sound of the SWAT team’s furious assault echoing across the barren fields like a Fourth of July celebration that had gone awry. Kneeling, I looked for any signs of bullet holes on Seppi’s body. Her clothing was clean, and I gently touched her shoulder.
“Hey,” I said.
Seppi’s head twisted in the earth. “Is the shooting over?”
“Yes. Are you okay?”
“I think so.”
“Come on. You need to get up.”
I helped Seppi to her feet. She came off the ground slowly, like someone rising from a deep sleep. She looked around at the Bledsoes and shook her head ruefully.
“Did any of them get away?” she asked.
“No. That was real brave, what you did.”
“I don’t know what came over me. I hope I didn’t screw up your plan.”
“Not at all.”
The SWAT team were checking the Bledsoes for signs of life. I guided Seppi past them and up the hill. Reaching the top, she stopped to glance over her shoulder.
“Are they all dead?” she asked.
I looked back as well. The Bledsoes were sprawled around the sheriff’s pickup, and didn’t have an ounce of life left in their bodies. It wasn’t the ending any of us had hoped for, but sometimes justice has a way of catching up to people, and making them pay for their sins. The Bledsoes had gotten exactly what they deserved.
“Yes,” I said. “They’re all dead.”
I started to lead Seppi back to my car. She took a few hesitant steps, then stopped walking. The blood had drained from her face, and she did not look well. I had her lean against me, then took her wrist, and felt for her pulse.
“Your heart rate is high,” I told her.
“It’s always high,” she said.
“You don’t look good.”
“Just give me a minute to catch my breath. I’ll be fine.”
Linderman came up the hill and joined us. I’d seen him shoot one of the Bledsoes with his shotgun, the boy flying through the air like he’d been struck by a car. Looking at him now, I would never have known he’d just killed someone.
“That was an awfully brave thing you did,” Linderman said.
Seppi leaned against me for support. “I’m glad I could help,” she said.
“Special Agent Wood would like you to show us where Mouse and Lonnie’s compound is,” Linderman said. “He’s afraid of getting lost.”
“I can do that,” Seppi said.
“I’ll tell Wood,” Linderman said. “He wants to leave right now.”
“I’m ready when you are,” she said.
Linderman marched back down the hill. I started to protest, and Seppi dug her fingernails into my arm so hard it made me wince.
“Don’t,” she said.
“But you’re not well,” I said. “You need to go to a hospital, and get checked out.”
“I told you… I just need to catch my breath.”
“We have your map. You don’t need to do this. We can find them.”
Seppi glanced furtively over her shoulder. Satisfied none of the others could hear her, she leaned in close, her eyes glistening with tears.
“I lied to you earlier,” she said.
“You did? About what?” I asked.
“Mouse and Lonnie used to take turns sleeping with me. I want to see the FBI shoot those sons-a-bitches. Please let me be there.”
I swallowed hard. Seppi had told me her darkest secret. How could I deny her?
“All right,” I said.
CHAPTER 58
The road leading to Mouse and Lonnie’s farm had been carved through a dense forest of trees, and was barely wide enough for two cars. I drove slow, afraid of hitting one of the many deer that peered out from the shadows.
A Colonial-style house came into view. The paint was peeling and three cars were parked in the front yard. On the front porch sat a woman in a rocker. She was missing her right foot. She looked up from her knitting, and waved to us.
“Wave back,” Seppi said.
“Why?” Linderman asked.
“That’s Travis Bledsoe’s wife, Delia,” Seppi explained.
We lowered our windows, and waved to the widow Bledsoe. Wood, who trailed us in his Audi, did the same, as did the drivers of both SWAT team vans.
“How much farther to the dairy farm?” Linderman asked.
“A couple of miles. It’s the only place around here. You can’t miss it.”
Linderman still had his body armor on, and was cradling a shotgun in his lap. There was no hiding his apprehension. He was ready for his nightmare to be over.
– – The most evil of places looked banal, almost dull. They were never dungeons equipped with torture equipment, or attics where the dead hung from the rafters, but were usually houses or farms that could be found in every community.
Mouse and Lonnie’s dairy farm was such a place. It had several overgrown pastures, a red barn with a weather vane on its roof, and a two-story shingle house with lead-glass windows and hurricane shutters. Had there not been a tall fence with razor wire surrounding the property, it might have passed as a B amp;B.
“That’s it,” Seppi said.
“Anyone home?” I asked.
“That’s their Jeep. It’s parked by the house.”
I slowed down. Mouse and Lonnie’s Jeep Cherokee was parked next to the side door of the house. The backseat was filled with groceries. It made me think that they’d just gotten home, and gone shopping.
I lowered my window and stuck my arm out. I pointed at the farm so that Wood and the drivers of the SWAT team vans would know that we’d arrived.
In my mirror, I saw Wood gesture. Wood wanted me to pull over. I obliged him, and let Wood and the vans pass me.
The vans drove up to the gate in front of the house. The gate had a metal chain and a padlock keeping it closed. Two SWAT team members jumped out of the van. One had a pair of bolt cutters, which he used to cut the chain.
The sound of a clanging bell made me jump in my seat.
“What the hell was that?” Linderman asked.
“There’s a bell on top of the house,” Seppi said. “Mouse used to ring it when there was trouble.”
“They’re on to us,” Linderman said.
The bell stopped ringing. Then a shot rang out. The man with the cutters clutched his arm, and dropped to the ground. I grabbed Seppi and pulled her head down.
“You said all Mouse had was a pistol,” Linderman said to her.
“He’s a good shot,” Seppi replied.
The other members of the SWAT team slipped out of the van, and took up positions behind him. They began
