Chapter 77

SEVENTY-SEVEN

We need to catch up enough to keep Lucas in sight so he can't ambush us. I see him a couple of miles ahead and he's driving like a madman. I get to the top of a rise and his car has disappeared. Ronnie pulls up the GPS coordinates using my phone. I turn off the main road where there's a cut in the heavy guardrail, and we follow the GPS along a gravel and mud road leading up a bumpy rise to the top of a cliff about seventy-five feet above the road.

A one-room log cabin can be seen in a small clearing. The cabin has seen better days. The tin roof is rusted with pieces missing. The porch boards look rotted out from where we sit, but the cabin commands a view across Drayton Harbor where dozens of boats are berthed. From up here I can see the little oyster bar where I'll never return. Lucas's dark SUV is parked beside the cabin but there is no sign of him.

The clearing around the cabin is hemmed with giant western red cedars, Douglas firs, hemlock, and ponderosa pines, some as tall as three hundred feet. It's as if the trees deliberately surrounded the cabin. We look all around for Lucas but he could be anywhere. Behind a tree. A large boulder. Or the rotted cords of wood stacked near the cabin.

"I don't like this, Megan."

"We're here now. Either way this goes it doesn't end well for him."

We draw our weapons and approach the cabin. I'm liking this setup less and less. I had hoped Lucas would meet us out in the open. Forcing us to walk through a door just makes it more likely that someone is going to get shot.

I try the door. It's unlocked. I push it and step back quickly, letting it swing open. Glancing inside, I can see it opens on what looks like a living room. There's nobody visible, but I can see a doorway to a small kitchen beyond.

"Come on out, Lucas. We made a deal," I call.

No response. I exchange a glance with Ronnie, then point at the ground, motioning, Stay here . I want to see what's inside, but I don't want anybody coming in behind us suddenly.

I step inside and look around. There's a couch and a television and a coffee table and nothing else. A floorboard creaks as I move into the center of the room.

Just then, there's a sudden cry and the sound of a scuffle.

I rush back to the door, where I'm greeted by the last thing I wanted to see.

Lucas has one arm around Ronnie's neck; with his other hand he's pressing his gun to her temple. Stupid. I expected an ambush inside the cabin, not out here. He waited for us to separate, then got the jump on Ronnie.

"You two made a big mistake," he says, looking a little too pleased with himself.

"Tell me about it. I thought we could trust you to stab us in the back sooner or later. You know, Lucas, you're not as quick as I thought you'd be. I wouldn't go so far as saying you're a dumbass, but I've been wrong before. Put your gun away and let's talk. You give us our share and we can make most of the evidence go away. We'll even say we messed up the crime scene. None of us wants to go to prison. And no one here wants to get dead. So how about it?"

"You have nothing to offer me."

"Oh yeah? How are you going to explain everything without our help? How are you going to explain the gun in Missy's weak hand? The clean floor where the money bag was? Face it, Lucas, you're the only one who walked out of there alive, and therefore you're the only suspect."

Lucas's voice sounds like he's telling a story. One he's making up as he goes. "Duke was in my car. I'd found him right before all this happened and made him tell me where Victoria was and who was holding her. I didn't search him as thoroughly as I should have, and he had a gun. He showed me where they were keeping Victoria. I told him to go inside to verify she was still there and still alive."

I make a face that says, Not bad . "And you heard Jack's car was shot up and figured Thundercloud was on his way back here. You decided to wait and catch them all at once. Of course the sheriff will want to know why you didn't call in the troops."

Lucas picks up the story. "I was afraid if Thundercloud saw police or heard sirens, he would just run with the money. Missy and Duke would kill Victoria."

Ronnie says, "And how will you explain my uncle Vinnie being in there in the bunker? Are you going to say he was part of the kidnapping?"

"It was always going to be blamed on him. He wasn't supposed to be there at the end, but maybe it worked out better that way."

"And Missy's weak hand?"

He shrugs. "I don't know. Maybe she was ambidextrous."

I roll my eyes. "Seriously?"

"You in a hurry to die?" he asks me.

"Not necessarily, but I want to get to the meaty part where you tell us how we die and what we did to deserve it."

