Kovacliska - Dust To Dust Part 12

smaller and smaller, making discovery inevitable.

It is only a matter of time.

The thought repeats endlessly as the gaze scans the photographs of death.

It is only a matter of time. Kovac must die.

D U S T.

T 0.

D U S T 315.

C H A P T E RI L 0 VIE T H A T show," Liska said as she hung up the phone.Across the cubicle, Kovac scowled. He had his computer on and the telephonereceiver wedged between his shoulder and ear."The hot-line phones rang off the hook after the show ran last night.""With how many legitimate leads?" he asked."All it takes is one. What's your problem with it, anyway?" she asked."I hate"Besides that you hate Ace Wyatt."Kovac pouted. "Thatd pretty much be it.""Look what that show does. It teaches people who feel they have no power tostand up and make something happen. If Cal Springer had paid attention to thatmessage, Derek Rubel wouldn't be running loose now." "It's the whole realityprogramming thing.""You love America Most Wanted.""That's different. What Wyatt has is a game show. What's next? Interactivecourt trials? People can log on and vote guilty or not guilty?""They've already got that on Dateline."318"Great. And next season they can televise the executions from Texas. Maybethey can get Regis Philbin to host," he crabbed."Who are you on the line with?" Liska asked, finally noticing that he had yetto speak into the receiver."Frank Sinatra." "Kojak, he's dead.""I'm on hold. Donna at the phone company. Anyway, what if the show givessomeone a false sense of power, and they do something stupid and end up dead?""What if someone ends up dead because they're spineless and stupid and theydon't watch the show?""I hate Ace Wyatt.""The WB is promoting him as Captain America."Disgust made a strangled sound in his throat. "Aw, jeez, those f.u.c.kingVPs.Theystole that from me!""Call your agent, Hollywood.""You're the one who wants that,Tinker Bell, not me.""Just so I get my fame for catching Rubel, not for being killed by him."Kovac drew breath to ask her how she was doing-really doingwhen, finally, ahuman being picked up on the other end of the line. "Sorry to keep you onhold, Sam.What can I do you for?""Hey, Donna. I need the LUDS on a Minneapolis number." "You have thepaperwork?""Not exactly.""That would mean no.""Well ... yes. But the guy's dead.Who will care?" "How about his family?""Dead and in Jail.""How about the county attorney?""I just need to shake something loose here, Donna. It doesn't have to stand upin court.""Mmm ... You didn't get it from me." "I never have, but I live in hope."Donna cracked up at that. Cla.s.sy broad. Kovac gave her Andy Fallon's phonenumber and hung up."What are you after?" Liska asked."I'm not exactly sure," he admitted. "I want to go through Andy's phone records and see if something jumps out. Andy was pokingD U S T T 0 D U S T 317 around in the Thorne murder, trying to connect to Mike through his.e.xperiences. When I did some of that same poking, I got a rise out of Wyatt. Iwant to se,"You're obsessed, Sam," Liska said. "You don't like Rubel for Andy's murder?If it was a murder." "No. It doesn't fit. Andy's scene was too neat. Look what Rubel did-beat a guyto death with a ball bat, beat a guy near to death with a pipe, shot a guypoint-blank in the chest.Where's the fi4esse?""But you said Pierce told you he'd seen Andy with another guy. Whatif it was Rubel? That nuight track. Andy was looking at Ogden for being dirty.No one knew Ogden and Rubel were an item.Through his connection toCurtis-having once been a patrol partner-Rubel gets close to Andy to keep aneye on the case from the inside, so to speak. Andy gets too close to sometruth.... See?" "No way. Rubel was Ogden's partner-""Not at the beginning of the investigation. There was no connection betweenthem at the time, none that anyone knew of Rubel had been patrol partners withCurtis, but Curtis swore none of his former partners hara.s.sed him.""Until he infected one." "And if Andy somehow found out about Rubel's HIV status . . She left Kovac tofinish the thought for himself, then added, "I'm putting Rubel in a photoarray and showing it to Pierce.""Have at it," Kovac said. "Meanwhile, who broke into my house? Why wouldRubel? It's not like I've got the one piece of evidence that can hang him.""That could have,been anybody, for any reason. Probably a junkie looking foryour secret cash stash. Or maybe it was some other sc.u.mbag you're looking atfor something else. It doesn't necessarily have anything to do with Fallon."The possibility had crossed Kovac's mind. He had other cases ongoing.... Hegrabbed his phone on the third ring."Homicide. Kovac." "Kovac, Maggie Stone. I looked over that case Fallon, Andy." "And?""Is he in the ground yet?" "I don't think so.Why?""I'd like to have him back for a visit. I think he imight have been murdered."318 T A M 0 A 0 MAGGIE STONE'S OFFICE at the Hennepin County morgue always made Kovac think ofthose news stories about crazy old people whose bodies were found mummifiedamong the stacks of newspapers and magazines and garbage they had not thrownout in nine years. The room was a maze of papers and professional journals andbooks on forensic medicine and motorcycle magazines. Stone rode a Harley Hogin good weather.She waved Kovac into the office with one hand, holding a sugared jellydoughnut in the other. The doughnut was oozing red from its center, and bore alittle too much resemblance to some of the stuff in the photographs spread outon the desk. "Do you ever read any of this?" Kovac asked.She peered down at a photo through a pair of funky reading gla.s.ses and anilluminated magnifying gla.s.s. "Read what?"Her hair was a peculiar toffee shade this month, cut in a pixie style andslicked to her head with goo. Most clays she looked as if she hadn'tremembered to use a comb since the eighties."What did you find?""Okay." She swung the magnifying gla.s.s on its swivel arm so that Kovac couldlook through it from the other side of the desk. "What I look for on the neckin a hanging death is aV-shaped bruising or abrasions, obviously following theangles of the noose. We see that clearly here' " she said, pointing out themarks. "And you found him hanging.We know he was hung. However, I also see what looks to be some shadows of a straight-line bruise around the neck here.""You think he was strangled, then hung?""The bruising isn't clear. Anyone looking at this case with a foregoneconclusion of suicide wouldn't even notice it. But I feel that it's there. If I'm right, I suspect the killer might have put protective padding between theligature and the victim's neck. If we're lucky and the funeral home did apooriob of preparing the body, I may still be able to get some fibers off thethroat. And, if the bruising is there, I'll bet there's more at the back ofthe neck." She sat back, made two fists, and held them out in front of her todemonstrate. "If the killer tightens the ligature with his hands, the knucklespress into the back of the neck, leaving several bruises.D U S T T 0 D U S T 319 If you're looking at a garrote, then the pressure at the point where theligature crosses and tightens creates a significant single bruise." "Therearen't any photographs of the back of his neck?""No. I admit this wasn't the most thorough of autopsies. But it came inlooking like a slam-dunk suicide, and apparently there were calls from yourend of things to move it through quickly for the family's sake.""Didn't come from me," Kovac corrected her, frowning as he looked at thephotographs. He stared at the barely discernible bruises on Andy Fallon'sthroat, just below the vivid marks the noose had made. The nerves in hisstomach came to life like a tangled pile of worms. "I'm on the a.s.s-end on myend of things. That pressure came from higher up the food chain."That pressure had come from Ace Wyatt.K 0 V A C L E A N E D 0 V E R the counter and caught Russell Turvey sittingback in the corner paging through Hustler."Jesus, Russell. Do me a favor and don't offer to shake my hand." Turveybarked and growled, his chest sounding like thunder in the distance. "Kojak!

