Memory Man (Amos Decker 1)

I chose symbolism over literalness.”

Decker felt his face flush at these cruel words. His wife and daughter had been reduced to symbols of a warped mind seeking revenge?

Decker felt Leopold’s breath on his cheek. He could smell garlic and stomach bile, but no alcohol. That was good. He didn’t want a drunk holding a gun against his head. But the guy took drugs too. And you couldn’t smell drugs on someone’s breath.

He couldn’t see the tattoo of the twin dolphins, because Leopold’s sleeve covered it. But the tat was there; he knew that. It was real. It had all been in Leopold’s file. All of it. Decker had memorized every word of that file. The crime against his family. Every detail. And the file on Evers and Mr. and Mrs. Wyatt. And the payoff from Evers. And the money that was there now. And the “Justice Denied” website. It had been interesting stuff. All very interesting.

“I guess I can see you taking that position. I mean, the victims at Mansfield were innocent, but to you, who is innocent, really, right? Nobody.”

“I know you don’t feel pity or sympathy or empathy anymore,” said Wyatt. “Because I don’t either. So don’t even bother. I’m not stupid. I’m just like you.”

The hell you are, Decker thought.

He said, “We found your mom and dad. They’ll get a proper burial now. Not sure how you feel about that. But you made your point with them. ME said they’d been there a long time. So they’ll be buried.”

The muzzle pressed harder against Decker’s skin.

Decker continued, “My daughter never lived to your age when you were raped. About six years shy.”

“Six years, one month, and eighteen days,” corrected Wyatt. “She died before her tenth birthday. Or, more accurately, I killed her three days before her tenth birthday.”

Decker felt his anger edge up, which was the last thing he needed.

“Actually, three days, four hours, and eleven minutes,” he corrected.

He locked gazes with Wyatt in the mirror. Without taking his eyes off her he said, “Are you a hyper too, Sebastian?”

“No, he’s not,” said Wyatt. “Just you and me are the freaks.”

“You’re not a freak. Neither am I.”

“Oh, excuse me, I wasn’t aware that you had ovaries. My mistake.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Dear Mom and Dad saw my rape as a way to get rich. You know what my father told me?”

“What?” asked Decker. He had not expected this outpouring from Wyatt. Especially not after her first terse words. But now he realized that she needed to talk. She needed to say things, get things out. Before she killed him. It was all part of a process. Her process.

And mine too.

“He said it was high time that I brought something positive into their lives. As though my rape was something positive in their lives. That’s what he meant. And they took Clyde Evers’s money and built themselves this castle in the sky. And they never let me step inside it. That was my home, you know. I bought it, not them.”

“I can see that.”

“They never even told me they had moved. They sent me away to a mental rehab facility. When I came home a week later they were gone. I was on my own. They just abandoned me.”

“They were cruel, ignorant, and wrong, Belinda.”

She looked away from the mirror. “Who cares? Now they’re just dead.”

“I died too. Not once but twice.”

He saw the eyes flash at him in the mirror once more.

“On the football field. After the hit. They brought me back twice, maybe they shouldn’t have bothered. Then I wouldn’t have said what I did to you and all of those people would still be alive. One life to save all those others. Sounds like a good deal to me.”

“Maybe it would have been,” said Wyatt. “But you didn’t die. Just like I didn’t die. I climbed out of that Dumpster. Maybe I shouldn’t have. Maybe I should have just died.”

Her voice trailed off with this last part and Decker wasn’t sure, but he wondered if that constituted remorse, or at least as close as Wyatt would ever get to it now.

“I see my family’s murders in blue,” said Decker, drawing another stare from Wyatt. “I know you don’t suffer from synesthesia. It’s odd seeing things in color that should have none. It’s one of the things that scared the crap out of me when I woke up in the hospital and found out I was a different person.”

“Well, I was two people to begin with,” Wyatt shot back. “And after they raped and beat me nearly to death I became someone else entirely. So that makes three. A little crowded in someone my size.” There was not a trace of mirth in her tone. She was being deadly serious. Decker would have expected nothing less.

“You chose male over female? Why?”

“Men are predators. Women are their prey. I chose never to be the prey again. I chose to be the predator. For that I needed a full set of balls and a tankful of testosterone. Now I’ve got them and all is right with my world.”

Decker had figured that Leopold was calling the shots, but maybe he was wrong. If so, things were not going to work out so well for him. “Where are we going?”

“Somewhere.”

This was Leopold. Decker had wondered when the man was going to assert himself. Maybe he wanted Decker to know that Wyatt was not running this.

Good, Sebastian, keep it up. I need you in my corner. Until I don’t.

“Somewhere is good. Better than nowhere.”

“Why are you here?” asked Leopold. “Why did you come?”

“Figured I’d save everyone the trouble. I knew you were targeting anyone associated with me. I didn’t want anyone else to have to die because of me. I was surprised that you gave us a warning with the Lancaster family.”

He glanced at the mirror to find Wyatt watching him again.

“You sure you have no empathy?” asked Decker. “You could have killed them.”

“They weren’t worth the trouble.”

“Sandy has Down syndrome, but you knew that. Do you draw the line at killing kids like that?”

Wyatt focused back on the road.

Leopold said, “So you come so readily to the end of your life?”

The gent was downright talkative now. And his formal and somewhat clunky speech was another indicator that English was not his first language.

“We all have to die someday.”

“And today is your day,” said Leopold.

Chapter

63

THEY DROVE FOR two more hours. Decker had no idea where he was, and it really didn’t matter to him. Help was not coming.

The van finally pulled off the road and Decker was bumped up and down as the vehicle hit a rough patch but then kept going.

The van hung a sharp left and a few moments later skidded to a stop. Wyatt got out and Leopold motioned for Decker to do the same. His bare feet hit cold gravel and he winced as a sharp rock cut the bottom of his right foot.

There was an old outdoor light in a rusted metal cage over the door they were heading to. Decker could make out the faded, peeling remnants of a sign that had been painted in red on the white brick wall.

Ace Plumbing. Est. 1947.

It looked like flakes of blood resting on the pale skin of a corpse.

He looked to the right and left and saw nothing but trees. A leaning chain-link fence enclosed the abandoned property.

Leopold gave him a shove in the back and he staggered into the building behind Wyatt. Leopold closed and bolted the door after them.