while trying to shoot me. The court gave weight to Vern’s statement.”
“What about the autopsy, ballistics, witnesses?”
“The few witnesses gave conflicting accounts. Ballistics was inconclusive. Sperbeck had just come from around the corner where he was involved in the shootout that injured the armored-car guards.”
“And the autopsy?”
“It said the boy died from a single gunshot. The bullet tore clear through him but the medical examiner couldn’t conclude, beyond doubt, the direction, because the child actually had been turning and spun when he was struck, it had entered his side.”
“Did they recover the bullet?”
“No, but the ME said the caliber was similar to what was issued to us at the time and Sperbeck was using the same type of weapon.”
“Sperbeck could’ve walked on the boy.”
“No. While the judge said it was inconclusive as to who shot the boy, he said Sperbeck’s crime contributed to the child’s death. And we had Sperbeck on everything else, although his lawyer implied that police were covering up a botched investigation. There was no jury trial. Sperbeck admitted guilt to everything but killing the child. It was understandable because he could’ve faced the death penalty. In the end, the judge gave him twenty-five years.”
“Dad, I don’t know what to say.”
“There’s nothing to say. I need to find Sperbeck. I’ve been tormented by that day for too long. I think I’m owed the truth. We’re going to stop up ahead.”
Jason’s dad stopped his pickup at the pumps of Wolf Tooth Gas and Grocery. The station was a log cabin, built of hand-hewn cedar logs with cedar shingles. It had a snack counter, gift shop, and small two-bay garage.
While his dad started filling the truck, Jason got out and gazed toward the mountain.
After all these years, his father had at last told him about his past.
It was good that he did it, but man…
The boy, then his partner.
And now Sperbeck.
Jason thought his old man’s pathological pursuit of Sperbeck could end up doing him more harm than good. Maybe he should try to convince him to turn around, go home, and take things one step at a time. Maybe see a shrink again.
“Want anything from the store, Dad?”
“No, I’ll meet you there. I want to check the oil.”
Walking toward the store, Jason felt his cell phone in his pocket and decided to check for messages. Aside from his dad’s bombshell, he was uneasy that he’d been out of touch this morning. Surprisingly, it indicated a strong signal.
What was this?
Six missed calls from this morning. Two from Eldon Reep, one from Cassie Appleton, and three from Grace Garner.
What the hell happened? He must’ve lost his signal somewhere along the way. Damn it. As he entered the store, Jason called Garner.
“Homicide. Garner.”
“Grace, it’s Wade. What’s up?”
“Where the hell are you?”
Chapter Sixty-Four
“ W e’ve got a child abduction tied to the nun’s murder!” Grace Garner said.
“Jesus!”
Jason drew stares from the counter from an unshaven barrel-chested man in a lumberjack’s shirt reading a paper behind the register. Beside the man, a girl, who looked about twelve, turned from watching the TV on the shelf, near the mounted head of a Rocky Mountain Elk with a twelve-point rack.
“Jason, the kidnapping suspect may have a link to your father,” Grace said.
“What?” Keeping his voice low, he went deeper into the store, behind shelves with canned beans, soup, chili. “My father? How?”
“From your dad’s time as a cop. He responded to an armored-car heist. A child died in a hostage taking. Three point three million was never recov-”
“Oh my God.”
“We’re looking for Leon Dean Sperbeck, who did twenty-five years”-Jason saw his dad paying the lumberjack guy at the cash-“We believe Sperbeck’s responsible for Sister Anne’s death. I’m going out on a limb telling you, but we’re facing a life-and-death situation. The abduction could all be tied to the money from the old heist, your information, Sister Anne, and your dad.”
“What the hell? I don’t believe this.”
“After Sperbeck was released, he staged his death and now he’s looking for the money. An insurance investigator reviewing the case has implicated your father, alleging a cover-up of the facts of the crime to hide the cash. He says he’s got evidence your father’s recently been in contact with Sperbeck-Jason-?”
As Grace continued, the pieces began aligning.
Except one didn’t fit. Christ, it couldn’t fit.
“-has implicated your father, alleging a cover-up to hide the cash-”
At the counter, his old man was showing Sperbeck’s photo to the lumberjack man and the girl.
Cripes! The man and the girl started nodding.
“-Jason, where’s your father? We need to talk to him.”
“Grace, we might know where Sperbeck is.”
“Where? He’s threatening to kill that little boy. Tell me, where you are!”
“Wolf Tooth Creek at a gas station off 706. I think he’s driving a 95 Chrysler Concorde. Blue.”
“That’s right! Do you see him?”
“No. I’ve got to go.”
“Wait! Jason!”
“That’s him,” the girl pointed to the TV. “The man in your picture was here!”
The show had been interrupted with a burst-tone alert, three shrill beeps, then the message, followed by pictures of Brady Boland, aged twelve, and Leon Dean Sperbeck, wanted for two homicides. More information about Brady’s need of medication and Sperbeck’s car crawled across the bottom of the screen.
“That’s him. I swear!” Lumberjack man said. “They left not two minutes before you. Sat here for the longest time waiting on a fan belt from McKenna. Todd told him it wouldn’t hold. That he’d have to creep along because his Chrysler’s in sorry shape.”
“Did you see a boy with him?”
“No, but he had a lot of junk heaped in the back. Kid could’ve been in there sleeping.”
“Which way did he go?” Jason’s dad asked.
“Same way you was headed. To the cabins. Turn left after the bridge and go ten miles down Cougar Ridge, the old dirt logging road.” Lumberjack man reached for his phone. “I’m calling Pierce County Sheriff’s deputies. There must be a reward.”
Trees blurred by Jason and his dad as the needle on the Ford Ranger pickup reached ninety-five on the speedometer. Stones popcorned under the truck as it chewed up Cougar Ridge, leaving dust clouds in its wake.
“What did you find out on your call, son?”
Jason was driving and shot his old man a glance.
“Grace Garner says the insurance investigator suspects that you were actually involved in the robbery; that
