“You should be glad he didn’t kidnap and rape you.”
The gun went up. Franklin pointed the muzzle at Will’s head again.
Will said, “You didn’t know Lonnie was into kids, did you?”
Franklin glared at him for a beat. Finally, he lowered the gun back to his knee. “He raised me more than my own daddy ever did.” Disgust showed on his face. “Never heard Lonnie say anything about kids. Never saw him looking at them, talking to them, nothing. I guess as good as Lonnie was at fooling strangers about one thing, he was really good at fooling his friends about the other.”
Will asked, “How’d it feel when you found out?”
Franklin let his silence answer the question.
Will said, “Being a badass drug dealer and a murderer is one thing. Raping kids is a whole other category.” He could tell Franklin agreed with him. “It crosses the line, doesn’t it? You put a cap in a junkie’s ass, that’s pretty much what he signed up for, but children are innocent. They didn’t sign up for anything.”
“I told you I didn’t know.”
“Denise Branson knew.”
“You think anybody listens to that stupid dyke?”
Will didn’t point out that the stupid dyke had been right all along.
“Lonnie was a God to me. To all of us. I had no idea he was …” Franklin couldn’t even say the words. “I’m glad Chuck didn’t live to find out. It would’ve killed him all over again.”
“How did you find out?”
“The house,” Franklin said. He meant the shooting gallery. “I sent my guy in before the raid to take out Waller and his crew.”
Will guessed Franklin’s guy was Tony Dell. There wasn’t another player in this thing who was so adept at killing.
Will asked, “What did your guy find?”
“What we expected. Three of them were in the front room watching TV. No problem, my guy takes them out quiet. He goes down into the basement looking for Waller and finds these two
little kids instead.” Franklin shook his head, and Will could see his turmoil was real. “One of the boys was already dead. Just laid there, my guy said.”
Will thought of the boy back at Lila’s farm. Playing dead had saved him from countless more miseries.
Franklin continued, “The second kid was barely breathing. My guy brought him here for Cayla to look after.”
Will wondered if he knew how Cayla had looked after him. “The kid identified Big Whitey?” Franklin nodded, and Will tried not to think about Benjamin feeling safe because Franklin had a badge. “Your guy said Waller wasn’t in the basement?”
“Right. Only, he’s leaving out the back with the kid when he hears Waller bust in through the front.” Franklin shrugged. “Waller runs down into the basement to check on his stash. My guy braces the door, traps him down there, and walks away.”
“Why did you want to take out Waller’s team before the raid?”
Franklin was obviously reluctant, but he answered, “I was worried about Lena getting hurt.”
Will must’ve looked as dubious as he felt.
“I’m not an animal, man. I got two nieces. I helped raise up my sister after my daddy died.” Franklin said, “I knew Lee was pregnant. Cayla fills in at a lot of the doctors’ offices. She heard Jared telling Lena that he thought Lonnie was Big Whitey.”
Will replayed the words in his head, making sure he understood them. “Was Cayla eavesdropping?”
“Nope. Jared was standing in the open doorway. Half of the office heard him call out Lonnie.”
“And Cayla thought he was being serious, just tossing off that theory at the doctor’s office in front of everybody?”
“That’s what Cayla said.”
“What did you think?”
“That he was bullshitting.” Franklin shrugged. “Jared’s a talker. All those bike boys are. They think they can run with the big dogs, but they don’t know jack.”
Will had to take another moment to process the information. If what DeShawn said was true, then Lena was right. She hadn’t been the one to bring all of this down on them. Jared Long had. “Did Lena believe Jared?”
“I don’t think so. At least Lee never said anything to me or the guys,” DeShawn admitted. “But she’s smart when she latches onto something. Jared puts a thought into her head, maybe she starts paying attention to things she didn’t notice before. I had to keep her busy. She was all over the Waller thing. I knew she’d jump at the chance to take him out.”
Will felt everything finally coming together. “So, Cayla tells you about the conversation at the doctor’s office. You reach out to a pill pusher named Tony Dell. Tony gets arrested. He flips on Waller two hours later and gives Lena the evidence she needs to go into the shooting gallery.”
“I know you think I’m stone cold, but I was trying to protect her.” Franklin explained, “Lena busts Waller, she’s covered up in paperwork for the next six months. I figured that’d run out the clock while she’s pregnant, then maybe once she has the kid, she decides she wants to be a mommy and doesn’t come back to the job.”