"I'm surprised you want the details. But you're not normal."

And you are?

Ronnie says, "Let me take a stab at the next part of your story. Megan and I were working with Vinnie. We kidnapped my mom and drew Thundercloud, Duke, and Missy into the scheme, promising them a big share, but never intending anything but killing them."

"That would never work. Too many people were at the scene and saw the bodies. You two showed up later. But I'll say you two had Vinnie go ahead to kill Missy, Thundercloud, and Duke. He would be a hero. Jack would have to give him a big reward. Meantime you two would have the ten million just waiting to split three ways. Not with me. You two and Vinnie. Victoria would go home thinking you'd saved her life. But you didn't. I did."

Ronnie says, "Good story. So now you have the money for yourself and my dad will probably give you a big reward. You retire to some nice island where there is no extradition with the United States and live the life."

"It's not a perfect cover but it's good enough to buy me some time. You'll be dead and no one will be the wiser. You two could have taken the money and disappeared, never to be heard from again. And you will never be heard from again."

"Okay, Lucas. You win. But I have one question that's bugging the crap out of me."

Now he rolls a finger in the air. "Time's a wastin'."

"How did your daughter die? For real."

He opens his mouth to tell me to shut up and then something changes his mind. He gives us a shrug and a what the hell expression.

"Joyce, my wife, was cheating on me with another cop. I thought it was Larry. Those two were thick as thieves. He dated her first but I married her. I caught her coming in before daylight and she smelled like she'd just taken a shower. Our eight-year-old daughter was in the house all night by herself while my slut wife was out screwing someone. I killed her. I was angry. More than angry. I watched the life go out of her eyes when I knelt on her throat. Then I took my backup gun from the lockbox, put the gun in her hand and shot her. Maisy saw me do it. She was hysterical and tried to run to a neighbor's but I stopped her."

His lip quivers but he straightens his shoulders and shakes it off. "It felt good to tell someone. Especially since you'll never have a chance to repeat it."

Ronnie says, "Move in, Sheriff."

Lucas grins at her. "Nice bluff. You sound almost convincing, for a woman with a gun to her head."

"She's not bluffing, Lucas," Sheriff Longbow says from beside the cabin. He's holding a rifle pointed at Lucas.

The color drains from Lucas's face as he realizes we set him up before he set us up. He lowers his gun from Ronnie's head and takes a step away from her. She bends and picks up her own gun from the ground.

It had been Ronnie's idea. She called Sitzman and Longbow and gave him the coordinates, telling them to show up quietly, there might be something they'd be interested in hearing. I was starting to worry they were never going to appear.

"You won't shoot an old friend, will you?" Lucas says, pleading with Longbow.

"I will." Lieutenant Sitzman has come around the other side of the cabin with a shotgun pointed at Lucas's chest. "Drop the gun and put your hands on your head. You're under arrest for…for all kinds of shit."

Sheriff Longbow looks at Sitzman and rubs a hand down his face. "You're under arrest, Lucas. We'll read you the charges when we get to lockup. Put the gun down, my friend."

"I can't, Sheriff. Remember the times we fished out here? Those were good days. Before your Lisa died and my family died. We saw a lot of each other. We still can. These two don't matter to anyone. Don't you see? I have ten million dollars. We can retired on that." He turns his face to Sitzman. "You too. I'll cut you in. This job will kill you, son. You should be shooting these meddling bitches."

Longbow and Sitzman don't answer, and Lucas's shoulders drop. The gun lowers a few inches.

Sheriff Longbow says, "It's over, Lucas. Put the gun down and I'll try to get you some help. You've been through a lot. Don't do something stupid."

"I can't go to jail. You know that," Lucas says to the sheriff in a way that means some bad shit is about to happen. I train my weapon on him and see Ronnie is doing likewise. He's not walking away from this.

Sitzman is leaning forward in a shooter's stance and looks like he means business. Longbow's features are set and hardened. He's facing what every lawman fears and that's taking the life of one of our own. If he can't do it, I will.

Lucas hangs his head and his arm lowers, but before Sitzman can move in to disarm him, Lucas opens his mouth wide, the gun comes up, and he fires.