A blinding wave of anger swept over him. A tsunami urging him to squeeze that trigger. His finger began to tighten. Then, like a storm moving toward the horizon, his anger dissipated, leaving almost a feeling of peace in its wake. The faces of Joe and Alena passed before his eyes. For the first time, he realized he was no longer alone. That life offered more than revenge. Life-with all its aches and pains, disappointments and injustices-also offered a glimmer of hope. Killing this man, right now, might erase any chance Gerrit had of moving forward. Of freeing himself from the past. He relaxed his finger.
“Take your gun out, butt first. Left hand, two fingers, and slowly lower it to the floor.”
Cromwell studied him, probably debating whether to make a move. Slowly, the lieutenant reached over to his right side, unfastened the weapon, and followed Gerrit’s orders.
Cromwell straightened, hands raised in the air.
“Now, your backup. Slowly, drop it on the floor.”
The man raised his pant leg, revealing the holstered weapon strapped to his right leg. The lieutenant carefully withdrew the weapon and placed it near the other weapon.
“Now, take a seat. We need to talk.” Gerrit motioned with his gun toward the chair opposite him.
Settling in, Cromwell stared back. “What now, Gerrit? You gonna shoot me?”
“I’d like nothing better than to end your miserable life. But I’ve made a promise. And I intend to keep it.”
Cromwell smirked. “Better be careful what you promise, boy.”
“You promised to uphold the law. To protect and serve. But you turned out to be a man without honor, Cromwell.”
The lieutenant shrugged. “Spare me the platitudes. Look what it got you. Running and hiding for the rest of your life. If you just listened to Kane, you could have had it all. And now?”
“Now you’re going on trial for murder that carries the death penalty.”
An incredulous look crossed Cromwell’s face. “You think all this will get to trial? People with too much to lose will stop you in your tracks. You and me are dead men walking. And they’ll go about their business as if none of this happened.”
“Did you trigger the bomb or have someone else do the dirty work?”
Cromwell frowned at him for a moment. “You mean your folks?” He shook his head, his lips pressed together tight. “Man, that was a tough call. I’m sorry, O’Rourke. Nothing personal. I didn’t even know them-or you-at the time.”
“Doesn’t matter whether you knew them or not. You blew them up. For what? Money? Power? To change the world? What kind of excuse did you come up with?”
Cromwell looked at the ground, then raised his head, staring directly at Gerrit. “It was simply business. I got hooked up with some very powerful people. Big enough that they can make your life either really good or really bad. I learned very quickly that you never turn these folks down. Not if you want to keep breathing.”
“And Mark and Marilynn? Are they your handiwork, too?”
“No. Kane farmed that out to others. You were the only one I was responsible to take out.”
“And my parents. So all these years, you were checking up on me, making sure I never got close to the truth.”
Cromwell shook his head, laughing. “I told Kane you’d be trouble. I knew you would never give up. I told him I should just put you in the ground, but he wanted to wait, to see if you might be recruited. He didn’t want to raise any more flags after the death of your folks and the disappearance of your uncle. One more death in the family-particularly a military hero and cop to boot-would be too much for the feds to ignore.”
“What crossed your mind when you triggered that bomb? When you thought you’d killed me?”
Cromwell just shrugged. Then a steely look crept into his eyes. “Like I said, it was just business, Gerrit. Nothing personal. You just got in the way.”
Gerrit rose from the chair. “So how did you think this would end up?”
Smirking, the lieutenant cocked his head to one side. “I’m just a soldier, Gerrit. Just like you. I don’t give a flying leap where this all leads. It was just a good move on my part-until now.” He eyed the gun pointed at his chest. “So, you are going to turn me in?”
“Since I promised not to shoot you-” Gerrit’s cell phone vibrated. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled it out. Willy sent a text message. Gerrit tapped the screen until the message emerged.
GET OUT NOW! BOMB!
Gerrit hesitated for a moment, then raced across the room and scooped up Cromwell’s weapons. “We have to get out of here right now.”
The lieutenant folded his arms across his chest. “I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what’s going on.”
“No time. Move now!”
Cromwell shook his head. “I run out there and someone shoots me. No thanks.”
Gerrit dashed toward the door. “Suit yourself. There’s a bomb about to make matchsticks out of your house. I’m history.” He flung the door open and raced down the walkway.
He reached the sidewalk a moment before the ground shook. A blast hit him like a giant fist, flinging him into the street with one blow. The concussion from the blast swept past. His ears felt like he’d just dived hundreds of yards underwater as the pressure threatened to snatch his hearing forever.
He almost blacked out. Dazed, he felt hands lifting him from the ground. Looking up, he saw Alena, her arms under him as she tried to raise him up. The ringing in his ears kept out all other noise. He knew she was talking to him, but he couldn’t hear.
Alena looked around frantically. Her lips moved as if she might be yelling or screaming. It finally registered.
I am deaf.
Chapter 69
The first thing Gerrit saw when he awoke again in the hospital was Alena’s soft brown eyes. It seemed like only minutes since he’d closed his own eyes after doctors got through poking and prodding, writing out terms like perforated eardrum and back to normal in months. Sound began to return, slowly and steadily. Once he knew his hearing would return, he laid back and drifted off to sleep.
Now, afternoon light filtered through a stand of fir trees outside the hospital window. Alena’s concerned look softened and a smile brightened her face. “You’ve got to stop this, Gerrit. What is it with you and bombs?”
A shadow fell across them. Jack Thompson leaned over. “Yeah, boy. You really scrambled your brains this time. At least what brains you had left.” Beyond the colonel, Willy and Beck Malloy hovered.
Gerrit looked from one face to the other. “What happened? All I remember is Cromwell’s house blowing up.”
Beck edged closer to the bed. “We sent a forensic team in there, along with ATF. The house was rigged to blow before you or Cromwell ever got there. Someone used a cell phone to trigger it. I guess they thought you and Cromwell would be caught inside when it blew.”
“You think they were targeting me, too?”
The FBI agent shrugged. “Who knows? They definitely wanted to take out Cromwell. Guess they thought he had become too much of a liability. When you came along, they probably thought you’d be a bonus. One less thing to worry about later.”
Gerrit looked over at Willy, still clutching his laptop. “How did you know they were going to blow it up?”
Willy cocked his head to one side. “Your lieutenant was a security freak. Had a surveillance-camera system set up around the place. Once you went into Cromwell’s house to wait for him, I got bored and hacked into his system just for the heck of it. It was set up on a wireless system, easy as pie to break. Played back the security tapes for the last twenty-four hours and watched them rig the place with explosives. Cromwell failed to check them himself.”
“You saved my life, Willy.” Gerrit held out his hand in gratitude. “Think you can work some magic on those keys and tell us who is behind this?”