Joe shook his head, then looked at Julie who sat silent and alone at the end of the couch. She had no idea she’d lost her uncle and her father. Thank God her mother was there.
He stood.
“Keep the door locked, just like Uncle Wyatt told you. I’ll be back in a minute.”
Doris said, “Please be careful. Don’t let Bill Monroe find us.”
Her voice trembled as she said it, and Joe could see how terrified she was. “Can’t you stay with us?”
Joe considered it, but shook his head. He couldn’t assume Keeley had bled to death. And even if he had, Joe needed to see the body. “I need to be sure he can’t threaten anyone again,” he said.
“Then can we go home?” Lucy asked.
Joe didn’t ask which home she meant. “Yes,” he said.
ALL HIS THOUGHTS and feelings channeled into one: revenge.
Joe returned to the front porch of the house and studied the concrete. Although rain had washed most of it away, he could still see traces of blood. Nate must have missed it in his haste on the way in. He backed off the porch and looked around on the wet loam. A spot here, a splash there. Headed in the direction of the barn.
It was like following a wounded game animal, Joe thought. He looked not only for blood flecks but for churned up earth, footprints, places where Keeley had fallen as he staggered away.
There was a depression in the grass where Keeley must have collapsed, his shoulder punching a dent into the turf that was now filling with water and a swirl of blood.
Keeley hadn’t made it all the way inside the barn. He sat slumped against the outside door, next to a boat that was propped up against the wall. Joe guessed Keeley was going for the boat when he collapsed. Keeley’s legs were straight out in front of him. He held the stump of his left arm with his right hand, covering the socket tight with bone-white fingers. Still, blood pumped out between his joints with every weakening heartbeat. Joe couldn’t see a weapon on Keeley or near him as he approached. But Keeley watched Joe the whole time, his eyes sharp, his mouth twisted with hate.
“That Wyatt, he is the one I never thought about,” Keeley said. “He is one strong son-of-a-bitch.”
“Yup,” Joe said, remembering when Wyatt snapped the Flex-Cuffs.
Keeley looked up. His eyes were black and dead. “You destroyed my family. My brother, my sister-in-law, my baby girl.”
“What do you mean, your baby girl?”
“She was
“You mean, you and Jeannie . . .”
“Damned right, me and Jeannie. Ote was gone a lot.”
“So that’s why you did all of this? To get back at me?”
Keeley nodded.
“I did all I could to save April,” Joe said, angry. “We loved her like our own.”
“Horseshit. Not like a father loves a daughter.”
Joe clenched his fists so hard his nails broke the skin on his palms. He wanted to hurl himself at Keeley and start swinging. Instead, he felt his right hand relax enough to undo the safety strap on his service weapon.
“What the hell would you know about being a father?” Joe said. “You were just the sperm donor.”
“Fuck you,” Keeley spat.
Joe stood over him, looking down, his fingers curling around the pistol grip. “Is there any point in talking to you? Telling you I had nothing to do with the death of your daughter or your brother?”
“I know what I know,” Keeley said. “You and Wacey Hedeman were involved in my brother getting killed. You were there when April was assassinated.”
Joe shook his head, speaking calmly. “You were the one who poisoned Wacey then too?”
“Yup.”
“And the cowboy? The one who got shot on Shirley Rim?”
“That one was the best of all.”
Keeley made a cold smile with his mouth but his eyes remained steady on Joe. “I wish I’da taken care of your daughters. I should have. They were right there. I got greedy, though. I got stupid. I wanted to make Arlen live up to his word to pay up.”
Joe squatted so he could look at Keeley’s face at eye level. What he saw disgusted him, terrified him. He thought of what Keeley had done to his family. What he had done to Wyatt. What he could do to him and others if he recovered, as unlikely as that seemed. J. W. Keeley would always be a threat to him and to everyone around him.
“I need a doc,” Keeley said. “Call me a doc. I ain’t got long like this.”
Joe said, “Six years ago Wacey Hedeman was in a situation just like yours. He was down on the ground bleeding. I let him go. It was the wrong decision.”
Keeley studied Joe and sneered, “You got a badge. You can’t just do that.”
Joe said, “Not anymore,” and raised the Glock, pressed it against Keeley’s forehead.
Behind him, Nate called out, “Joe! Don’t!”
