Page 95 of Daybreak

He nodded. “Even without a deal.”

“Why?” Lavinsky asked.

“If I do the right thing, maybe God will forgive me. I know I’m going to jail and will likely not survive it. But I do not want to go to hell. I’ll testify against Whistler.”

Lavinsky nodded. “Interrogation ends at 4:44 p.m.” Then he and his partner got up and walked out and back up the hall to Whistler.

They walked in and took a seat and started the tape again. Introduced themselves again, noted the time, and then began with more questions.

“Mr. Whistler, charges are being added to your existing one. You are also being charged with the murders of four FBI agents, a federal witness, the murders of Garza and Letourneau, the hit-and-run murder of Dan Helford, also known as Yankee Dan, and collaboration in the attempted murder of Gunner Kingston.”

Whistler felt the blood run out of his face. Son of a bitch. Rowdy gave me up because he knew I couldn’t get to him.

“So, you gave Rowdy a deal to lie about me? How far do you think that will go with a jury?”

“Oh, he isn’t getting a deal. We don’t make deals with killers, or the people who abet them. He has no illusions about his future. He just doesn’t want to go to hell when he dies.”

Whistler blinked. He never saw that coming. “I got nothing more to say. We’re done here.”

“Yes, yes you are. You are so done here, and so are we. We’ll see you in court.”

They walked out, and for the first time in his life, Whistler didn’t have a Plan B.

* * *

Gunner woke just after 5:00 p.m., glanced at the time, and then groaned. “I’m turning into Rip van Winkle.”

He rolled out of bed and headed to the bathroom mirror. The bruise on his jaw was so purple it was almost black, but it didn’t feel as stiff as it had been. The ice packs were helping.

He combed his fingers through his hair, picked up the ice pack on his pillow, and took it to the kitchen to refreeze it. He was kind of hungry, but there was a note from Holly on the counter telling him she’d gone home to pack some clothes and would bring dinner to his house, so he opted for a cold pop and a couple of cookies and headed to the living room with his snack.

He thought about checking his email as he ate but decided to leave it until later and kicked back to watch TV. He was in the act of swallowing the last of his pop when the doorbell rang.

Frankie Adams was on his doorstep, and her money was on the table right beside the door.

“Catch any bad guys today?” he asked as he handed her the envelope.

“No, but they pulled a body out of the fountain in Fair Park. The victim has a hole in his head from an old-fashioned Colt revolver. Everybody seems more excited about the weapon than why the guy was killed. Like always, they’ll calm down and figure it out.”

He handed her the envelope.

She clasped it to her chest, her eyes welling again. “Thank you.”

“I’m glad I could help. If you hustle, you can get it in the bank before they close.”

She nodded. “My plan, exactly. Take care of you, Kingston.”

He waited until she backed out of his drive before he shut the door. Mission accomplished. He turned off the TV and went to the kitchen, took a pain pill, and went back to the bedroom to make the rest of his calls from his bed.

Both Asher and Dylan had responded to tell him the money had come through. He knew his dad was busy at the Tumbleweed and never checked his phone when he was working, and that he rarely checked his bank account. He’d have to call him tonight and remind him.

As he was scrolling through the messages, he noticed a reply from Lane Bowman, one of the hydrogeologists he’d reached out to, and quickly read it, then called the number. After a brief discussion, the date was set.

“My father, Jacob Kingston, will be your contact. The location is a bit south of his home and business. He will give you directions. I made a tower of rocks on the location where I want to build, and I need you to find the nearest water source. If I have to relocate the build site, then I will,” Gunner said.

“Duly noted,” Bowman said. “I’ll be there tomorrow.”

“I’ll let my dad know, and thank you,” Gunner said.