“Yeah.” Vail gave DeSantos’s shoulder a playful shove. “Thank you.”
He looked at her a long moment, then said, “This case ended up meaning more to me than you could know. If my wife were here, she’d thank you, too.”
Vail tilted her head in confusion but let it go. DeSantos gave her a quick hug, then motioned to Dixon.
“We’ll let you rest,” Dixon said to Robby. “We’re gonna grab something to eat.”
Gifford caught Vail’s attention with a jerk of his head. “Can I have a word with you?”
“Sure—I just need a moment. Roxx,” she called after Dixon. “Hang on a sec.”
Vail walked with Dixon back toward the Bellagio entrance, away from the knot of personnel.
They stopped beside a large conical planter at the edge of the carport. Vail stood there looking at Dixon, not speaking, unsure of what to say.
Finally Dixon broke the silence. “It’s been incredibly . . . exciting. You make things interesting, Karen.”
Vail hiked her eyebrows. “So I’ve been told. Look, I—I can’t tell you what you’ve meant to me these past couple weeks. It sounds trite, but I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.” She leaned forward and gave her partner a warm embrace.
A moment later, they pushed away from each other, both wiping tears from their eyes.
“So let’s not let this be good-bye,” Dixon said. “Okay? Email, phone. Facebook?”
Vail chuckled. “Jonathan’ll have to show me how to set up an account. But, yeah. Of course. And when you make it out to D.C.—”
“Lunch, dinner, whatever. And a tour of the academy.”
Vail’s face broadened into a grin. “It’s a date. And—do me a favor. Thank everyone for me. Brix, Mann, Gordon . . . except, well, Matt Aaron.”
Dixon laughed. “I’m going to miss you, Karen.”
They hugged again, and then Vail walked off to join her boss.
VAIL’S TIRED, SORE LEGS felt heavy as she ascended the gentle incline of the Tarrazza balcony. Gifford was silent until she reached the railing. The police were in the process of clearing the vicinity, though onlookers lined the boulevard along the periphery, outside the barricades.
Gifford leaned both forearms on the concrete balustrade and looked out at the lake. “Karen, nice job with all of this. I—well . . . thank you.”
Vail extended her arms beside him and took in the view of the lake. “Don’t take this the wrong way, sir, but I didn’t do it for you.” She grinned and noticed he had cracked a smile, too.
They stood there another silent moment. Then Gifford said, “You were right. About Robby being my son.”
“I know.”
He turned to Vail. “But I need you to keep that between us.”
Her eyes widened. “Sir, that’s your personal matter. But to ask me to keep it from him, to lie—”
“I’m not asking you to lie. I’m asking you to give me a chance to tell him. I want to do it the right way. It’s not an easy thing to admit to your son you’ve been absent from his life.”
“But you will tell him,” she said.
He looked back out over the water, then nodded. “Yes.”
YARDLEY WAVED A FINGER at Robby’s bandaged shoulder. “When you’re healthy, I’ll make a few calls, get you enrolled at the academy.” He paused, then said, “That is, if you still want to be an elite agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration.”
“I do, sir. Very much.”
Yardley nodded slowly. “Good. We need people like you.” He gave Robby’s uninjured shoulder a pat, then walked off with his entourage.
As Robby watched him leave, he noticed Vail standing beside Gifford thirty yards away, near the edge of the lake.
His discussion with Diego played back in his thoughts. He had killed a man—and he’d done it for revenge. That was something he would have to come to terms with. Was it the right thing to do? No. He could answer that without deep thought. But now, given who he was and what he did for a living—and what he was about to do—who would be served by his paying the price for his past transgressions?
But what gave him the right to serve as judge and jury? How many rehabilitated criminals could say they were devoting their life to catching other violent criminals?
Am I a criminal?
He looked over at the clear IV bag hanging near his head. Too much to consider for now. As Yardley said, he had to get healthy.
“Hey.”
He turned and saw Vail and Gifford heading for him. Will she read my face? My mind? She and Robby often had an idea about what the other was thinking. She’ll know something is bothering me. Can I keep it from her? Lie to her, again?
As they approached, music started blaring from the speakers, followed by the fountain’s jets shooting skyward. He recognized the song: Andrea Bocelli’s “Con Te Partiro.”
Time to say good-bye.
86
Gifford stood a little behind Vail, as if he didn’t want to intrude. “Do you—you have any plans for lunch tomorrow?” Gifford said above the din of the fountain show.
Robby laughed. “I think it’s safe to say my calendar’s pretty clear.”
“Good. Assuming you’re up to it, want to grab a bite with me? Before I head back home?”
“With you, sir? And Karen?”
“No. Just us.”
Robby pursed his lips, glanced at Vail, then said, “Yeah, sure.”
Gifford nodded and then walked off.
Robby extended his bent elbow and Vail took it. She maneuvered the gurney toward the lake so they could watch the rest of the show.
“What was that about? Gifford asking me to lunch.”
Vail kept her gaze on the fountain. “You’ll have to ask him.”
The paramedic called to them from the open rig. “You ready? Gotta transport—”
“Give us a minute,” Vail said. “Till the end of the song.” She turned to Robby and studied his face, then leaned in close. “What’s wrong?”
He did not look at her. He was staring ahead, not following the arcing path of the fountain’s surging jets as they rapidly spread from left to right, across the expanse of the lake.
After a long moment, he said, “Just mentally and physically drained.” He lay there. Music blasted. Water sprayed. But none of it registered, not really.
Vail’s eyes narrowed. “But something’s on your mind.”
Here it was . . . the choice Robby had been dreading. What did it say about a man who can’t be honest with the woman he loves? What kind of relationship would that be?
But this is . . . different. I murdered my uncle’s killer. I hunted him down and shot him. Once that simple sentence left his lips, his life would change forever. Would she be able to overlook the admission? Would I lose her? Would she turn me in?
He bit his upper lip. Don’t say anything. But I have to. Can I face her if I don’t? “I’m sorry,” he started. “I guess I owe you an explanation.”
The music stopped playing and the fountain’s water jets went dry. Vail pulled back her arm and rested both hands on the side of the gurney. “Trust is important to me, Robby. Coming off my failed marriage with Deacon, trust is all I’ve got.”
How could she know? How? Had Diego told her somehow?
Robby rubbed the back of his neck. He didn’t know what to say. “I know. I’d say I’m sorry, but that wouldn’t really mean much. It doesn’t even come close, does it? What’s done is done.”