Southern looked nervously at the blouse, while Dawson looked on in confusion.
Decker said, “Caroline, I explained to you already my theory of how your father was murdered using the extra-long twine. Well, I had the FBI medical examiner analyze this blouse today. Do you know what he found?” When she didn’t answer, Decker said, “Your father’s blood. Perfect match.” He paused to let this sink in with the woman before glancing at Southern. “Even if you were a forensics expert, there’s never a way to really perfectly predict how blood and DNA spatters are going to fall with a shotgun in play, even if you were kneeling on the other side of the desk. You probably didn’t even notice the drops hit you. But the bottom line is, there is no way that trace would have been on your blouse unless you had been in the room when the shotgun was fired, Liz. So there’s your proof.”
“My God, Liz,” said Kelly, shaking his head in disbelief.
Caroline looked at the other woman. “My father, Liz. You did that to my father.”
Southern’s expression turned contemptuous. “A man who would have loathed you if he knew you had been with me. And look what he did to your dear brother. So was it really that big a loss?”
“I . . . I can’t believe you’re even saying that. You killed him!”
Southern shook her head, smiled, and said, “But, Decker, you’re not quite as smart as you think you are.”
“How’s that?” he asked.
“My neighbor told me about your visit to my house. And how you came out carrying some of my clothes.”
Decker looked warily at her.
“It’s why I told you we needed to get away to Canada, Caroline,” said Southern. “I thought Decker might be showing up soon.” She looked at Decker. “Remember when I told you my dad fought in Vietnam, and brought back some curiosities?”
“What about it?” said Decker.
“Here’s one of them.” Southern withdrew her hand from her pocket. In it was a grenade.
“No, Liz, don’t!” screamed Dawson.
Southern pulled the pin and threw it at Decker.
DECKER GRABBED JAMISON and yanked her from the room and out onto the front porch.
The blast blew out the front windows, and the front wall partially collapsed on them, but it had also taken the brunt of the explosion, leaving them bruised but not seriously injured.
They staggered up and looked around.
“Where’s Kelly?” shouted Jamison.
They pushed through the debris and went back inside the house to find the front room demolished.
They saw Kelly climbing out a broken window at the rear of the room. He was all bloody and one of his arms was dangling by his side.
“Kelly, wait,” called out Decker.
But the man disappeared from view.
“Where are Liz and Caroline?” cried out Jamison.
Decker ran to the shattered window and looked outside. “I can’t see anything, but their cars are out front. It’s the only way out.”
They clambered over the debris and ran out of the house.
No one was near the vehicles parked in front.
“What the hell!” exclaimed Decker. “Where did they go?”
They heard an engine start up. A few moments later, Cramer’s Honda raced from the outbuilding. They ran toward it even as it bore down on them.
At the last possible second, Decker went one way and Jamison the other.
Then shots were fired. Decker looked up from the ground to see Kelly standing in the middle of the one road leading out, his left arm dangling uselessly next to his torso and the other curled around his service pistol, which he was emptying into the car’s front windshield on the driver’s side.
“Kelly, look out,” screamed Jamison.
The car lurched to the right and appeared ready to miss Kelly, but then it straightened out and continued to bear down on him.
Kelly launched himself sideways, a second too late, as the edge of the right bumper clipped his leg and sent him flying.
He landed hard in a heap twenty feet away and didn’t move.
The Honda, cracked windshield and all, stopped, backed up, and turned. Now it was heading right toward Decker. He stood and aimed his pistol.
Jamison did the same.
Before either of them could fire, a heavy round hit the car dead center of the front grille and it exploded. The Honda was lifted off the ground before slamming back down to the dirt.
Before Decker could move, a man came to stand next to him, his long gun in hand.
Robie said, “You okay?”
Decker nodded.
Jessica Reel appeared and helped Jamison up. “Nothing broken?” she said.
“I’m good,” replied Jamison before seeing Kelly writhing in pain on the ground. She hustled over to him and cried out, “Call 911. Hurry!”
Decker pulled out his phone but Reel barked, “Ambulance is already coming. One minute away. We figured it might be needed when you told us to be here tonight as backup.”
Decker, Robie, and Reel stared at the Honda. It was no longer mobile, so they weren’t worried about it coming at them. But no one had gotten out of the vehicle, either.
Both Robie’s rifle and Reel’s pistol were pointed at the car.
Decker called out, “Liz, come out of the car. Now!”
Seconds passed and then the passenger door opened. Southern climbed out with a gun pressed against Dawson’s head.
When Robie and Reel started to move forward, Decker called out, “Wait. Just . . . wait.”
The two women moved in front of the Honda.
“Put the gun down, now,” barked Robie. Both his and Reel’s weapons were pointed directly at Southern’s head.
“Don’t think so,” said Southern. “Now, you’re going to let us pass, we’re getting in Caroline’s Porsche, and then we’re getting the hell out of this godforsaken place.”
“Liz, please,” said Dawson. “Let me go.”
“It’s going to be okay, Caroline. Just trust me. You’ve always trusted me. I would never do anything to hurt you.”
