A Darkness Absolute (Casey Duncan #2)(116)

This is the idea Isabel’s story had ignited. The tale of her lover who’d left and then returned, moving a few hours away while Isabel presumed he was still across the ocean. What if our killer was a settler who’d seemed to leave and then come back as a Rockton resident? He would know both worlds—able to navigate the forest and the caves, while living in Rockton.

“Do you realize how crazy—?” Sutherland begins.

“You just had to keep to yourself and hope no one asked too many questions. But even something as innocent as Jen wondering what grade you taught was problematic. A dead-easy question to answer … for anyone who grew up down south and knows the education system.”

“You really think I did it, don’t you?” he says.

“I know you did. Your mother described you. She even said you’ve got bad scar tissue on your left foot, from where she held your foot to the fire, literally. If you want to prove you aren’t Benjamin Sanders, just let me see that foot out the door.”

He laughs. “Right. I don’t trust anyone in this goddamned town of whores and liars. If you’ve decided I did it, then I’m dead already. The only revenge I’ll have is that when I’m dead, you’ll see your mistake. You’ll realize you had the wrong man.”

As he’s ranting, we’re getting into position, Anders and Kenny at the door with a log battering ram. Dalton beside it, ready to swing in. I’m poised with my gun, in case Benjamin attacks.

“There!” he yells. “It’s done, damn you. It’s done. I’ve just ingested enough dope to put me to sleep, and I’ll never wake up.”

Anders and Kenny ram the door. It holds fast. Inside, Sutherland is laughing hysterically. “And what good do you think that will do? I’m dead. Don’t you get it? Dead man walking. Dead man talking. You’ve killed me. Murdered an innocent man.”

The ram hits again, and this time the wood cracks. They rip away at it until it’s clear. Sutherland is across the room, sitting on the floor, grinning as wide as he can.

“Too late,” he says. “Too little, too late.”

Beside him is a syringe. He waggles an empty bottle at us. “Gone. All gone. And in a minute, so am I.”

Anders, Kenny, and Dalton run over and grab Sutherland as he collapses.





SIXTY-FOUR

We’re in the clinic. Dalton and Kenny have gotten Sutherland’s limp form onto the examining table. Anders is taking out the stomach pump. I’m undoing Sutherland’s left boot.

“You don’t need to check,” Dalton grunts as he heaves Sutherland into place. “He had the benzo.”

Which is true. He didn’t just randomly grab an overdose of sleeping pills or painkillers. He’s got the very drug someone dosed Diana and Nicole with. That should prove it. The rest should prove it—the story fits, the description fits. Jacob’s description too, of the guy who’d once “offered” him a hostile woman, the guy who’d followed his father down south a couple of years ago. A guy he’d known as Benjy.

Benjamin Sanders.

It still isn’t enough. I keep thinking of his last words, declaring his innocence, and it’s easy to check, so I must.

So I pull off that boot. I pull off that sock. And there it is. The burn tissue, just as Mary described.

“Satisfied?” Dalton says. “Now, get up here and help us keep this bastard alive.”

I get into position to assist Anders, and Dalton moves across the room, staying out of the way.

I’m struggling to focus. Part of my brain stays stuck on the pointlessness of his final proclamation of innocence. All I had to do was check his foot.

Focus, damn it. If we lose him, we lose Nicole.

I have the tube, and I’m getting into position while Anders presses his fingers to Sutherland—

No, not Sutherland—Benjamin.

I have to remember that. This is not the guy we knew. Not the victim I hauled in from the forest. This is a killer who doesn’t deserve another name to hide behind.

Anders presses his fingers to Benjamin’s neck, a quick vitals check. I’m reaching to open Benjamin’s mouth when Anders frowns. He’s got his fingers still pressed there, and he’s frowning, and I’m saying “What is it?” and he’s reaching to open Benjamin’s eye. His fingers touch the eyelid as Benjamin springs up. His arms sweep wide, knocking everything from the tray, and there’s a moment when I think Anders’s fingers on his eyelid jolted him back to consciousness.

That’s what we all must think, because there’s frozen shock as Benjamin springs up and those instruments clatter, and then Dalton’s leaping in, shouting, “Restrain—”

Benjamin has my upper arm in an iron grip as he’s rolling off the table. I lash out. I feel pain. A sharp jab. It’s not enough to stop me. It is enough to startle me. That’s all he needs. I’m distracted for a split second, and then there’s a gun at my head—my own damned gun—and Benjamin’s backing up, shouting, “I’ll kill her. You know I’ll kill her.”

I back up with him. I have to. There’s a gun at my head—an unsteady one—and so I stay with him, doing nothing to make him pull the trigger.

Across the room, Dalton has his gun out. Anders doesn’t. He’s off to the side, assessing. His gaze drops to the table, as if trying to see what he can use. The tray of instruments is on the floor, and there’s nothing left on that table. Nothing useful.