“I would have brought him in,” I said. “What else did you think I was going to do?”
“There were two of them. You were unarmed. If I gave you those odds, knowing the stakes, would you take them? For anyone else?”
“Are we about done here?”
“Just about. You care to tell me how you figured out where they were going to meet?”
“You guys are supposed to be the smartest group of law enforcement officers in the world,” I said. “I’m one ex-cop in a truck. If I were you, I’d be embarrassed to ask that question.”
He smiled at that one.
“I knew you’d get somewhere,” he said. “I knew you wouldn’t be able to leave it alone, and I knew you’d find a way to the end of the maze. I knew it. That’s why I scrambled to get that GPS on you. You’ve gotta give me credit for that much.”
“Good hustle, Agent Fleury. The two of you will richly deserve your big raises.”
“She thought you were really going back home this time, Mr. McKnight. She was sure of it. I guess that means I know you a little better than she does.”
He folded up his portfolio. Then he stood up.
“For what’s it worth,” he said, “you helped us catch a serial killer. I will always be thankful to you for that. No matter what you say to me.”
Then he left the room.
I sat there a while longer, looking out the blinds at the darkness. I knew it was beyond late now. I didn’t even bother looking at my watch.
The door opened again. Agent Janet Long came in and sat down across from me.
“It would save time if you guys talked to me together,” I said. “You don’t have to send in a parade.”
“Stop it,” she said. “I’m sorry for the way this worked out.”
“Why are you sorry? Everybody wins. All you had to do was play me like a drum. Which I guess must have been pretty easy, seeing as how I never would have suspected it.”
“It wasn’t my idea.”
“Yeah, I know. Your partner copped to that.”
“I’m pretty sure I told you to go home, too. More than once.”
“You did.”
“And I’m pretty sure you promised me you would.”
“I’d have to review the tape,” I said, “but you’re probably right.”
“I wasn’t straight with you, Alex. I admit that, but you weren’t straight with me, either.”
“Can we stop?” I said. “I don’t want to do this anymore.”
“Fine with me. You want to talk about what happened?”
“To be honest,” I said, “it’s still just a blur to me. How did Ryan Grayson and Tanner Paige show up?”
“I was hoping you could tell me.”
“They must have followed me. The old-fashioned way, I mean. I’m sure they didn’t have a GPS device they could trick me into carrying around.”
“I thought we were going to stop.”
I raised a hand in surrender.
“Wait a minute,” I said. “Of course they followed me. It was easy. The last time I talked to them, I told them I was staying in a motel on Michigan Avenue. They already knew what my truck looked like.”
“You didn’t notice them on your tail? All day?”
“I guess I was preoccupied.”
“You realize, they forced our hand and almost blew everything. If Grayson didn’t have his safety on…”
“Are you serious? Is that why his gun didn’t shoot?”
“For once, thank God for clueless gun owners who have no idea what they’re doing.”
“They promised me,” I said. “No more stupid behavior.”
“Yeah, I guess lots of promises got broken this week.”
“So what’s going to happen to them?”
“Grayson and Tanner have both been charged with obstruction. Grayson’s also been charged with unlawful use of a weapon. Which is a lot better than attempted murder. I’m sure he’ll get a good lawyer and end up with probation and a fine.”
“What about Darryl King?” I said.
“We’ve got him for aiding and abetting, which I imagine will get dropped, but the state wants him for all of the parole violations, and I’ll be honest with you, they still like him for the murder of Detective Bateman.”
“Maybe he’ll confess again. For old times’ sake.”
“As far as Tremont King goes… Well, that’ll be a project and a half right there. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover.”
“I imagine. Has he said anything?”
“Not a word.”
I nodded at that. We both sat there.
“My partner did thank you,” she said.
“He did.”
“It’s a good night, Alex. I hope you know that.”
“I think you’ll have to ask me that tomorrow.”
“Fair enough,” she said. “I’ll call you?”
“Okay.”
We both sat there for a while again, looking at each other. Then I got to my feet. She took me to the elevator and showed me to the main entrance. We said good night. We didn’t touch each other. I was pretty sure we never would again.
My truck had been brought over from the apprehension site, or whatever you would call that place now. The keys were on the front seat. I started it up and drove out of the lot.
I went right to Mrs. King’s house. The place was completely dark. I saw a note taped on the front door. It was for me. An FBI agent had come to tell Mrs. King what had happened. Her sister had come to take her away for a while. She’d call me the next day.
I sat in the truck for a while. Then I drove back down to the main streets and tried to find a bar. They were all closed now. It was after 2:00 a.m.
Eventually, I went back to the motel. I lay on the bed with my clothes on, looking up at the ceiling. After everything that had happened that day, I didn’t even want to sleep. Then I closed my eyes and the day beat me again.
My shoulder hurt like hell the next morning. A souvenir of my little tussle with Darryl King, which should have been more than enough excitement for the night right there.
I got up and took a hot shower. Then I checked out of the motel.
I gave Leon a call to tell him everything that happened. He was just as amazed that an amateur had been able to follow me all day long, which certainly made my morning. When I was done with Leon, I called Tanner Paige. He spent the first minute apologizing. Literally saying, “I’m sorry,” about twelve times in a row.
“I didn’t know he had a gun in the car,” he said, when he finally moved on from the apologizing. “I didn’t know he was going to run right into the middle of everything like that.”
“Sounds like he was pretty lucky,” I said, “but I still don’t get why you guys were-”
“Following you, I know. I know! He was the one following you all over the place, you realize. Then he finally called me last night. I kept telling myself, I was just going along with him to make sure he didn’t get himself killed or something, but I gotta admit, Alex, I guess I was just as curious as he was to see what this guy looked like. If he was really the man who killed Elana.”
“Well, you’ll probably never get a chance to ask him to his face. Not now.”
“I know. I guess it really is time to move on now, too. I never want to live through something like these past few days again.”
“You were released last night, I take it. What about your brother-in-law?”
“Yeah, they held him a little longer. He has a bunch of hearings to go to in the next few days, but he’s home now, at least. I’ll go see him, make sure he’s okay.”
“I was just going to call him.”
“Give him a day,” he said. “I think he’s pretty shaken up. He’ll probably be at his lawyer’s office all day anyway.”
“Okay, fair enough.”
Tanner Paige apologized a few more times. Then he thanked me and wished me a good trip back home.