J. Christ! You'd be back here too, if you got the chance."

"Not with you."

Turvey laughed again, tossing the magazine under his chair. He grabbed hold of the counter and rolled himself into position without getting up.

"I hear Springer bought it," he said, fixing his squint eye on Kovac. The other one looked off to the left. "I never liked him."

Like that had made Cal Springer's demise inevitable. "You were there too,"Turvey said.

"I swear I didn't pull the trigger. Liska can vouch for me."

"Ha! Argh ... Liskal" he purred, his expression a postcard for the word lascivious. "Is she a d.y.k.e?"

"No!" " Not even . . ." He waggled a hand.

"No," Kovac said emphatically. "Can we move on, please? I came down here for a reason."

Turvey waved a hand at him. "What?"

"I need to look at an old file. The Thorne murder. I don't have a case number but I've got the dates-"

"Don't matter," Turvey said. "It's not here." "You're sure?"

"I'm here every G.o.dd.a.m.n day.You think I don't know the place?" "But-"

"I know it's gone because someone from IA came down and asked for it a couple of months ago. Mike Fallon's kid. It wasn't here then. It ain't here now."

"And you don't know where it is?" "Nope."

Kovac sighed and started to turn away, wondering who might have it or have a copy.

"Funny you should ask for that onel"Turvey said. "Why is that?"

"'Cause I found that badge number you asked for the other day. It belonged to Bin Thorne."

A M A N D A S A V A R D H A D Bill Thorne's badge sitting on her desk in her

home.

Kovac just stood there, trying to get his brain around that idea.

"I remember Bill Thorne," Turvey said, rubbing his k.n.o.bby chin. "I rode patrol in the Third Precinct back then. He was the meanest son of a b.i.t.c.h I ever knew."

"You're sure?" Kovac asked.

Turvey's brows went up. "Sure? I once saw him knock a prost.i.tute's teeth out for lying to him."

"You're sure it's Thorne's badge?" "Yeah. I'm sure."

Kovac walked away, Russell Turvey's words blurring into white noise.

Amanda Savard had Bill Thorne's badge on her desk.

He went into the men's room, ran the cold water and splashed his face, then stood there with his hands braced on the sink, staring into the mirror.

