David Baldacci - The Last Mile

“And you put me in prison.”

Roy rubbed at his face. “They would have killed you, don’t believe otherwise.”

“Because they think I have what was in that safe deposit box.”

Roy’s features hardened. “Decker again? He’s one smart prick. I should’ve slit his throat when I had the chance.”

“ Chocha ,” said Mars.

Roy looked at him. “What about it?”

“It means playing possum. Playing dead. Like you did.”

“As I said, better prison than a grave. These guys were serious people. Kill you to look at you.”

“Did you bomb the church? And the NAACP office? Did you?”

“You’re getting way ahead of yourself.”

“Simple questions. Yes or no?”

“What, you want a confession?”

“They were little kids, Dad. In a choir.”

Roy looked away. “They weren’t supposed to be there. Choir practice ran late, I guess.”

“But you still did it.”

“That part was out of my hands.”

“Okay, so you’re completely innocent?”

Roy laughed. “You’ll never hear those words come out of my damn mouth.”

“Decker told McClellan that you were coming for them. To scare them.”

“Is that right? Like I could give a shit.”

“Really? Aren’t they the reason you had to kill Mom? I mean, if they weren’t around, if you’d had the balls to finish them off way back when?”

Roy stared down at his hands. “It wasn’t that simple.”

“So why don’t you tell me about it, Dad? You brought me out here. You obviously wanted to talk. So why don’t you tell me how a guy who married a ‘colored’ woman that he loved more than life itself could be part of a group that blew up black kids? Why don’t you tell me that?”

“Easy enough. I was a racist asshole. Just like McClellan and his buddies.”

“Was?”

“Until I met your mother.”

“What, then all your racist tendencies just vanished?”

“No. But I never hurt anyone like that again.”

“You hurt me! I’m black. You stole my life. Your own son.”

Roy turned to look at Mars. “The thing is, Mellow, you’re not my son. Your mother was pregnant when I rescued her.”

Mars sat there staring at him. “You’re not my father?” he finally managed to say.

“No. I’m not.”

“Then who was?” gasped Mars.

“A prick who raped your mom over and over. Until I made him stop. By slitting his throat.”

Mars stood in the parking lot and watched the taillights of the car disappearing as the rain started to sprinkle. He had never felt this disconnected from every other person on earth. It was like the plague had come and he was the only one left breathing. He actually would have welcomed the absolute solitude. He didn’t want to talk to anyone else ever again.

When the last wink of car lights vanished, it was as though someone had cut off his blood flow. Mars sank to the asphalt, first on his knees and then onto his belly.

He had so much rolling through his head that he couldn’t process it. He couldn’t even try. He felt sick. His limbs didn’t seem to work.

He just lay there for a while until the rain picked up.

He finally stood, staggered to his room, and collapsed on the bed and just lay there. An hour went by, and slowly he rose and sat on the side of the bed.

His father was not his father.

The man was a killer.

He had set him up for murder. He had cost him twenty years of his life.

His entire life was bullshit.

He left his room and knocked on Decker’s door. A few groans and mutterings later the door opened.

“Why are you up this early?” said Decker. Then he saw the look on Mars’s face and quickly ushered him in.

Mars sat down and told Decker what had just happened.

Decker didn’t say a word until he had finished.

“I’m sorry, Melvin.”

“I don’t want your damn sympathy. I just want to get to the bottom of this.”

“Well, I’m working on it,” said Decker.

Mars slowly lifted his head. “Did you know he wasn’t my father?”

“Why do you ask me that?”

“Because you seem to know every damn thing, that’s why. So, did you?”

Decker didn’t answer.

“Decker!”

“Does it really matter?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, I suspected .”

“How?”

“Guy never said he loved you.”

“How the hell did you know that?”

“You told us. When you were under hypnosis. And he framed you for murder, Melvin. Don’t know many dads who would do that. What he did with Montgomery he did for your mom. And when he said he hadn’t framed his son, he was being quite literal. You weren’t his son. But none of that is your issue. It’s on him.”

“It doesn’t feel that way.”

“Maybe not now.” Decker shifted in his seat and then did the same to the direction of the conversation. “Any idea where he went?”

“Really wasn’t focusing on that.”

“What else can you tell me?”

“I told him you had threatened McClellan and those guys with my da— I mean, with Roy going after them.”

“And what did he say to that?” Decker asked.

“That he doesn’t give a crap about those guys.”

“And you believe him?”

“Well, since he’s lied to me about pretty much everything, I really don’t know.”

“I don’t believe him. Maybe he didn’t want those guys before, but now I think he does.”

“Why?” asked Mars.

“He strikes me as a guy who doesn’t like to lose. The Three Musketeers need what Roy has. And they’ll do anything to get it. Including killing Roy. And you. And us. That’s the setup. And I don’t think Roy will go quietly. Did he say anything about what he has on them?”

Mars shook his head. “But it was in the safe deposit box. I’m sure of that.”

“And did he help bomb the church here?”

“He didn’t say. But he did say he was a racist asshole like the other guys.”

“Until he met your mother?”

“Shit, Decker, are you a mind reader or what?”

“Pretty simple, Melvin. A guy who’s still a racist would not marry a black woman.”

“Yeah, right,” said Mars dully. “He said... he said he killed my real father. Who was a rapist.”

“Yeah, you said.”

“So I’ve got a rapist for a father and a killer for a stepfather.”

“And what does that have to do with you personally? You didn’t pick either of those scenarios to happen.”

“I’m still in the middle of it.”

“And we’re going to get you out of it, Melvin.”

Mars shook his head. “I don’t think even you’re that good. I’m screwed, man. For all I know Texas is going to find a way to put my butt back in prison. Maybe that’s where I belong.”

“If you really think that, go turn yourself in.”

“What?”

“I don’t do self-pity, Melvin. Never had time for it. And neither do you. You told me you were with me on this. I don’t need you to rethink that. It’s a waste of both our time.”

“You don’t sugarcoat anything, do you?”

“My brain’s not wired that way.”

“Lucky you.”

“You’d be surprised at how unlucky I am sometimes.”

“It was like I was living with a stranger all those years. The man I thought I knew, I didn’t know at all.”

“The point is, Melvin, you knew your mother. And she did love you. There’s no fraud there. And her love made a guy like Roy do things he ordinarily wouldn’t do. Like saving you from execution. So maybe he didn’t love you. So he wasn’t your father. I think your mom had enough love for you to make up for all of that.”

Mars was silent for a few moments. “I thought you said your brain wasn’t wired for stuff like that.”