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“And Earl?”
“Dude was going to crack and tell all. We gave Earl a beddy-bye shot beforehand. Françoise made sure no tests would be run that might have detected it.” Bing belly-laughed and then ended up whimpering from the resulting pain.
“Then you found out about the polymer casings showing up? That was when the little band of killers fell out.”
“Harper texted me. He had no idea I was up here, of course. Then I knew the little shits were setting me up to take the fall.”
“So you confronted your niece and nephew and...?”
“And the ungrateful little assholes got the drop on me.”
“And they tied you up in the secret room, put you on the drip to sedate you, and were probably deciding how best to dispose of you?”
“But they didn’t factor in that I’ve taken a lot of painkillers in my time and built up resistance, and I’m still strong as shit. Françoise came in to give me another dose of happy juice. I played dead but I’d gotten my hands free and turned the tables on her. She cut me with a knife but I got the upper hand. She told me what I needed to know and then I wrung her little neck, drove her to a secluded spot, dragged her there, and pitched her on the rocks. Then I headed here. Freddy came out of nowhere and shot me when I was searching the place for him. Hell, he was probably aiming at something else and hit me.” He coughed for another stretch and said in a rattling, hollow voice, “Now, I’ve answered a lot of your questions. Answer one of mine. How did Jenny figure things out?”
“Satellite imagery Jenny dialed up from back then. Only she figuredyoufor it because of the police car in the picture. I thought that initially, but then I realized there was no way a careful guy like you would take a police car to rape someone. And Alex lived. You would have made sure she was dead. And there was an image of the Palmers looking surprised as they passed the cruiser. They wouldn’t have been if you were driving. They hadn’t found Alex yet, you see. But they sawFreddriving it, not you,that’swhat surprised them.”
“The little asswipe went joyriding in it like some big shot, saw the gal of his dreams all alone, and did what he did. Then he didn’t have the balls to finish the job.”
“Where are Fred and Alex?”
“If I were you, I’d check the crematorium. He probably wants to get rid of the evidence. And blame it on me.” He hacked one more time, at the absolute limits of the human body. “Fuck, this hurts.”
The next instant, Bing came up with his own painkiller solution of all solutions.
When the shot was fired, Devine snatched up his phone, kicked open the door, and saw the big man sitting against the far wall with most of his face missing.
Next instant Devine was running for the crematorium.
CHAPTER
81
ALEX AWOKE SUDDENLY AND SLOWLYlooked around, feeling groggy and out of sorts.
The room was large and filled with specialized equipment. The smells were bitter and unpleasant, and the sounds both erratic and ominous. She tried to sit up but something was holding her down. She saw the ropes around her. She tugged against them but they were too tight. She laid her head back and turned to the side.
And saw him hard at work.
“Fred, what are you doing?” she said in a weak voice.
He didn’t appear to hear her.
“Fred!”
He turned and walked over to her. “How are you feeling?”
“Why are you doing this?”
He touched her arm gently with one hand and adjusted his glasses with the other. “I’m sorry but there’s no other way.”
As soon as he touched her Alex flinched, as though burned by his grip. She closed her eyes, her head pounded, and she suddenly started to gyrate, as though she were having a seizure.
Bing didn’t react to this at all. He just stood there in silent acknowledgment of what was happening. She finally stopped moving, her breathing moderating. She opened her eyes and turned her head to stare at him. And this time she remembered all. And from her look, Bing understood this as well.
“I never meant to hurt you back then, Alex.”
“Yourapedme and then tried to kill me.”
