Mean Streak(102)
“Aura,” Grange said.
Knight acknowledged the supplied word with a nod, but he kept his attention on Jack. “I’m asking you as an officer of the law, same as you, to cut the double-talk and basic bullshit and tell us just who we’re dealing with here.”
“You referenced a mass shooting in Virginia, but you weren’t specific.” Grange cast a quick upward glance at the closed bedroom door that would prevent Jeff from overhearing. Then, leaning toward Jack and speaking in an undertone, he asked, “Are we talking Westboro?”
Jack looked at them in turn. “You know the story?” And when they nodded in unison, he said, “That was Bannock.”
Grange whistled softly.
Knight murmured, “Holy shit.”
Chapter 35
At the mention of the eight fatalities, Hayes abruptly got up and replaced the chair beneath the dining table. “You’d better turn in, Doc.”
“Turn in?”
“Tomorrow could be a long day.”
“I demand an explanation for what Agent Connell told us about you.”
“Bedroom’s down the hall. Bathroom’s on the right. I’ll bunk on the couch.”
“Hayes?” When he came around to her, she said, “I assume that’s your real name. Hayes Bannock?”
He hesitated before giving her a brusque nod.
“I’m glad to finally know it.”
“Don’t speak too soon.”
“If I looked you up on the Internet, what would I find? Your army service record? Your degree in constructional engineering? Your sister and niece in Seattle?”
“My, my. Connell was a fount of information, wasn’t he?”
“He referenced a soccer coach. A priest. Others in addition to Norman and Will Floyd.”
“I take that back. He was a babbling brook.”
“All related to that shooting in Virginia.”
His eyes turned cold and hostile. “You should go to bed, Doc. Get some sleep.”
“I’m not sleepy.”
“Okay then, I’ll turn in.”
He made for the hallway, but she quickly placed herself in his path. “Tell me what all this is about.”
“I’m sure you’ll find out, in time.”
“I want to know now. I want to hear it from your own lips, not from someone else’s.”
“Why?”
“Because otherwise I’ll never believe you were involved in something so heinous.”
“Well I was.” His tone was curt, matter of fact. “There. That’s all you need to know and all you’ll get from me. It has nothing to do with the here and now.”
“Agent Connell thinks it does.”
“Agent Connell can go f*ck himself. What happened then doesn’t pertain to you.”
“But it pertains to you.”
“It’s not my life I’m trying to save! It’s yours.”
“I don’t need you to save me,” she said, warming to the argument. “I can go to Connell myself, to Knight and Grange, and—”
“What?”
“Accuse Jeff.”
He gave a stern shake of his head. “Not a good plan.”
“Why?”
“You don’t have any evidence to support your allegations.”
She opened her hand, showing him that she had the zipper pull, then quickly snatched her hand back.
He shrugged with indifference. “Useless. Where you got it and when, your word against his, remember?”
“But it and the rock together would—”
“You don’t have the rock.”
“But you do.”
“That’s right. I do.”
“You’d hold it hostage from me?”
“To keep you from barging in and exposing yourself to that slimy son of a bitch you’re married to? Damn right, I would.”
“Jeff couldn’t do anything to me while I’m surrounded by law enforcement officers.”
“Which is the only reason I didn’t come and get you sooner. I waited outside the hospital last night until I saw Jeff leave and figured you were safe. You spent most of today in the company of men with badges.
“But what happens when they pack up and go home for lack of evidence against him? You’ll have played your hand. You will have accused him. How do you think that will sit with him when he was already prepared to murder you?”
It was a valid point. Even if Jeff were now to provide an iron-clad alibi, she would never trust him or feel comfortable alone with him. Ever again. “All right, my plan is flawed. Do you have one? What do you intend to do?”
“With the rock?”
“With all of it. With what you know about Jeff. With me.”
“I don’t know yet.”
She thought of the Floyds, suffering in their hospital beds. “But you’ll stay within the law, right?”
“I don’t know yet.”
Frustrated almost to the point of tears, she said, “Tell me about Virginia.”
“No.”
“Please.”
“No!”
“I want to know what you did!”