Will wondered if there was a single man in Lena Adams’s life who’d ever avoided taking risks for her. “Lena lost the baby.”
“I know.” Franklin seemed regretful. “Cayla called her, tried to get her to take some time off. She wouldn’t listen. That girl never listens to nobody.”
Will couldn’t argue with that. “What about Jared?”
“What about him? He’s writing tickets and sweeping broken windshield glass off the road. He can’t start an investigation.”
“Lonnie Gray wouldn’t leave that loose end,” Will guessed. He’d seen with his own eyes what a hard-ass the man could be. “You didn’t tell him about the conversation at the doctor’s office, right? Cayla did. And Gray was a lot more convinced than you were.”
Franklin didn’t answer, but they both knew that Cayla was that malicious. Franklin put a nicer spin on it, saying, “Cay dated Chuck for six years. Stuck by him when he was dying. She got close to Lonnie at the end. She cares about him.”
Will bet she did. Cayla gravitated toward drama the way the tides gravitated toward the moon. “That’s why you’re here, as a favor to an old friend.”
“I can’t let her get locked up. I owe it to Chuck.”
Will knew there was a code, even among criminals, but he had a hard time thinking Cayla Martin was worthy. He said, “Lonnie sent the rednecks after Lena and Jared.”
Franklin nodded.
“He had them torture Eric Haigh to death.”
Franklin’s expression darkened. “Threw him out like a piece of trash.”
“Lonnie’s trying to clean house,” Will said. “You were attacked outside the theater last night. Somebody took a shot at Vickery. Tony Dell’s still out there. Big Whitey’s not going to stop until you’re all dead.”
“Lonnie’s not gonna touch me. He was looking for the little boys. He knew somebody found them in the basement. Both kids saw his face, knew who he was. I ain’t saying it’s right, just that it’s something that could come back on him.”
“Would that be a bad thing, letting all this come back on Lonnie? Stopping him from hurting more kids?”
Franklin shrugged, but he was obviously talking for a reason.
Will said, “You didn’t know about the kids until the raid.”
“And?”
“And you put the hit on Sid Waller and his team before you knew about the kids.” Will guessed the Big Whitey business model was being franchised after all.
Franklin said, “Things changed after Chuck died. Me and Lonnie weren’t so close. I thought it was the grief at first, but then I figured it was something else.”
“Waller and Lonnie were both pedophiles. They weren’t doing it for money. The only time Lonnie ever took a risk was when he was grooming a new kid.”
“You’re right,” Franklin said. “Only, I found out after Waller was dead that they were doing it together.”
“Stalking kids together?”
“Doing everything together.” DeShawn looked like he wanted to spit the bad taste out of his mouth. “Lonnie said it was the most fun he ever had.”
Will gathered the two men had had several lengthy conversations, none of which had been good for DeShawn Franklin. He said, “It started to fall apart before the raid. You knew something was wrong. You saw that Lonnie and Waller were getting close. You were worried Lonnie would pass on the business to Waller.”
Franklin snorted a laugh. “I wasn’t worried about it happening. I already knew it was going down. Lonnie told me before the raid. Before Cayla heard Jared. Before any of that shit started, he sat me down and told me it looked like Waller had a better handle on things. Wanted me to be a second to that redneck bastard. Pitched it like he was doing me a favor.” Franklin gave a bitter laugh. “I guess he didn’t love me like a son after all.”
Cayla Martin asked, “Who loved you?” She tromped down the stairs carrying a large suitcase. She’d packed it too full. She couldn’t hold on. The case bumped down the stairs and didn’t stop until it hit the front door.
Cayla didn’t seem to mind. She walked down the rest of the stairs, picking her way carefully on high heels. She was dressed up, or at least it seemed that way to Will. Her tight leather miniskirt looked brand-new and the matching silk blouse was cut so low that it showed the pink bow on her bra.
Franklin told her, “Wait in the car.”
“Nuh-uh.” She took a pack of cigarettes out of her purse. “I gotta say, Bud, you really fucked me over lettin’ Benji go like that.”
Will looked at Franklin, but the man didn’t offer an opinion.
She said, “I had a family in Germany ready to pay thirty grand for him.”
“Family?” Will didn’t know if she was deluded or naïve.
“Good thing I got that goddamn plane ticket now.” She put a cigarette in her mouth but didn’t light it. “Except for Shawn picking me up at the hospital, my happy ass would probably be in jail. Ain’t that right, hon?”