“You’re holding a gun to her head,” Decker pointed out.
“Well, you sort of forced my hand on that.”
Dawson looked over at where Jamison was kneeling next to Kelly. “I hope Joe is all right. I tried to stop Liz from hitting him.”
“You should have known better, Caroline. But that’s okay. I’ll be strong for both of us. I’ll take care of you.”
“Put the gun down, Liz,” said Decker, watching her every movement, while Robie and Reel did likewise. “You are not leaving here.”
“Well, then we have a very big problem, because I have no intention of going to prison.”
“Did you really have to kill Cramer?” said Decker.
“I kidnapped her and brought her here. I had the idea that I could get some money from Caroline to make her go away and leave us alone.”
“She moved from Dawson Towers and was planning to leave town. I don’t think she was doing anything to try to hurt the two of you. I think you’re paranoid and you read way too much into the situation.”
“You couldn’t be more wrong, Decker. My love for Caroline is absolute. But there are others, so many others, who will do anything to keep us apart. Caroline understands that. She knows I had to do what I did.”
Dawson flinched at this but remained slient.
“How did Cramer end up dead and butchered, then?” asked Decker grimly.
“I was taking her some food when she broke free. There was a struggle. My ring came off. And . . . Cramer just swallowed it. I couldn’t believe she did that. So . . . I stabbed her and then dumped the body. I never expected the FBI to come here and investigate.”
“You didn’t know about Cramer’s past,” said Decker.
“And then Hal Parker appeared one day and threatened me. You were right about the tires. He had taken photos. He wanted money.”
“What about Ames?”
“At the
same time she came around and started asking questions. About Cramer. She seemed to know about me and Liz. Ames knew Cramer from the Colony. I thought she might have told Ames what she had seen. I got scared. If Hugh found out, he’d cut Caroline out of the money.”
“So it was just about the money then?” said Dawson bitterly.
“I loved you,” shouted Southern, tears spilling down her cheeks. “Like I have never loved anyone ever. I was looking forward to spending the rest of my life with you.”
“Liz, you were very special to me. So kind and supportive. But . . . killing people and saying you did it for me? That’s . . . you can’t do that. It’s wrong. You know that.”
Southern tightened her grip around Dawson’s throat. “I loved you. That’s why I did it. It was all for you! You!”
“Okay, put the gun down now, Liz,” said a nervous Decker as Southern grew more and more out of control.
She shook her head. “That won’t be happening, Decker.”
“Why not?”
“Caroline and I were meant to be together. And nothing will stop that from happening.”
Southern took a deep breath. Her gaze grew rigid and her expression determined. Her finger slipped to the trigger. “We will be together. If not in this life, then the next.”
Decker shouted, “Don’t!”
The shot rang out.
It was like a frozen instant in time. No one moved, no one breathed.
The round passed right through Southern’s head and out the back. She stood there, dead, for less than a second. And then she toppled to the dirt.
Dawson screamed and ran toward them.
They all looked around to see the source of the shot.
From a hundred yards behind them, Shane rose from a prone position on the ground, his rifle and scope in hand.
“I was a sniper in the Army,” he said quietly.
Robie looked at Southern’s body.
“And a good one,” he said.
“THEY SAY YOU’RE GOING to make a pretty full recovery,” said Jamison.
She and Decker were looking down at Joe Kelly, who was lying in a hospital bed.
He had undergone surgery for a broken arm, leg, and hip, and the removal of some grenade shrapnel.
He looked up at them with a weary, troubled expression.
“I . . . I still can’t believe it about Liz.”
“It saved her a lifetime in prison,” said Jamison.
Decker kept his gaze on Kelly. “What are you going to do now?”
“What else? Soon as I get all healed up, going back to being a cop.”
“You might have other options,” said a voice.
They all turned to see Shane walk in the door.
He came to stand next to the bed.
Kelly looked up at him, his eyes growing watery. “I was hoping you’d come by.”
Shane put a hand on Kelly’s shoulder. “You’ve been through hell and back, Joe.”
“We both have, Shane.”
“And we’ll get through it, together.”
“You never said why you were out at Liz’s that night,” said Decker.
“I was out driving. Saw Caroline pass by. Decided to follow her. I hadn’t talked to her alone for a while. I just wanted to see how she was doing. Then she got to Liz’s and all hell broke loose. I grabbed my rifle. When you shouted ‘Don’t!’ I took the shot.” He shook his head, and his expression was one of misery. “Took shots like that a lot overseas. Never thought I’d have to do it here. I knew Liz . . . I liked her.”
Jamison said, “What did you mean by ‘other options’?”
“I’m a rich dude,” said Shane, now grinning weakly. “Need somebody to help me run the business. Too much for just me.”
“Hell, I’m not a businessman, Shane,” said Kelly.
“Anybody can learn to be a businessman. Look at me.” His tone became more serious. “The thing is, Joe, I trust you. That matters more to me than you know.”
