Redemption (Amos Decker #5)(45)

“Come on in.” He closed the door behind Mars, who took a look around.

“Man, the FBI must have a pretty hefty per diem to let you stay in a luxury place like this. Couple levels above the Ritz.”

“This actually used to be my home.”

“I get that, Decker. My prison cell in Texas was a lot smaller and it didn’t have a window.”

“Do you have a place to stay? This only has the one bed.”

“I’m actually staying here too. Just checked in. Exit date to be determined.”

“You can afford to stay at the fanciest place in town.”

“I’ve never needed fancy.”

“I wish Alex hadn’t done this.”

“She cares about you. That’s what friends do.”

“Did she fill you in on what’s been going on here?”

Mars sat down in the only chair in the room and nodded, as Decker perched on the edge of the bed. “She did. Sounds pretty messed up. What’s happened since you two parted company?”

Decker started to explain. When he got to the part about being arrested, Mars put up his hand. “Whoa, whoa, wait a minute, your butt was in jail? I would’ve paid to see that.”

“Depending on how things turn out, you might get to see it for free. On visitors’ day.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“I made some enemies in this town.”

Mars’s grin widened. “Not you, Decker. You’re such a teddy bear. Never rub anyone the wrong way.”

“You don’t have to be here, Melvin.”

“I don’t go anywhere I don’t want to. I spent twenty years going nowhere, and I had no choice in the matter. Lots of catching up to do on that score. I’m here because I want to be, make no mistake.”

“Where’s Harper?”

“Back at work.”

“How was the Mediterranean?”

“Magical. Never seen that much water in my whole life. West Texas is pretty damn dry.”

“You two getting serious?”

“We’re having fun, Amos. That’s the gear we want to be in right now. No more, no less.” He sat back and looked around. “So how do we do this? Looks like you got two mysteries. One from a long time ago. And one from right now.”

“But they’re connected. They have to be.”

“So Meryl Hawkins gets out of prison, comes here, and tells you he’s innocent. He wants you and your old partner to prove him right and clear his name. But that same night he gets killed.”

“And the widow of one of his alleged victims has disappeared.”

“So you think this Susan Richards shot him and now she’s on the run?”

“I don’t know, but it looks that way. They still haven’t found her car or her. Which is pretty weird in this day and age.”

“Well, it’s a pretty big country too. Somebody can disappear if they want to. Look at my old man.”

“Your father was a little more experienced with stuff like that than I suspect Susan Richards is. And he disappeared before there were smartphones with camera and video capabilities, and social media was nonexistent.”

Mars shrugged. “Proof’s in the pudding. Lady hasn’t surfaced. And you still haven’t answered my question. How do we attack this sucker?”

“Other things being equal, I think we need to solve the crime in the past to have any shot at figuring out who killed Meryl Hawkins.”

“Well, you solved my cold case, and that one went back even further. So my money’s on you.”

“I’m not sure I’d take that bet.”

“Going back in time. You know how you did it with me. So now?”

“I’ve spoken to the people involved back then. The widows. The daughter. The only remaining neighbors.”

“How about the first responders? The ME?”

“The cops are no longer working. They’ve moved out of the area. The ME passed away three years ago.”

“But you still got the records, though.” Mars tapped his forehead. “Up here.”

“Not all of them, because…because I didn’t read everything. In particular the forensic file, at least not thoroughly.”

Mars raised his eyebrows at this.

Decker did not miss this reaction. “I’d been a homicide detective all of five days when the call came in. That’s not an excuse. But the print and DNA were slam dunks, or at least I thought they were. I wasn’t as diligent about the rest of the stuff. And it might have cost Hawkins his freedom and then his life.”

“Only thing that makes you, Decker, is human. And let me tell you I had my doubts about that.” He tacked on a grin with this.

“I’m not supposed to make mistakes, at least not like that.”

“And here you are trying to make up for it. Doing the best you can. That’s all you can do.”

When Decker didn’t respond to this, Mars said, “What’s wrong, Amos? This isn’t the guy I know. Something is eating at you. And it’s not just that you might have screwed up. So lay it out there, dude. Can’t help if I can’t follow.”

“Some people are meant to be alone, work alone, just…alone.”