The only way there was closure was to wipe him off the face of the Earth.
I withdrew my gun and aimed it at him. “Where’s your department weapon?”
He hesitated, then gestured toward the other end of the house. “Nightstand. Bedroom.”
I nodded. “We’re going to go get it. I’ll be behind you. Everything slow. Don’t turn around.”
He hesitated again, like he was thinking about disagreeing with that. Then he nodded, turned and headed toward the bedroom.
I followed him, my gun aimed at the middle of his spine.
He stopped short of a polished black nightstand. “Now?”
“Open the drawer,” I said. “Don’t reach for anything until I tell you.”
He bent and pulled the drawer open. I peered around him. I saw the weapon and the ammo.
“Pull one bullet,” I said. “Leave the gun.”
He reached in and picked up one bullet.
“Now the gun,” I said.
He picked up the gun, his index finger in the trigger guard so it was hanging upside down.
“Load it,” I said. “Slowly. Pointed away from you.”
He did as told and I saw the bullet go into the chamber, heard it lock in place.
“On your knees,” I said. “Gun pointed down at the floor.”
He knelt down and kept the barrel in his right hand pointed at the floor.
“Now, turn around,” I said, holding the gun steady on the back of his head. “Slow. Barrel down.”
He pivoted slowly on his knees until he was facing me. There was no fear in his face, no resignation. It was just blank.
“How’d you get her in the car?” I asked, centering the barrel of my gun right between his eyes.
He stared at me, not in any way unnerved by being on the wrong end of gun. He blinked several times, but otherwise he was rock still.
“I told her I had a Christmas present for you,” he said. “I asked her if she’d come help me get it out of the backseat.”
The knot in my gut developed razor-like edges and pain surged through my stomach at the mental image. It was the same story Elizabeth told me. She had remembered. My gut was right. It had been someone she’d known, not just someone dressed up like a cop. And it made sense now as to why he hadn’t shown up at my home after Elizabeth had returned. He’d only come when I was alone. He’d stayed away from her, probably worried that, even with the memory loss, his face or voice might trigger something in her and it would all come flooding back.
“She cry?” I asked. The words were thick and heavy in my throat.
“I gave her something to take the edge off,” he said, shaking his head. “As far as she knew, she just fell asleep.”
The gun felt heavy in my hand, my finger heavy on the trigger.
“I’m sorry, Joe,” he said. “I really am.”
“Put the gun to your head,” I said, my throat dry. “Barrel on your temple.”
Bazer shook his head, a sad look settling on his face. “I’m not going to do that, Joe. You know that.”
“Do it,” I said. “It’s your only choice. Because I’m not taking you in.”
He blinked again. “I’m not going to put it to my head, Joe.” A slow, weird smile crept onto his face. “But there’s always another choice, isn’t there?”
“If the gun goes anywhere but to your head, I’ll pull the trigger,” I said.
He recognized the truth in my words. “I know that, Joe. I know that.”
It stayed quiet for a moment, the silence hammering my eardrums, my heartbeat thrumming through my chest and up into my throat.
“You have everything you need?” Bazer asked. “Before we do this?”
I was never going to have everything I needed. I’d lost a decade with Elizabeth. I’d never fully understand why Bazer chose her. I’d never understand the evil that could force a person to steal a child.
But I knew what he meant.
“Yeah,” I said. “I’ve got what I need.”
Bazer nodded slowly, his eyes looking almost sleepy. “I’m sorry, Joe.”
“Go to Hell.”
His right arm suddenly sprang forward and I didn’t think, just reacted, firing before he got the gun more than two inches off the floor. He slumped backward, the gun falling to the floor, his head hitting the nightstand before his body slid down to the carpeting.
The shot rang in my ears for a long time and the gun felt like an anvil in my hand. My arm fell to my side.
I stared at Bazer on the ground.
There was no joy. There was no relief. There was nothing good in seeing him lying there.
But he couldn’t hurt Elizabeth or Lauren or myself ever again.
And there was something in that.
FORTY TWO
I walked outside and the car I’d seen earlier was now parked behind mine on the street.
I walked over to it.
Mike Lorenzo was sitting behind the wheel, his window down.
The second call I’d made on the way back from Brawley had been to him. I’d told him what I’d learned, what I was planning to do, that I was going to confront Bazer and I wasn’t sure what the outcome was going to be. I told him that I wanted him to listen to what went on through my phone, which was why I’d tapped the phone and dialed him from Bazer’s front porch. He never voiced an objection and when he didn’t stop me before I went, I took it that he was implicitly implying that he was good with what I was doing.
“You heard it all?” I asked.
He nodded.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket. “It’s recorded, too.”
He waved the phone away. “I recorded it on my end, but we don’t want to use that anyway. It’ll bring up too many questions that will be too hard for you to explain.” He exhaled. “Okay. I need to call it in. You ready for that?”
I nodded.
“Should be fine,” Mike said, leaning back in the seat. “I heard it live. I can vouch. I’ll say I came in at the end and saw it. He confessed. I’ll tie it together. Was self-defense.” He paused. “Am I gonna find Farvar to confirm his part?”
“The lady in Phoenix is named Janine Bandencoop,” I said, not answering the question. “She’s the one who sold Elizabeth to the Corzines in Minnesota. I can get you an address, but I guarantee she’s not there anymore.”
He stared at me, chewed on his bottom lip. “Farvar’s place clean?”
I shrugged.
Mike’s mouth twisted into something ugly for a moment. “Alright. I’ll cover Farvar. We can leave his name out of it, anyway. If I gotta bring it in, I know a guy out there.” He paused. “It’ll be okay.”
I didn’t say anything.
“I’m gonna have to call Blundell, too,” he said.
“I know,” I said. “I’m ready.”
He nodded, staring at the steering wheel. “This is good, Joe. Good for Elizabeth. She’s safe now. It’s completely over.” He looked up at me. “That’s a good thing.”
“I’m sorry, Mike,” I said, knowing that I’d permanently damaged our friendship. “I just didn’t know. I got all fucked up. And I just didn’t know. About anyone. If it’s worth anything, Bazer fed me a couple of lies about you, just to throw me off. You heard him say it in there. But I know that doesn’t fix things.” I grimaced. “So I’m truly sorry.”
He turned his phone over in his hands a couple of times, his eyes focused on that. Finally, he looked at me, his eyes empty, and I couldn’t read him.
“I’m gonna call it in,” he said.
FORTY THREE
My knee was bouncing up and down as I sat in the airport, glancing at the screen that flashed all of the incoming flights.
Elizabeth and Lauren would be landing in five minutes.
I hadn’t slept. I’d stayed at Bazer’s house for several hours, answering questions, repeating my story over and over. I’d gone to confront Bazer. I’d called Mike, but hadn’t waited for him to get there. Bazer had pulled the gun out. I’d shot him in self-defense.
Blundell showed up and clearly didn’t believe a word I’d said. She’d come at me hard with a bunch of questions, asking them in different ways.