward, onto another, higher rock.

  “You actually believe that could happen? That in this system we’ve got, this justice system, a millionaire attorney is going to go to jail and a poor guy with a record is going to walk? Bullshit, man. The way I look at it? Fate cut me a break and dealt Jefferson exactly what he’d earned when I rode that trash truck out of prison. That’s justice, Perry, sweet as it gets.”

  “And extorting his wife? That’s justice, too? Not enough you took her husband, you also have to take her money?”

  “I did five years, man. That’s not worth a few dollars to you? The fact that I did five years for another man’s crime?”

  “It wasn’t Karen’s crime.”

  “Wasn’t her money, either. Not originally.”

  “Get on your knees and put your hands behind your head, Doran. You’re going to jail tonight, and then you can tell the police and the jury what your vision of justice is. Because right now, I’m the best suspect they’ve got, and I am not willing to go to prison for your sorry ass.”

  A laugh bubbled out of his lips, the wild sound riding the wind just a pitch above the water thudding against the rocks at our feet.

  “Here’s the beautiful thing—you could run me into jail tonight, let me sit there for weeks, months, years, and it wouldn’t help you. They could run every DNA test in the book at me, bring out the best detectives in the state, the FBI, the CIA, Sherlock Holmes, whoever the hell they got. They can run ’em all at me, and still your ass wouldn’t be cleared.”

  My foot slipped on the rock and splashed into a shallow pool of trapped lake water, but I hardly noticed the chill. I was holding the gun on him, but he was still chuckling, looking at me as if I were the straight man in a comedy routine and didn’t even realize it.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “If the cops get me, it won’t help you. Know why?”
<
br />   “No.”

  His smile widened. “Because I didn’t kill him, Perry. I did not kill Alex Jefferson.”

  I could add a few ounces of pressure to the Glock’s trigger and end this all right now. Call Targent to come down here and collect Doran’s body and figure the rest of it out. But the longer I looked at Doran down the barrel of the gun, the more convinced I became that it wouldn’t be the end of anything. He wasn’t lying.

  “You dragged me off the street and put that bag over my head and bragged about killing him,” I said, the words coming slowly. “Told me why you’d done it, told me why it was justified.”

  “I know that. But it wasn’t true.”

  “Why claim it, then?”

  The deranged look of amusement left his face, replaced with anger.

  “Because it should have been me. The son of a bitch sent me to jail, set me up, made me do five years for his son’s murder. It should have been me.”

  Doran planted his feet firmly on the rock and looked down at me, the barrel of my gun pointed at his chest.

  “Last chance, Perry. You want to finish this, go on and take the shot.”

  I kept the gun where it was, didn’t say a word.

  “All right.” He lifted two fingers to his forehead in a salute. “See you around.”

  “You’re not going anywhere.”

  “Then take the shot,” he said again, and he began to run. He was gone from one rock and onto the next almost before I saw him move, running across the slick, uneven stones as if they were part of an indoor track, designed for speed and balance.

  For a moment I stayed where I was, kept my feet planted and swung the gun after him. He was bouncing from rock to rock, though, moving horizontally and vertically at the same time.

  “Shit!” I said, and then I lowered the gun and began to run after him.

  He moved incredibly fast, considering the darkness and the treacherous footing. I was trying to match his pace and simply couldn’t; he seemed to make decisions about which rocks to hit even before they came into view, barely touching the surface of one before leaping to the next. We’d gone maybe thirty yards when my foot came down on a smooth, wet rock that was like glass. My front leg slipped out from under me and I was falling backward and sideways. My ribs connected with the edge of a stone slab, all the air vanishing from my lungs in a burst of pain, and then I was on my back, the gun clattering to the ground somewhere behind me.

  I sat up as quickly as I could, but for a few horrible seconds it seemed I wouldn’t be able to draw a breath. Then the air came back in a long, shuddering gasp, and I struggled to my feet and looked for the Glock. It was wedged between two of the rocks behind me. I took a few painful steps over and picked it up, brushed off the dirt and rain, then looked ahead.

  Doran was at least fifty yards in front of me now, and he’d climbed up to the edge of the breakwater, where the trees came in. He paused for a moment and turned and looked back at me. Then he lifted his hand, waved it once, and disappeared into the trees.

  31

  By the time Targent arrived there were a half-dozen uniformed cops combing the breakwater and surrounding woods. I knew they wouldn’t find Doran, but I’d made the call anyhow—after placing one to Joe. He’d beaten the police to the park and stood with me in the rain while I’d recounted my story to a sergeant who looked skeptical at best and seemed relieved to hear Targent was on his way, somebody to receive the baton.

  I gave it all to Targent as he stood with his hands in his pockets, rain shedding off the baseball cap he wore.

  “Six hours ago you wanted me to believe Doran killed Alex Jefferson,” Targent said, watching the flashlight beams play across the wet grass around us, searchers looking for Doran. “Now you’re telling me you were wrong. That he thoughtfully grabbed you and drove you down here to explain this?”

  “It’s one of the things he said.”

