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Purdy eyed him. “I was just a grunt. All I ever would be. But I had brains and ambition. Which led me to this point. The risks I took. All the work. For nothing.” In his anger, he tightened his grip on Jamison, causing her to cry out in pain.
“Ticking time bomb?” said Decker. “You mentioned that to a guy in the bar. That’s how we got on to you. Only back then we thought you were a good guy.”
Purdy grimaced. “I had just found out all the stuff and hadn’t decided what to do about it yet. And I was drunk at the time. Finding out that you’re sitting on a possible Armageddon will cause you to drink. I regretted it the moment I said it, but I didn’t even remember who I said it to.”
Decker said, “With your smarts you could have gone to Silicon Valley and made a lot more than Uncle Sam was paying you.”
“They couldn’t pay me what these guys were, not if I busted my ass for a million years. I could have made theForbeslist. I’m not kidding.”
“And whowaspaying you?” asked Robie.
“People that even if you knew who they were you couldn’t touch.”
“Why’s that?”
Purdy grinned. “Because they’re valuable and trusted allies of ours, that’s why. We’d never expose them for what they really are. Don’t you read the newspapers? We’re suckers. We know they’re bad but we do nothing. And you want to know why? Oil! It makes me sick.”
“So did the collateral damage calculation include your mother?” queried Decker.
Purdy’s expression turned grim. “That wasyourfault, not mine. You went there to question her, my partners got nervous, and they took care of that end. I wasn’t happy about it, but I had no choice. Just so you know, I was going to buy her a nice place, take care of her. But what did she have really to live for? You saw her place. It was shitsville in the middle of nowhere. Wherever she is, I think she’s better off.”
Both Jamison and Decker flinched at this cruel comment.
Robie said, “And who gave you the right to make that decision for her?”
“I gave myself the right!” Purdy snapped.
“Can you answer a question?” said Decker.
“What?”
“Did you kill Irene Cramer, Hal Parker, and Pamela Ames?”
Purdy looked genuinely confused. “I know Hal. I hunted with him. I didn’t know he was dead.”
“Well, we’re not sure he is. But he is missing. And the others?”
“I’ve never heard of—what were the names again?”
“Irene Cramer and Pamela Ames.”
He shook his head. “I had nothing to do with whatever happened to them.”
“Okay, so where does that leave us?” said Decker.
“With the three of you dead and me not. I couldn’t believe you dropped your weapons. That was a mistake.”
Decker glanced at Jamison. But she wasn’t looking at Decker. She seemed to be looking past him, when she suddenly slumped downward as though unconscious, causing Purdy to reach forward and grab at her.
The next moment Decker felt something fly past his ear.
The spike embedded several inches deep in Purdy’s eye socket. He screamed from the impact and shock, dropped his gun, and staggered back. Then he went into convulsions and fell to the floor, where he continued to gyrate and pull at the spike for a few more seconds before his clutching hands fell away and he grew still.
Robie came to stand over him as Decker helped Jamison up. Then Robie reached down, pulled the spike free, and threw it on the floor. “What a prick,” he said quietly.
He looked back at Decker and Jamison. “Nice pickup on my signal, Jamison.”
“Nice throwing with that spike,” she replied breathlessly.
