Walk the Wire (Amos Decker #6)(129)
“Yeah?”
“You will always be loved, little brother.”
“I’m not sure I deserve that, Renee.”
“Well, I think you’ve earned it. And coming from your sister, I hope you know how big a deal that is.”
She clicked off and he rose and started walking. Perhaps in search of his Memorial Bridge. Perhaps in search of something . . . anything else. And terrified that he would never be able to find it, because maybe it did not exist for someone like him.
He took out the photo of Cassie and Molly and studied it under the moonlight.
Time did not heal all wounds for him. It barely touched them, in fact. It was like pouring iodine on a cancerous tumor.
I don’t miss you less and less. I miss you more and more. And I’m so sorry there’s absolutely nothing I can do about it.
Decker put the photo away and started to walk on, but then stopped.
In his mind’s eye were the images of his wife and daughter.
He just stood there, frozen for a few moments. They seemed to be talking to him, somehow communicating something he already knew, but simply refused to acknowledge.
And then Jamison’s last words came back to him.
You still have a family.
Decker slowly reached into his pocket, took out his phone, and punched in the number.
“Renee?”
“Amos, what’s wrong?”
“I just wanted to tell you that . . . that I’ll be there.”
The idea for this story came from three things I learned about North Dakota. First, the Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex is an Air Force eye-in-the-sky installation near Grand Forks, North Dakota. Second, the Air Force auctioned off some of the adjacent land in 2012. Third, the auction was won by a sect of Anabaptist Hutterites, who established a community there.
Then I created my own Air Force installation, which I set on the opposite side of North Dakota, amid all the fracking operations, and the plot took off from there.
Hope you enjoyed the story.
To Michelle, here comes Amos Decker again. I know you like the big guy.
To Michael Pietsch, for your continued support.
To Ben Sevier, Elizabeth Kulhanek, Jonathan Valuckas, Matthew Ballast, Beth deGuzman, Anthony Goff, Rena Kornbluh, Karen Kosztolnyik, Brian McLendon, Albert Tang, Andy Dodds, Ivy Cheng, Joseph Benincase, Andrew Duncan, Morgan Swift, Bob Castillo, Laura Eisenhard, Sean Ford, Kristen Lemire, Briana Loewen, Mark Long, Thomas Louie, Rachael Kelly, Kirsiah McNamara, Nita Basu, Lisa Cahn, Megan Fitzpatrick, Michele McGonigle, Alison Lazarus, Barry Broadhead, Martha Bucci, Rick Cobban, Ali Cutrone, Raylan Davis, Tracy Dowd, Jean Griffin, Elizabeth Blue Guess, Julie Hernandez, Erica Hohos, Linda Jamison, John Leary, John Lefler, Rachel Hairston, Suzanne Marx, Christopher Murphy, Rob Philpott, Barbara Slavin, Karen Torres, Mary Urban, Jeff Shay, Carla Stockalper, and everyone at Grand Central Publishing, for being a great team.
To Aaron and Arleen Priest, Lucy Childs, Lisa Erbach Vance, Frances Jalet-Miller, John Richmond, and Juliana Nador, for all you do, and it’s a lot.
To Mitch Hoffman, for once more pushing me to do better!
To Anthony Forbes Watson, Jeremy Trevathan, Trisha Jackson, Alex Saunders, Laura Sherlock, Sara Lloyd, Claire Evans, Sarah Arratoon, Stuart Dwyer, Jonathan Atkins, Anna Bond, Leanne Williams, Natalie Young, Stacey Hamilton, Laura Ricchetti, Charlotte Williams, and Neil Lang at Pan Macmillan, for such a great tour last year and allowing me to dress up in my kilt. 2020 is looking great!
To Praveen Naidoo and the wonderful team at Pan Macmillan in Australia.
To Caspian Dennis and Sandy Violette, for doing what you do so well!
And to Kristen White and Michelle Butler, for helping me in so many ways!
About the Author
David Baldacci is one of the world’s bestselling and favourite thriller writers. With over 130 million worldwide sales, his books are published in over 80 territories and 45 languages, and have been adapted for both feature film and television. David is also the co-founder, along with his wife, of the Wish You Well Foundation?, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting literacy efforts across the US. Still a resident of his native Virginia, he invites you to visit him at DavidBaldacci. com and his foundation at WishYouWellFoundation.org.
Trust him to take you to the action.