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CHAPTER 36
FLORA
I HAD SEX LAST NIGHT.
It brings a surreal quality to my morning. After so many years of believing I would never be that woman, never have that experience again...
Do I look different?
AmI different?
I’m grateful to partner with Kimberly today. D.D. would study me. She’d know. Kimberly and I don’t have that kind of relationship.
Keith kissed me lightly before departure. Then stood with his forehead pressed against my own, a quiet moment that said even more. No awkward morning after for us. Instead, we’d gone from bedroom to crime scene. I’m not sure how many couples do that, but with Keith, it doesn’t feel extraordinary at all. Just another day in the life.
Now, I try to pull myself together. Maybe I had a sublime night. Maybe I’m even more excited for this evening. But some things haven’t changed. The pile of dead bodies. A town where nothing is as it seems. And now a morning call on a man who probably isn’t right in the head and will be greeting us with a shotgun.
We’d switched vehicles with D.D., giving her the official fed car while we commandeered the rental. Kimberly had taken to heart what I said—Walt isn’t the type of guy who’d take kindly to police on his property. Kimberly had ditched her credentials as well as her sidearm. I don’t believe for a moment, however, that she’s weaponless. I’m guessing ankle holster. Fits well with my knife.
Just two armed, paranoid women paying a visit to an even more paranoid man. What could possibly go wrong?
Walt’s gate at the edge of his property is locked up tight. Kimberly pulls over to the side and we both get out. Given Walt’s propensity for cameras, I already have an easy expression pasted on my face. Kimberly appears faintly bored, wearing a tight-fitting black tee with jeans. She appears wiry and athletic. In a fight, I wouldn’t bet against her.
I walk up to the gate, pick out the camera mounted on the post. I stand right before it, wave, then wait.
A minute passes. Then another. The gate doesn’t magically open, but it’s not that kind of mechanical beast. Walt’s property is an odd mix of new security technology with old buildings and fence lines. He’s going to have to walk down and unfasten the padlock himself. The question is, will he?
Kimberly yawns, stretches. Again, playing the role of my disinterested friend.
We never hear Walt coming, but in an instant he appears on the other side of the metal gate. Both Kimberly and I startle.
For the first time, I see a flicker of unease in Kimberly’s expression. Especially once she takes in Walt’s pump-action shotgun.
“You’re back,” he says.
“I have a few more questions.”
“Got a new friend.”
“This is Kimberly.”
“ATF, FBI, Statie?” He stares at Kimberly. “You ain’t no civilian, that’s for sure.”
Kimberly regards him coolly. “FBI,” she says at last. “But this morning, I’m here for Flora.”
Walt, however, is no dumb bunny. “I’ve seen you before.”
I remember just as Walt connects the dots.
“You were on the TV. You led the raid that killed my boy.”
Kimberly doesn’t say a word.
“You rid the world of a beast,” Walt tells her flatly. Then he works his key in the padlock, and lets us in.
We follow Walt through the woods to his cabin, with its cluttered front porch and age-darkened exterior. He keeps the shotgun loose at his side. I can’t help but stare at it suspiciously. Did Keith and I survive this man once, just so I could deliver up both myself and the federal agent who’d been involved in Jacob’s death the next day?
Walt has a lot of reasons to use that shotgun. Though Kimberly and I are hardly defenseless, his property, his gun, his motives, give him the clear advantage. I straighten my shoulders, force myself to pay attention, focus on every line of his body. If there’s anything I’ve learned over the years, it’s that all predators telegraph their intent right before they attack.
