Chapter 6 - THE FRIEND WHO BURIED MY WIFEDaniel Cross called me twelve minutes later.
I answered on Mercer's phone.
"Marcus."
His voice sounded tired.
Almost paternal.
That made me hate him more.
"Let Tessa go."
"Bring Avery."
"No."
"Then your friend dies."
"You've already killed one woman I loved."
Silence.
He didn't deny it.
That mattered.
"Rachel made choices," he said.
There are moments when rage becomes so powerful that it turns quiet.
That was one.
"Say that again."
"Don't do this."
"Say her name again."
"Marcus—"
"You stood beside her coffin."
His voice softened.
"I was there for you."
"You killed her."
"I didn't touch Rachel."
"You ordered it."
Another pause.
"We need to talk."
"We're talking."
"Not on the phone."
"Why? Worried someone might record you?"
That landed.
"Midnight," he said. "Riverside."
"Tessa first."
"No."
"Avery doesn't come until I see Tessa walk out."
"You're not negotiating."
"I've spent my adult life negotiating with men who thought they had all the leverage. You know what separates them from the smart ones?"
"What?"
"The smart ones realize when leverage can bleed."
He breathed slowly.
"Careful."
"No. You be careful."
I disconnected.
Avery stood across the motel room.
"You aren't giving me to him."
"No."
"Good."
"Because you're not going anywhere near that diner."
She folded her arms.
"Also no."
"Avery."
"If Tessa's there because of us, I'm coming."
"You're not bait."
"Then stop treating me like helpless cargo."
I stared at her.
Every argument with Rachel returned in miniature.
Mercer interrupted.
"We may have another option."
"What?"
"State Bureau of Investigation."
Thomas laughed.
"You think Cross hasn't touched them?"
"Not everybody."
"Who?"
"Special Agent Lena Ortiz."
The name was familiar.
Ortiz had led an anti-corruption investigation in another county three years earlier.
Two sheriffs went to prison.
Mercer continued.
"I contacted her anonymously six months ago."
My head snapped toward him.
"You've been informing?"
"Trying."
"What happened?"
"I got scared."
"Convenient."
"I have a wife."
"So did I."
Mercer absorbed that.
"I know."
"Call Ortiz."
He did.
No answer.
Voice mail.
I shook my head.
"We proceed without expecting rescue."
Thomas spread a county map over the table.
Riverside sat at the edge of downtown beside an old freight alley.
Three entrances.
Kitchen.
Front.
Delivery door.
Roof access through the neighboring pharmacy.
Avery said, "There are cameras."
"Cross will control them."
"Not all of them."
She pointed at the map.
"The diner has an old baby monitor camera Mrs. Alvarez installed over the register after someone stole lottery tickets. It isn't connected to the main system."
"Where does it record?"
"Her apartment upstairs."
Mrs. Alvarez lived above the diner.
That changed everything.
"If she still has it running," I said.
"She does. She checked it after Barrett searched me."
We needed evidence.
Not vengeance.
Rachel's video proved threats and financial misconduct, but it might not prove murder strongly enough.
Daniel had spent fourteen years shaping records.
What we needed was a confession.
And Cross believed I was desperate enough to walk into his trap.
For once, that arrogance could help us.
At 10:15 p.m., Mercer finally reached Agent Ortiz.
Her first words were:
"Where the hell have you been?"
Mercer gave her the short version.
Corruption.
Rachel.
Barrett.
Kidnapping.
Cross.
Ortiz went silent.
Then:
"Do not go to Riverside."
I took the phone.
"They have Tessa."
"Mr. Hale, I know who you are."
"Then you know I'm going."
"I also know Cross has connections."
"Correct."
"If you walk into that diner and something happens, he'll call it self-defense."
"Then make sure something doesn't happen."
"I need time."
"You have ninety minutes."
"That's not enough."
"It's what we've got."
We arranged a handoff point for the copied evidence.
Thomas took one drive.
Mercer took another.
Avery kept the original.
Nobody carried everything.
At 11:42, I approached Riverside alone.
Or apparently alone.
I wore no firearm.
That was deliberate.
Daniel would expect one.
Avery and Thomas were in Mrs. Alvarez's apartment across the alley, watching the hidden feed.
Mercer waited four blocks away for Ortiz.
I entered the diner.
Lights dim.
Chairs stacked.
Tessa sat in a booth.
Alive.
Hands bound.
Cole Barrett stood behind her.
Daniel sat at the counter.
A cup of coffee in front of him.
He smiled.
"You always were punctual."
I looked at Tessa.
"You okay?"
She nodded.
Barrett slapped the back of her chair.
"Don't talk."
I looked at him.
"If you touch her again, I will remember."
He laughed.
Daniel raised a hand.
"Cole."
Barrett stopped.
Interesting.
Daniel still controlled him.
"Where's Avery?" Daniel asked.
"Safe."
His jaw moved.
