Chapter 7 - The Chief's Offer
Chief Nolan kept both hands where I could see them.
“I don't have a weapon.”
“That would be a poor decision in a federal-protected room.”
He looked older than he had at the Easter party.
Not weaker.
Cornered.
Lily pressed the nurse-call button.
Nolan didn't stop her.
“I came to talk.”
Melissa backed toward the wall.
“You erased her reports.”
Nolan closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
Lily stared at him.
“You knew?”
“I knew there were calls. I told myself they were marital disputes.”
“You heard me crying.”
His face tightened.
“I know.”
I stepped closer.
“Why are you here?”
“Because Richard is going to kill the only man who can connect his father to what happened sixteen years ago.”
The room froze.
“Who?”
Nolan reached into his jacket slowly and removed a photograph.
A thin gray-haired man stood outside a rural gas station.
I recognized him immediately.
Peter Sloan.
A Meridian accountant who disappeared two days before he was scheduled to testify.
We had searched five states for him.
“He's alive?”
Nolan nodded.
“Vale's family has been paying to keep him hidden. Not because he worked for them. Because he knows too much.”
Melissa whispered, “The hunting lodge.”
Nolan looked at her.
“You know about it?”
“Richard stores old records there.”
“Not records,” Nolan said. “A person.”
Tessa and two marshals entered seconds later.
Nolan immediately raised his hands.
“I'll cooperate.”
Tessa gave him a look that could have cracked glass.
“You obstructed domestic-violence complaints.”
“Yes.”
“You accepted campaign donations.”
“Yes.”
“You warned Vale about warrants.”
Nolan hesitated.
Then nodded.
Tessa cuffed him.
He didn't resist.
As she turned him toward the door, he looked back at me.
“Arthur, Richard isn't running.”
“What is he doing?”
“Cleaning the last room.”
My phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
I answered.
Richard's voice came through the speaker.
“You always were slow, Arthur.”
I said nothing.
He laughed.
“You want the truth about Claire?”
Lily went white.
“Come to the lodge.”
Tessa shook her head hard.
Richard continued.
“Come alone, or Peter Sloan won't live long enough to tell you what your wife discovered.”
May you like
Then the call ended.
And for the first time in fifteen years, I wanted to ignore every rule I had ever enforced.
