The Fallen (Amos Decker #4)(129)
“But how did Ted Ross hook up with Costa?” asked Riley.
Decker said, “Pretty simple. The bank handled the fulfillment center payroll. It was the biggest account they had. So Costa and Ross became friends. Ross said that Costa started talking to him about a possible treasure at the Barons’. It helped that Ross had heard the stories from his father too. Together with Costa’s research, they narrowed it down. It was Ross’s idea to frame John and get him off the property so they could look for the treasure. You saw how involved it was and how long it would take with all the equipment. They couldn’t very well do all that with you there, John.”
“But they could have just killed me and then looked for the treasure, or gone and gotten it while I was in jail awaiting trial.”
“I asked Ross about that. He couldn’t be sure that while you were in jail Alex and I or someone else wouldn’t come poking around. That would be disastrous. He also said it was too risky if you went missing or your body was discovered. Costa was going to try to get you on a drug charge, especially after they found out Swanson was living in the potting shed, and use that to foreclose on the mortgage. Ross told me that Costa had no interest in murdering anyone, and he didn’t know Ross also ran a fentanyl ring. But Ross had a different idea. He wanted to get rid of Costa and Babbot for his own reasons. So the moral turpitude clause Ross envisioned being invoked by the bank was your being a murderer. He couldn’t accomplish that by simply killing you. The thing is, you have to understand that he didn’t just want the treasure. He wanted to see you rot in jail or else be given the death penalty. So did his old man. In their warped minds, it was personal with them. You were a Baron, which meant you were everything they despised.”
“And then the bank could sell the property and Ross could buy it through a straw man using his drug profits,” said Jamison.
Decker added, “But when they had to kill the DEA agents and things started going sideways, they changed their plans and kidnapped Amber and Zoe to use as bait to get us out of the way. They had to kill the DEA agents because they had uncovered the fentanyl ring. Ross knew that he had to close things down quickly because once the agents were identified, the DEA would be swooping in, which they did. He wanted to take the treasure and his drug profits and disappear before that happened. Only he never expected us to be involved in the investigation. He was counting on Green and Lassiter slow-walking it. If it had been left up to them, the DEA agents would have remained John Does for a long time. It was only when I suggested that their prints be run through law enforcement databases that the truth of their identities came out.”
“And they almost succeeded with all that,” noted Riley.
Decker said, “And just as I did, Ross got a copy of the senior yearbook and looked through it. They did all the weird stuff at the crime scenes, the Bible verse and the death mark on Costa, based on their learning that John was into mythology and Tanner was his girlfriend and had taught Bible school.”
Riley said, “Which is why you were interested in the genesis of the Mercury Bar. What, did you think I was involved in the murders?”
“Just covering all the bases,” said Decker diplomatically.
“But what about the life insurance thing?” asked Riley. “You said my friend Linda Drews might be in trouble.”
Decker said, “I don’t think anyone is interested in going after Drews. She lost her son and there’s no evidence she knew what was going on. Now, the cops did find and arrest Willie Norris. Turns out he had paid off paramedics and a local lab to fudge the health exams. He also used a lot of different insurance companies so no single one would catch on. When they investigated any of the deaths he used a variety of tactics to throw mud on everything, so most of them ended up paying out on the policies. It seems about two dozen policies are suspect. But if the guy was getting three hundred grand or more per policy, he wouldn’t need more than that. And he used various means to slip pain pills laced with fentanyl to people who’d bought policies. Not all of them died, but many did. Ironically, Norris bought those pills from dealers working for Ross. He’d collect the payout on the policy and take his cut. It was all about the money.” He paused and glanced at Jamison. “And it was also Norris who sabotaged the gas line going into Amber’s house. He apparently got desperate to silence us before going on the run.”
“And Fred Ross?” asked Baron, eyeing Decker.
“He confessed to your parents’ murder. He’s never going to breathe life as a free man. And I don’t see him lasting long in prison.”
Riley said, “You have closure, John, finally.” She gripped his shoulder.
Decker stood and held out his hand. “Good luck with the second chance.”
Baron rose and shook his hand. “There wouldn’t have been one without you and Alex.”
“We all need a little help every now and then,” said Jamison graciously.
Baron took Riley’s hand. “Cindi is going to help me with all this. She’s been a great friend.” He smiled. “Maybe she sees me as a father figure.”
Riley kissed him on the cheek. “Maybe I see you as something else.”
Jamison said, “You guys up for some lunch before we say our goodbyes?”
“Sounds great and I’m buying,” said Baron quickly.
“No you’re not, because it’s on me at the Mercury,” said Riley.