Page 75 of The Burnt
She looked in the envelope again and pulled out a second piece of paper. It was the cheque.
She reread the letter. “What do you think he means when he says he has to fix the past if he wants to live with himself?”
Declan scowled. “It means we have to stop him from doing something stupid.”
“May I see the letter?” Charlie asked. She passed it to him. He studied the note and thrust it toward Declan. “See the weird way the capital I is written? It’s the same as on the note Simon received. I’m sure of it.”
“So he’s probably headed to The Paddock,” Declan said.
Declan quickly ran down the stairs with Charlie close on his heels. They jumped into the van leaving behind a bewildered Mrs Keough.
“What do we do now?” Charlie asked.
“See if you can get Simon Griffin on the phone and tell him not to let anyone into the house except for us.”
* * * *
The sun was starting to peek over the mountains as Freddy made his way south on the Icefields Parkway. It was obvious that the maintenance staff had been out early as the road was freshly sanded. At first, the signs of last year’s massive fire were everywhere, but as Freddy drove toward Banff, the evidence of the tragedy faded behind him. It was a beautiful day, unlike the past two times he’d come this way.
The first time, nine days ago, the weather had been snowy and he’d had to drive slowly. He hadn’t gotten to Banff until late in the afternoon. By the time he had found parking and convinceda kid to deliver a note to Simon’s house, the sun had almost set. After Freddy had watched the note being delivered, he’d gone back to the car and discovered that the engine wouldn’t turn over. He had cursed himself for not bringing the battery jump-starter he’d given Mrs Keough. It had been too late to drive back to Jasper anyway, and Mrs Keough wasn’t going to be back until next Tuesday, so he’d opted to leave the car parked on the street and stay overnight in Banff. There was something delicious about being so close to The Paddock with Milo’s father not knowing he was there.
The following morning, Freddy had managed to find someone to give him a boost, but the weather was still cold and snowy. Rather than taking the Icefields Parkway back, Freddy had opted to travel east to Calgary and take the safer route up Highway 2. He didn’t have to be back to work until the following morning. He still had time.
As he’d made his way to the edge of Calgary, an impulse had taken a hold of him. He’d wanted to see where it had all begun. Freddy hadn’t been home since he’d first fled the city. He had pictured the shock on his father’s face if he walked up to the front door, rang the doorbell and said, “Hey, guess what, Dad? I’m not dead. How does that make you feel?” But he never got the chance.
He had managed to park on the street, but before he’d gotten out of the car, Freddy had seen a man in a long brown coat leave by the front door of Freddy’s old home. The man was moving in a hurry. Then a woman had come out onto the street. She was looking around, and Freddy had ducked to ensure she didn’t see him. Something had seemed off. That was when he’d heard sirens. It was too much. Freddy had gotten out of there as fast as he could and made his way back to Jasper.
It wasn’t until a few days later that Freddy had read in theCalgary Heraldthat there’d been a homicide. The newspaperhad identified the victim as his father, Archie Whitcher. Freddy had thought about the man he’d seen leaving the house. He was pretty sure he knew who he was.
I bet you killed him, you psycho.
The man in the brown coat seemed very much like the man who had killed Milo. He had a distinctive build. It had to be the guy Milo had called Tom.
After Freddy had gotten back to Jasper, he’d realised that Mrs Keough wasn’t going to be back for a few more days, so he’d planned a second trip to Banff.
He’d called in sick to work, retrieved his gun and driven the Icefields Parkway once more, arriving in Banff near the dinner hour. The drive had been fair, as a Chinook had been blowing that afternoon. Freddy had sat in his car on the street and watched The Paddock as he’d tried to pluck up his courage to act. He was trying to make up his mind what to do when Simon Griffin had driven out of the property, and headed east. Freddy had followed him to a restaurant fifteen minutes away, and luck was with him. Tom had arrived and parked right beside Simon’s car. Freddy had waited until they were both inside the restaurant. He had taken great joy in putting a big scratch in Milo’s father’s Bentley, then left a note on both cars that was a little more threatening than the first. It was too public a place to try anything more. Instead, he would come back on the day he had first planned, closer to the tenth anniversary of Milo’s death and bring this situation to an end. He would stick to his original plan.
He’d made the long drive home that night, arriving before Mrs. Keough got back to Jasper, in time for his morning shift.
And that brought him to today. It didn’t even matter that there were detectives asking questions. Freddy took in the beautiful mountain scenery around him and smiled. If it went badly at The Paddock, at least he would have this last glorious memoryto hold onto. Things had been put into action that could not be undone.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Declan drove as quickly as the roads would allow. They made it to Banff in three and a half hours. As they approached The Paddock, Declan and Charlie kept their eyes peeled for Freddy’s car, but there was no sign of it.
“Maybe he parked on another street,” Charlie offered.
“We’ll see.”
Declan pulled up to the gates, leaned out and pushed the intercom button.
A voice said, “Yes.”
Charlie leaned past Declan. “Mr Griffin, it’s Charlie Watts. Can you let us in please?”
The gate slowly opened and Declan parked the van. There were two other cars already in the drive. As they walked to the front door, it opened.
“Tom,” Charlie said extending his hand. “This is Declan Hunt.”
