“You were there, weren’t you, you son of a bitch. Did you watch? Did you watch me pull my wife out of the woods? Did you watch them use a ladder truck to get my daughter’s body out of the tree?” Dane spit in the dirt by Eddie’s still head. “She loved the stars, my wife. Did you know that? She talked about them every day. And you know what else? I can’t see them anymore. I can’t look up anymore. I can’t look at a night sky without seeing her—all broken—and cold. Like you are now.” Dane laughed and kicked the corpse at his feet. “I just wanted you to know. One dead man to another.” Dane stopped talking, as if he had suddenly understood that Eddie couldn’t hear him. He backed away from the body, reached into his pocket, and took out the .30-30 slug. He tossed it into the dirt where he’d spit. He didn’t need it anymore.
When Dane turned to leave, he saw Ned standing in the doorway of the pen. Something cold passed between them.
“How much of that did you hear?”
“Enough.”
Dane walked through the gate. Ned took his arm and helped him. “What did you mean ‘one dead man to another’?”
“Now ain’t the time, Ned. I’m asking if you heard what Eddie said.”
Ned looked back and then at Dane. “Um, Eddie didn’t say shit. He’s dead.”
Dane spit in the dirt again. “No, no. He wasn’t when I first came out here so I was able to get his confession.”
Ned stopped walking. “His confession. Confession for what?”
Dane stopped walking, too, and motioned for Ned to come on. “For killing Tom Clifford. For setting you up. Because he knew you and Lydia were—you know.”
Ned didn’t say anything. He just stared at Dane with confusion and maybe the hint of a smile.
“C’mon,” Dane said. “Let’s go.”
* * *
As soon as the two men passed through the barn door, back into the smoky haze of the yard, it was Ned that took the brunt of the hit.
Fenn landed the punch right between his shoulder blades, sending Ned into Dane and both men sprawling down into the grass. Fenn had been burned so badly he barely looked human anymore. Ned turned onto his back and reached for Dane’s Redhawk. It wasn’t in his waistband anymore. He hadn’t checked Fenn’s body as Dane had asked him to, and now he’d lost his gun, too. The huge mass of pink and black curling skin reached down and grabbed Dane by his throat. Ned tried to stop him, but Fenn swung his fist and easily knocked Ned back to the ground. He got back up and grabbed at the creature, but his skin peeled right off in Ned’s hands. Ned pounded on his back as pieces of him fell away exposing raw pink flesh and muscle. “Jesus, how are you still alive?”
Dane struggled on the ground but had begun to turn blue in Fenn’s grip. Drool dripped onto his face in wet clumps from the big man’s ruined mouth. Dane closed his eyes. He was about to black out when he heard the shot. Fenn’s grip released and Dane opened his eyes. The blackened man was missing the right half of his face. Ned rushed him again and knocked him over before his huge body fell on Dane. Fenn collapsed again into the yard. Dane wiped at his face and looked around. The blood in his eyes made them sting like hell, but he could see. Lydia stood a few feet away from them, still in a practiced shooter’s stance and still pointing Dane’s Redhawk with both hands. Ned approached her carefully and took the gun. Dane sat in the grass and wiped the blood from his face with his sleeve. That’s when William came out of the house and crossed in front of Lydia and Ned and extended a hand to help Dane up. Dane took his hand, but before he got to his knees, Dane noticed William’s eyes again. They were brown. There wasn’t a hint of green in them at all.
* * *
Lydia held a wet rag against Roselita’s face. She’d lost a lot of blood and needed medical attention. The baston still stuck out of her shoulder because no one thought it was a good idea to remove it. Ned forced two tabs of oxy from the kitchen into Roselita’s mouth and held the glass of water to her lips. She drank and faded in and out of consciousness as Dane pulled a chair up close to the sofa. He took his time sitting down and balanced himself with both hands. “Roselita, are you with me?” He snapped his fingers in front of her face and Roselita did her best to focus. “I’m—sorry, Kirby. It was—never—”
“I need you to listen to me. I’m about to call for help. You’re going to be okay. Do you understand me?”
Roselita nodded.
“I need you to say it, Rose. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“Yes.”
Ned held the glass to Roselita’s lips and she drank more of the water. Lydia’s pacing back and forth behind Dane was making her dizzy, but Dane snapped his fingers again and brought her back to the moment. “I need you to tell me all of it. Everything.”
“I—don’t—”
“Start with Dahmer and tell me everything, Rose. I need you to tell me the truth, and I need you to trust me. You still with me?”
“Yes.”
“Good, and when you’re done, I’m going to call this in.” He looked around the room at everyone. “And then all of you need to do and say exactly what I tell you to.”
When the conversation was over, Dane got out of the chair and went out on the porch. Ned and Lydia followed him but took the steps into the yard.
“You sure about this, Dane?”
“Yeah, Ned. I’m sure.”
“Okay.” There was no need to discuss any further what had to be done. Dane had already taken his phone from the top drawer of the china cabinet. Roselita had told him where he could find it. He tapped in a number and held it to his ear.
“O’Barr.”
“August, it’s Dane.”
“Give me something good, Kirby. Tell me why the hell some hillbilly sheriff is blowing up my phone about a prisoner he hasn’t been able to locate and tell me why I’ve been dodging his damn calls because I haven’t been able to locate you.”
“August.”
“And before you start, just know that your answer better be worth hearing if you plan on remaining actively employed by the Bureau. I am not dicking around here, Dane.”
“I found the boy, August. I found William Blackwell.”
“Well, I’ll be damned. That’s a good start. Where are you? I’ll send people to help you bring him in.”
“August, there’s more.”
“Christ. What more?”
“It’s a warzone out here.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Special Agent Geoff Dahmer and one big Filipino bastard with a bamboo stick just tried to kill me, Agent Velasquez, and several other people. There are multiple casualties, including those two assailants, and Velasquez is in bad shape.”
“Are you fucking with me right now?”
“No, August, I’m not. I’ll explain when you get here.”
“Is the boy all right?”
Dane reached over and ran his hand through William’s hair. “He’s a little shook up, but otherwise he’s fine.”
“Kirby, where are you? Tell me now.”