His mind scanned back over the days, flashing on images of her, of the two of them. He thought back to Sat.u.r.day night. They'd made T 0.

love on his couch. And when she was getting ready to leave, she'd looked downat the coffee table and had seen the articles he had gathered at the library.Mate this?ne Thorne murder. Mike Fallon shooting. Andy was looking at it. I'm justturning over rocks, see what crawls out.Life turns on a dime, he'd said. And gives back change.He went to the first floor, where traffic was heavier than usual, the hallbusy with cops and with reporters looking for sc.r.a.ps on the Rubel manhunt. Noone seemed to see him. He stood at the edge of the scene, looking past thecrowd, toward Room 126.She was likely in her office. IA would be busy digging up dirt on Rubel andOgden, going through any reports of prior problems with either of them. Savardwould likely be called on the carpet by a captain who would demand to know whythe investigation into Ogden and the Curtis murder had died out. Why hadn'tany mention been made of Rubel at the time?If he went down there right now, he might catch her between calls. And ...what? Confront her like some cheated husband? He could see the scene in hismind. He could feel the humiliation. No.One of the reporters spotted him, and life snapped back into fastforward mode."Hey, Kovac," the guy said, coming over, trying to keep his voice down so asnot to tip off his compet.i.tion. "I hear you were on the scene Sat.u.r.daynight.What happened?"Kovac held up a hand and turned away. "No comment,He ducked into the anteroom, pushed past the crowd trying tocirc.u.mvent the receptionist, and keyed his way into the main office. Liska wasgone. Donna from the phone company had come through with Andy Fallon's phonerecords for the past three months. Distraction. He could do this while hisbrain tripped and stumbled over the subject of Amanda. He turned on hiscomputer, brought a reverse phone directory up on-line, and started in.Too many of the numbers were unlisted. Nowadays, everyone wantedanonyrnlity-and to avoid telemarketers. Those numbers that were listed werenot of much interest. Mike, Neil, take-out restaurants. There were severalcalls to something called the Hazelwood Home. Kovac looked it up in theon-line Yellow Pages and0 A Gfound the place discreetly described as a "care facility" Care of what? A resthome for Mike, maybe? Though Mike Fallon hadn't really seemed in need ofanything like that. A housekeeper, yes. A nursing home? No.When he had gone through the list with the reverse directory, Kovac startedwith the cold calls, dialing the unlisted numbers and, for the most part,getting answering machines.One of the machines belonged to Amanda Savard. Fallon had called her at homeseveral times in the last few days of his life.

