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“Okay,” he said. “We need to go over this case from square one. No predisposition that Hawkins was good for it. Fresh eyes, wide open.”
“Decker, it’s been over thirteen years.”
“I don’t care if it’s been thirteen hundred years, Mary,” he snapped. “We need to make this right.”
She studied him for a long moment. “You’re never going to get over it, are you?”
“Don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yes you do.”
Decker stared at her moodily. “I need you one hundred percent on this.”
“Okay, Decker, but please keep in mind that I’ve got a slew of other cases to work on, not just Hawkins’s murder.”
Decker scowled. “This has to be your priority, Mary. If the guy really didn’t do it, we screwed his life up, sent him to prison where it looks like he was raped, and then let somebody murder him.”
“We didn’tletanyone murder him,” she retorted.
“We might as well have,” Decker shot back.
“Problem?”
They both looked over at Jamison standing in the doorway.
Lancaster finally drew her gaze from Decker. “Just two former partners having a discussion.” She turned back to Decker. “I’m sorry, Amos. I will work this case as much as I can with you. But my plate is pretty damn full.”
“What about your saying it was good working together, like old times?”
“We don’t live in old times. We live in the present.” She paused and added, “At least I do, because I don’t have a choice.”
Decker gazed at her stonily.
Jamison said, “Decker, have you heard back from Bogart?”
“He still hasn’t called you?”
“No. But he’s good with us staying here and working on the case?”
“No, he’s not. So you better pack up and head back to D.C.”
“When did you hear that?”
Decker didn’t answer.
“Decker?”
“A while back.”
“And you didn’t think to mention it?”
“I’m mentioning it now. I’ll see you back in D.C. at some point.”
“But you mean you’re staying? Decker, you can’t.”
“Watch me.”
He stalked out.
Jamison looked down at Lancaster, who sat in the chair still slowly chewing her gum.
“What the hell is going on with him?” Jamison said. “If he disobeys orders he’s going to blow up his careerat the Bureau.”
Lancaster stood. “Amos Decker has always had priorities. But his ‘career’ has never been one of them.”
“I know, he just wants to find the truth. He always says that.”
Lancaster glanced toward the door. “I actually think he just wants to find some peace. And all of this”—she paused and looked around the room—“all this is just how he survives with more guilt on his shoulders than any person has a right to bear. And what happened to Meryl Hawkins just added a shitload more, because he obviously blames himself for what happened. It’s just how he’s wired. God, I wishI’d never told Hawkins where Decker was.” She touched Jamison on the shoulder. “It was good to see you, Alex.”
Lancaster followed Decker out, leaving Jamison alone.
