Decker said, “But she didn’t need protection, did she?”
Kelly looked up at him. “Then why have Gamma at her house?”
Decker didn’t say anything; he just stared at her. He finally said, “If you want to avoid trouble, the truth is your best path forward. If you decide to go a different route, things will get dicey. And keep in mind that Draymontwasmurdered.”
“But I thought he was killed guarding Judge Cummins?”
Decker decided to bring the conversation full circle to where they started. “Then why would your daughter tell you to run? Run from what? And why?”
The woman closed her eyes, and tears seeped from under her lids. “Alice and Alan…found out something.”
“What?” asked Decker.
“I don’t know, she wouldn’t tell me. But it was something important. And…and they were going to use it to…”
“To what? Make some money?”
Kelly opened her eyes and looked up at him. “I told her not to do it. But she wouldn’t listen. I…I hope she’s okay. I never liked Alan. He was too…slick.”
“So why tell you to run if you knew nothing?” asked Andrews.
“The people involved in this might think she had told me something. They might learn of the connection between us. That’s why Alice warned me.”
“You left your husband behind,” noted Decker. “They might have assumed that he knew something, too. They might have killed him.”
She looked up at him in fear. “I wasn’t thinking. I was so scared. They…they haven’t hurt him, have they?”
“Not yet, but he’s very worried about you. You left without saying anything to him. Haven’t answered his calls or texts.”
She let out a gush of air. “I didn’t know what to do. When that text came in…I tried to call Alice, but she didn’t answer. I tried so many times to call her before I turned off my phone.” She looked up at Decker again. “Is she…is she…?”
“You’ll need to come with us, Mrs. Kelly,” said Decker. “We can protect you. But we’ll need your full cooperation.”
“I’ve told you all I know.”
“I don’t think so. And at the very least, there are probably things you can remember better.” He put a hand under her elbow. “Let’s go. We’ll drive you back.”
“My car!”
“Will be taken care of. Do you have a bag?”
“Just over there.” She pointed to a small duffel in the corner.
White snagged it, checked her watch, and said, “Let’s go. Long drive. We should be back in time for breakfast.”
They stepped outside, Andrews in front and Decker next to Kelly. White closed the door behind them and they stepped off into the sandy front yard.
The first shot dropped Andrews. The second round drilled a hole right through Patty Kelly’s forehead.
Decker and White flattened themselves to the sand, guns out and searching for something to shoot. When the car started up, they rose and ran forward. They both fired at the taillights of the car but missed.
They ran back to the fallen people.
Andrews was breathing, but Kelly had reached the end of her life.
White called for help, while Decker staunched the blood coming from the unconscious Andrews’s shoulder.
When the ambulance showed up along with the police, Decker helped them load Andrews onto a gurney, and it sped off with the man to the closest hospital. White rode in back with the wounded agent.