Andy Fallon had been looking into the Thorne murder. Amanda Savard had BillThorne's badge on her desk.She had very coolly demi ed Andy's mentioning his private investigation intothe Thorne case. G.o.d d.a.m.n! If only he had Fallon's notes. There had to be files somewhere ...and his laptop ...Or he could walk down the hall and ask Amanda point-blank about Thorne'sbadge.His gut told him not to ask.Or maybe it wasn't his gut at all.She had Bill Thorne's badge. She had seen Andy Fallon on the night of hisdeath. She had been to his house. Andy had phoned her house frequently justbefore he died. I love a puzzle, he thought, a vicious feeling cracking through him like awhip.Amanda Savard had gone to bed with him. Twice. He was poking around in thedeath of Andy Fallon. Andy Fallon had been poking around in the death of BillThorne. Amanda had Bill Thorne's badge.He grabbed the telephone receiver and punched in the number for the HazelwoodHome. The Hazelwood Home was a psychiatric care facility. Kovac grabbed his coat andhat and bolted. T H E W I N D S K I M M E D over the snow, lifting a fine powder into the airso that, from the end of the driveway, the Hazelwood Home appeared shrouded inmist. A former private residence, the home was a sprawling, overdone homage toFrank Lloyd Wright. Long, low, horizontal lines gave the impression that thebuilding was crouching into the ground. Huge old trees studded thesnow-covered lawn. D U S T T 0 D U S T 323 Beyond the grounds, the landscape looked open and marshy, which was much ofthe landscape west of Minneapolis.Kovac parked under the carport at the entrance and went in past duelingholiday displays. Christmas on one side of the foyer, Hanukkah on theother.The overwhelming impression of the entry hall was darkness. A low beamedceiling seemed too close overhead.He looked for the youngest, least-experienced staff 11 member workingaround the front desk, and homed in on her. A cherubic girl with natural blondcurls clipped like a poodle's. Her name tag read "Amber." Amber's eyes wentwide as Kovac showed her his badge, using it to lure her away from the olderwoman answering the phone."Is he near here?" the girl asked, worried. "Excuse me?""That guy," she answered in a hushed whisper. "That killer. Are you herelooking for him?"Kovac leaned toward her. "I'm not at liberty to say," he whispered back."Oh, my gosh.""I need to ask you a couple of questions, Amber," Kovac said, pulling outa snapshot of Andy Fallon he had taken from Mike's place. "Have you seenthis man around here?" She seemed disappointed the photograph wasn't of Derek Rubel, but sherecovered gamely."Yes. I've seen him. He's been here a couple of times." "Lately?""In the past few weeks. He's a police officer too," she said, narrowing hereyes. "At least, he claimed to be.""What wis he doing here? Who did he speak to?" Kovac kept one eye on the olderwoman at the other end of the desk. At a place like Hazelwood, discretionwould be the rule. Amber looked too innocent of sin to understand the meaningof the word. "He came to visit Mrs.Thorne:'she said simply, eyes blinking.Y 0 U N A V E T 0 understand, Sergeant, Evelyn lives in her own world:' the doctor said as they walked down the long hall toward Evelyn Thorne's room."She'll acknowledge your presence. She'll interact with you. But theconversation will be her own." The psychiatrist was a large, soft-looking woman with a thick mane of longblond hair. 1 just want to ask her a couple of questions about the cop who came to see hera couple of times:'Kovac said. "Sergeant Fallon. Did he speak with you?"The doctor looked troubled. "I spoke briefly with Mr. Fallon. I wasn't awarehe was here on police business. He told me he was Evelyn's nephew. He asked meif she ever speaks about her husband's murder.""Does she?" "No. Never. She had her breakdown shortly after his death." "And she's beenlike this ever since?" "Yes. Some days she's better than others, but she pretty much stays in hidingin her mind. She feels safe there." The doctor looked in the gla.s.s set in the center of Evelyn Thorne's door, thenrapped twice before going in."Evelyn, you have a visitor. This is Mr. Kovac."Kovac stopped just inside the room, feeling as if he'd taken a fist in thebelly. Evelyn Thorne sat in an upholstered armchair, looking out her i dow,dressed in a blue track suit. She was thin, the kind of win 1 thinness that came from nerves. Her hair had gone gray. She wore it swept backfrom her face with a velvet headband. In the newspaper photograph he'd thoughtshe looked a little like Grace Kelly. In reality she looked too much likesomeone else. She turned her head to see him, her eyes a little vacant but her mouth curvedin a pleasant smile."I know you!""No, ma'am, you don't," he said, walking toward her."Mr. Kovac needs to ask you some questions about the young man who came to seeyou, Evelyn," the doctor said.She paid no attention to the doctor. "You were a friend of my husband:'shesaid to Kovac. The doctor gave him the I-told-you-so look and left them.The room was s.p.a.cious, with normal-looking furmiture except for the hospitalbed, which was draped with a pretty flowered spread. Not a bad place to whileaway the hours locked inside your own reality, Kovac thought. It had to costsome major bucks. He wondered if Wyatt was footing the bill for this as well.No wonder he needed to go Hollywood.D U S T T 0 D U S T "So nice of you to come," Evelyn Thorne said with formality. "Please have aseat." Kovac took the chair across from her and held out the photograph he'd shownAmber. "Mrs. Thorne, do you remember Andy Fallon? He came to see yourecently."She took the photograph, still smiling. "Oh, isn't he handsome? Your boy?""No, ma'am. He's Mike Fallon's boy. Do you remember Mike Fallon? He was apolice officer. He came to your house the night your husband died."He didn't know if she heard a word he said. She seemed not to. "They grow upso fast:, she said, getting up from her chair and going to a littlebookcase that held a lot of magazines and a Bible."I have pictures too," she said, digging for. a magazine at the bottom.Redbook. "She thinks she took them all. She doesn't like having photographsout, not of family. But I had to keep a few."She pulled a manila envelope from the magazine and extracted a couple ofsnapshots."My daughter," she