Kill for Me

“No,” Susa

“Oh, I will. After you finish opening all the safes. For now, I’ll pick the GBI guys off one at a time.” Bobby dragged her so that she stood in front of her on the top step, put her gun to Susa

Through the side windows along the front door Susa

Susa

But it was too late. Germanio crashed through the front door and calmly, Bobby fired and Germanio’s head… came apart. He was dead before his body hit the floor.

Horror and shock exploded into rage. “Fuck you,” Susa

They grappled on the stairs, Bobby grabbing at Susa

Where was the gun? Did Bobby still have it? No. If she did, she would have shot me by now. Susa

Bobby let go, crawling backward to where the gun lay, and Susa

Dutton, Monday, February 5, 1:50 p.m.

They were almost there. Luke pushed the anger aside, focusing on Susa

Luke bore down on the accelerator, jumping when his cell buzzed. “Papadopoulos.”

“Luke, it’s Chase. Where are you?”

“About two minutes from the Vartanians’ house. Where is Paul Houston?”

“He was headed toward Dutton, but took a detour.”

Luke recognized the route. “That’s how Corchran told us to come in so we could avoid the traffic, but the opposite way. He’s coming here. Why, to help Bobby?”

“Not Bobby. Charles. Put me on speaker so Pete gets this, too. Al Landers went to the prison to meet with Michael Ellis. Showed him Susa

Luke frowned. “His son? Ellis took the fall to save his son? Why?”

“And why would Houston set up his father?” Pete added.

“Payback. Ellis was in Vietnam, in a POW camp, and so was Charles Grant.”

Luke shook his head. “No, I checked. Charles Grant had no military record.”

“Because he was Ray Kraemer, then. Kraemer was an army sniper, captured in ’67, met Ellis, and the two ended up escaping together. Ellis was desperate to get home. His girlfriend had his son, but gave him up for adoption. That was Paul. Ellis and Kraemer were down to the last of their food. Ellis shot Kraemer, stole the food, and left him in the jungle to die.”

“Sonofabitch,” Luke murmured. “Obviously Kraemer didn’t die. What happened?”

“Ellis said Kraemer resurfaced eighteen years later in Dutton, calling himself Charles Grant. He chose Dutton because that’s where the mother of Ellis’s child had moved after giving birth. Paul’s mother is Angie Delacroix. She’s one of Grant’s people now.”

Luke blew out a stu

“That I don’t know yet. I had her picked up, but she isn’t talking. Ellis talked a lot, though, when Al Landers told him we knew about Paul being a cop. He said somehow Kraemer located Paul when he was eight. He became his tutor through an after-school volunteer program, but brainwashed Paul against his birth parents and his adopted parents. Paul ran away when he was ten, went to live with Charles. Looks like Charles has been molding Paul all his life. Ellis said Paul will be loyal to Charles to the death.”

“So why did Ellis confess to Darcy’s murder?” Pete asked.

“To protect Angie and Paul. Charles threatened to have Paul kill Angie if he didn’t.”

“That’s Charles’s revenge,” Luke said, “owning Ellis’s son, using him against him, while Ellis sits in Sing-Sing. He pled guilty to killing Darcy, but he’s really paying for what he did to Charles Grant forty years ago.”

“Exactly,” Chase said. “I’m about twenty minutes out, still following Houston. He’s still using his lights to bypass traffic, so he doesn’t know we know about him yet. I diverted most of our agents from the cemetery out your way. Wait for them.”

Luke came around the bend, his focus immediately reverting to Susa

Chase blew out a breath. “Be careful. Good luck.”

“Thanks.” Luke was slowing to instruct the backup when he heard the shot. “That came from the house.” Susa