“You guys ready to get out of here?”
“That would be a hell yes,” said Decker.
It was still dark outside, though in the horizon could be seen the first few streaks of dawn.
The building they had been in appeared indeed to be an abandoned storage facility of some kind, with rusted equipment parked behind a leaning ten-foot-high chain-link fence.
They had found their guns and phones, along with the keys to the SUV parked out here.
Robie drove them back to town in the SUV.
“I’ll get some people out to where they took us to scrub it of the bodies,” said Robie.
“So Purdy did all this for the cash,” said Jamison. “And sacrificed his own mother in the process. What a piece of work.”
“How’d they snatch you?” asked Decker.
“I went out to get in the SUV, and the next thing I know I woke up on the floor.” She glanced at Robie. “What Purdy said about the people behind this suffering the consequences. It mirrored what your boss said.”
“Yeah,” said Robie.
“Is that really how it’s going to go down?” she asked.
“Probably.”
“And that doesn’t piss you off?”
“Every molecule in my body.”
“And you’re just going to let it happen?”
Robie eyed her in the mirror. “I didn’t say that, did I? But that’s for another day. And you can’t tell anyone about finding Purdy and what happened back there. That will do this country no good and might unleash some nightmare scenarios that are far better avoided.”
Decker and Jamison exchanged glances. He said, “That’s a tough favor to ask, Robie.”
“And I wouldn’t be asking unless it were really important. Because it is.”
Finally, Decker and Jamison nodded in agreement.
“Well, at least this nightmare is over, right, Decker?” said Jamison.
“It’s not over yet,” he replied.
“What? Why not?”
“Because Irene Cramer, Pamela Ames, Hal Parker, Stuart McClellan, and Maddie and Hugh Dawson deserve justice. And it hasn’t happened yet. And I’m not leaving North Dakota until they get it.”
THE NEXT DAY AFTER BREAKFASTDecker got a cup of coffee from the hotel restaurant and carried it up to his room, sat on his bed, sipped on the drink, and thought about, well, everything.
But that only seemed to make the muddle worse.
He finally took out his wallet and slipped out the photo of his wife and daughter. He gazed at Molly’s young face, her crinkled smile, her plump cheeks, and he saw a bit of himself and a lot of her mother in there. He closed his eyes and just imagined being with them again. Holding hands, giving kisses and hugs, simply going for a walk, helping Molly to learn how to ride a bike, gripping Cassie’s hand and giving encouragement as their daughter was born.
He opened his eyes after this cleansing moment. As his wife and daughter receded into his memories, they both seemed to be speaking to him, telling him something.
You can do this.
Whether it was his imagination or something else, Decker really didn’t care.