Dance of the Bones

“We seem to have run out of time today,” Brandon said. “We’ll look into the box the next time around. In the meantime, I have one last question. You’ve been here a long time, more than thirty years. If you didn’t kill Amos Warren, who do you think did?”


“Ava,” Lassiter answered without a moment’s hesitation. “Had to be her. I took her to Soza Canyon a -couple of times, just to screw around.”

“So she knew that was one of the places you and Amos went?”

Lassiter nodded. “I may have even told her that’s where I thought Amos was after the fight in El Barrio.”

“Did you mention your suspicions about Ava to either JFA or Junior Glassman?”

“I did, but they weren’t interested,” Lassiter said. “Those -people are all about getting me off, not proving me innocent and finding the guilty party. There’s a big difference between the two.”

“Yes,” Brandon agreed, “a big difference.”

If Lassiter was lying, Brandon had to admit this was a convincing performance. “Look,” he said finally, “two separate juries have found you guilty of first--degree homicide. Justice for All has come up with grounds for either a plea deal or another trial. Apparently you’re not interested in either one. Why not?”

“Because the plea deal means exactly that,” Lassiter said. “It means I plead guilty to second degree and get out with time served. But I won’t do that, Sheriff Walker. I won’t plead guilty to something I didn’t do. Besides, I don’t want to get out.”

Brandon was taken aback. “You don’t? Why not?”

“Look at me,” Lassiter said. “I’m the next thing to helpless. Some days I can’t even get out of bed by myself. At least in prison they assign -people to look after me. Aubrey here, for example,” he said, gesturing toward the black man waiting patiently in the corner. “Who would I have to take care of me on the outside?”

“What about your daughter?” Brandon suggested. “I’ve met her. I know she cares about you and has been working tirelessly on your behalf. She’s the one who brought in JFA in the first place. She has MS--related health issues of her own, but I’m sure she’d figure out a way to help you get whatever assistance you need.”

“No!” Lassiter roared, bringing his fist down with a surprisingly powerful blow that made the tabletop shudder. A moment later he winced as pain from damaged nerves shot through his body.

“No,” he said again, more quietly. “Amanda Wasser is not my daughter; she belongs to somebody else. The -people who raised her are her real parents. I relinquished my right to be her father the moment she was born. If they release me, I might end up being a burden on her, and I refuse to do that. I’d rather stay where I am.”

“Then what’s the point?” Brandon asked. “If you don’t care about getting out, why do you want TLC to investigate Amos Warren’s homicide?”

“Because I didn’t do it,” Big Bad John Lassiter said. “And if I ever do meet Amanda Wasser in person, I don’t want to look the woman in the eye until the rest of the world knows I didn’t do it.”

Brandon thought about that for a moment. For reasons he couldn’t entirely explain, he realized that he believed the whole thing. He believed that John Lassiter, a twice--convicted killer, wanted to be cleared in his daughter’s eyes, no matter what else happened. And since that twice--convicted killer was someone who had once befriended Brandon’s troubled son, now proving John Lassiter innocent meant something to Brandon Walker, too.





CHAPTER 18




IN THIS VILLAGE—-THIS KIHHIM—-LIVED A young girl who was always smiling and happy. For this reason she was called Tondam Ge:s—-which means Shining Falls. She was a helpful girl who sometimes looked after the fires and sometimes played with the children. Shining Falls said that she was not afraid of the Evil Giantess, and so she was put in charge of the children of the village and told to keep them safe.