David Baldacci - The Last Mile

“I grew up in Texas over thirty years ago with biracial parents, so no, I never saw any racism at all,” said Mars sarcastically.

Roy smiled and inclined his head. “Anyway, the son always lived to impress the dad. Thurman was going to follow in his footsteps, be a player on the national stage. I’m not speculating here. That’s all he talked about in high school. And Eastland was always going to go into business. But he also had a God complex, I guess coming from so much money. He and Huey, knights in shining armor defending their lily-white kingdom. So you had a future politician and a future businessman, match made in heaven. And Mac signed on because, well, as you probably saw, Mac doesn’t like people who look different from him.”

“And you?” asked Decker. “What was the incentive for you?”

“You’re not listening. I already told you. Money! And back then I admit I was a lemming. Just followed the crowd. The Hueys had power. The Eastlands had money. I got to live in that world for a little bit, which was a lot better than my real one. My parents were pretty much sharecroppers. The only toilet I had growing up was the one at school. Most days I went out into the fields and picked my own meals. My parents worked hard, don’t get me wrong, but they were never going to have two dimes to rub together.”

“So you went along?”

“Hell, yes. They paid me. A shitload of money. More than I’d ever make doing anything else. I was always good with putting stuff together, fixing things. Motors, transmissions, appliances.”

“And explosives,” added Decker.

“I started making little pipe bombs in high school. Then I moved on to bigger stuff. They got me the materials and I built explosives with a timer.”

“And Charles Montgomery ran interference.”

“Shit, the local cops knew what was going to happen, but yeah, Chuck did the drunk driving act so they could have a reason to leave the church.”

“And the same in Tuscaloosa with the NAACP office?” asked Decker. “Montgomery did his thing to distract so the bomb could be planted?”

“I wasn’t there, but I assume so. Huey did tell me later that the cops were watching that office because there’d been threats.”

“And who brought Montgomery in?”

“McClellan and Eastland.”

Decker nodded. “He played football with them at Ole Miss.”

“Right. But he dropped out of college, got drafted, went to ’Nam, and came back with a lot of problems. He needed money and they had it. I used the same ploy on him when I looked Chuck up to lie about killing us to get Mellow out of prison. Figured a dying guy wouldn’t care. And he wanted to take care of his kid. At least that’s what Regina told me.”

“So what happened?” asked Decker. “Why disappear, change your name, and go on the run?”

Roy didn’t answer immediately. “I didn’t agree to meet with you so we could play twenty questions.”

“Granted, but you did agree. Did you have a falling-out?”

“What makes you say that?”

“Because you have something they want. Whatever was in the safe deposit box. They know you’re alive, Roy. They’re never going to stop looking.”

“You think that worries me?”

“I don’t know. Why not just give us the evidence and we’ll use it to bring them down?”

“And what, you just let me walk off into the sunset?” He shook his head.

Decker said, “It was your leverage against them, right? They come after you, you’ll just turn it over to the authorities.”

“Damn straight it was.”

“Did Mom know what you did with the bombings?” asked Mars.

“You think she would’ve married me if she’d known what I’d done?” Roy looked back at Decker. “After the ESPN show aired, I got a letter.”

“They threatened you?”

“They threatened everybody. And that’s when I found out that Lucinda was dying. She had maybe a few months. I was caught in a real bind.”

Decker said, “But you hadn’t revealed the evidence against them all these years, Roy. After seeing you on TV, why would they come after you so hard? That might make you give up their secrets.”

“It was McClellan’s doing. He was the one who sent the threats, I’m sure of that. Huey and Eastland would have just sat on it, done nothing. But Roger’s not built that way. All those years I know the sonofabitch has been brooding about what I did. He would have seen it as a betrayal. And he doesn’t like anyone holding something over his head. He came after me and dragged the other two along, of that I’m certain.”

Decker nodded. “After meeting the man I can see how that would be the case. But how did you fund the stuff that Regina Montgomery bought?” he asked. “You couldn’t even afford medical care for Lucinda.”

“Little safecracking, a few scams, a bit of burglary, an armed robbery. Took me some time but I got enough cash. Then the dumb bitch went on a shopping spree. I told her to wait till she moved on, but she couldn’t wait. Stupid woman. So I had to take care of that little problem.”

“And the guy who took your place when you disappeared, Dan Reardon?”

“Don’t feel too sorry for him. You know what Reardon was? A pedophile and a murderer. Nobody bothered to look, but he probably has half a dozen kids buried out at his old place.”

“And you never told anyone?” said Decker.

“No, I blew his head off instead. Saved everybody a lot of time and money.”

“But they know you’re alive now, Roy. And they’ll come after you and Melvin.”

“Well, I’ll be a lot harder to find than Mellow.”

“And you’re okay with that?”

“I’m okay with a lot of things you wouldn’t be.”

“Even though Lucinda wouldn’t have agreed?”

In response Roy held up his phone. “You wrote this text, didn’t you? The first one to me. Because I don’t see Mellow being that eloquent.”

The screen read, Is this really what Lucinda would have wanted, Roy? It’s her son, the only living thing of your wife left. What would Lucinda want you to do?

“It’s a fair question,” said Decker.

“Never said it wasn’t.”

“So, what would she want you to do? Not just for Melvin. But for the others killed. For the little girls who never got to grow up and have their own children.”

“Don’t try to pull at the heartstrings, I don’t have any left.”

“And I don’t believe that. Because you got Melvin out of prison. You saved his life.”

“And yet here you are asking for even more.”

“Because the job’s not over yet.”

“Your job, maybe, not mine.”

“We can dance linguistics all night. It’s not going to get us anywhere.”

The two men stared at each other.

“It would be interesting to see what makes you tick, Decker,” said Roy.

“We might be more alike than you think.”

“Oh, I think we’re very much alike.” Roy looked down. “What if I gave you the stuff? Would you really let me walk?”

“If we got the evidence to put Eastland and Huey away, I really wouldn’t spend a lot of time looking for you.”

“But the FBI might.”

“They might. But like you said, you’re a hard man to find.”

Roy considered this and was about to say something when he froze, and his gaze darted past them. His features hardened.

“You screwed me. You brought the FBI.”

Decker looked behind him and then turned to face Roy. “No, we didn’t. Which means it’s the other side out there.”

Roy immediately turned off the lantern, plunging them into darkness.

“Give me my gun,” said Decker.

“How do I know it’s not the FBI out there and you’re just trying to trick me?” countered Roy.