“What others?”
In a blink-and-miss-it maneuver, Ignatius used his free hand to disarm Jamie, who fell back into the chair.
“I wish there was enough time to cover it all,” Ignatius said. “Perhaps you’d understand. No matter. Let me just say this: I was named after a great man whose courage and sacrifice changed the course of human history. You’ve never heard of him. He lived and died far away from here and a very long time ago. Since you lost your folks, I have tried to carry myself with the same honor and dedication to a selfless cause. What of James Sheridan? Will he be remembered as a worthless thief gunned down during a heist? Or will he become something more?”
Jamie tossed the deposit bag onto the desk.
“What now?”
“We have a long drive ahead of us.”
“Huh? You’re not arresting me? Are we meeting Ben?”
Ignatius studied his phone and frowned.
“First, I have a question. Think carefully. Right before you smashed the door, did you experience anything out of the ordinary? Headache? Dizziness? Nausea?”
The questions flummoxed Jamie but triggered a memory. “What? I was scared. Almost passed out. But I was scared. What’s going on, Iggy?”
“Hmm. Guess that clinches it. Too bad. But maybe it’s all for the best. Maybe if we had more time, I could explain.”
The deputy cocked his weapon and ordered Jamie to move.
2
O UTSIDE THE BACK DOOR, Ignatius looked at the mess.
“Suppose I’ll have to warn Jack before he comes in. I really did not want things to end this way.”
“What things? Iggy, what aren’t you telling me?”
“Listen, Jamie. There are things in motion we can’t stop. Things that have been coming for a very long time. If we had known for sure it was happening tonight, I don’t think Ben would have …”
“Where’s Ben? What’s happening?”
“I texted him right after I saw you enter Jack’s. Hopefully, he’s not too far gone yet.”
Another memory dislodged. Shortly after supper hours earlier, after a row between he and Ben, Jamie saw his brother out on the street, talking to Ignatius, arguing, gesticulating. At the time, he assumed it was all part of the continuing struggle to keep Ben on this side of the county line and away from the gushing booze. Jamie dismissed the moment, except to reinforce the idea that he needed to put distance between himself and Albion.
“What’s been going on between you and Ben?”
“None of that matters anymore, J. We need to move.”
“I don’t know what’s happening, but I left my phone and a packed bag at the apartment. Can we stop by and …”
“No. You were right about one thing, J. It’s time for you to leave this town, albeit for a more honorable reason than as a thief. I …”
Ignatius cut himself off the instant they reached Main Street, which usually rolled up by 7 p.m. He found his Albion County sheriff’s sedan where he left it, two stores up from Jack’s. But his eyes focused on the headlights approaching from a block away. He stepped back, hiding himself and Jamie behind the corner of Sylvia’s Beauty Salon.
“What’s wrong?” Jamie asked to no response.
Ignatius kept his eyes glued on the other car, which slowed as it neared the sheriff’s vehicle. The car idled for a moment then slid in a full length behind the police sedan.
“They wouldn’t,” Ignatius said. He grabbed his phone, fired off a text then turned to Jamie. “Possible change of plans.”
He handed Jamie the Glock. “I know you wouldn’t hurt anyone if you didn’t have to.”
Even in the dim glow of the streetlight, Jamie saw fear cross the deputy’s face.
“What’s happening, Iggy? Speak to me.”
“This has a trigger safety. Don’t release it unless you have to. I might be wrong about them. Just stay here and let me doing the talking. Understand, J?”
“OK. Sure. I guess. I’ll …”
“Stay here. Don’t show yourself. Not for a second.”
Ignatius headed up the sidewalk. Jamie heard car doors open and the engine stall. The headlights cast distorted beams down Main Street. He moved as close to the street edge as possible and listened. At first, the voices stayed low. Back and forth, civil, disciplined. Soon, they raised.
“This was sorted,” Ignatius told someone. “The vote was unanimous. We had fifteen years to debate. Go home. Wait it out.”
“I beg to differ,” a woman said. “We are guided by a moral imperative which supersedes your obstructionist attempts at …”
Jamie lost track of the words when he recognized her voice.
“No way,” he whispered. “Can’t be.”
“Last warning,” Ignatius said. “We will see this through and then all of us go home. Just as we agreed.”
“You are not in charge,” another man insisted. “We abided your wishes for too long. We have to end that thing before it evolves. Like Agatha said, this is a moral choice. For the future. For everyone.”
“And if I don’t let you near him?”
“Do you think we have anything to lose?”
Jamie knew the third voice as well. He released the trigger safety and stepped out into the open. He had no idea what he was doing. He also didn’t realize all three residents of Albion already drew on each other.
“Don’t make me do this,” Ignatius said as Jamie stepped into the partial headlight beams.
“There,” the woman pointed.
A series of pops followed. Jamie froze as Ignatius groaned and fell to the sidewalk, two silhouettes approaching him. One of them stopped over the deputy and lowered a weapon. Flashes erupted from a long, slender suppressor. Ignatius lay silent and still.
Jamie’s heart pounded as it might at the end of one of his evening jogs, yet he could not move his legs. He could
