Levi waited for the door to open. Finney reached in and started fumbling with the lock that secured the chain through the steel ring on the floor while the other deputy, a young, pasty-looking dude with a buzz cut and acne scars whom Levi had never seen before, stood back and chewed on a toothpick. As soon as Levi saw Finney get the lock released and start pulling the chain, he raised both arms over his head and came down hard on the back of Finney’s neck. The old man grunted. His bifocals flew off of his face and his hat went rolling towards the front of the van. Levi wrenched the revolver from its holster and pointed it at the pasty guard, who was fumbling with his own holster. The guard’s mouth was open, and Levi saw the familiar look of fear in his eyes. Before the guard could get a firm grip on the revolver, Levi blew a hole through his throat.
Levi turned back towards the van and stood there watching as old man Finney fumbled around trying to find his glasses. When his fingers finally clutched them, he pushed them onto his nose and rolled slowly over onto his back.
“Levi, what are you going to do?” Finney said.
“What do you think I’m going to do?” Levi said as he raised the revolver and pointed it at Finney’s forehead.
“Levi, please. I’ve never mistreated you.”
“You don’t want to stay in this world. It’s full of bad people. Think of it as a favor.”
“No, Levi, please. I have a family. They need me.” Finney raised his hands in front of his face. “Levi! I’ve tried to be your friend! ”
Levi pulled the trigger and watched curiously as a chunk of Finney’s forehead separated from his face and splattered against the interior wall of the van. Finney’s body jerked once and then he was still.
“Yeah, I was thinking about that a little earlier,” Levi said. “Some fucking friend.”
Levi closed the door. He saw his reflection in the mirrored glass window. As he looked at himself, he thought about how far he’d come. Not long ago, he’d been a nobody, a poor boy with no education and no future. But all that had changed with Natasha. She’d taught him the ways of Satan, and now he was a celebrity. Everyone knew his name. Everyone feared him. He even received fan mail in jail.
Levi looked down at the fallen guard. A soft, gurgling sound was coming from the wound in his throat. Levi thought about putting another bullet in his head to finish him off, but instead he looked towards the building. He could see people looking out the windows. A guard ran up and locked the front door while talking on a cell phone. They’d be coming soon.
Levi raised his middle finger defiantly towards those who were peering out at him. Fuck them. There would be no prison for Levi, not now, not ever. Soon he and Natasha would walk together with Satan.
“Fuck all you motherfuckers!” Levi shouted. “Fuck the world!”
He fired one shot at the building, then slowly pushed the barrel up tight beneath his chin.
And pulled the trigger.
Monday, November 10
After I took Alisha back to Johnson City, I drove home to check on Caroline. She was sleeping, but Melinda said she still had a fever. I drove back to Jonesborough, finished up some work on my other cases, and went to lunch alone. When I returned, Fraley was sitting in a chair in front of my desk with his feet up. He was smoking a cigarette and putting the ashes in a coffee cup.
“You’re not supposed to smoke in this building, big boy,” I said. “If Mooney smells it, he’ll call the police and have you arrested.”
“If he calls the police, I’ll crush his skull like a peanut shell,” Fraley said, taking another long drag.
“Some morning, huh?” I said.
Fraley blew a smoke ring. “You haven’t heard, have you?”
“Heard what?”
“About Barnett. He overpowered Deputy Finney in the back of the transport van, got ahold of his weapon, and shot himself in the head.”
I felt my knees weaken and sat down behind the desk.
“He’s dead?”
“Dead as Elvis. It was a. 357 Magnum. In under the chin and out the top of his skull. The bullet took a bunch of his brain with it, what little he had.”
I ran my fingers through my hair, still unable to completely digest what I’d just heard.
“Is Finney…?”
“Didn’t make it. Levi shot him in the head. They sent another deputy along for extra security, a kid named Huff. Killed him, too.”
My stomach started churning and I suddenly wished I’d skipped lunch. Both of our murder suspects were dead, one killed by a codefendant in a holding cell at the jail and the other a suicide. Two deputies were dead. We had a third suspect in the murders, but we didn’t have enough evidence to arrest her, and now the only two people who could have provided us with that evidence were dead. I wondered how much Alexander Dunn’s little leak to the media had to do with what happened.
“So where does this leave us?” I said.
“If you want to look on the bright side, it leaves us with two dead scumbag murderers. I say good riddance. Now we don’t have to prosecute them, don’t have to feed and clothe and shelter them, and we don’t have to waste electricity killing them.”
“Your compassion never ceases to amaze me.”
“My compassion is with the innocent people they terrorized and murdered. But if you’re anxious to look at the bleak side of things, we’re pretty much left with our dicks in our hands as far as Natasha goes.”
“What are we going to do about her?”
“Let me drop this little tidbit on you. I drove up to the detention center when I heard the chatter about the shooting. While I was there, I went in and asked the guards about Levi’s visitors. He’s only had one besides his aunt. Guess who?”
“You’re kidding me.”
“Three days ago. Signed in under her own name and everything.”
My phone rang and I picked it up.
“Is Special Agent Fraley back there with you?” It was Rita Jones.
“He is.”
“Mr. Mooney would like to see both of you right now.”
Fraley and I made the short walk down the hall to Mooney’s office. We found him pacing back and forth between his flags with his hands folded behind his back. Instead of sitting, Fraley and I both stood behind the chairs in front of his desk. He paced for more than a minute, occasionally fingering his handlebar mustache. Finally, he spoke.
“This is a clusterfuck,” Mooney said, “a clusterfuck of magnanimous proportion. Do the two of you have any idea what happened today?”
It sounded like a rhetorical question to me. Of course we knew what happened, but I’d learned long ago that the best answer to a rhetorical question was no answer at all, so I kept my mouth shut. Fraley did the same.
“Do you know that the reputation of law enforcement in this community was ruined today? Ruined! I’ve spent the last two years of my life trying to make the people here feel safe, make them feel confident about the men and women who are responsible for providing them with safe streets and an efficient court system. I’ve tried to hire people who are fair and compassionate to victims and defendants alike. And now, in a three-hour span, every bit of credibility we’ve been able to establish is gone.”
I stood there staring down at his desk, focusing on nothing. I told myself that the man had given me a job, and since Caroline had come down with cancer, he’d also probably saved me from bankruptcy. The least I could do was stand quietly while he ranted. Suddenly, he stopped pacing and turned towards us.