Kelly shook his head. “High school was a long time ago. Haven’t thrown a touchdown pass to you in over a decade.”
“And so maybe it’s time we reconnected,” said Shane. “And maybe now would be a good time to do it.”
“So you’ll keep running the businesses?” said Jamison.
“The town needs it. Hell, I need it.”
“What about the restaurant?” asked Kelly. “What about Maddie’s?”
“I’ve got some ideas about that,” said another voice.
They turned to see Dawson walk into the room. Her haunted look and unsteady gait indicated that she had not fully recovered from her ordeal.
She came to stand next to Shane.
“You saved my life.”
His voice trembled when he replied, “I couldn’t let that woman shoot you.”
She kissed him on the cheek and touched Kelly’s hand. “How are you, Joe?”
“Better now,” he said, though his smile didn’t reach his eyes.
She seemed to read his mind. “I’m the same Caroline, you know. Well, maybe not exactly the same. I feel like I’ve grown more in the last few days than I have in all the years before that.”
Shane said, “I feel the same.”
Kelly nodded in agreement, then said, “You mentioned you had some ideas?”
Dawson perched on the side of the bed and took one of Shane’s hands and one of Kelly’s in each of hers. “This is our home. My dad wanted to move to France, but I never did. We grew up here. We’ve seen so many changes.” She paused. “And now so many people have died. Stuart, my dad, Walt, Liz, and all the others.”
Kelly said, “And something big went down over at the military base and at the drilling site, but Decker can’t tell us what.”
“My point is,” said Dawson, “that this town really needs us right now. Shane now owns pretty much everything. But the future of London depends on the investments and the decisions made now. We’re sort of at a crossroads. While the busts seem to be behind us, the world’s not going to live on oil forever. We need to do it right. Because doing it wrong is not an option.”
Shane said, “I came here in part to get Joe to help me run it. I just thought you were going to leave, Caroline, or else I would have asked you too.”
“Well, I’m not, I’m staying. For a lot of reasons.” She drew a long breath. “So I was thinking that we could work together to keep everything going. See, I’m betting on London, North Dakota, making the transition from just an oil town to a place where people want to live. And, well, I hope you feel the same.”
Shane said, “I never wanted any part of my dad’s business. But now that it’s mine to run, I’m thinking a lot differently. I know about fracking, but you know about everything else, Caroline. So working together seems like a great idea.” He looked at Kelly. “You in?”
Kelly squeezed Dawson’s hand. “Well, considering I might not be able to pass the physical to qualify as a cop again, and that you two were always my best friends, it’s a pretty easy decision.”
Dawson hugged first Kelly, then Shane. All three of them had fresh tears in their eyes.
“And we wish you the best of luck,” said Jamison, while Decker nodded.
Kelly said, “I hope I never need the FBI again, but if I do, I hope to hell they send you.”
Shane said, “Goes double for me.”
Dawson gave Jamison and Decker hugs. “Thank you, for everything.”
As Decker left with Jamison, he turned around to see three lifelong friends plotting how to change their little piece of the world for the better. Or at least the little part of it represented by London, North Dakota.
* * *
Blue Man had a government jet sent to take Decker and Jamison and Robie and Reel back to DC.
After the plane took off from the runway at the Air Force installation in London, Robie eyed Decker, who was sitting in his seat, obviously lost in thought.
“You did good, Decker,” he said. “Saved a lot of lives.”<
br />
“We all did good,” said Jamison. “And we wouldn’t be here but for you two.”
Decker said nothing to this. He just stared at the seatback.
“And Brad Daniels recovered and is living at a VA hospital,” said Robie. “Hear he’s loving telling stories from the past.”
As the plane leveled out, Robie got two beers from the bar up front, sat next to Decker, and handed him one. Reel and Jamison got up from their seats and sat at a table in the back with coffees.
Robie took a sip of his beer and looked out the window. “The folks Purdy was working with have been identified. Appropriate back channels have been opened to bring the hammer down on them and to make sure some people are punished. There will be consequences.”
“Right,” said Decker absently.
“No, there will be consequences. And Jess and I are going to be the tips of that spear. We volunteered.”
Decker eyed him closely. “That makes me feel better,” he said quite sincerely.
Robie glanced at him. “You know, every time I finish a mission I take a walk down by Memorial Bridge in DC late at night.”
“Why do you do that?” asked Decker, suddenly interested.
“Don’t know. Why does anyone do anything?”
“To think, maybe?”
“Maybe. A little quiet time before . . .”
“. . . going back to work?”
“Yeah.”
Decker drained half his beer. “Maybe that’s all we have.”
“Meaning work?”
“Meaning, what else?” answered Decker.
“You’re good at what you do.”
“So are you.”
“And I used to think that was enough,” said Robie.
Decker shot him a glance. “And now you don’t?”
“And now . . . maybe I don’t.” He paused and stared at his drink. “I read your file.”
“I didn’t have the opportunity to read yours.”
“I’ve never been married, Decker, never had kids. That would be tough for anyone. I’m sorry that happened to you.”
Walk the Wire Page 37
