“But why?”
“You’re my friend.”
“And you’re my friend too. But—”
“And you’re going to be experiencing some things in the coming years that I may be able to at least help you with, in some small way.”
Lancaster looked down, drew out a cigarette from her pack, glanced at the smoke for a long moment, and then tossed it away.
“I’m still scared.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that. Most people would be. But you have Earl. And you have me.”
She looked at him with perplexity. “You’ve changed, Amos. Since leaving here.”
“How’s that?”
“You just have. You seem to be…” Her voice trailed off, as she seemed at a loss for words.
“More aware of things?” said Decker, a small smile creasing his lips.
“One way of putting it.”
Her features grew somber. “I appreciate the offer. And I look forward to seeing you again.” She glanced at the house and then looked at him inquiringly. “But why here of all places?”
“You said you didn’t know the Hendersons?”
“No, but they seem to be a nice family.”
“I’m sure they are a nice family. And this is a fine place to raise a family.”
“Well, you’ve surely made it nicer by getting rid of the Russians.”
Decker took a step back and peered at his old digs.
“Full of memories,” said Lancaster. “Especially for someone with a memory like yours.”
“It is full of memories. Most wonderful. A few beyond horrible.”
“So which ones do you hold on to?”
“In my case I don’t have a choice. But I do have a choice in how I prioritize them.”
“Do you think you can do that?”
“I can try.”
Decker thought about the episodes in which the violent scenes of his finding his family murdered kept unspooling in his head.
“I can try harder, at least. I have to, in fact.”
“I wish you every success on that. I really do.”
Before he left, Decker surprised Lancaster by embracing her in a long hug.
“I didn’t expect that,” she said, when they each stepped back.
“Maybe neither did I. But…it felt good.”
“Yes, Amos, it did.”
Decker walked back to the car and climbed in. “I wonder what burgundy means,” he said.
“What?” asked Jamison, while Bogart and Mars looked on with puzzled expressions.
“When Hawkins walked up to me at the cemetery that day, there was a burgundy color around him. I’ve never experienced that before.”
They were all silent for a few moments, until Jamison said, “Maybe it’s your brain’s new way of signaling a good person in need of some help.”
“If that’s the case, I think I might see it a lot more often, then.”
As they were sitting there, watching Lancaster head off, Mr. and Mrs. Henderson and their daughter came out of the house and got into the Nissan Sentra. They drove off a few moments later.
Jamison glanced at Decker anxiously as he watched this happening.
In the backseat, Mars said, “They look like a nice family.”
“Yes,” said Decker. “I expect they are.”
Jamison’s fingers played nervously over the steering wheel.
Mars said, “It’s a happy house, then.”
Jamison cast him a sharp glance in the mirror before looking at Decker once more.
“A happy house,” said Decker quietly before nodding at Jamison.
She put the car in drive and they headed off.
Away from this place.
For now.
Yet Amos Decker would be back.
For a lot of reasons.
Acknowledgments
To Michelle: Decker is back. If only I had his memory, you wouldn’t have to get on me for all the things I forget to do.
To Michael Pietsch, for your excellence.
To Andy Dodds, Nidhi Pugalia, Ben Sevier, Brian McLendon, Karen Kosztolnyik, Beth deGuzman, Albert Tang, Bob Castillo, Kristen Lemire, Anthony Goff, Michele McGonigle, Cheryl Smith, Andrew Duncan, Joseph Benincase, Tiffany Sanchez, Morgan Swift, Matthew Ballast, Jordan Rubinstein, Alison Lazarus, Rachel Hairston, Karen Torres, Christopher Murphy, Ali Cutrone, Tracy Dowd, Martha Bucci, Rena Kornbluh, Jeff Shay, Lukas Fauset, Thomas Louie, Sean Ford, Laura Eisenhard, Mary Urban, Barbara Slavin, Kirsiah McNamara, and everyone at Grand Central Publishing, for always being so supportive.
To Aaron and Arleen Priest, Lucy Childs, Lisa Erbach Vance, Frances Jalet-Miller, John Richmond, and Juliana Nador, for always having my back.
To Mitch Hoffman, for seeing the forest and the trees.
To Anthony Forbes Watson, Jeremy Trevathan, Trisha Jackson, Katie James, Alex Saunders, Sara Lloyd, Claire Evans, Sarah Arratoon, Stuart Dwyer, Jonathan Atkins, Anna Bond, Leanne Williams, Natalie McCourt, Stacey Hamilton, Sarah McLean, Charlotte Williams, and Neil Lang at Pan Macmillan, for being all-around amazing. See you in September!
To Praveen Naidoo and the team at Pan Macmillan in Australia, for taking me to #1!
To Caspian Dennis and Sandy Violette, for being so cool. It was terrific seeing you on this side of the pond!
To Steven Maat and the entire Bruna team in Holland, for your great work.
To Bob Schule, for your wonderful comments and friendship.
To Roland Ottewell, for good copyediting.
To charity auction winners Christine Burlin (Community Coalition for Haiti), Kelly Fairweather (Soundview Preparatory School), Kenneth Finger (Project Kesher), Mitzi Gardiner (Muscular Dystrophy Association), and David Katz (Authors Guild). Whether your characters were good or evil, I hope you enjoyed them. And thanks for your support of such wonderful charities.
And to Kristen White and Michelle Butler, for helping me make the most of every day.