The Guilty by David Baldacci
“Aubrey Davis is still goin’ to try the case against me, unless we can deliver him definitive proof that someone else was responsible.”
“I would have expected nothing less from him.”
“Talk to me more about this serial killer.”
Robie and Reel took turns filling him in on what Wurtzburger had told them.
Dan rubbed his jaw. “You know it seems a little convenient that a serial killer would just happen along and kill three people who had, by their actions, given other people motivation to murder them.”
“Sort of what we’d been thinking, too,” said Reel.
“How do you explain away the forensic evidence against you at the crime scene?” asked Robie.
“Planted.”
“Then I doubt it was our roaming serial killer who’s responsible. Why would he want to frame you?”
“He wouldn’t,” said Dan. “No reason to. Which is why I think your FBI buddy is barkin’ up the wrong tree here.”
“Which gets us back to question one. Who killed them?”
“If it’s just one person,” said Reel. “Clancy and Janet Chisum, maybe the same person. But it might be that a second party killed Sara Chisum.”
“It could be,” agreed Dan slowly. “But then it gets really complicated. Maybe too complicated. In my legal experience most murders are pretty straightforward and the person responsible readily apparent.”
“Why didn’t you stay in jail?” asked Robie. “Safer in there for you.”
“Yeah, that’s what someone would say who hasn’t been in a jail cell. It’s not a lot of fun. Besides, I would rather be out here protectin’ my family in case there is some nutjob out there gunnin’ for me.”
“That’s why we’re here.”
“Even so. They’re my responsibility.” He paused. “I know all of this has been a surprise for you. My bein’ married. And havin’ a young son. I hope you and Victoria have been gettin’ along okay. I could understand if there’s some friction there.”
“It’s been fine,” said Robie. “She’s very nice. And I know she loves you very much. And she’s a great mother to Tyler.”
“Yes she is. I’m a very lucky man. Never thought I’d have a second shot like this at happiness.” He grinned like a schoolkid.
Reel said, “Dan, you still haven’t answered one big question for us.”
Dan settled his gaze on her. “Let me guess. Was I or was I not drivin’ the Range Rover that night?”
“You get an A plus. Now an answer would be even better.”
“The fact is, I don’t remember,” said Dan.
Robie and Reel exchanged a glance.
“And you don’t believe me?” said Dan.
Robie answered. “Doesn’t matter if we don’t. And by the way, we don’t. It’ll only matter to the jury. And no one sitting on it will believe that you can’t remember whether you were in the Range Rover that night or not.”
“Are you protecting someone?” asked Reel.
Dan looked at her sharply. “Like who?”
“I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking. We know that Victoria, Tyler, and Priscilla were out of town. So who else might be deserving of you falling on your sword?”
“Nobody, because I’m not protectin’ anyone. Maybe I was out that night. Or maybe the two witnesses didn’t see what they thought they saw. I’m not the only one who drives a Range Rover in Cantrell. Clancy had one, too.”
“Damn,” muttered Robie. He stood abruptly.
So did Reel.
They headed out together.
Dan called after them. “Where the hell are y’all goin’?”
Neither one answered him.
Chapter
59
THE STENCH OF the burned house was still thick in the night air.
They approached Clancy’s destroyed mansion from the front, after having left their car on the other side of the road.
Robie and Reel slipped through the partially opened gates and headed up the walk.
He said, “I don’t know why I didn’t put two and two together before.”
“Range Rovers. How close is this one to your dad’s?”
“Pretty close, if I’m remembering correctly. I only saw it once when I was here the first time.”
They had eaten dinner late, and the time it had taken to drive here meant that it was nearly dark. The low hum of insects, the slithery movements of creatures in the nearby woods, the occasional bark of a fox, and the sounds of something large plopping in the not-too-distant water were their companions as they made their way to the garage.
When they reached it and went inside, Reel said, “So that’s the Bentley where he died?”
Robie nodded. “And there’s the Range Rover.”
They both headed to the rear of the SUV.
Robie had illuminated their path with a flashlight he had brought. The lights in the garage, they had found, were not working.
“There it is,” Reel said, pointing to the hole.
Robie knelt down and examined it more closely.
“Looks like a pistol round all right. And it’s not that old. No rust.”
“So this is the vehicle that was fleeing the scene where Sara Chisum died.”
Using his jacket so as not to mess up any latent prints Robie opened the rear hatch of the Rover and noted the exit hole on the inside of the door.
“My round went through. Let’s see if we can find it.”
They searched for half an hour, being as careful as possible not to disturb any forensics.
But there was no slug.
“That means whoever was driving this knew I’d hit the Rover and when he got back here he searched the back and found the round.”
“But didn’t bother to hide the site of the entry,” noted Reel.
Robie closed the rear hatch door and nodded. “Well, you’d have to take it in to a body shop. And then they might alert the police.”
“So stick it in here and hope nobody notices?”
“Probably,” said Robie.
“Next question. Who was driving it? Because that person murdered Sara Chisum.”
“Pete?” Robie looked around, as though the youngest Clancy would somehow walk into the garage.
“If so, why?”
Robie said, “He found out she knew about the folks his father was blackmailing. Maybe she was blackmailing him. Or wanted a piece of the action. He gets pissed, drives out in the Rover, and kills her.”
‘That’s one theory,” said Reel, not sounding convinced. “Although he said he didn’t like guns.”
“And you believed that?”
“Not necessarily, no.”
“What then?”
“We still don’t know who your father is protecting. And I doubt it’s Pete Clancy.”
Robie said, “We’ll have to let Sheriff Monda know about the bullet hole. It’s material evidence in a murder investigation.”
