BooksBarbecue
Back Goodbye to the Dead Save as PDF
Chapters (73)
  1. Goodbye to the Dead
  2. Also By Brian Freeman
  3. Title
  4. Copyright
  5. Dedication
  6. Epigraph
  7. CONTENTS
  8. PROLOGUE
  9. THEN
  10. 1
  11. 2
  12. 3
  13. 4
  14. 5
  15. 6
  16. 7
  17. 8
  18. 9
  19. 10
  20. 11
  21. 12
  22. 13
  23. 14
  24. 15
  25. 16
  26. 17
  27. 18
  28. 19
  29. 20
  30. 21
  31. 22
  32. 23
  33. 24
  34. 25
  35. 26
  36. 27
  37. 28
  38. 29
  39. 30
  40. 31
  41. 32
  42. 33
  43. 34
  44. 35
  45. NOW
  46. 36
  47. 37
  48. 38
  49. 39
  50. 40
  51. 41
  52. 42
  53. 43
  54. 44
  55. 45
  56. 46
  57. 47
  58. 48
  59. 49
  60. 50
  61. 51
  62. 52
  63. 53
  64. 54
  65. 55
  66. 56
  67. 57
  68. 58
  69. 59
  70. 60
  71. 61
  72. FROM THE AUTHOR
  73. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The nurse undid the knot at Al’s neck to check on the bandage, and the fabric of the hospital gown slipped down, exposing his bare torso. Exposing something that didn’t belong on the chest of a healthy teenager. It took Stride a moment of shocked disbelief to understand exactly what he was seeing. Then, with the swiftness of a bullet from a decade-old gun, everything in the present and past made perfect sense.

This innocent young man. He was the key. He was what they’d all missed back then.

‘Jonny?’ Serena asked, watching his face.

The nurse retied Al’s gown, but Stride had already seen the zipper scar.

The scar of someone who’d had heart surgery.

59

59

They found Al’s mother in the hospital cafeteria.

She was with her three daughters, who ranged in age from ten to sixteen. When she saw Stride, Serena, and Maggie converging on their table, her lips puckered into a frown. Under her breath, she spoke to her children, and the girls picked up their trays and moved.

She continued eating calmly as the detectives joined her. She didn’t even look up when Stride said: ‘Janine Snow operated on Al, didn’t she? She saved his life.’

Toiana Pugh put her knife and fork back on the tray and folded her hands in her lap. She took a long breath, and a tear wept from her eye.

‘Yeah, she did. That woman was an angel sent from heaven. My little Sherman Aloysious was going to die. We were going to lose him. And that beautiful woman gave him back to us.’

‘Why didn’t you tell us this before?’ Stride asked.

Anger flashed on Al’s mother’s face. ‘So you could give her more trouble? Haven’t you done enough? That woman doesn’t belong in a jail cell. She should be helping other families. Other kids.’

Stride leaned back and ran his hands through his hair. The front legs of the chair came off the floor. He looked around at the cafeteria. Most of the people eating there were nurses in scrubs, but there were families, too. He knew what it was like to spend hours in a place like this. Waiting. Praying. Crying.

‘I understand,’ he told her. ‘Really, I do. But we need to know exactly what happened.’