Hour Game

He found a pack of gum in the ashtray, popped a piece of Juicy Fruit in his mouth and turned the police radio on high so he could learn instantly when they discovered he was no longer in custody. He breathed the fresh air and flicked a wave to a kid walking his bike along the side of the road. He slowed the squad car and rolled down the window.

"Hey, you go

"Yes, sir, mister," called out the little boy. "I wa

He tossed the kid a stick of gum. "No, you don't, son. "You don't want to be like me. I'm terminal; only got a few days to live.

But he looked on the bright side as he sped up. He was free and he was back in business. And he only had one more to go. One more!

It felt so damn good.

CHAPTER 90

"SO WHO KILLED BOBBY BATTLE and Kyle Montgomery?" asked Michelle.

They were sitting on King's dock catching some sun after returning from a morning ride on their Sea-Doos.

"Nothing's clicked yet. Maybe I used up all my little gray cells catching Eddie."

"Well, Dorothea had the best motive to kill Kyle."

"And she had the opportunity to kill Bobby as well. And maybe the motivation. If he didn't live up to his part of the bargain and give her a bigger piece of the estate."

Michelle looked troubled. "I know you concocted all that stuff about Remmy and Harry, but you don't really think-"

"Harry has an alibi, an ironclad one. At the time of Battle 's death he was giving a speech to the Virginia State Bar in Charlottesville."

Michelle looked relieved. "And Remmy?"

Now King looked troubled. "I don't know, Michelle, I just don't know. She certainly had good reason to want to kill him."

"Or maybe someone who wanted to be the next lord of the manor did it."

He looked at her strangely and was about to respond when his cell phone rang.

He answered, listened, and his face turned ashen. He clicked off.

"This is really, really bad, isn't it?" she said fearfully.

"Eddie's escaped."

All the Battles were given round-the-clock security at their home. Harry Carrick, King and Michelle joined them there, since their lives were conceivably in danger too. A massive three-state manhunt jointly conducted by the FBI and area police was begun, but two days later there was no sign of Eddie.

King and Michelle were in the dining room having coffee with Sylvia, Bailey and Williams and talking about the case.

"Eddie's a very experienced outdoorsman. And he knows this country better than most," pointed out Bailey. "He's hunted over it and explored it for most of his life. He can live on next to nothing for weeks."

"Thanks, Chip, that's very encouraging," Williams said sourly. "We'll find the son of a bitch, but I can't promise to bring him in alive."

"I don't think Eddie will let that happen again," King said.

"Wouldn't he have fled the area as fast as possible?" asked Michelle.

King shook his head. "Too many roadblocks and police at all the bus and train stations and the airport. The police car he stole was found abandoned on a back road. I think he took to the hills."

Williams nodded at this. "His best chance is to lay low around here, change his appearance as much as he can, and when things quiet down a bit, he makes his run."

King didn't look convinced.

Williams noted this and said, "You disagree?"

"I think he's hanging around but not for the purpose you think."

"What, then?"

"Someone killed his father."

"So?"

"So I think Eddie wanted that all to himself. I think Bobby was supposed to be the final victim in all this, if the stroke didn't kill him first." King glanced at Michelle. "He came to see us, claiming his mother was upset about people thinking she had Junior and her husband killed. He knew she hadn't done it. He wanted us to find out who had. And you remember when we were having drinks with him at the Sage Gentleman. He said his father just had to live."

"So he could kill him," said Michelle.

"So what the hell is he going to do, go after the person who killed Bobby?" said Williams. "We don't even know who that is, Sean."

"But if we run that person down, we have a good shot at nailing Eddie."

"I'd appreciate it if you would not plot the capture and execution of my only remaining son in my house."

They all turned to see Remmy standing there. She'd rarely come into the mansion's public spaces. When she did, she spoke to no one, not even Harry. Her meals were delivered to her bedroom.

King rose from his chair. "I'm sorry, Remmy, we didn't see you standing there."

"Why should I be? This is only my house and my dining room, and those cups you're drinking out of are mine too, in case you'd forgotten."

King glanced at Williams. "I know this arrangement is awkward-"

"To put it mildly," she interrupted.

Williams said, "It's just a lot easier having all of you in the same place, Remmy."

"Oh, I'm glad it's easier for some people; it's certainly not for me."

"We can go to a hotel," suggested Michelle, but Remmy dismissed this remark with a decisive wave of her hand.

"Never let it be said I shirked my civic duty, even if it does mean losing my son." She stalked out of the room.

They all looked at each other nervously.

"This really is an impossible situation for her," said Sylvia.

"Do you think any of us like it?" rebutted Michelle. "Eddie is a mass murderer. She has to learn to accept that."

King took on a thoughtful look as he stirred more sugar into his coffee. "Speaking of which, I hope all of you realize that the case against Eddie isn't ironclad."

"What the hell are you talking about?" protested Williams. "He showed up at Harry's house with a zodiac mask on, ready to kill all of you. And now he's escaped and killed a deputy in the process."

"Right. But not knowing what happened between him and the deputy, there might be a claim for self-defense or manslaughter. The cell door was open, and a defense counsel could make the claim that the deputy was trying to hurry along the process of justice and Eddie just fought back. Now, I'm as certain he's guilty of all those murders as though I'd seen him commit them. But you don't have to convince me, you have to convince a neutral jury, maybe one from another part of the state or even a different state. So where's your direct evidence that he committed the murders?"

Williams was still bristling. "All the stuff you said. His motivation, the cipher disk, drugging Dorothea."

"That's theorizing and speculation, Todd," said King firmly. "We need physical evidence tying him to the crimes; do we have it?"

Sylvia spoke up. "If you'd asked me before the murder of Jean Robinson, I'd probably say no. However, I found a hair follicle with root attached to it on the floor next to her bed. I don't know how it got there, but the color and texture told me it wasn't hers or her husband's. I've sent it for typing along with a sample of Eddie's DNA. If it matches, we have him, at least for that murder."

"And hopefully ballistics will match the slugs shot into our car tires when Junior was killed to the gun taken from Eddie," pointed out Michelle.

"Just let me get hold of him," said Williams. "We'll have a confession in no time."

"Ifwe get hold of him," said Michelle.

"He can hide for a while, but we'll eventually catch him," said the police chief confidently.

"The person he's after," said King. "That's the key. We find him, we find Eddie."

"You really think that?" said Bailey.

"No," replied King, "I know it. He's got one more to go. Just one more. And we have to get there before he does."