said proudly, holding them out to Kovac. He didn't want to touch them, as if not touching them, not looking at them, would keep theirtruth at bay. But Evelyn Thorne pushed them into his hands.She was younger in the photograph. A little thinner. Her hair was different.But there was no mistaking Evelyn and Bill Thorne's daughter: Amanda Savard.0 A 0 C H A P T E R A M A N D A S A V A R D W A S Bill Thorne's daughter.He remembered the only hint in the newspaper articles from all those yearsago: Thorne is survived by his u,,fie and one daughter. That was it. No name,no photo.Savard was Evelyn's maiden name. He had been able to get that much out of her.Amanda must have taken the name for her own after the murder. Otherwise, shenever could have come on the job without people making something of it.Andy Fallon worked for Amanda Savard, Bill Thorne's daughter. He'd beenlooking into Bill Thorne's murder, the night Mike Fallon was shot, the nightAce Wyatt became a hero. Ace Wyatt had been paying off Mike Fallon for years.Andy Fallon was dead. Mike Fallon was dead....Kovac sat in the dark parking lot of the building that housed the WyattProductions offices. On his third cigarette in two hours, his head waspounding. h.e.l.l of a day. He felt beat up. He felt old. He felt hollow. Funny,he'd thought he was too cynical to be disillusioned or disappointed. nejoke onyou, Kovac.The building was nondescript. A brick two-story like a thousand others in thewestern suburbs. The parking lot had emptied in the last327 hour as the business day had come to a close and the CPAs and attorneys andorthodontist who shared the building had climbed into their cold vehicles androlled down the street in a fog of exhaust to edge their way into therush-hour crawl on 494. Wyatt was expecting him. Had expected him ten minutes ago. Kovac let him wait,let the office staff leave. The Lincoln was parked in a reserved spot near thefront of -the building. Kovac had parked three rows back, alone. His pagertrilled and he checked the display. Leonard. f.u.c.k 'em.He turned off the car and walked across the lot and into the building, tossinghis cigarette just outside the door, not caring where it landed. The circularreception desk was deserted, the telephone ringing.A directory board on thewall showedWyatt Productions to be on the second floor.Kovac walked past the elevator, went up the stairs, and slipped into the outeroffice unnoticed. Like the rest of the building, everything was graythecarpet, the walls, the upholstery on the square furniture. The walls werecovered mainly with photographs of the great man being given commendations forthis and that remarkable feat, being honored for his selfless service to thecommunity. Photographs of him with local celebrities, with legends in lawenforcement, with movie stars b.u.t.tonholed on the sets of pictures being shotin the metro area. The man had never met a camera he wouldn't turn his good side to. EvelynThorne's included. Kovac sniffed and shook his head. The k.n.o.b turned on the door to Wyatt's office and the sound of voices spilledout in dribs and drabs, the volume rising and falling. that kind of publicity... unacceptable, Gavin." Wyatt. situation can be defused ... denials . . ."Gaines. "G.o.ddammit, you have to ... image ... my audience is Middle America, forG.o.d's sake.""I'm sorry"The door closed tight again. Kovac moved closer, straining to hear. ThenGaines came out, looking flushed and angry."What's the matter, Slick?" Kovac asked. "Hard day on your knees?" "I realizeyou have no appreciation for what I do, Sergeant," he said. "There's really no need for you to make the point every time we meet.""But I like the way it makes your nostrils flare, Gavin."Gaines looked ready to bend an iron bar with his teeth. "Captain Wyatt hasbeen waiting for you.""Good. I'm a busy man. " Kovac went to the door, then looked back atWyatt'sright hand. "You can go, Gaines.The captain won't be needing you. We're justgoing to talk about old times."Wyatt stood looking out a window at nothing. Darkness had fallen like an anvilan hour before. He watched Kovac's reflection in the window."No word yet on Rubel:'he said. A statement of fact. "You'll hear it before Iwill.""Shouldn't you be out on the search?""With all your citizens beating the bushes? They'll bring him to you hog-tied.He can be the special guest on your next show."Wyatt went for the straight line. "Maybe. I like the idea of the occasionalinterview with a bad guy. Let the public see how twisted minds work."He'd been spending too much time with the WB VPs."I have other cases ongoing:' Kovac said. "Mike's murder. Andy's murder . . ."Wyatt looked straight at him then."No one called you?" Kovac said, feigning shock. "Stone believes Andy wa.s.strangled before he was hung."The color drained from his face. "What?""Marks on the throat: he said, runming a finger around his own to demonstrate."Faint but there. The doc who did the autopsy missed them. I asked Dr. Stoneto personally go back over the autopsyjust in case the new guy Inissedsomething-having had pressure on him from higher up. Good thing, huh? Or hemight have been buried with that little secret.""Why ... ?" Kovac could see Wyatt scrambling mentally, trying to get his legsback under him, trying to sound intelligent and ignorant at once. "Do youthink it had to do with Rubel?""Personally, no," Kovac said. "I think it's a pretty d.a.m.n strange coincidencethat first Andy dies and it looks like suicide, then his old man buys it andit's made to look like suicide. Don't you find that strange?"Wyatt furrowed the famous brow. "So you like Neil for both,murders?"Kovac ignored the question, feeling too raw and wrung outD U S TT 0D U S T 329 emotionally to dance the mental minuet. "I found Evelyn Thorne. Andy found her too.You think I'll end up the same as he did, or the same as Mike?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Jesus Christ, Ace:'Kovac said, the impatience burning through. "I don't have time for this bulls.h.i.t! It goes back to Thorne! Andy found something about what happened that night, something no one else saw at the time, because they didn't want to see k, or they buried it because it was all in the fanuily, It was cops. Thorne was a cop, you, Mike. The only one dead not a cop was that poor b.a.s.t.a.r.d Weagle."

