Chapters (46)
- COVER PAGE
- PRAISE
- DEDICATION
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
- SNEAK PEEK: EXIT .45
Vincent said, ‘When you told them I was hiding in the bathroom, I didn’t know if you were trying to help me, or trying to help them. I’m prepared to give you the benefit of the doubt, and assume you were in my corner. But I’m not about to go betting anything valuable on that. You understand? So you just keep in mind that I’m trusting you. I’m trusting that your moral fibre was holding up with the strain. And in exchange I need a favour. Are you listening?’
He was looking at him at least.
Vincent said, ‘When the police ask you what happened, you tell them there were two shooters. Two shooters, and they’re both dead. Tell me you understand that.’
For a moment Forsyth still seemed to be looking through him, but slowly, incrementally, Vincent saw a minor shift behind the man’s eyes. Like maybe he was prepared to concede that he owed Vincent something.
He said, ‘Why?’
Vincent said, ‘Because I’m asking you to. Because you owe me. You’ve told bigger lies than this. What I’m asking you to do is nothing compared to what you’ve done already. So you tell the cops there were two shooters.’
Forsyth swallowed, licked his lips. Eyes bloodshot like fork lightning. ‘And what about the third guy? The third guy killed Leo.’
Vincent said, ‘I know. I’m going to get him.’
Forsyth nodded slowly.
Vincent said, ‘You think about that. I’m just going out to the car. I’ll be back in a minute.’
‘Do you think Deborah is alive?’
Vincent stopped and turned and looked at him. Maybe she and Rochelle were both dead. Clearly Delroy and Andre had been to the house in Redondo, and it was just a question of whether Deborah had still been there when they visited.
By Forsyth’s own admission, he’d lived for twenty years feeling trapped, unable to tell the truth or face up to anything, and now here he was again, inert under the weight of his own dysfunction: better to exist in denial than face a tough reality.
Vincent said, ‘I have no idea.’ He pointed through the glass doors at the wall phone. ‘I suggest you make a call and find out.’
THIRTY-EIGHT
THIRTY-EIGHT
Police resources were stretched because of the forest fire east of town. The first available units were sent to the scene on Old Stage Coach Road, but it was forty minutes before two San Luis Obispo PD officers came to talk to them. Vincent and Forsyth were separated and gave their initial statements, and then they were asked to come down to the station. Vincent asked for an update on Erin before he left, but she was still in a critical condition, undergoing surgery.