Epilogue

EPILOGUE

Vincenzo Anastagio Lombardi's funeral was a quiet affair, with the only outsiders being Sheriff Longbow, Lieutenant Sitzman, and Annie and Hattie from the Word of the Lamb Shelter. And of course, me, but I'm like family now. Even Jack says so. Asshole. But maybe I'm being too hard on him. Ronnie told me Jack is buying a new van and making a generous donation to the mission in Vinnie's name.

Victoria spent eight days in the hospital and needed more time. Rebecca had packed her hand in ice, but when Crime Scene took it they hadn't kept it cold enough. There was no chance it could be reattached. There are all kinds of new medical gadgets that will help her recover the use of a new hand. She only let the hospital keep her so long because of her broken ribs and nose that would need a minor surgery to repair. I know that unless she's tougher than I am, she'll carry the scars the rest of her life. Even with all the trauma and drama, she's come home as hardheaded as her husband. I think his controlling days are over.

Ronnie had stayed but I had returned to Jefferson County until the funeral.

The hardest part was over. The burial and service was hard on the family, and especially on Hattie who had not quite secretly been in love with Vinnie. Jack had sprung for several new outfits so she would have something nice for the service. She had surprised us all when she grabbed Jack's face outside of the church and planted a wet kiss on his lips. He took it calmly but during the graveside service I saw him wiping his lips with a kerchief and wrinkling his nose.

The family all stood with heads bent while the minister did his bit at the head of the grave when Sheriff Longbow put a meaty hand on my shoulder and led me away under the cottonwoods.

"I owe Tony one for recommending you and Ronnie as deputies. And I owe you and Ronnie one too. You have friends here now if you need anything."

We stand quietly, easy with each other's company, until he says, "That damn fool couldn't do that one thing right. Goddamn Lucas."

I understand what he means. Victoria lost a hand, but Lucas lost part of his face. He was a terrible shot and only managed to blow part of his upper jaw and cheek off and a piece sheared off going through his brain and lodging against the top of his skull. The gunshot wound to his side was determined to be self-inflicted. His wounds wouldn't keep him from going to prison. But that will be a long time. He has to heal enough to be seen by a psychiatrist who will then certify he's sane enough to stand trial, or should be kept in a box. After that there will be a trial and Ronnie and I will have to testify. I hope I don't snicker when I describe Lucas's injury. It's bad form in front of a jury.

The ten million dollars ransom money was found under the floorboards of the cabin. Now I know why Lucas wanted us to give him fifteen minutes. The money must have been in the SUV while we were ruining his day confronting him.

Longbow told us the death of Lucas's wife and daughter will be opened again. Ronnie, my little genius, had recorded our entire conversation with Lucas at the bunker, and had set her phone to call Longbow and left the line open so he could hear the confessions outside the cabin.

They've got all the evidence they'll need to put Lucas under the prison. Or if he's lucky, he'll get the death penalty.

I still have some questions I'd like answered. For instance, who kidnapped Victoria from the resort? Was Roger involved? Was he the one that turned off the surveillance cameras? One thing seems clear, though: Lucas masterminded the whole thing.

It looks like he had solved the mystery of the murdered Ohio woman found in the creek. But instead of bringing her killers to justice, he had decided to take their idea and make it work this time, repeating the kidnapping plot and throwing suspicion on a guilty husband. Victoria having a brother with a checkered past was a bonus: Vinnie would have been the perfect patsy.

But, ironically, instead of improving on the plot, he fucked it up, big time. Still, perhaps he would have gotten away with it, if only it wasn't for us meddling…Jefferson County detectives.

Rebecca had said once, "Nothing like this happens to the Marshes." Well, I can tell you from experience, shit happens to everyone.

Longbow shakes my hand and says his goodbyes, but not before he tells me he needs new detectives. I'm not sure if he was just looking to the future or offering me a job. I didn't answer. Not for me. I'm going back home to Dan and Hayden and all of my friends. I like being a detective in Jefferson County. I like being a girlfriend. I love being a sister to Ronnie and Rebecca. I finally have a life and I don't want to start over.

I'd arrived at Cougar Point this morning to have breakfast with the family before the funeral service. I wanted to get in my car and go home, but I had ridden to the service with Ronnie and Rebecca and would need to go to Cougar Point to retrieve it. I'd already made my excuses this morning by telling the family that Tony was expecting me back by the afternoon. I'm sure he did, but the truth was I felt awkward. This family had a lot of talking to do and I didn't fit in with that. Besides, Dan was supposed to be coming back from a business trip later tonight and we had a lot of catching up to do. There wouldn't be a lot of talking.

The service is over and we all pay respects to Vinnie and go to Cougar Point where Jack has a feast catered in. It's lunchtime and my stomach is writing letters to its lawyer. We eat, drink, talk, they compare stories of the past, Victoria tells humorous stories about Vinnie when they were children, they cry, they drink and I sip some wine. Being with them makes me wonder what my life would have been like if I'd had a real family. But the past has never been kind to me. It only hurts or bring evil people out of the void.

Jack is drunk and raises his glass. "Here's to Sergeant Lucas, who bravely ‘rescued' my beautiful wife from those bastards." His voice is thick with irony. "So, here's to you, Lucas. I wish you a speedy recovery and an even speedier conviction."

The moral of the story here is if you're going to kill yourself, don't use a gun. Guns are not very reliable. I've seen half of someone's head blown away and they still lived. They're a vegetable, but they still lived. My case in point, I give you thick-skulled Lucas. The bullet fragment penetrated one lobe of his brain. If he wakes from his coma, he'll be blind for the remainder of his life. Doc says his odds are fifty-fifty he'll live. Sheriff Longbow was mad the county had to pay for his medical care and for an armed guard round the clock in the hospital. It's safe to say the friendship is ended.