"Weagle attacked Evelyn!" Wyatt said. "He he beat her. He raped her. He shot Bill. Killed him. He shot Mike."

"Did he?" Kovac asked. "'Cause I'm wondering here, Ace, why people interested in that case, connected to that case, are suddenly dead if it happened the way we all heard back then."

Wyatt walked away, went behind his desk. Retreating, or taking cover ... Kovac never took his eyes off the man, every muscle in his body taut, ready to move.

He positioned himself so he could see both Wyatt and the door.

"What did Evelyn say to you?" Wyatt asked. "She's not a wen woman. I'm sure the doctors told you she's often delusional."

"You told me you'd lost touch with her.You told me you didn't know where she was."

"I was trying to protect her. Evelyn never recovered from what happened. Shewas always ... fragile. Something broke in her mind that might.The doctorshave never been able to fix it. She retreated to a safe place, a world of herown. She seems to be happy there most of the time.""She showed me photographs:' Kovac said. "Pictures of the old neighborhood,barbecues, friends. You know, she didn't have one photograph of Bill. Not onephotograph of her husband.""Painful memories.""How painful?" Kovac asked.Wyatt closed his eyes and drove his hands back over his hair. "What's thepoint of this, Sam? It was twenty years ago."Kovac stared at him, looked around the plush executive office, thought of thecareer Ace Wyatt had made for himself since the night someone had shot andkilled Bill Thorne. What if it was all a lie? A house of cards. A legend bornof blood. With Wyatt's show330 T A M 10 Apoised to go national, what if Andy Fallon had found the answer to thatquestion?"There's a body count, Ace," he said. "If you don't see the point of that,you're in a bad place.". Wyatt pulled down the game face, a granite mask. "You haven't shown me anyevidence that these deaths are tied to one another, or tied to the past. Idon't believe it.""I'll admit, at this point, I'm still fishing," Kovac said. "Probably the sameas Andy was fishing. But I think he found something-which is why he's dead-andI think I know where he put it. If it's there, Ace, it's mine. Better foreveryone to get out in front of it now.You know what I'm saying? You. Savard.I know she's Thorne's daughter."Wyatt looked through him. "You're saying you think I've done something wrong,"he said flatly." I haven't. I didn't. There's nothing to be gained in stirringup old dust, Sam. People, careers, reputations could be damaged. For nothing.""I think two people are dead because of it," Kovac said. "That's something,Ace. I don't give a d.a.m.n about any of the rest of it."He went to the door and put his hand on the k.n.o.b, looking back at the legend.A man he'd never liked, and still there was a place deep inside him where hefelt sorry."Evelyn sends her love," he said quietly, and let himself out.SHE WAS SO tired....The workday had come and gone. Savard remained sequestered in her office.Hiding. Avoiding the press, avoiding having to go home. She had turned thelights off, except for her desk lamp, and sat, letting the silence envelopher.What a relief to be stiU, she thought, staring at the photograph she hadtaken and developed and framed herself years ago. A winter landscape.This was why she shot landscapes rather than people: the stillness. If shecould find stillness in her surroundings, she could hope to achieve it withinherself... if only for a httle while. If only while she was lost in the starkbeauty of the picture. For those few moments, she could successfully ease thetension that quivered at the core of her.The stillness didn't last tonight. A cacophony of sound invaded herbrain..Angry questions, blunt questions, demands, directives. All that and themessage from Hazelwood on her voice mail. She was so tired.U S TT 0D U S T 331 Kovac knew.

It had been just a matter of time. In the back of her mind, she'd always known that. In her heart, she had hoped for something more: a fold in time where events could be trapped, contained, separated, isolated. What a lovely idea.