  “So who did kill Jefferson?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “He failed to mention that one? Too bad. But you say he did admit to being involved in this extortion attempt. Took the credit.”

  “Yes.”

  “While you were down here, he didn’t happen to make a phone call?”

  I wiped rain out of my eyes and shook my head, spraying water like a dog. “No. Why?”

  Targent just nodded. “You want to get in my car for a second? Both of you? Get out of this rain.”

  We sat in his car, Joe in the back, Targent and I in the front. He turned the dome light on, then held up a small tape recorder.

  “You say Doran was with you at 7:00 P.M.?”

  “Yes.”

  “And he did not make a phone call.”

  “No.”

  “Karen Jefferson received a phone call tonight. We’ve got a trap on her line.” He rolled the volume switch up with his thumb. “I want you to listen.”

  He pressed play. There was a momentary hiss of static, and then the first voice came on.

  “Hello?” Karen.

  “How’s my money looking? Ready to move, or have you been too busy with the police?”

  This voice meant nothing to me. It was deep and distorted, probably altered with some electronic device.

  “I haven’t been busy with the police.”

  “That’s not true. You’ve spent a lot of time with them, despite clear instructions that you should not.”

  “They’re investigating my husband’s murder. They’re going to be here. I can’t stop that. I can’t stop that.” Karen’s voice rising with frustration and fear.

  “You’re under a lot of pressure. That’s too bad. But it’s not my fault. I was promised my money. If you’re upset about that, you should talk to Lincoln Perry. You’ve spent a lot of time with him, too.”

  “What about Lincoln?”

  “Like I said, I was promised my money.”

  “By who? What’s that have to do with Lincoln? Who promised you any money?” Karen’s voice was balanced on a sharp edge, a scream on one side, tears on the other.

  “Lincoln.”

  “What?”

  “Lincoln promised me my money. I don’t know what he’s convinced you of, but he convinced me that I was going to be paid. I intend to see that happen. He won’t stop it, and neither will you.”

  “Lincoln didn’t promise you any money! Who are you? Why are you—”

  The line had already gone dead. She stopped shouting only when the dial tone began to hum. The static hiss returned, and Targent shut off the tape, his eyes locked on my face.

  “Comments?”

  I didn’t say anything. I stared at the tape recorder in his hand as if it were alive, a person who had done me harm.

  “That’s cute,” Joe said, “but it doesn’t make a damn bit of sense. If you think Lincoln made that call, why would he possibly implicate himself? If you think he’s been working with someone to get that money, why would he be implicated now? It’s clearly a weak attempt to set him up.”

  “It doesn’t make a damn bit of sense? Fair enough, Pritchard, but I could repeat the phrase back to you for everything your partner has told me since this got started. You know why? Because when you stack lies on top of lies, none of it makes any sense.”

  “Can’t you see that I’m being set up?” I said. “First the fingerprints, now this call, it’s just a—”

  “Speaking of fingerprints, you say he was in your truck?”

  “Yes.”

  “So he should have left some of his own.”

  “He wore gloves.”

  “Of course he did. Maybe there’s some other evidence. Fibers, a boot print, something.”

  “Maybe.”

  “Glad you’re in agreement. For that reason, I’m going to impound the vehicle.”

  “Go for it.”

  “While I’m at it, maybe take a good look at those tires. See if they match with the plaster casts we made in that field where Alex Jefferson was found.”

  “They’re not going
to fit,” I said, but by now I wasn’t even sure of that. I was still hearing the voice on that tape using my name again and again, Karen’s voice on the edge of hysteria.

  “Maybe not,” Targent said, “but I’ve stopped trusting your assurances.”

  “I’m going to see Karen. I know she can’t believe any of this, but I need to see her.”

  Targent shook his head. “That’s not happening.”

  “You can’t stop it, Detective.”

  “My partner is still with Mrs. Jefferson. She is quite distraught. She has agreed, with our admitted encouragement, to request a formal protective order banning you from any further contact until this thing’s settled. Until the court paperwork is done, that protective order will be enforced by police. You so much as call her, and I’ll have your ass in jail within an hour.”

  “You can’t do that, Targent. That’s your idea, not hers. This son of a bitch calls and now you’re trying to cut me off from her? Not happening. I’m going over there.”

  “Then you’re going to jail. One phone call, and you’re going to jail.”

  I looked at Joe and saw nothing but helplessness in his eyes. What was Karen doing right now? Listening to Daly nurture the ideas Targent had planted?

  “We can make this go easier,” Targent said, leaning toward me, half of his face lit by the dome light, his elbow propped against the steering wheel. “If you didn’t kill the guy, now’s the time to talk. Tell us who did. Tell us what you know. Do that, and things can be a lot less painful.”

  “I gave you every damn detail. Doran’s the guy, and his partner was hired by Jefferson.”

  “I’m done listening to that shit, Perry. I’ve busted open some of your lies already, and I’ll keep right on doing it, and the longer you sit there with your mouth shut, the more certain I am that you ran the whole show. That you killed Jefferson.”

  I didn’t answer.

  “Dwell on that,” he said. “And get out of my car.”