Дэвид Балдаччи: The Sixth Man

“Will you chill? It’s just isolated up here. Interstate or not. Lots of space, not lots of people. Most of the population lives near the coast, Portland, back where we came from. The rest of the state is big on land and pretty low on human beings. Hell, Aroostook County is bigger than Rhode Island and Connecticut combined. In fact, Maine is as large as all the other New England states put together. And once we get past Bangor and keep heading north, it gets even more isolated. The interstate stops near the town of Houlton. Then you take Route 1 the rest of the way up towards the northern tip of the Canadian border.”

“What’s up there?”

“Places like Presque Isle, Fort Kent, and Madawaska.”

“And moose?”

“I suppose. Lucky we’re not going there. It’s really far.”

“Couldn’t we have flown into Bangor? They have an airport, right? Or Augusta?”

“No direct flights. Most of the available flights had two or three stops. One took us all the way south to Orlando before heading north. We could have flown out of Baltimore, but we’d have to connect through LaGuardia and that’s always dicey. And we would have still had to drive to Baltimore, and 95 can be a nightmare. It’s faster and more certain this way.”

“You’re just a fountain of useful facts. You’ve been to Maine much?”

“One of the former presidents I protected has a summer place up here.”

“Bush Forty-One at Walker’s Point?”

“You got it.”

“But that’s southern coastal Maine. Kennebunkport. We flew over it going into Portland.”

“Beautiful area. We’d follow Bush in our chase boat. Could never keep up with him. Guy’s fearless. Has over eight hundred HP spread over three Mercury outboards on a thirty-two-footer named the Fidelity III . Man loved to go full throttle in the open Atlantic in pretty heavy chop. I rode in the Zodiac chase boat trying to keep up with him. Only time I’ve ever puked on duty.”

“But that area’s not as isolated as this,” said Michelle.

“No, lot more humanity down there.” He looked at his watch. “And it’s late. Most people up here probably rise at dawn to go to work. That means they’re probably already in bed.” He yawned. “Like I wish I was.”

Michelle checked the GPS. “Around Bangor we get off the interstate and head east to the coast.”

He nodded. “In between the towns of Machias and Eastport. Right on the water. Lot of back roads. Not easy to get to, which makes sense because then it’s not easy to get away from if a homicidal maniac has managed to escape.”

“Has anyone ever escaped from Cutter’s Rock?”

“Not to my knowledge. And if they ever did, they’d have two options: the wilderness or the chilly waters of the Gulf of Maine. Neither one is too palatable. And Mainers are hardy folk. Probably not even homicidal maniacs would want to cross them.”

“So we’re hooking up with Bergin tonight?”

“Yep. At the inn where we’re staying.” Sean checked his watch. “In about two and a half hours. Then we see Roy at ten tomorrow morning.”

“So how do you know Bergin again?”

“He was my law professor at UVA. Great guy. Was in private practice before he started teaching. Few years after I graduated he hung his shingle back out. Defense lawyer, obviously. Has an office in Charlottesville.”

“How’d he end up repping a psycho like Edgar Roy?”

“He specializes in hopeless cases, I guess. But he’s a first-rate attorney. I don’t know what his connection is to Roy. I’m assuming he’ll fill us in on that, too.”

“And you never did elaborate on why Bergin engaged us.”

“I didn’t elaborate because I’m not quite sure. He called, said he was making headway in Roy’s case and needed some investigation done by people he could trust in preparation for taking the case to trial.”

“What sort of headway? From my reading of the case they’re only waiting for him to get his mind back so they can convict him and then execute him.”

“I don’t profess to understand what Bergin’s theory is. He didn’t want to discuss it on the phone.”

Michelle shrugged. “I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”

They left the interstate, and Michelle steered the Ford east along increasingly poor and windy surface roads. As they neared the ocean waters, the briny smell invaded the car.

“Fishy, my favorite,” she said sarcastically.

“Get used to that smell. It’ll be everywhere up here.”

She calculated they were about thirty minutes from their destination along a particularly lonely patch of road when the silvery night was broken by another set of car lights. Only they weren’t on the road. They were on the shoulder. Michelle automatically slowed as Sean rolled down his window for a better look.

“Flashers,” he said. “Somebody’s broken down.”

“Should we pull over?”

He debated this. “I suppose. They might not even be able to get cell reception up here.” He poked his head out for a better look. “It’s a Buick. I doubt someone would use a Buick to lure unsuspecting motorists into a trap.”

Michelle touched the gun in its holster. “I doubt we qualify as unsuspecting motorists.”

She slowed the Ford and pulled in behind the other car. The hazard lights blinked off and on, off and on. In the vastness of coastal Maine it looked like a small conflagration stuck in the limbo of fits and starts.

“Somebody’s in the driver’s seat,” noted Michelle, as she put the Ford in park. “Only person I can see.”

“Then he might be worried about us. I’ll get out and put the person at ease.”

“I’ve got your back in case someone’s hiding in the floorboard and they don’t want to be put at ease.”

He swung his long legs out and approached the car slowly from the passenger’s side. His feet crunched over the sparse shoulder gravel. His breath came out as puffs of smoke in the chilled air. From somewhere among the trees he heard an animal’s call and briefly wondered if it was a moose. Animal Planet hadn’t been clear on what a moose actually sounded like. And Sean had no interest in finding out for himself.

He called out, “Do you need any help?”

Blink, blink of the hazard lights. No response.

He looked down at his cell phone clutched in his hand. He had reception bars. “Are you broken down? Do you want us to call a tow truck for you?”

Nothing. He reached the car, tapped on the side window. “Hello? You okay?”

He saw the silhouette of the driver through the window. It was a man. “Sir, you okay?” The guy didn’t budge.

Sean’s next thought was a medical emergency. Maybe a heart attack. A marine haze had obscured the moonlight. It was so dark inside the car he couldn’t make out many details. He heard a car door open and turned back to see Michelle climb out of their ride, her hand on the butt of her weapon. She glanced at him for communication.

“I think the guy’s in medical distress.”

She nodded and moved forward; her boots made clicks on the asphalt.

Sean eased around to the driver’s side and tapped on the window. In the darkness all he could see was the man’s outline. The red light from the flashers lit the interior of the car, casting the surroundings into a bright crimson before going dark again, like the car was heating up one second and going cool the next. But it didn’t help Sean see inside the car. It only made it more difficult. He tapped on the glass once more.

“Sir? Are you all right?”

He tried the door. It was unlocked. He opened it. The man slumped sideways, held in the car only by his seat harness. Sean grabbed the man’s shoulder and righted him as Michelle rushed forward.