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It was time for some ultimate truth to reveal itself.
CHAPTER 106
Alves’s butt was numb. He stood up. “These metal benches are brutal. Thank God I never had to sit and watch a game here. It’s like watching a Pat’s game at the old Foxboro Stadium. Or as Sarge says, Shaefer Stadium.”
Co
“The moonlight is brighter up here. And there’s no place to sit down there.”
“I saw some benches down by the locker room entrance. C’mon,” Co
Alves was surprised that the ground was hard, but not frozen. It must have warmed during the day. By morning, the blades of grass would be frozen crystals, snapping under your feet when you walked. But right now it was a perfect football surface. Walking out to the middle of the field felt right.
“Remember how much fun it was to be in high school,” Alves said. “Coming out here and playing games in front of a big crowd. The cheerleaders, the band, the whole atmosphere. How many times did I stand on this field, anxious to return a kick, each time, certain that I would run it all the way for a touchdown? At that moment, nothing else mattered in the world. Everyone in the stands was watching the ball, waiting for the kick. Then, as the ball rotated through the air, end over end, everyone watched to see what I was going to do with it. I was a pretty good ballplayer, so I always gave them a show. I wasn’t the biggest guy on the field, but I had great feet. There was always some big goon or a speedster who thought he was going to come down and drill me as I caught the ball, but I always made them miss. The first guy never got me.”
“If you’d played a few years later, I would have been one of those goons,” Co
Alves juked to the left and then back and Co
“I’m still too quick for you, even as an old man,” Alves said.
The two men laughed and started to walk back toward the bleachers.
Alves looked up into the sky. “Co
“Sure, pal.”
“How did you know Rich Zardino was the killer?”
“I tried to think like the killer. It’s something I learned from you and Mooney and from FBI profilers. If you think like the killer, you can catch the killer.”
“But how did that lead you to Zardino? I can see if you came up with some characteristics that made him a possible suspect. But that’s not what happened.”
“I looked past the obvious. Everyone was looking at known sex offenders who had done time. But I got to thinking, what if this guy had never been caught for a sex crime. What if he had just been out of state? What if he had done time for something else? What if he had done time for a crime he hadn’t committed? Bingo. This guy’s flying under everyone’s radar because he’s some kind of martyr, a victim of organized crime and corrupt cops. What a great story. No one else took the time to dig any deeper.”
“So that’s what got you thinking it was him. But how did you know it was him?”
“Like I said, I made myself think like the killer. I became the killer.” Co
Alves was startled. He shrugged Co
Co
“Okay, Co
“What about?”
“Nothing big. Just a couple of things I want to clear up.”
“Angel, let’s go sit down. It’s windy out here.” Co
Alves let out an awkward chuckle, then felt Co
Alves was immobilized.
CHAPTER 107
Alves tried to move and a pain shot up from his shoulder into his neck. His head was throbbing. The cold metal bench he was lying on didn’t help. He opened his eyes and a gun was pointed at his head: his own Glock. Alves sat up. He tried to speak, but his throat hurt. Co
It hurt to swallow. When he finished the beer, Co
“Jesus, Co
“Just drink the beer, detective,” Co
Alves took a swallow and set the bottle down on the bench. He’d better savor the beer. The beers were his hourglass. When they were gone, so was he.
“Detective, I didn’t tell you to enjoy the beer. I told you to drink it. Pretend you are eighteen and trying to win a drinking contest at a frat party.”
Alves took another swallow. The mac and cheese rose in his throat. He finished the bottle and Co
When the last beer was gone, Co
Alves didn’t want to know the truth. Not now. Not like this. He needed to be sober. He wanted it to be in an interrogation room with Mooney. He wanted it to be on tape. Video, if possible. He knew that if Co
“You don’t know shit,” Co
“I know you killed i
“That’s how you see it? Not me. I always kill for a reason. I kill out of necessity. I kill for the good of all men.”
A wave of nausea swept over Alves. He tried to shake it off.
“Who have you killed?”
“Don’t pull that shit on me. You know who I killed. That’s why we’re out here tonight, isn’t it? You thought you could get me to slip up and say something I shouldn’t. Maybe get a confession. Guess what, pal? You hit the jackpot.”
“Who have you killed, Co
“Oh, I get it. You want that full confession you came looking for. I know you’re not wearing a wire and you’re never going to leave this place, so I’ll give you that.”
“That’s good of you,” Alves said.
Just that morning he’d made pancakes for Marcy and the twins. When he was getting ready to leave for work, Marcy had told him to wait a second, then she’d kissed him, told him to be careful, to “drive nice,” like she always used to. Alves needed to find a way out of this. He needed to lure Co