If only. But the past was poisonous and difficult to restrain, seeping aroundthe edges of the boundaries she erected.She closed her eyes and conjured an image, thefieeting memory of feeling safeand cared for. She had wanted so badly to accept it. She didn't want to carrythe weight anymore. She was so tired....When she opened her eyes again, he was standing there. Panic clenched like afist in her chest as she wondered if this moment was real or surreal. The nightmares came so frequently lately, it was becoming more difficult to tell.He stood there in the shadows, expressionless, silent, the collar of his coatturned up. A sense of dread began to build deep inside her. "You're BillThorne's daughter," he said, and raised a gun.C H A P T E K 0 V A C T 0 0 K H I s time driving, playing it all through in his mind,trying to sort into chronological order the things he had learned today,patching the gaps with educated guesses.Trying not to react to any of it in anemotional way-Trying not to feel the sense of betrayal. Trying not to remindhimself that he'd been right all along: that it was better not to wantsomething more. hole place Neil Fallon's bar wasclosed, looking abandoned.The wlooked like a shantytown that even the b.u.ms had forsaken-the crude cabins, theice fishing houses, the work shed, the shed where Fallon stored the boats-alldark and empty of life, save for the rats.The only lights were a couple ofsecurity lights on poles and the Coors sign buzzing in the tiny window of thebar. Kovac parked under the light and got out. He dug his Maghte out from under apile of junk on the floor behind the driver's seat, then went to the trunk andrummaged through paper bags and evidence kits, finally corming up with thetire iron. The wind had not let up.The temperature had dropped. It wasn i't a night for a walk in the moonlight. Kovac took one anyway, going down to theboat shed. Senses sharp, he was hyper-aWare of the cold, of the way it felt inhis nose, in his lungs; hyper-aware of the sound of333 his shoes on the packed snow. He stopped near the shed and looked down thebank and down the sh.o.r.eline. In the moonlight, he couldn't see to where Derek Rubel's truck had gonethrough the ice, but it wasn't far. Standing among the empty buildings in themiddle of nowhere, Kovac thought this was the kind of place where a man mightvanish from one dimension into another and never be seen again.There was a secret worth knowing. He filed it 6way for future reference. Hehad a feeling escape was going to look like a fine option after.this was all over. T H E G U N W E N T off with a deafening bang!Amanda jerked back, up and out of her chair, arms flinging out to the sides.And then she was awake. The office was emptyShe stood behind the desk, her heart racing, lungs pumping as if she'd run amile. She could smell her own sweat. Her clothes were damp with it. Theemotions built and built and built inside her, choking her. Crushing her. Aragged sob tore from her throat and she flung herself at the desk, swingingher arms, knocking down the lamp, sending everything scattering, tumbling,falling, crashing. She pounded her fists on the desktop, crying, fighting,furious, terrified.When the adrenaline ebbed and the outburst died, she sat back down in herchair and forced her nu'nd to work. No matter how she nu*ght have deluded herself all these years, it had alwaysbeen only a matter of time.Time was up.She pulled open the desk drawer and took out the gun.W I T H T H E T I R E iron, Kovac pried loose the latch plate from the old door. The latch, complete witb padlock, flopped to the side, and he went intothe shed. He clicked on the flashlight in order to find the light switch.Half a dozen boats of various sizes and types had been parked for the winter.Kovac walked around them, looking at the names. Hang Time, Miss Peach, Azure II. He chose one called Wiley Trout andT A M 0 A G climbed the ladder. When he climbed back down, he held a large, heavy backpackby one padded strap."Put it down, Kovac."Kovac held the bag out to one side and breathed a sigh. "Put it down or what?""Or I'll kill you where you stand."I "As opposed to killing me later and making it look like suicide? You weren'tkidding when you said you did whatever the captain needed."No, I wasn't kidding," Gaines said. "Put the bag down." "I guess you thinkthere's something in it worth having." "It doesn't matter what's in it. Put itdown." "Ah:'Kovac said, turning his head, trying to see what Gaines had pointed athis back. "'Cause you see, there's nothing in it but a ream of sc.r.a.p paper.But you'll kin me first and worry about the evidence later. I know this isgoing to sound like a chch6, but you won't get away with it, Gaines. It's toolate. Too many people know too much.""I don't think so," Wyatt's a.s.sistant said with confidence. "You suspect, youdon't know.You're just fishing, and you're on your own. You don't have anofficial investigation. You haven't spoken with Leonard about your suspicions.You don't have any evidence as of now. The only people aware of what AndyFallon was looking into are people who stand to lose. Neil Fallon wasarraigned today for his father's murder. The ME won't change the ruling onAndy's death.""You sound pretty d.a.m.n sure of all that Kovac said. "Did Wyatt tellyou he'd make it happen that way?""Wyatt doesn't know.""He doesn't know you've killed for him, that you've gotten rid of the peoplewho could ruin his image with the American public? That's selfless of you,Gavin. He should be giving you a bonus."Or does that come later? When he's established, when the show's a hit and thebig money tons in? Is that when you show him the pictures or the videotape orwhatever evidence you've squirreled away? Show him how much you love him.""Shut up.""And how do you explain my death?" Kovac asked, shifting his feet, shiftinghis position subtly. He still couldn't see what Gaines had in his hands. "I'lltell you right now, Slick, I ain't gonna let it look like no suicide. If I'mgoing down, I'm going down kicking."S T T 0 U S T 335 11 I have some ideas. Put the bag down.""It was easy with Andy, wasn't it?" Kovac said. "He comes toWyatt to ask someinnocent questions.You see it makes Ace nervous. Maybe you decide to dig alittle yourself, try to find out what Andy's got. Maybe he doesn't evenrealize what he's got, so he's got no worries. You're a good-looking guy, he'sa good-looking guy. You go out a couple of times. He doesn't think much of itwhen you drop by with a bottle of wine....""I didn't want to kill him," Gaines said, and Kovac could hear the emotion inhis voice, a strange mix of regret and relish. "I'm not a killer.""Yes, you are.You thought he had something that might ruin your future. Youplanned it out. You drugged him. You strangled him unconscious so he couldn'tfight. Then you hung him from a beam and let the noose do the last of thejob."

"I didn't want to." "And I'll bet you stood there and watched while he kicked and twitched. It'samazing how fast it happens, isn't it?""I told him I was sorry," Gaines said. "I was. But he would have ruinedeverything. He would have ruined CaptainWyatt. I've worked too hard for thischance. It's right there, in reach. It's happening--the show, the networkdeal. He would have taken it away. For nothing. For something that was overtwenty years ago. For something that can't be changed. I couldn't let thathappen.""You know what happened that Might?" Kovac asked."I know Mike Fallon knew. He'd kept his mouth shut all this time because Wyattpaid him off. Andy had figured that out. If he had gotten his father to talk... I couldn't let that happen."")Wyatt -has to suspect, Gavin. You think he's gonna keep you around if heknows you're a murderer? He's a cop, for chrissake. It's a law enforcementshow. If he's smart, he'll put the collar on you himself and save his own a.s.s.Think of the network special that would make.""Drop the f.u.c.king bag!""You're a murderer," Kovac said again. "He finds out-" "So is he!" Gainesscreamed. "Drop the f.u.c.king bag!"Kovac had no time to digest the revelation. He caught the motion of Gaines'sarm in his peripheral vision and dove forward. The claw harnmer just grazedthe back of his head, his shoulder taking theT A 0 A G brunt of the impact. Even through the thickness of his coat, the pain was ahard, hot ball, burning into the muscle.Kovac rolled onto his back as Gaines swung wildly for his head again, buryingthe head of the hammer in the dirt floor. "Drop it, Gaines!" Liska shouted. "You're under arrest!""Gun!" Kovac yelled as Gaines drew from inside his open coat and ran.Kovac rolled to the side and half under the boat. But Gaines's purpose now wasescape, and he was already running, the backpack in his left hand, gun in hisright. He swung his arm back and let a shot go. Liska answered back. Gaineskept running, heading for the lakeend door of the boat shed.Liska charged past as Kovac pushed to his feet and pulled his weapon. Gainesducked around the side of the last boat for cover and fired two more shots. Liska ducked right, the second of the shots splintering the fibergla.s.s hullshe used for cover, the bullet corming through two inches from her head.ThenGaines was out the door. Kovac went out a side door and crouched behind several fifty-fivegallon oildrums, straining to hear, to get some bearing on which way Gaines had run. Hecouldn't hear anything but the wind."Elwood's got his vehicle," Liska said, dropping . down behind him, breathinghard. "Tippen'll have radio cars on the way by now."They had set up the trap on the fly. No time to take the plan to Leonard. Nodesire to. Kovac admitted there hadn't been much to use as bait, but he'dheard enough and pieced together enough to float a hunch. If they kept theplan between themselves and no one bit, nothing was lost. If they had taken itto Leonard and Leonard had nixed it, nothing could have been gained.Kovac pulled off a glove, touched the back of his head, and came away withb.l.o.o.d.y fingers. He swore under his breath. "Which way did he go? He gets offthe property and we have another Rubel on our hands, you and I are gonna be onduty at the county landfill.""We'll be in the landfill. Leonard will have us killed." Kovac moved to the last of the drums and scanned as much as he could see of the yard. No sign of Gaines, which meant he could have taken refuge in any oneof the buildings on the property and they could end up with a standoffsituation.Then suddenly the angry buzz of a small motor split the air, andthere was no time to think.

