David Baldacci - Divine Justice

"You mean after I bury my son? Haven't thought that far ahead."

"He saved us, Abby. But for what he did, you and I would be dead. He was a brave man who tried to do the right thing. That's how you have to remember him."

"I told you I lost my husband. Danny was all I had left. Now he's gone too."

"I know it's hard, Abby. It's harder than anything else you'll ever have to do."

"You lost your wife, but you still have your daughter."

"What?" Stone said, startled.

"That woman out there said she was your daughter."

"Oh." Stone looked embarrassed. "That was a cover story, I'm afraid. My daughter." He stumbled over what he was about to say. "My daughter died, like I said."

"How?"

"Abby, you don't-"

"Please tell me. I want to know."

Stone slowly looked up to see her gazing at him pleadingly. "She was shot right in front of me when she was an adult. And the thing was she didn't even know I was her dad. The last time I'd seen her she was only two years old. I found her again after all those years and then I lost her. Forever."

Abby reached out and took his hand. "I'm sorry… Oliver."

"But you do survive it, Abby. You never get over it, but you can keep on living. Because you really don't have a choice."

"I'm scared. I'm alone and I'm scared."

"You're not alone."

She laughed halfheartedly. "What? Tyree? The wonderful town of Divine?"

"Me."

She sat back and looked at him. "You? How?"

"I'm here. Now."

"But for how long?"

Stone hesitated. He could not lie to the woman. "I have to go away."

"Sure, of course you do. I understand," she said offhandedly.

"I have some things that I have to take care of. Some wrongs finally need to be righted."

"Okay, whatever you have to do."

"Abby, I mean it. I will be there for you. Even if I'm not physically here."

He caught her gaze and held it with a pleading one of his own.

"I want to believe that."

"You can believe it."

"When do you have to go?"

"Soon. Sooner than later."

"Are you sure things will work out for you?"

"I won't lie to you, there are no guarantees."

"The trouble you might be in?"

"Yes."

"Will they put you in prison?"

"It's certainly possible," Stone admitted.

A quiet sob escaped her lips and she rested her face on the back of his hand.

"Will you promise me one thing?"

"I'll try my best."

"If you can't come back here, will you never forget me?"

"Abby-"

She sat up and put a hand against his lips. "Will you never forget me?"

"I will never forget you," he said truthfully.

She leaned across the table and kissed him on the cheek. "Because I'll never forget you."

A few minutes later Joe Knox came in. Stone looked over at him.

"You ready?" he asked Stone. "We need to get this done."

Stone gave Abby's hand one final squeeze and rose.

"I'm ready."

THE FRONT DOOR to Macklin Hayes' stately brownstone in Georgetown was thrown open so hard it smacked the wall hard enough to make a dent in the plaster.

"What the hell?" began the man as he half rose from his chair, the book he'd been holding falling to the floor. When he saw who it was he sat back down, stunned.

"Hey, sir , how goes it?" Knox said as he strode in.

"Knox?" Hayes began nervously. "How did you get past the guards outside?"

"Oh, that. One of them is a buddy. I said I'd only be a few minutes. So they went down the street for a cup of coffee."

A panicked look came to the general's face. "Knox, let me explain-"

When Hayes saw Stone walk into the room, he could only gape in astonishment. When he observed that Stone's hands were manacled together, he started to breathe again.

"Mack," Stone said. "Nice place you have here. A lot nicer than the one Joe and I were in. But then you know that, don't you?"

Hayes finally wrenched his gaze from Stone.

"Knox, this will earn you that retirement you've been after, plus anything else in my power. Anything! I swear it."

"Thank you, sir."

Obviously encouraged by this, Hayes rose and put a bony arm around Knox's burly shoulders, drawing him aside.

"You really shouldn't have brought him here, though. Particularly since you sent my guards off. He is a dangerous man, handcuffed or not."

"There was really no other place to take him. And after you left my ass in that hellhole, well, there weren't a whole lot of options once we broke out."

"So you… broke out? The police are looking for you?" he said nervously.

"I would think they are. I mean, we killed five or six guards along the way." He turned to Stone. "Was it six?"

Stone said with an impassive expression, "Eight. I got two more while you were strangling the warden."

Knox turned back to a stunned Hayes. "Okay, so it was eight. I gotta tell you, we weren't in there all that long, but that place just drives you insane. Frigging out of your mind. I would've killed my own mother."

Hayes took his arm away, his hands visibly shaking. When he spoke, his voice shook as much as his hands. "Listen, Knox, I know what happened was unfortunate. But it was necessary until I could get a handle on what to do with Carr. As you can imagine, it was a highly delicate situation. In fact, I was about to send my men up there to do an extraction. Rest assured, I was not going to let one of my best men rot in that place one second longer than necessary. I swear to God."

Knox shook his head sadly. "I appreciate that, sir. I really do. But it would have helped to know that before I killed all those people to get out of the place."

Hayes' face was paper white now. "I'll talk to someone for you. We'll figure something out. This is a national security issue."

"I doubt that's possible now. In fact, that's why I brought Carr along with me."

Hayes glanced sharply over at Stone. "I don't quite understand."

"Well, I might forgive you. But he sure as hell isn't about to. So since we're both wanted for murder, I mean…"

"What the hell are you saying, Knox?"

Stone answered. "What he's saying is we've already done eight. Who the hell cares about one more, especially if it's you?"

Hayes staggered back against the wall, his hand to his chest. "Knox, you can't allow this. I am your superior."

"You were my superior. At least in rank. In reality, I've always considered you quite inferior."

"How dare you-"

Knox uncuffed Stone and then slipped a knife from his pocket and handed it to him. Stone automatically gripped it in his favored killing position.

"Knox!" Hayes screamed.

Stone advanced. "Do you know how many times I've done this on behalf of the United States government?"

"Knox, for godsakes."

"You should have given the man his medal," Knox said.

Hayes screamed, "I'll give you your damn medal, Carr. It's yours."

Knox sat in a chair and said, "You were a piece of crap for pulling the plug on it just because he wouldn't follow your order to slaughter an innocent village in Nam."

"I know that now. I'm sorry. I should never have given that order."

Stone stopped next to the quaking Hayes and looked him up and down, apparently deciding on the best place to deliver the lethal blow.

Knox added, "And you shouldn't have come up to that prison and made a deal with that warden to keep me there because I'd found out the truth."

Stone was now holding the knife against Hayes' throat.

"I've dreamed about this for nearly forty years, Mack," said Stone.

"Knox," wailed Hayes. "I'm begging you. I'm sorry for what I did at the prison. I never should have left you there. I'm sorry. For God's sake make him stop."

"Okay," Knox said. "Oliver, go ahead and stop."