“How much?”
“Two thousand dollars a week. In cash. And I really had to do nothing. Just…look the other way.”
Jamison said, “No, you let them put bodies in your freezer.”
Martin shivered at this comment but said nothing in reply.
Decker said, “That’s a lot of money. What did you do with it?”
“I…bought things. I started eating food other than ramen noodles and mac and cheese. I fixed items in my house. I sent some money to my children. I bought my grandkids presents for the first time in years. I put the rest away in a trunk in my house to leave to them.”
“So you were outside the night the bodies were transported?” said Lassiter.
Martin nodded. “They…they took the bodies from my freezer and put them in Fred’s van. Then they drove it to the house and unloaded them there. They’d cleared out their equipment earlier. I went outside because…well, I didn’t want to be inside when they brought the bodies out. And I wanted to make sure that no one was around, even though they had this drone thing flying over to do that. They usually did that when they were moving people or things in and out of there, just to make sure the coast was clear. Fred told me they had wanted to wait until it was very late at night to do it, but they figured with the storm coming in that no one would be out and about, and they wanted to get it done sooner rather than later. Anyway, they pulled the van into the carport and brought the bodies in through the side door. Afterward, they drove the van back to Fred’s and left on foot. I walked back to my house before the rain started.”
“That’s when I heard your cane clunking and scraping against the pavement,” said Decker. “I’m glad I never really described the sounds I heard to you when we spoke before. You would have been tipped off. But Dan Bond heard it too. He confronted you about it, didn’t he?”
For the first time, tears glimmered in Martin’s eyes.
“He was out on his front porch the other day when I passed by. I called out to him and he said, ‘Good morning.’ But then he looked kind of funny-like. I went home. And later he called me and wanted to know why I was outside that night. He wasn’t accusing me, really. But he said that you had asked him about the sound, that you considered it important. And he was trying to remember where he’d heard it before. I never even thought about my cane making those noises. I just used it outside to walk without falling. I should have gotten it repaired.”
“So how did he end up dead?” asked Decker.
“I was afraid he would tell you it had been me out that night. So I phoned Fred and told him about it.”
“From the number on your phone wall,” said Decker.
Martin locked gazes with him. “Yes.”
“And what did Fred say he was going to do?” asked Lassiter.
“He said he would take care of it.” She started to tremble. “I never thought he was going to kill him! I never, ever wanted Dan to die. He was a good man. A good friend all these years.”
“What the hell did you think he was going to do?” said Decker. “A guy who’d stored the bodies of two federal agents in your freezer?”
Martin shook her head. “I…” She fell silent.
“And you called Fred again, after I met with you that night, didn’t you?”
She glanced at him but said nothing.
“And he or someone else called Brian Collins and told him to kill me. Did you know that was going to happen when you lied to me about seeing Beatty and Smith going into that house?”
“I…I just did as I was told if you showed up at my door. That was all.”
A long silence followed, during which all that could be heard was Martin’s rapid breathing.
“You know, you should thank us for bringing you in,” said Decker.
She looked up at him. “Why is that?”
“How long do you think they were going to let you live? I’m surprised they haven’t already killed you.”
“Maybe they took mercy on me.”
“I highly doubt these guys have any mercy inside them.”
“I have to look for the good in people,” she said.
“And I have to look for the bad. It’s not hard to find.”
Martin’s eyes fluttered. “It didn’t use to be this way here.”
“Back in the good old days?” said Decker.
“They were the good old days,” she snapped.
“To some people. To others, they were as bad as today is for you.”
“What will happen to me?” asked Martin, regaining her composure.
“Well, for starters, you won’t have to worry about housing for the rest of your life,” said Decker. “Or food. The government will be providing both.”
She held her chin high and stared pointedly at him. “I just wanted to live in peace and dignity. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. Doesn’t that matter?”
Decker eyed her back. “I’ve heard a lot of people say that over the years. Even the ones who put a gun against a guy’s head and pulled the trigger. So, no, it doesn’t matter at all.”
Lassiter said, “But if you testify against the others and help us build a case against them, that will help you. You might get some leniency.”
Martin looked at her. “Throwing a bone to your old Sunday school teacher, Donna?”
Lassiter shook her head. “You helped a drug ring pretty much slaughter this town, in exchange for money. So I just want to nail every one of these bastards. And if you can help us do that, great. If you can’t you can rot in prison for all I care.”
“I’ve really screwed everything up, haven’t I?”
Decker glanced at Jamison and then looked back at Martin.
“Well, maybe you can teach Bible classes in prison to redeem yourself.”
“Now you’re mocking me,” said Martin bitterly.
“No, I’m actually serious. And if you can help turn one life around?”
“Do you think that’s really possible?”
“After what I’ve seen in life, anything is possible.”
Chapter 68
DECKER, WE HAVE a big problem.”
Decker was in the truck driving away from the police building with Jamison when Kemper had called.
“What?”
“I just got a call. We lost track of Ted Ross.”
Decker swore under his breath. “How the hell did that happen?”
“I honestly don’t know. He must have found out we arrested Green and Martin and now he’s disappeared down a rabbit hole.”
“How about his old man?”
“Now that’s one card we might be able to play.”
“How so?”
“Fred Ross is sitting in a holding cell at the Baronville jail. I had him arrested based on the phone call from Alice Martin after Bond had phoned her. Now we have Martin’s evidence of the guy’s involvement in the murders of my two agents and the drug ring. We’ll arrange to have him transferred to a federal lockup shortly. But in the meantime, we’re going to grill him until he screams he wants a lawyer.”
“Then I suggest you wear earplugs.” He clicked off and threw his phone down on the front seat of their truck.
“Bad news?” Jamison asked.
He told her.
“Okay, really bad news. What do you think Ted Ross is going to do?”
“For starters, he’s going to try to avoid the death penalty.”
“What do we do?”
“We go home and get Zoe and Amber and get them the hell out of Baronville.”
“Right.” Jamison stomped on the gas so hard, Decker’s head snapped back.
*
When they pulled into the driveway of the house, Decker noted that the cop was still stationed out front in his cruiser.
“Tell your sister to pack up and we’ll drive them someplace safe. I’m going to call Bogart and have him put some agents around them both.”
Jamison jumped out of the truck and ran into the house while Decker phoned Bogart and filled him in. They made arrangements to meet a team of FBI agents in Pittsburgh. It was dark now and would be darker still by the time they got there.
Decker put his phone away and studied the house. It was almost impossible to believe that just a short time ago he and Jamison had traveled here for some rest and relaxation.