The snowmobile burst out the end door of Neil Fallon's work D U S T.

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D U S T 337.

shed, roaring straight for Kovac. Kovac planted his feet and squeezed off a shot, hitting the nose of the machine, then dove out of the way, rolled, and came up running.

Gaines had the throttle wide-open, heading for the lake, heading for the open area to the east of the ice fishing houses. The machine bucked hard over wind-packed drifts. Kovac ran after it, hoping Just to keep Gaines in sight.

He squeezed off two shots on the run with no real hope of hitting anything.

The snowmobile hit the bank and flew, Gaines coming up off the seat. The machine twisted out from beneath him in midair, a.s.s-end dropping down, Gaines still hanging on to the handlebars.

Kovac ran harder. He could see Liska conuing on his left.

The snowmobile hit the ice on end, driving into it. The sound of the lake's surface breaking was like a crack of thunder. Gaines landed beside the machine and went still for an instant.

"Watch the ice! Watch the ice!" Liska shouted as Kovac ran down the length of the old boat dock.

Gaines was already shaking off the impact, struggling to get to his feet, the backpack strapped around his shoulders. The snowmobile was going down, the ice around the point of impact cracking and popping. Another pop and the machine was gone.

"Give it up, Gaines!" Kovac shouted. "There's nowhere to go!" Gaines came up with the gun and pulled off another round. Kovac dropped flat to the dock.

Gaines's scream brought his head back up.

"He's in the water!" Liska yelled.

Gaines made a strangled squealing sound, one arm flailing above the surface.

Kovac stepped off the dock, testing the ice.

"Hang on, Gaines! Don't move!"

But Gaines was in panic mode, bobbing down in the water, then coming up and attempting to throw himself out of the hole, only breaking more ice and sending himself under again.

Kovac got down on all fours, spreading his weight over more of the surface, moving toward the crumbling edge inches at a time. "Gaines! Don't fight!" he shouted.

He could hear Gaines gasping, wheezing. The water temperature would send the body into shock quickly, shutting systems down. The weight of wet clothing would pull at him like a suit of armor. The backpack would be like an anvil strapped to his shoulders. His muscles would cramp and the panic would worsm.

338 T A M.

0 A 0.

"Let me grab your arm!" Kovac yelled, reaching out. Beneath his body he could hear the ice cracking.

Instead of allowing Kovac to take hold of him, Gaines clawed at him wildly but couldn't catch hold, couldn't grip. Another few inches of ice gave way and an animal sound of fear wrenched out of him.

"Hold still! G.o.ddammit! Hold still!" Kovac screamed.

He focused on Gaines's arm and lunged forward, grabbing hold. The ice beneath his chest gave way, and his upper body went face-first into the water.

The cold was so intense, it was like hitting a brick wall at full speed.

instinctively, he beat at the water with his hands, as if it were solid and he could push himself up against it. He felt Gaines's hands on him, pushing him, pulling him, trying to drag him in. Another force pulled at him from behind, anchoring his legs, pulling him backward.

Kovac jerked his head back, came up coughing, choking, kicking, trying to scuttle backward to gain safer ice.

"Sam!" Liska shouted.

She was behind him, flat on the ice, still hanging on to one of his legs.

Kovac went still. His fingers were already half numb with cold. Coughing, choking on the water he'd taken in, he stared at the hole in the ice.

Gaines was gone. The water was still and black in the moonlight. For Just an instant Kovac flashed on what drowning would be hkee: that brief instant beneath the water, blind, trying to come up for air and feeling nothing but ice above your head.

Then he closed the door on that part of his mind and crawled back toward the dock.

D U S T.

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D U S T 339.

C H A P T E R.

"A N D Y 0 U T H I N K I'm ambitious," Liska said. "I've never actually murdered anyone for career advancement."