"Where's the card?"
"Safe."
"This only works if you cooperate."
"No. This works if you talk."
He laughed softly.
"Still interrogating people."
"Old habits."
"Sit down."
I did.
Daniel pushed coffee toward me.
I didn't touch it.
For a few seconds we simply looked at one another.
Thirty-three years.
Football games.
Deployments.
Weddings.
Funerals.
My daughter's birthdays.
All sitting between us.
"Why?" I asked.
Daniel looked toward the dark windows.
"It didn't start the way you think."
"That's what guilty men always say."
"I was twenty-seven and broke."
"So you sold information."
"At first I moved seized money."
"Then?"
"Then people realized I could access things."
"You could access me."
His eyes returned to mine.
"I never sold classified information from you."
"You sold enough."
"It wasn't supposed to hurt anyone."
"Tell Rachel that."
His face tightened.
"I loved Rachel."
I stood so fast the stool hit the floor.
Barrett drew his gun.
Tessa gasped.
Daniel didn't move.
I looked at him.
"Don't ever say that."
Daniel's eyes glistened.
"I did."
"You murdered her."
"I tried to stop it."
That was the first crack.
I sat back down.
"Stop what?"
He realized.
Too late.
"You didn't touch her," I said. "You keep saying that because someone else did."
Daniel said nothing.
"Frank Barrett."
Cole's face changed.
Daniel glanced at him.
That glance told me enough.
Cole stepped forward.
"My father wasn't a killer."
I ignored him.
"Daniel. Did you tell Frank to follow her?"
Silence.
"Did you tell him to stop Rachel from reaching me?"
Daniel's control began slipping.
"I told him to get the files."
"Did you know he'd run her off the road?"
"No."
"Did he?"
Barrett shouted, "Shut up!"
Daniel slammed his palm on the counter.
"Enough, Cole!"
The diner went still.
Perfect.
Somewhere upstairs, the hidden camera recorded every second.
Daniel rubbed his face.
"Frank was supposed to scare her."
"Into what?"
"Pulling over."
"And when she didn't?"
Daniel looked away.
"She panicked."
"No. She was hunted."
"Marcus—"
"Say what happened."
"I wasn't there."
"But Frank called you."
His eyes snapped toward me.
Thomas had never told me that.
I guessed.
Daniel's reaction confirmed it.
"He called you after the crash."
Daniel's face drained.
"What did he say?"
Barrett moved toward me.
Daniel said, "Stop."
Cole stopped.
"What did Frank say, Daniel?"
Daniel stared at me.
Finally:
"He said she'd gone over the guardrail."
"And?"
"That she was still alive."
My entire body went numb.
Tessa closed her eyes.
I almost couldn't speak.
"Still alive?"
Daniel whispered, "Yes."
"What did you tell him?"
"Marcus."
"What did you tell him?"
Daniel stood.
"I said call an ambulance."
Barrett laughed.
A bitter, ugly sound.
Daniel turned.
"What?"
Cole shook his head.
"You're pathetic."
"Cole."
"My father told me what happened."
Daniel went pale.
Cole continued.
"You didn't tell him to call an ambulance."
My heart stopped.
Daniel stared at him.
"Shut your mouth."
"You told him to finish it."
Tessa gasped.
I couldn't move.
Cole smiled at Daniel.
"You spent years pretending my dad was the monster."
"Stop."
"He was."
"STOP!"
"But he wasn't alone."
Daniel lunged.
Barrett raised the pistol.
Everything happened at once.
Tessa threw herself sideways.
I flipped the counter stool.
A gunshot exploded.
Glass shattered.
Daniel hit the floor.
I drove into Barrett before he could fire again.
We slammed against a table.
The pistol skidded underneath a booth.
Barrett punched me.
I hit him back.
Hard.
He fell against the counter.
The kitchen door burst open.
Two armed men entered.
Daniel shouted:
"Kill him!"
Then every light in the diner went out.
Avery.
The breaker box was upstairs.
Emergency lights flickered red.
I heard Tessa moving.
Barrett cursed.
Another gunshot.
Then sirens.
Not local.
Many.
Agent Ortiz.
The front windows flashed blue and white.
A voice boomed through a loudspeaker.
"FEDERAL TASK FORCE! DROP YOUR WEAPONS!"
Daniel stared at me through red emergency light.
For the first time in thirty-three years, my best friend looked afraid of me.
Then he smiled.
"You think you won?"
I looked toward the entrance.
"No."
He leaned close.
"Rachel's real evidence isn't in the diner."
"I know."
The smile disappeared.
I whispered:
"It's in Blackbird."
Daniel's face told me I had finally found the one secret he was truly afraid of.
And then he said:
"You'll never reach it."
Because while we had been talking, Bellweather County dispatch had received a fire alarm.
May you like
At Rachel's mother's farmhouse.
The house where Blackbird had been hidden for fourteen years.
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