"To Lucas," I say again, and raise my glass in toast. May you rot in hell.

The celebration is winding down, and the Marshes want me to stay the night before driving back to Port Townsend. I decline, using Tony as my excuse. They all give me a hug and thank me for the hundredth time and I finally get outside. Jack stops me.

"Megan, you're part of the family now. I can never repay you. I'm sorry you had to see me at my worst. I'm glad you're partners with Ronnie. You can look out for each other and I won't worry about her so much."

"I'm glad everything worked out." I have an unexpected wave of pity for this man. "Are you going to be okay, Jack?" He'll have one hell of a hangover.

My question takes him by surprise. "Will I…I'll be fine. Thanks to you and my daughters. Megan, if there's ever anything you need. Anything at all. Or if you feel the need to straighten some crotchety old man out, I'm here. I know you have your own family but I hope you'll consider this your home as well."

If he only knew about my family. "Thank you, Jack. You're not crotchety." He tilts his head. He knows I'm just being nice. He was a total asshole and he knows it. But now I think I could like him.

"Thank you for everything," he says again.

"If you keep thanking me, I'll never get home," I say with a smile. I'm serious. I don't do well with kindness or gratitude or farewells. Thankfully, he staggers up the steps and goes inside but then Ronnie comes out.

"How are you getting back to Port Townsend?" I ask.

She says, "I called Sheriff Gray and he gave me another week off work."

"Say no more. Call when you need a ride."

"Dad said he and Mom will bring me. They want to see where I'm living." She rolls her eyes.

"Well, they'd better not try to talk you into coming back here to live," I say. "I'll see you in a week. Don't worry about the case load on your desk. I'll do all the work by myself. I don't mind. That's what partners are for." I smile when I say this but the truth is I'm expecting a pile on my own desk.

"Megan, I couldn't have done this without you." She gives me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. I'm not that kind of girl and I don't like to be touched but I hug her back. No kiss.

She gives me a serious look. "By the way, Sheriff Longbow called me yesterday."

"Yeah? Does he need us to give another statement?" The paperwork is never over until you've killed a tree.

"No. He offered me a job. Lucas's job."

A lump forms in my throat. I'm silent and search for something to say. "That's great, Ronnie. You'll be closer to your family. I'd miss you, of course, but you should do what's best for you. Do what makes you happy." I'll be fine. Don't worry about me. This is why I never get too close to people.

"Will you shut up for a minute?" Ronnie says. "He wants to offer you a job too. He said it was time the department had detectives he can count on." When she says this her eyes light up. I can imagine her twenty years down the road, always a scowl on her face, just like Lucas. But that's not Ronnie. One of my professors in college once said, "People who are happy all the time either have something to hide, or they're insane." Ronnie's neither of those.

"Ronnie, I'm happy where I am. But thank Sheriff Longbow for me. When do you start?"

"You…want me to take it?"

"Well, I'm not going to beg if that's what you mean. You won't find a better partner than me. And Tony loves you. And what about Marley? Hayden told me he likes you and wanted to ask you out."

She chuckles. "I'm not taking the job, Megan. I'll be back in a week. Sorry, but you'll just have to put up with me." She punches me on the arm and it's all I can do to keep from hitting her back. I'm not a punching bag. Been there. Done that.

"One week. Then I'm coming to get you. Bringing handcuffs, an Armed Response Team, and K-9s."

"Okay. Okay. Tell Tony thanks for extending my stay. And no donuts for him, Megan. Promise me."

"Promise," I say, and remember a place on the way home I can buy him some. I get on the road before she starts crying and sets off a chain reaction.

After a few miles I've forgotten all about her, the family, the case, the look on Ronnie's face while she stood in the drive and waved. I tried anyway.

My phone rings and I tell Siri to answer. I hope it's Dan saying he's come home early but it's not someone I want to talk to. It's Nan, Sheriff Gray's secretary. I want to program my car to block calls from her.

"Megan?"

"That's who you called, isn't it?" I'm sorry I said that out loud. No I'm not.

"I wouldn't have called but Sheriff Gray wanted to be sure you were coming back today."

"What's up, Nan?"

"I'll let him tell you."

Then why didn't he call? What the hell. "Put him on."

"He just left to go to a budget meeting."

Here we go. Round and round. "Okay. Tell him I'll stop by the office before I go home."

"There's something else."

I hate it when people do that. Spit it out. "Okay."

"You had a mysterious visitor this morning."

I wait. I'm not biting this time.

"Do you want to know who it was?"

I wait with my hands clenching the steering wheel imagining it's her neck.

"He said his name was Wallace."

My breath catches in my throat and fear runs through me. I barely hear her saying, "Megan. Megan. Are you still there?"

"Here," I croak.

"He wouldn't give a last name. Or maybe Wallace is his last name. He was very attractive. In a mountain man sort of way. He said to tell you he was sorry he missed you at the restaurant in Drayton Harbor."

I can't speak.

"Megan?"

I don't answer. I drift across the lane and the stupid computer voice tells me and corrects my steering all at the same time.

"Do you know who that is, Megan? He said you would know him?"

I know him. He's my stalker. He knows things about me that could put me in prison. He's kept track of my movements and never fails to let me know that. But I don't say any of that. "Did he say why he was here?"

"No. He just said he would catch you later. He was looking forward to it." She pauses and I can imagine the smug look on her face. "You have an admirer, Megan. Is he single? I didn't see a ring. Does your boyfriend know about?—"

I disconnect the call.

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