“Okay, you need to stop going out at night, and I damn well mean it!”
These words came from Jamison, who was standing in front of Decker in a long T-shirt and sweatpants. She was barefoot, and her matted hair evidenced that until very recently she had been asleep.
They were in the living room of the Mitchells’ home. Amber and Zoe were still asleep upstairs.
Decker had called Jamison from the basement of the house where he’d shot and killed a man.
He had explained matters to the first responders and then to Kemper, and finally to Green and Lassiter when they had shown up, including how he had gotten there in the first place.
The real surprise had come when Kemper had seen the dead man lying on the floor with two of Decker’s bullets in his chest.
“That’s Brian Collins,” she had said.
“And who is he?” Decker had replied.
“He’s a drug dealer.”
“Do you think he knew Michael Swanson or maybe worked with him?”
“Doubtful. Collins was a heavy hitter. He’s wanted in several states for distribution and murder.”
Green had asked, “But what was he doing here? And why try to kill you?”
“He must have seen me go into the house,” said Decker. “He might have been watching the place.”
“Okay, but why take a chance on going after you when a DEA agent is right next door?” asked Green.
“I take that as a good sign,” said Decker. “That means they’re afraid we’re getting closer. Like when they tried to toast me and Jamison inside Toby Babbot’s trailer.”
“So, are you getting closer?” Green had asked.
Decker had looked down at the body. “Maybe too close.”
Now Decker looked up at the very pissed-off Jamison. “I didn’t know anything like this was going to happen, Alex. I just couldn’t sleep and decided to check some things out. I talked to Martin and that led me to the house.”
Jamison slumped down next to him. “Decker, I know you may not get this, but my sister and my niece just received horrible news. Frank is dead. This is going to affect them for the rest of their lives.”
“I know all that, Alex.”
“I know you know the facts. But sometimes you miss the stuff beyond the facts.”
“What exactly is your point?”
“One tragedy is enough right now. Please don’t add yourself to that tally. I don’t think any of us could take that. I know I couldn’t. Now, unless you’re going to do something else incredibly dangerous and stupid, I’m going to bed before my head explodes. I suggest you do the same.”
She trudged off upstairs and Decker slowly followed.
He washed up and undressed.
He glanced down at the hand that had pulled the trigger that had ended Brian Collins’s life. He didn’t feel bad about that. Collins had tried to murder him, so he got what he deserved.
Which still did not explain why a man he didn’t know had tried to kill him tonight.
A heavy-hitter drug dealer. Wanted in several states.
The DEA.
Rogue agents.
Six murders, four of which seemed to involve unrelated parties.
Was it all about drugs? Lots of people had died due to drugs. And by all accounts, Baronville was in the grips of the same opioid crisis that was terrorizing other areas of the country.
And he and Jamison had apparently run smack into it.
And what about Lassiter’s father burning down a banker’s house and going to prison for it and then dying there? And her mother later committing suicide? He could see now why Lassiter had a beef against the current John Baron, unreasonable as it might be.
And lastly, what the hell was happening in his head? Why hadn’t the electric blue color come? And the nausea and the hairs rising off his neck? It wasn’t like he wanted any of those things to happen to him. But at least they were predictable. That they no longer occurred was, in his mind, worse than if they still happened to him.
My brain might be changing again. Who will I be tomorrow?
He sighed. That sort of speculation was not something he wanted to dwell on.
And then a thought occurred to him. Thankfully, it was tied to something about the case.
He took out his phone and called Kemper. She answered on the second ring.
“What would your two agents be doing in that house?” he asked.
“I have no idea.”
“Well, they might have been watching something or someone.”
“You mean like a surveillance nest?”
“Something like that, though I couldn’t find any evidence of that.”
“There are only three people who live on that street, Decker, and they’re all old and one of them is blind and one of them is a former Sunday school teacher.”
“And one of them is an asshole with a sawed-off shotgun.”
“Explain that.”
He told her about his run-in with Fred Ross.
“I still don’t see how a bitter octogenarian in a wheelchair has anything to do with this.”
“I don’t either.”
“Well, I have some news for you.”
Decker perked up at this. “What’s that?”
“The dead guy, Brian Collins?”
“Yeah.”
“I have some more info on him than what I shared at the house tonight.”
“And why are you willing to share it with me now?”
“I’m growing to like you.”
“Yeah, right.”
“We knew his former partner,” Kemper said.
“Who was that?”
“Randy Haas, the dead guy who fingered my two agents as rogues.”
Chapter 34
“She wants us to do what?”
Decker stared across the breakfast table at Jamison.
She lowered her cup of coffee and said crossly, “Amber wants us to go to the fulfillment center and get Frank’s personal effects from his office. And pick up his car.”
“But I’ve got the case—”
She cut him off. “Decker, my sister is having to plan her husband’s funeral this morning. The least we can do is help her with this.”
“I’m ready, Aunt Alex.”
They both turned to see Zoe standing in the doorway, her coat on and her eyes puffy from crying.
“Okay, sweetie, we’ll be ready in a minute. Why don’t you go wait by the front door?”
Zoe glanced woefully at Decker before trudging off.
Decker looked at Jamison. “Are we dropping her off at school?”
“No, she’s coming with us.”
“With us? What about school?”
“Decker, her dad just died. She’s not going to school today. She’s in kindergarten. Her missing a few days is not going to determine if she gets into Harvard.”
“Do you think it’s a good idea for her to go with us, though? I mean, to see her dad’s stuff?”
“There’s really no other way. Amber doesn’t know anyone here well enough to feel comfortable leaving Zoe with them, especially now. And she’ll be running around today dealing with funeral arrangements, picking out a coffin and flowers and a gravesite. Do you think Zoe should be exposed to that?”
Decker sat back looking contrite. “No.”
“Okay, so finish your coffee and let’s get going. I’ll drive over and you can drive Frank’s car back here.”
As they got to the front door Zoe put out her hand, not to her aunt but to Decker. Looking surprised and with a quick glance at Jamison, who nodded at him, he took the little girl’s small hand in his enormous one and they set off.
“Good God, this place is huge.”
They had just pulled into the parking lot of the Maxus Fulfillment Center when Jamison made this remark.
The place was truly vast and the parking lot was filled with cars. On the rear side of the building they had seen fleets of semis loading and unloading their trailers at a seemingly endless line of loading docks.