Luke Murphy - Dead Man's Hand

Dale paused, as if strengthening his resolve. “I’ve never had a talk like this with anyone in my life, not Jimmy or my wife. You may not know me well enough to know I’m a very private person. I stay focused on the job and try to keep my emotions to myself.”

Calvin smiled. “I might know you better than you think. Once Grant’s body had been discovered and you were chosen to lead the homicide investigation, I researched and created a file on you and Jimmy. Your proficiency speaks for itself.”

Dale grimaced and shook his head. “I wasn’t the same way at home, that is, during the very little time I spent there. For too many years with my wife I was all business—ready to talk about work but not feelings and very little love. I knew I was ruining my marriage, but I didn’t want to deal with the problems. Every time Betty tried to talk to me about them, I’d avoid her and make a quick escape. I’ve made some big mistakes in the past—which I’m still paying for.”

Dale paused again and Calvin remained silent, giving the detective all the time he needed.

“Last night, when everyone was celebrating the arrest, I was as happy as everyone else that we could prosecute and convict Sanders for double homicide.”

“And then I thought about the three other murder victims whose files would go in the cold-case cabinet as unsolved and maybe unsolvable, about the families and friends of those victims and I got very depressed. Three unsolved murder cases for which I, as the lead investigator, have to take full responsibility. I was honest enough with myself to accept the pain of blame and failure.”

“On top of that—and nobody else knows this—Betty left me a week ago and took our young son with her to Utah to stay with her sister. All my mistakes as a husband and father, which I’d kept denying, caught up with me and it’s my own fault that I’m now alone. When I realized I’d sacrificed my family to be a cop and then failed at that too, I almost broke down.”

“Then I thought of you.”

Calvin was astonished. “Me? I…”

Dale cut him off. “You were an innocent man who’d been put through hell and almost lost his life because of one man’s all-consuming, insatiable desire for power. Look at everything you’ve been through. Four years ago, in less than a minute, you suffered a knee injury that ended your stellar college and certain pro career. You dropped from the top to the bottom. I checked your arrest record, so I know you were trapped at the bottom for a while. But you were on your way back, ready to go.”

Calvin shook his head. “I did nothing. You’re the real hero. You were the only one in all of Vegas, except for Rachel, who believed I was innocent. If you hadn’t trusted me and worked with me on my plan to capture Baxter, I might be dead now and Rachel too. I owe you our lives. You put your life on the line every day to protect this city.”

Dale smiled. “Okay, let’s say we’re heroes to each other. You also have a true loving relationship with Rachel and I admire it all the more because I sure don’t have that with my wife.”

“I appreciate that. But how can I possibly help you?”

Dale leaned forward, staring straight into Calvin’s eyes, his face, expressions, emotions and heart wide open and said, “Tell me what I should do.”

Calvin perceived where the man was in his heart and mind and what advice he needed to start moving forward again. “What do I know? I got very lucky. Not everyone would think an ex-hooker and a leg breaker were the elements of an ideal relationship.”

When Dale didn’t say anything, Calvin shrugged.

“You’ve already taken the biggest and most difficult step of all, accepting full responsibility and blame for all that went wrong and all that you didn’t do that you should have done. I went through that same step.”

Dale still didn’t respond.

“Okay.” He took a deep breath. “Tell her what you told me. Admit your faults and don’t bullshit her about your repentance. Tell her that she is in charge—you’ll do what she asks. You need her now more than ever and you’re totally committed to changing, to becoming the father and husband you should have been and are determined to be now. It won’t be easy for you, but ask her for only a little more patience. Can you do that?”

Dale dropped his head. “Yes.”

Calvin smiled. “Don’t try to be the whole police department. Share the load and make the right amount of time for loving your family and being with them. All the other cops admire you. The problem isn’t that you’ll let others down.”

Dale started to speak but Calvin put his hand up. “I’m speaking the truth. You don’t need to be modest or say anything because that’ll just get in the way of the point I want to make.” He paused for a moment and then continued. “You feel like a failure because you and your team were only able to get hard evidence on Sanders for two murders, leaving three unsolved. If Jimmy, or any members of your team, had said to you that they felt like failures for the same reasons you do, what would you have said to them?”

The detective sighed. “The only things I could say—the truth. I knew they’d done the very best they could, that homicide investigations are too complicated and difficult to solve and get enough hard evidence on for every case to be broken and every killer arrested and convicted. And that in reality, though rare, there are smart murderers. Therefore, they should feel proud about all they did do and move on with all the value of more experience.”

“Then why can’t you say it to yourself?”

Chapter 44

It had been five days since the arrest.

On the steps of city hall on Stewart Avenue, Dale stared out into the gathered crowd. As Paul Casey, mayor of Las Vegas, acknowledged the large crowd and blaze of flash cameras, Dale enjoyed peace.

He’d been able to put what he, as the team leader, had and hadn’t achieved in the right perspective. Take pride in what he and his team accomplished and understand his helplessness in the rest—the perfect murders had been by nature beyond his control and law enforcement mission.

And the big one—Betty promised to talk to him again. There was hope.

Now he, Jimmy and Calvin stood before the people of this great city and awaited their medals. Dale and Jimmy were being given the LVMPD Medal of Honor, the most distinguished award the police department could grant. Calvin, as a civilian, was receiving the Las Vegas Freedom Medal, a seldom-bestowed honor for extraordinary public service.

“Detective Dale Dayton.” The voiced boomed from the speakers.

A thunderous applause exploded from the crowd. As Mayor Casey draped the Medal of Honor over Dale’s head and the medal came to rest on his chest, near his heart, he sensed that they were feeling the weight, honor and beauty of the medal as he was.

He turned to watch and applaud as the mayor bestowed on Jimmy and Calvin their respective awards, beaming with an almost fatherly pride, then he turned back to face the crowd and media again.

There’d never be any such ceremony honoring what Calvin had done for him. Only the two of them would ever know. That was enough.

His thoughts returned to his family, the wife and son he loved so much. He was now ready to act on that love.

“Maureen, hold all my calls and turn away any reports.”

He brushed through the reception area and closed his office door. Ignoring his office desktop, Shawn Grant opened his computer case, pulled out his laptop and logged on.

He opened his secure phone and dialed the memorized number.

“Hello.”

Shawn smiled. “Good afternoon, Mr. Baxter.”

“It’s morning where I am.” Baxter’s voice was silky.