He just about leapt to his feet. “What are you doing here, man?”
“I thought I’d look in on you.”
“It’s been a parade all day.” He hugged me so hard I thought I heard one of my ribs crack.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea—hugging people? I have this vague memory of your having been stabbed in the gut thirty-something hours ago.”
He actually patted his abdomen with one of his big hands. “They stitched me up pretty good.”
Incredibly, I seemed to feel more tired than he did. I dropped into a cushioned chair as he returned to the head of the table.
“So I met Rancic on the way in. I didn’t realize you two were on friendly terms.”
“We’re not.”
“So why was he here?”
“Beats me. He said he wanted to shake my hand and thank me for coming to Dawn’s aid.”
“Now you and she are on a first-name basis?”
“Nothing like that. I actually expected her to come by today. People say she’s out of the hospital. But I haven’t even seen her since the ER.”
I was taught that it’s polite to thank someone for saving your life. “Maybe now you can tell me why you wanted me to investigate her background.”
“I wasn’t thinking straight. I thought she was coming on to me, if you want to know the truth.”
That possibility didn’t strike me as remotely delusional. I had known many women who lusted after Billy Cronk. Why shouldn’t the sergeant be one of them?
“It’s got to have been more than that.”
“She said she could make my life inside better than I could ever imagine. When I told her I loved my wife, she got all offended. Actually, she kind of threatened me. She told me I would prefer to be her friend than her enemy. I figured it was because I hurt her feelings, until Mears started hassling me, big-time. He reported to the sergeant so I figured the payback was coming from her.”
“I still don’t understand why you said it was a matter of life and death.”
“I guess I was confused.”
It seemed to me that Billy wasn’t so much holding back the suspicions that had caused him to summon me. Instead—in light of what had happened in the prison laundry room—he had convinced himself that he had been as paranoid as I’d accused him of being.
I leaned my elbows on the table. “If she was such a bitch to you, why did you protect her from Chapman and Dow?”
The answer seemed so obvious to him it was as if he hadn’t heard my question clearly. “She’s a female.”
“Yeah, but—”
There was no deeper meaning to Billy’s response. The man clung to outdated ideals that were either chivalrous or sexist, maybe both, maybe neither. If a person was being assaulted by someone stronger than she was, he felt a moral duty to step into the fray.
“It won’t be long until you’re free.”
“I’m counting the minutes. Aimee—you know how she can be—she says she’ll believe it when she sees it. Thanks again for putting them in that motel.”
“It’s the least I can do.”
“I’ve never blamed you, Mike. Almost never. I guess I did for a while. But I always understood that you had a duty to tell the truth about what happened. That’s why I respect you so much. I’ve never respected anyone more, my brother.”
“Gee, Billy.”
“It’s the truth, so help me, God.” He put his hand on one of the sober-living paperbacks on the tabletop.
Exhausted as I was, I was in danger of choking up. I needed to change the subject.
“So who else has come by to visit?”
“Aimee and the kids. Our lawyer. The chaplain. A friend you don’t know who I used to share a cell with who got out last year. Some of the COs. That detective, Klesko. Deputy Warden Donato.”
“I bet he had a shitload of questions.”
“Yeah, but my lawyer said not to answer them. Donato was ripshit when I told him that. He’s being set up to take the fall for what happened in the laundry room. They’re going to fire his ass, and he’s doing everything he can to save his job.”
“Was Pegg one of the officers who visited?”
“Someone told me they’d seen him outside, but he never came in. I don’t know what his deal is. Why do you ask?”
“He seemed troubled when I talked to him at the hospital.”
“Pegg’s a good kid. He reminds me of a guy in my platoon in Iraq. He put on a tough act, but you could see that, inside, he was too sensitive to be a soldier. He didn’t make it.”
We talked a little longer. I told him about Shadow, and he gave me some technical information about crossbows—about the draw weight, which is the amount of tension on the bowstring. He told me that a sixteen-inch bolt was typically paired with smaller youth models. A serious hunter who pursued larger game and wanted the most penetrating power was unlikely to have used arrows shorter than twenty inches.
Eventually, a guard appeared to kick me out. Billy bear-hugged me again. I promised to look in on his family.
25
On my way home, I detoured through Rockport and slowed as I approached the Happy Clam Motel where I had paid to put up Aimee and the Cronklets. Lights peeked out from under and around the curtains in their rooms. I told myself the purpose of my visit was to see if they needed anything, but the truth was, I was curious to learn more about what was happening with Billy’s pardon.
The Cronk family occupied the two end units overlooking Clam Cove. The inlet was well named. At low tide, the water receded, leaving an expanse of mud bubbling with bivalves.
Aimee answered the door with Emma clutched, almost
