Fatal Reckoning (Fatal #14)(59)

“I understand, and he’ll be glad to see you. He always speaks so highly of you and Conky and the others.” She tipped her head toward the back of the townhouse. “Come on back.” Leslie led him to the back of the deep townhouse, where a sunny screen porch looked out over a small, well-kept yard. “Kenny, Joe Farnsworth is here to see you.”

Wallack, who was seated in a recliner with a blanket over his lap, stood and turned to them.

Joe bit back a gasp at the sight of Wallack’s ravaged face. He barely recognized the man he’d known for over thirty years. Forcing himself to rally and hide the shock, Joe extended his hand to Kenny. “Good to see you.”

Kenny shook his hand. “You too. Have a seat.” He gestured to the other recliner.

“Can I get you anything, Joe?” Leslie asked.

“No, thank you.”

“I’ll leave you two to catch up.”

Kenny eyed him warily. “This is a nice surprise.”

“I’m sorry I haven’t been by before now.”

“I don’t blame you for staying away. I can’t imagine the trouble I’ve caused for you and the others.”

“You haven’t caused us trouble, Kenny. You were kidnapped and forced at gunpoint to do what you did. No one blames you.”

“Well, they fucking oughta.” Wallack blinked back tears.

“No one blames you. They blame Curtis.” Wallack’s former stepson had been the mastermind of the shooting spree. “This was his doing, not yours.”

Wallack shrugged. “So I try to tell myself.”

“You were protecting your wife.”

“She’s the only one who’s ever truly had my back, you know? How could I let that monster do what he said he’d do to her? And he would’ve done it. I have no doubt about that. I’ve known that son of a bitch for a lot of years. I know what he’s capable of.”

“I get it. We all get it.”

“You think Vanessa Marchand’s daddy gets it?” The six-year-old had been gunned down while leaving a playground near her home.

“Mr. Marchand knows who was behind his daughter’s killing, and he blames Curtis.” Joe cleared his throat, determined to stick to the agenda for this visit. “Could I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Conky.” He nearly choked on Conklin’s familiar nickname but was determined to keep things light with Wallack.

“What about him?”

“You know Leslie reported your disappearance to him and he sat on it for two weeks, right?”

“Yeah, I heard that. He said he was worried I was on a bender and wanted to find me himself. I don’t blame him for keeping it on the down low. He was looking out for me. He knows better than anyone how bad it got when I was drinking. Without him as my sponsor and protector, I would’ve lost my job and my pension back in the day.”

“I need to ask you something, and I need to ask you cop to cop, not as Conklin’s friend. I also need you to keep the fact that we had this conversation between us. Can you do that?”

“Whatever I can do for you is the least of what I owe you all.”

“It’s extremely important that you not share what I’m about to tell you with Conklin. I need your word as a man and as a cop.”

“You have it.”

Joe hoped he was doing the right thing by confiding in one of Conklin’s closest friends, but he was counting on Wallack’s need for redemption to guide his actions. “We have reason to believe that Conklin knows more about what happened to Skip Holland than he’s disclosed thus far.”

Wallack’s expression registered genuine shock.

Joe told him about the witness who’d given Conklin a statement the day of the shooting and then checked in with him every year on the anniversary. “He didn’t tell any of us about this guy Davis or the annual calls.”

“Wh-why would he do that?”

“That’s what I’d like to know. I wondered if you might have any insight as one of his close friends.”

“I can’t begin to imagine what he was thinking.”

“Did he ever talk to you about Skip’s shooting?”

“Only about the horror of it. We all talked about that after it happened. He was no less affected than everyone else who knew Skip or considered him a friend. Of course, he was the top captain in line to take Skip’s place as deputy chief when he was medically retired. I don’t remember him mentioning anything about that, but it was a long time ago.”

“Sometimes it feels like yesterday. Other times, I have trouble remembering him before the shooting.”

“I’m really sorry for the loss. I know you two were tight.”

“We were like brothers.”

“I can’t believe Conky would do anything intentional to impede an investigation that affected his close friend.”

“Neither can I, and yet, the evidence suggests he did just that.”

“Have you talked to him?”

Joe nodded. “He says he wasn’t at the scene that day and has never met Davis. We’ll be talking to the people who were there to see if they recall seeing him.”

“And if they do?”

Joe let his grimace speak for itself. “If you think of anything that might be relevant, call me. Even if you think it’s something small or trivial. Call me.”