Divine Justice

"And he thinks we can lead him right to Oliver," Caleb replied. "But we can't. Thank God."

"Don't be thanking God yet, Caleb. He knows where we are and our co

"How?"

A

Caleb exclaimed, "What do you mean? Use us as bait? That's preposterous. We are United States citizens. Knox is a public servant."

"That line didn't even work in the fifties," said Alex. "He's a public servant with a job to do. Nail Oliver. And while he's on the run, we're left as targets."

"So should we all go into hiding?" A

Alex said, "That's pretty much impossible for me to do. But A

"Why would Oliver have left us in this impossible situation?" Caleb groused.

"He didn't have much choice," Reuben answered. "If we're right, he popped two giant VIPs on the same day. You don't go have coffee after that and wait for the SWAT team to tap on your door with a battering ram."

Caleb shook his head. "Even if Oliver did kill them-and despite the letter he left behind, I bet he didn't leave any evidence for them to find."

"Damn it, what point aren't you getting, Caleb?" Reuben exclaimed. "These guys don't care about prosecuting his ass. They just want him. They'll squeeze whatever useful information he has out of him and then put a round in his brain. He was a former government hit man who had to go on the run because Gray and Simpson screwed him over and tried to kill him." Reuben said this last part while staring at Alex. "Oliver's been on the run for thirty years. And then they killed Milton. And don't forget, Harry Fi

"So they might be afraid of what Oliver might know about past government missions," Caleb said. "And they'd want to silence him?"

"Now you're thinking like a librarian," noted Reuben wryly.

A

Alex leaned against the wall. "What do you have in mind?"

"We find Oliver and help him really get away."

"Forget it, A

"And besides," added Reuben, "I'm sure Oliver had a nifty escape plan."

"Really? No ID. No money. I gave him a credit card. I checked on it. It hasn't been used in months. He can't get on a plane. He can only run so far."

"Before they catch him," said Reuben quietly.

"Maybe that's what he wants," stated Alex. The other three stared at him. "He got Simpson and Gray. He felt terrible guilt for Milton. He may feel he has nothing else to live for. He runs, but not that hard. He knows they'll catch up to him and he's prepared for what that means."

A

"A

"I don't care, Alex. Look what he did for me. He risked everything to help me."

"He's done that for all of us," added Reuben.

"You wouldn't be here either, Alex," A

Alex sat down on an old desk. "Guys, I hear you, but I'm a federal agent. I can only go so far."

"We don't want to get you in trouble, so you don't have to do anything," said A

"Except look the other way," added Reuben.

"How would you even go about finding him?" said Alex.

"That's for us to figure out," said Reuben coldly. He glanced over at Caleb. "You're a federal employee too, but are you in?"

Caleb nodded. "I'm in."

Alex, his features grim, rose. "Well, I guess this is where we part company. Good luck."

"Alex-" A

The three remaining members of the Camel Club simply looked at each other.

"Screw him," exclaimed Reuben. "So how do we find Oliver?"

She gazed at him. "The fox is on the hunt, right?"

"Right. So?"

"So we follow the fox."

"You have a plan?"

"I always have a plan."

"A

CHAPTER 24

STONE WAS ABOUT TO APPROACH Da

"Come on, boy, no good you being here."

Da

"Not right. Ain't right," Da

"A lot in life isn't fair, Da

"I want to die."

Tyree slapped Da

He pointed at the dirt. "You call that fair?"

"You get your head on straight. She had a choice. She killed herself. This ain't doing nobody any good. Now you want me to give you a ride home?"

Da

Tyree studied him. "You know something I don't?"

"I know lots you don't. So what? Ain't worth shit what I know."

"I mean about Debby?"

Da

"You said I was stupid if I believed that. What, that she killed herself?"

"You putting words in my mouth now, Sheriff," Da

"I just want to hear what you have to say."

In response, Da

"Da

"Stop yelling, Sheriff, you'll wake the dead."

"Right now, boy."

"I'm not a boy, Tyree, in case you hadn't noticed." Da

Tyree laid a hand on top of his pistol as Stone stooped as low as he could. He didn't want to give either man a chance to spot him.

He waited for Da

Should I just leave now? Why wait until morning?

Yet Stone walked to town and got a room at the tiny house Da

What he'd seen at the graveyard had puzzled him. Had Da

"It's not my problem," Stone finally said aloud, surprising himself with the force of the words. He checked his watch. It was nearly ten o'clock. He had a small transistor radio in his bag. He pulled it out and turned it on. It took some twisting of the tuner knob, but he finally found a station that had a national news roundup program at the top of the hour. He sat back on his bed. The murders weren't the lead story, but they were a close second to another salmonella outbreak in some vegetables.

The a