Franklin didn’t answer. He just sat on the sofa looking like he didn’t think he’d ever manage to get up. Part of him still had to be a cop. He’d tried to protect Lena. Paul Vickery had been tied up, not murdered. Franklin had done his best to keep Tony Dell’s name out of the story. And then there was the immutable fact that Will was still breathing.
DeShawn Franklin was finished with all of this. Maybe it was the kids. Maybe it was Lonnie Gray’s betrayal. Either way, he was done.
“Shit, Shawn.” Cayla seemed to sense his faltering resolve. She walked over to Franklin, teetering on her high heels. “You know you gotta do this.”
Franklin reached into his pocket. He pulled out his car keys. “Just leave it in the lot.”
“Oh, hell no.” Cayla’s head started shaking back and forth. “No, sir.”
Franklin said, “You’re leaving town. Whatever I end up doing is on me. It’s got nothing to do with you. I owe it to Chuck to make sure your name stays out of it.”
“She-it, you can’t do anything, Shawn, and I ain’t eatin’ Wiener schnitzel for the resta my damn life.” Cayla flicked the lighter and touched the flame to her cigarette. “Come on. Just finish it. We ain’t got time for your conscience to work itself out.”
“I’m not going to—”
Cayla grabbed the Glock and shot Paul Vickery four times.
The gunfire reverberated in the small room. The air shook with the noise. Vickery’s body jerked violently as the bullets hit his back.
Will’s hands flew up in front of his face. His knees pulled in like some part of his brain thought he could roll himself into a ball and stop the bullets. He waited for Cayla to turn the gun on him. And waited.
Nothing happened.
Will peered up, expecting to find the Glock staring back at him.
Instead, he saw that Franklin had grabbed the gun away. He was breathing hard, though there obviously hadn’t been a struggle. “Fuck, Cayla!” he screamed. “What the fuck was that!” Franklin knelt down beside Vickery. He pressed his fingers to the man’s neck. “You killed him!”
“You’re welcome, motherfucker.” Cayla’s cigarette bobbed in her mouth. “I heard you upstairs, Shawn. You told them every damn thing that’s been going on. No wonder Lonnie didn’t wanna hand you over the business.”
“Shut up!” Franklin pointed the Glock at Cayla. “Just shut the fuck up!”
The cigarette dropped out of her mouth. “Get that gun outta my face.”
“I said shut up!” Franklin pressed the gun to Cayla’s chest. “I told you to let me handle this. I told you to just shut the fuck up for once in your miserable life and let me do what I know how to do.”
Cayla asked, “What’re you gonna do, Shawn? Turn state’s evidence? Go to the cops and tell them you’re sorry?”
“Stop talking.”
“You gonna shoot me in the chest, Shawn? That what you promised Chuck you was gonna do? Murder me?” Her words were strong, but she took a step back. “You know we gotta get rid of him or he’ll go straight to the cops.”
“He won’t go to the cops!” Franklin screamed. “He’s a con. He’s on parole!”
Will stared down at the floor so he didn’t give himself away. He had no idea why Franklin had maintained his cover.
And he would never find out.
Tony Dell pushed open the saloon doors to the kitchen. Will couldn’t guess how long he’d been standing there. He’d obviously heard enough.
Tony took three steps across the room and jammed his knife into Franklin’s neck.
Franklin’s mouth opened. He dropped the gun. He put one hand to his throat, tried to steady the handle of the knife with the other.
And then Tony pulled out the blade.
Blood shot out of the wound like a water pistol.
Franklin went down on one knee. He gasped for air. Will could hear his breath wheezing through the open slit in his neck.
Cayla said, “Jesus, Tony, finish it.”
Tony didn’t want to. He was soaking in the spectacle of Franklin’s death. The blood pouring out of his neck. The way his fingers quivered as he reached out for help. Franklin finally lost his balance. His whole body shifted, his knee slipping out from under him. His shoulder hit the floor. Blood pooled around his head. His fingers kept trembling. A pungent odor filled the air. His big chest rose for one last breath that he would never let go.
And then it was over.
“Damn,” Tony whispered. “I think he shit hisself.”
Cayla slapped Tony on the back of the head. “How many times do I have to call you? I swear to God, I thought Shawn was gonna arrest me outside the hospital. I told you he wasn’t right with this.”