Page 144 of Long Gone

“Unless he fucks up and tells someone? Yeah. I do have mercy.” He tilted his head. “No recrimination for killing two men last night?”

“No,” I said, meaning it. “Skip would have killed me. I got all I needed from him, and if you did too, then why try the whole ‘you put your gun down, no you’ scenario. We both know he wasn’t going to let me go.”

He studied me for a moment before he asked, “And Pinky?”

“Pinky tortured Hugo Burton without remorse. Skip admitted to having killed more men than Hugo, and I suspect Pinky helped him and enjoyed every moment of it.” I lifted my chin in defiance. “We could have had them arrested, but that ran a risk for you and we both know someone like Skip Martin could have gotten out on bail. And even if he didn’t, all he had to do was have us assassinated. No witnesses to testify—the greater chance of him going free.”

“You’re okay with this?” Malcolm asked in disbelief.

I considered it for a long moment, then said, “Yes. But I need a drink.”

Malcolm left the room, then came back with two bottles of water. He partially unscrewed the cap of one and handed it to me.

I swung my legs over the side of the sofa so I was totally sitting up and took the bottle. “This wasn’t the kind of drink I was talking about.”

“It’s the kind of drink you need,” he grunted and took a long gulp from his own bottle. I watched the bob of his Adam’s apple as he swallowed and tried to ignore the hint of longing in my chest.

I took a drink too, relishing the cool water as it eased down my throat.

“I have a few questions,” I said after another drink.

“Okay…”

“Were you one of J.R. Simmons’s Twelve?”

Malcolm lowered his bottle. “I guess Martin did some talking then?”

“He did. He confessed to killing Hugo and plenty of other men, but he denied killing Pete Mooney and said he wasn’t one of Simmons’s Twelve. But he said you were.”

He took another drink before lowering his bottle again. “I was. But I quit about five years before I set out to destroy the man.”

“Why’d you quit?”

He stared down at his bottle, swirling the liquid. “He wanted me to kill a child. The boy was the sole witness to a hit and run, and Simmons didn’t want him to testify. Refusing him wasn’t allowed, so I quit, which also wasn’t allowed. Simmons killed the boy himself.” He worked his jaw and took another sip.

“I’m sorry.”

He stared at me in surprise.

“I know what it’s like wondering if you could have saved someone by doing something slightly different. In my case, it’s wishing I’d convinced my sister to go straight home like our mother told us to instead of letting my sister talk me into checking out those stupid baby birds.” I took another sip as he stared at his bottle again. “I bet you wished you’d killed Simmons then.”

His gaze slowly lifted to mine. “I didn’t have the balls to do it then.”

“We all grow at our own pace,” I said. “A half year ago, I didn’t have the balls to condone what happened last night and look at me now.” I finished off my water, relieved that the pounding in my head was beginning to subside. He was right. Water was what I needed, not that I’d ever admit it to him.

“You’re turning out to be one scary woman, Harper Adams,” he said with a genuine smile.

I playfully lifted an eyebrow and misquoted Taylor Swift. “I’m a daydream dressed as a nightmare.”

He studied me again, then lifted his bottle. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

Chapter 34

At my insistence, Malcolm took me home soon after our conversation. I wasn’t sure what to tell the sheriff about my crashed car, but Malcolm told me that Carter had placated the sheriff’s department. I could give my statement later. The story they’d been told was that Carter had stopped by the scene of the accident and picked me up, and I’d refused medical attention. The sheriff’s department had had my car towed to a repair shop at his request. It was a miracle they took his word for it, which led me to believe Malcolm had someone in the sheriff’s department on his payroll.

That should have given me more pause, but better or worse, I had decided to trust him.

After I took a shower, I covered the bruises on my face with makeup, then I rented a car and drove out to Clarice’s house. Once she let me in, I had her sit down and told her I’d discovered that her husband had been murdered but couldn’t give her a full report until later.

---