Page 135 of The 9th Man

“Jillian,” he called out. “Make sure they all leave.”

“Got it.”

He heard her scramble off.

“Alone at last,” he said to Talley. “This was all so senseless.”

“I don’t disagree. But I had no choice.”

“A lot of blood and guts have been spilled here today,” he said. “Not to mention Benjamin Stein and David Eckstein.”

“Do you know what’s at stake here?” Talley asked.

“You don’t know?”

“Not a clue.”

He decided that honesty was best. “Your boss accidentally killed President Kennedy.”

Shock filled Talley’s face. “You’re kidding? Right?”

“Afraid not.”

“Heaven help us.”

“He was in the trail car. It braked suddenly and he fell forward holding an AR-15. It fired and the bullet took Kennedy’s head off.”

“There’s proof?”

He nodded. “In living color, on film.”

“That’s what Eckstein had?”

“I have it now.”

“Good. You’ll know what to do with it.”

In the distance the Sikorsky powered up, then the rotors faded off as it flew away. Talley still toted the rifle, finger on the trigger. It was important to Luke that he talk this situation down. Talley was a man on a mission. He just needed to ascertain what that actually entailed and how he fit in. “What are you after, Jack?”

“Contentment.”

A strange reply.

“I’m tired of selling my soul,” Talley said. “I’m tired of being the bad guy. I want Tom Rowland to pay.Beforehe dies. If he killed Kennedy, then let’s tell the world.”

“That’s above my pay grade. I’ll turn everything I have over to my boss and she’ll make that call. But she hates him as much as you do.”

“Then I like her already.”

“Jack, we need to leave here. Together. And we need to take care of Rowland. Together.”

Talley brandished the rifle. “I have a wife and children. They’ll be fair game for Rowland. He’s attacked families before.”

“Using you?”

Talley shook his head. “Persik and his thugs.” He gestured with the rifle. “This all has to end. But it’s not going to be that simple.”

“Tell me why, Jack. With your testimony, Rowland will die in jail.”

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