“What about her actual brother?” asked Jamison.
“Junior was always quiet and kept to himself. He was uncomfortable around his family, especially his father. Caroline, Joe, and Shane would roughhouse, but not Junior.”
“I guess later, when he came out?” prompted Jamison.
Southern’s lips pursed. “Caroline and his mom stood by him, that was for sure. But Hugh was especially brutal.”
“That’s what Kelly told us.”
“Hugh wanted sons like him—strong, aggressive, kick-ass, none of the things Junior was.”
“So did he see Kelly and Shane as sort of his sons?” asked Jamison.
“That’s very perceptive of you because, in a way, he did, yes. He went to all the football games. Junior was the drum major of the marching band at school. He could play pretty much any musical instrument. But did his daddy acknowledge any of that? No. He just cheered on Joe and Shane scoring touchdowns.”
“And when they got older?”
“Hugh and Stuart were at each other’s throats by then. Caroline got sent off to college to learn what she needed to learn to inherit the business. Joe became a cop, as you know. Shane joined the Army right out of high school. So like that, everything changed. The gang went their separate ways.”
“Kelly was the only one left here,” said Jamison.
“Yeah. I’d see him around town. He looked like a lost pup.” She smiled sadly. “I felt badly for him. His two best friends, gone like that. Then Caroline graduated and came back. After that Shane returned home. But it was never the same. Then Maddie died. That nearly destroyed Hugh. I didn’t much care for the man, but I have to give him credit where it’s due: He loved his wife.”
“You seem to have definite opinions of all of them,” noted Decker.
Southern gazed at him. “And that’s what they are, my opinions. You can accept them or not.”
Jamison glanced over at the sleeping Caroline. “And what about Caroline? Kelly and Hugh had a discussion about her. Kelly thought her father wanted Caroline to move to France with him, to find a man there to marry, and have a big family.”
“Hell, I thought she might stay right here and marry Joe, or Shane. But that never happened. If you want my two cents, I think her seeing how her father treated her brother just wrecked her. The names he would call his own son, right out in public. The ridicule. It was like watching a TV show from the sixties or something. So cruel, so mean.” She shook her head. “So to answer your question, I don’t know if she’ll ever find someone. I hope she does. She deserves to be happy.”
“Daddy’s perfect little girl,” said Decker.
“What?”
“I told Caroline before that that’s what I think her dad saw in her. She said there was no such thing.”
“Well,” said Southern. “I think she’s right about that.”
“SO DAWSON KILLED HIS RIVAL and then shot himself. At least that part of the case is closed.”
After Jamison said this she glanced at her partner. She was driving them back to the hotel.
“Decker, did you hear me?”
Decker didn’t comment.
“And once again this has nothing to do with the ticking time bomb,” she added. “We’re still at square zero there.”
“Not quite.”
“What do you mean?” she shot back. “Are you holding out on me? I hate when you do that. I am your partner. I bet Robie doesn’t hold out on Jessica Reel.”
“I’m not holding out on you. I’m just thinking.”
“Of what?”
Decker closed his eyes and downloaded a memory. “Speaking of the ticking time bomb, remember what she told us Cramer said? ‘To maybe not grow our own food’?”
“Wait a minute, who said that?”
“Judith White. Cramer advised her not to grow food on her land. That’s what she told us when we interviewed her.”
“That’s right, she did,” Jamison said. “Wait a minute, their farm is right next to the Air Force facility. Are you thinking . . . ?”
Decker didn’t answer right away because another memory came to him. It was something Daniels had said. And it was perhaps even more ominous than Cramer’s comment.
“Let’s drive out to the Brothers’ place again.”
“Why?”
“Just humor me, Alex.”
“Okay, but you don’t make it easy,” she snapped.
“Since when have I ever been easy?”
“Well, you could make an effort every once in a while.”
Jamison cut a sharp U-turn and headed off in the opposite direction.
Forty minutes later they pulled to a stop in front of the metal farm gate that was the main entrance to the Brothers’ Colony. The gate was now closed.
Jamison put the SUV in park and said, “Okay, now what?”
Decker got out and started to look around. Jamison followed him.
“What are we looking for?”
He stared across the acres of farmland. “They’ve been here a while, right? The Brothers, I mean.”
“You know they have.”
“I mean at this location.”
Jamison looked uncertain. “Well, from the looks of things they’ve been here a few years. It would take at least that long to build all this up to what we’re seeing today.”
Decker continued to watch as twin John Deere tractors moved slowly across a field far in the distance. Beyond that was the Air Force station.
“I think you’re right about that.”
“But why is the amount of time they’ve been here important?”
“It’s just a theory,” he said absently.
“Can you explain your theory,” she said curtly.
He didn’t answer. Decker headed back to the SUV, and she followed, not looking happy.
“This can’t be right,” he said, stopping at the vehicle’s passenger door.
“What can’t be?”
“If it were on the Air Force property,” he began, but now Jamison saw what he was getting at and leapt ahead of him.
“The biochemical weapons. No one could get to them if they were on the Air Force property. Meaning they must be on the land they auctioned off.”
“Right. But I don’t see how they could be on the Brothers’ land. I mean how could anyone hoping to get to the WMDs go there without them knowing?” He paused and his confused look deepened. “But why else would Cramer have mentioned to Judith White not to eat the crops they were growing there.”
“Meaning she thought if the weapons were buried they might have leached out and contaminated the soil?”
“Exactly.”
Realization grew across Jamison’s features. “But, Decker, part of the auctioned land was leased. The Brothers don’t control it.”
He shot her a look. “The frackers. Come on!”
They ran to the SUV and jumped in.
After they had driven for a bit, Jamison pulled off next to the land occupied by the All-American Energy Company drilling site.
“Got your binoculars?” Decker asked.
She pulled the optics from the console and handed them across.