“Right. We’ll see if the guy can manage to investigate this without getting his panties in a wad. But Pete doesn’t have any money, so maybe the good sheriff won’t get scared off like he did with the Wendells.”
Robie walked over to the Bentley and peered inside.
Reel joined him, looking over his shoulder. “Your dad’s prints, hair, and a boot mark in the mud next to the vehicle?”
“Yes.”
“Prints are problematic. It’s not nearly as easy to plant them as TV and the movies make it out to be.”
“He could have been in Clancy’s car before.”
“But they weren’t friends.”
“But I don’t think they were enemies either, up until what happened with Victoria.”
“Did Victoria ever tell you what all that was about? Her and Clancy?”
Robie took a minute to fill her in on what Victoria had told him earlier.
“Well, I guess I can understand that. The lesser of two evils. She didn’t want your father to know about her past. So she caved in t
“Yeah, well it cost him in the end.”
Reel tapped the top of the Bentley. “Do you really think Pete killed Sara?”
“Anyone could have taken the Range Rover. The garage door is off its roller. Keys were probably hanging on a hook in the kitchen or maybe kept in the garage somewhere. But no, Pete doesn’t strike me as smart or methodical enough to have done this. Slit his father’s throat? Gunned down two young women? Framed my father? Sold us a bill of goods? Hell, he couldn’t even blackmail Wendell without nearly getting killed. Then he runs like a scared kid only to come back with his tail between his legs begging for protection. If he is behind it, the guy is one lucky SOB.”
“And he might be.”
“Or he might be innocent and clueless,” commented Robie.
“Well, he’s sitting in a jail cell right now. Why don’t we go ask him?”
“And you think he’ll tell us the truth?” Robie said skeptically.
“Depends on how we ask him.”
They left the garage and walked toward the main house, which was now merely a jumble of caved-in walls and a partially collapsed roof.
“The bigger they are the harder they fall,” noted Reel. “It’s why I never wanted to be rich. Too much shit to take care of. Eventually, what does it matter anyway, right?”
“Meaning you can’t take it with you?”
“No, meaning you get old and someone, usually your family, is trying to take it away from you while you’re still breathing. Not how I want to spend my golden years.”
“There you go again, talking about retirement.”
Reel shot him a glance. “Why not? You think we’re going to be doing this forever?”
“I can say definitively no, at least I’m not.”
“And you never know, we might be replaced by drones.”
“Not even assassins can stand in the way of technology,” said Robie sardonically.
“So retirement then?”
“Or an early grave.”
“You need to think more positively, Robie.”
“Ask me that again when I’m out of Mississippi.”
His phone buzzed.
He pulled it out and looked at the screen.
“Don’t recognize the number.”
“Better answer it.”
Robie did so.
Bobby Wendell sounded frantic. “Mr. Robie, we have a problem.”
“What sort of problem?” said Robie warily.
“Well, it’s more your problem right now than mine.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The men that I may or may not have hired to resolve that issue?”
“What about them?”
“They are pissed about what you and your colleague did. And they have called in reinforcements, more badass than they are, apparently. And they are on their way to do something about it.”
“Who are they?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then how do you know they’re coming for us?”
“I got a call from someone, a friend. He’s in the loop. He told me. This group thought the job would be easy. Put the screws to Pete. But then you showed up and wreaked havoc. They want their pound of flesh, Mr. Robie. And you and your friend are it. And then they might come after me. Which is why I’m flying my family out of the country right now.”
“Where are they now, do you know?”
Reel tapped Robie’s shoulder and pointed ahead.
“They’re here,” she said quietly.
Chapter
60
REEL HAD SPOTTED the headlights of two vehicles driving in through the gates.
The SUVs were moving fast, and their drivers obviously didn’t care who heard them approach. They stopped next to the house.
Both Robie and Reel drew their weapons and slipped back inside the garage.
He had his nine-mill plus his blade.
She had her pistol and an ankle backup. And her garrote wire up her sleeve.
Robie tapped the number on his phone.
Taggert answered on the second ring.
He explained the situation to her.
“I’ll get there fast as I can with as much firepower as I can,” she said tersely. Then the line went dead.
“They’re coming,” said Reel.
Robie put the phone away as car doors started opening.
Reel looked around the garage and then her gaze fixed on the open door.
“Huge hole in our defense. If they swarm that and then hit us from the rear, we’re in a pincer we can’t get out of.” She lightly tapped one of the wooden walls. “Or they can just open fire right through this until they hit us.”
He nodded, agreeing with her assessment. “Then let’s extract ourselves,” he said.
Robie looked at the Bentley and then the Range Rover. The Rover was only a couple years old, he estimated. Much harder to hot-wire. All electronic. The Bentley, on the other hand, was vintage.
He climbed into the driver’s seat as footsteps marched toward the garage. They obviously knew exactly where the pair was.
“Cover us,” Robie said, as he ducked under the steering column and started fiddling with the wires.
Reel stepped to the edge of the open garage door. Her breath relaxed, her weapon was held in the same way she had always held it. It was more an extension of her hand than a mere gun. She listened intently, trying to discern what the opposition was doing.
She looked over at Robie. As soon as the car started up, the forces outside would charge. That was a given. She stopped when she heard the voice.
“We know you’re in there. The place is surrounded. You can’t get away. Give up now, you get it fast. If you don’t, you get it slow.”
Robie continued to work away.
Meanwhile, Reel thought about a possible opportunity.
She slipped over to Robie, told him what she was thinking.
He nodded, handed her his gun, and said, “Do it.”
She left him and went to the spot, a narrow sliver behind some junk that provided a clear view of the outside through the open door.