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Every day that he went to work, he thought about applying for early retirement and moving out of the country. But he didn’t know where to go. He needed to find out what countries did not allow extradition to the United States. And some days, he just wished he’d get caught and then the decision would be made for him.
This morning when he’d arrived at work, there was a message on his desk to report to the archives. He worked diligently throughout the day, as if doing excellent work on the job would make up for screwing up his life, and was satisfied with himself by the time he went home.
He stopped on the way home to pick up some Thai food. The aroma of his to-go order was making him hungry, and by the time he got back to his apartment, he was ready to kick back and eat dinner in front of the TV.
He changed from work clothes to leisure wear and then washed up before heading to the kitchen. He plated up the food he’d brought and carried it to the living room, along with a cold bottle of beer, then settled in his recliner to watch the evening news as he ate.
He was absently listening to world news, wincing over an invasion and continuing news of an earthquake in one part of the world and a volcanic eruption in another, when the newscaster shifted to a story that had taken on a national slant, and all because it had happened in a well-known tourist location in Jubilee, Kentucky.
His heart kicked. He set his food aside and upped the volume, then leaned forward.
“And, we have an update on the random shooting of a young local boy in Jubilee, Kentucky, that we first told you about some days ago. Apparently, the boy who was shot has finally regained consciousness. With the help of a sketch artist, they developed a composite sketch of the shooter, who was immediately identified as a recent guest at one of the local hotels. However, the identity he registered with has proven to be a false one, so the authorities have released video footage of the man coming and going from the hotel in the hope that someone will recognize him and call in. If youthink you recognize this man, there is a number to call at the bottom of the screen.”
Nyles went from utter joy hearing the boy was alive, to a complete meltdown that his Dirk Conrad persona had been captured on camera. And when he saw the footage, he groaned. There he was, big as Dallas, caught on camera for all the world to see. His saving grace was the beard, the fake ID, and the rental car, also rented under the fake name. There was nothing to tie Nyles Fairchild to that man. He’d left nothing behind.
Except that damn journal. With my fingerprints all over it.
But he kept reminding himself that there was no way to tie that journal to the shooting. It had been in the backpack when he’d seen the kid. And he’d lost it after he got back to town. Whoever found it would never think to tie it to what happened on the mountain. He had to believe that.
Then he slapped the arms of the recliner in glee.
“The kid’s alive! Thank you, Lord, he’s alive!”
Aaron finished patrol with Yancy and then went back to the station to write up the report on Mickey Cotton.
Sonny Warren saw him at the desk finishing up the paperwork and then saw the bandage on his forehead.
“Hey, what happened to your head?” he asked.
“Collateral damage from getting the missing kid out of the water. That creek bank is lined with brush.”
“Oh, right,” Sonny said. “Well, it was a good job all around, and quick thinking on your part to call in Cameron and the dog. You and Yancy work well together.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir,” Aaron said.
“So, get some rest this evening,” Sonny added.
“I’m almost finished with the report, and then I’ll be headed home,” he said.
“Are you still at Dani Owens’s house?” Sonny asked.
“Yes, for as long as Alex Bing is in Jubilee. He’s bad news,” Aaron said. “Sean installed some security in her house today. We’ll see how tonight goes.”
Sonny frowned. “Just be careful.”
“I’m always careful,” Aaron said.
“Yes, well…as you were,” Sonny said, and walked away.
Aaron finished the report and filed it, then clocked out. He was planning to go straight to Dani’s, and then as he was leaving the station in his personal car, he tossed his hat in the back seat and decided to make a quick sweep through the supermarket parking lot, and then drive by some of the restaurant parking lots on the off chance of seeing Alex’s Bronco and planting the tracker. He wasn’t going to rest easy until he’d “belled the cat.”
Sheriff Woodley was frustrated with the Charlie Raines case.
They had fingerprints, DNA, positive IDs from the victim and a witness, security footage of the man they wanted for the crime, and every damn bit of it was untraceable. What he didn’t have was a real motive.
Dirk Conrad was a ghost—a man who had assumed a false identity and disappeared on the same day he shot a boy, leaving the boy for dead.
He had hoped the Pope family would have some idea of whose hands the journal had fallen into, but that meeting had come up with no new leads.
