“Last chance,” Cain said.
Another shot. This one smacked the tree where Cain hid. Cain bent, scooped up a pinecone. He tossed it to his right. It rattled through the undergrowth. Another shot fired.
Cain slid around the tree. Dalton’s attention was to his right but then his gaze whipped toward Cain. His Glock followed.
Cain’s blade beat him. It entered through Dalton’s right eye. He staggered and fell, the gun going off one last time, punching a hole in the forest floor.
CHAPTER 74
On the way back to Tanner’s Crossroads PD, Cain made three calls, on speaker so he and Harper could each weigh in. The first was to Dr. Buckner in North Carolina. To say that he was thrilled that not only had his son been found safely, which he already knew, but that the bad guys had been neutralized and Buck was no longer in danger. He seemed unfazed by the term ‘neutralized.’ Cain assumed he got the real meaning and had no concerns. He did say that he hoped this might nudge Buck into considering coming back into the fold. Cain said it just might, but he didn’t believe that. Buck was a free spirit.
The second was to Mama B.
“So, you neutralized the bad guys? That’s excellent.”
Mama B truly understood what neutralized meant.
The final call was to Reverend John to let him know that Marla was safe and that the danger had passed. He was definitely relieved, saying he could now “put his weapons back in their gun cases.”
By the time they reached the PD, dawn had lightened the sky to the east. Cain and Harper climbed from The Rig. Harper stretched her back, one way and then the other.
“That was fun,” she said.
“Right up your alley.”
“Not yours?”
Cain smiled. “Serves me right for asking for a case.”
“I meant to ask you about that.”
“I’ll never complain about downtime again.”
Harper punched his arm. “Yeah, right.”
In the PD break room, coffee was made and distributed. Cain took a sip. The warmth welcome after a night in the cold, dark woods of the city park.
“Feels good to be free of this,” Buck said.
“Now you can go home and grab some much needed sleep I suspect,” Cassie said.
“After I swing by the hospital and check on my patient.”
“Dennie?” Hack asked. “I doubt he’s still your patient, being in the ICU and all.”
Buck shrugged. “I’m still the surgeon of record.” He smiled. “So to speak.”
“I’ll give you a ride,” Hack said.
“I think I’ll walk. It’ll be good to be outside and not running from someone.”
“Tell me about it,” Marla said.
“Want to tag along?” Buck asked. “I’ll buy you breakfast and we can talk about our earlier chat.”
“What chat?” Harper asked.
Marla smiled. “Doctor Buck here is trying to get me back in rehab.”
“It’d be a smart move,” Cain said.
Marla nodded toward Buck. “He seems to think so.”
“But it only works if you want it to,” Buck answered.
Marla forked the fingers of one hand through her hair. “After tonight it is a more attractive proposition.”
“We can get it rolling right now. I can admit you for the detox stuff and then we can move on from there.”
Marla hesitated as if considering it. “Tell you what. Buy me some waffles and I’ll think about it.”
“Fair enough.”
Buck shook hands with Cain and Harper. “Needless to say, I can never do enough to repay you.” He turned to Cassie and Hack. “You guys too.”
“No thanks needed,” Cassie said. “Just think about staying around. We can use a good doc here.”
After Buck and Marla left, Cassie turned to Cain and Harper. “It’s been a pleasure working with you. I think. Not sure the coroner agrees. You guys managed to fill up the morgue.”
“We had a little help,” Harper said.
“Looks like we’ll have a few funerals lined up,” Hack said. “Not the least of which is Scotty Duckworth.”
“Amen,” Cassie said. She looked at Cain, then Harper. “What’re your plans?”
Cain looked at Harper. Shrugged. “Sleep. We need some sleep.”
“Then we might take a trip over to Memphis,” Harper said. “See the Peabody ducks.”
“Will I read about it in the paper?”
Cain shrugged. “I hope not.”
CHAPTER 75
Two days later, Cassie sat in her office. She was cleaning up all the still neglected paperwork. Part of being the chief. Then she had a few funerals to attend. The Finleys had already been interred, but today would be the burials of Scotty Duckworth, Simon Greene, and Wilbert Shaffer.
The bad guys, Dalton, Navarro, and Myrick, had been shipped off to the coroner, as had Tim and Andrea Curry, the owners of the house Dalton had commandeered. Dennie remained in the hospital but was healing well, and Jessie was still their guest, awaiting trial. As the last men standing, it wouldn’t likely go well for Dennie and Jessie.
Marla was in the hospital, fighting through detox, and Buck was back on duty. Life was slowly returning to normal. Or might be, once these funerals were behind them. It would never be completely stitched back together but at least the healing could now begin.
Hack stepped into her office. “You need to see this.”
“What?”
He sat, raised the piece of paper he held. “Story on the Memphis Commercial Appeal website.” He read:
Local officials have reported that the body of Frank ‘Frankie the Finger’ Campanella was discovered this morning in an alley behind Turk’s Lounge, an establishment Campanella owned. Police say the cause of death hasn’t been released but a high-ranking official said that it was a stab wound. ‘Whoever it did it was either lucky or good. The wound was in his upper abdomen and seemed to have penetrated upward into his heart.’ There were no witnesses and, as of now, the police have no suspects. Campanella was reputed to have ties to organized crime, including drug dealing, prostitution, and illegal gambling. Many speculate that these connections might have played a role in his death.
Cassie shook her head. “I’d go for good over lucky.”
Hack nodded. “Good bet. Wouldn’t want to be on the bad side of those two.”
Cassie smiled. “The
