The Fallen (Amos Decker #4)(125)

“You made a mistake in checking yourself out of the hospital. That’s what led me here.”

She waggled her head. “Had to. I couldn’t trust Ted not to screw me.”

“Right, honor among thieves. Why all the crap with Beatty and Smith? Freezing their bodies and dumping them in that house?”

“I knew our ME was incompetent. But we knew the DEA might swoop in after they were identified, so Ross thought the freezing would help us there.” She coughed up some blood. “But if I’d known you were in the house behind it, believe me, we’d have dumped them miles away.”

“Put down the gun, Donna, and let me get you some help. You’re not going to make it otherwise.”

“Who gives a shit!” She paused and took in a long, ragged breath, no doubt drawing more blood into her damaged lung. “Baronville! This place sucks all the life out of you. Every time I saw that name on every damn street or building, it made me want to blow my frigging brains out. My dad was a good guy. This place ruined him. It ruined everything!”

Decker said, “You went to Philly for college. You could’ve stayed there.”

She shook her head. “Had to move back here, take care of my mom. Then she killed herself anyway. By then, I’m stuck.”

“Right, your crappy life, it’s somebody else’s problem.”

“You’re damn right it is.” She waggled her head again. “All that gold. What did he say, half a billion?”

“Something like that. But it’s just money, Donna.”

She laughed bitterly. “Easy to say unless you don’t have any.” She groaned and clutched her side. “Shit, it hurts so bad.”

“Put down the gun, Donna. I can get you some help for the pain, but you have to put the gun down first.”

She sat up straighter and her features calmed a bit. “I’m gonna get the death penalty, Decker,” she said quietly. “All the stuff I’ve done.”

“Even if you do, it never happens fast.”

Decker could tell that her blood loss was nearing the critical stage. She started to stammer. “I’m n-not going to prison. Ex-cop. Not going to p-prison. No way. N-no way.”

“You don’t want to do that,” said Decker, seeing where this was going.

“I was a g-good cop. I really was. And…and then it all w-went t-to h-hell.”

Decker could see that her face was growing pale as her blood pressure dropped with each pump of her heart. There was clearly only one outcome now.

“How’d you get hooked up with Ross?” he asked, trying to distract her.

She seemed to perk up with his query and said clearly, “Known him forever. He needed some help on the inside. He knew about my dad, and my mom. He knew I was kind of desperate. He made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.”

“Alice Martin didn’t know about you, did she?”

She shook her head. “T-to her, I was the nice, good c-cop.”

“What about Green?”

She shook her head again. “Nobody knew about me other than Ross. He had Marty and a bunch of other cops on the payroll. But I was the f-fail-safe. Otherwise, Marty c-could’ve fingered me when you nailed him on Bond’s m-murder.”

“Put the gun down, Donna.”

“Not gonna do that.” She looked up at him with pleading eyes. “Shoot me, Decker.” She pointed to her forehead with her gun muzzle. “Right here. Please. Fellow cop asking a favor. Just do it.”

“I’m sorry, I can’t do that.”

“Okay, I just thought I’d ask,” she said grimly.

She stuck the pistol in her mouth, closed her eyes, and pulled the trigger.

Decker didn’t react to this. In fact, he knew it was the logical outcome. And maybe it was better that way. He stepped over to the body, which had slumped sideways. The wall behind Lassiter was smeared with her blood and brains.

As Decker looked down at the body he closed his eyes as the electric blue color that he normally associated with death flashed across his mind. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and he felt slightly nauseous and claustrophobic.

He almost had to smile, and would have if he hadn’t been standing over Lassiter’s corpse. She was a bad cop, for sure. But she was still a cop. And he wasn’t going to celebrate her death.

Yet maybe tomorrow he would be the same old Decker after all, at least the one the blindside hit had created. And in a world that seemed to be nothing except unpredictable, maybe that was as good as it got.





Chapter 74



WHAT WAS THAT?”

Baron, Jamison, and Riley were leading Amber and Zoe back up the road toward the house when Baron had stopped and stiffened. His gaze was pointed down the path that cut through the woods.

“What was what?” asked Jamison.

“I heard a sound down that way.”

“You think it might be Decker?”

“It’s not me,” said Decker.

He had appeared in the road leading from the house.

“Decker, where were you?” asked Jamison.

“At the house, with Lassiter.”

“What happened?” asked Jamison.

Decker glanced at Zoe. The little girl looked exhausted and scared.