The Enforcer (33 page)

Doubt briefly shook her confidence.
“Ackerman confessed to planting evidence,” she said stonily.

“
Oh, come on. That pipe could have come from anywhere.”

The words echoed in her head, prompting a horrifying realization that spurred her heart into a gallop.
“I never said it was a pipe,” she whispered.

Richardson
’s expanding pupils betrayed the realization of his error. Without warning, he grabbed her with both hands, hauling her toward him. 

Shocked by his strength, Dylan resisted.
“Let me go!” she cried. The heels on her boots caught a moment on the threshold before sliding across the wet shale as he dragged her out into the spitting rain with him. “It was you!” she blurted, praying now that the FBI was listening and that they would save her before Richardson did something rash. “You drugged me,” she added, hurling accusations at him, one after the other. “You knew that Leigh always brought me coffee, so you laced some with Rohypnol and left it in my office!”

He shook his head in pity and denial; only the tension gripping the muscles in his face was unmistakable.
“Oh, Dylan, listen to yourself,” he scoffed.

The pieces all crashed together to form a clear and perfect picture.
“You prescribed me those sleeping pills which were also benzodiazepines, thinking that would negate the claim that I was drugged. Only you didn’t count on me taking a blood test to find out which kind, did you?”

Richardson
’s tense countenance crumpled unexpectedly. “Stop!” he pleaded, sobbing and shaking her at the same time. The sharp drop loomed in her peripheral vision. Adrenaline screamed through Dylan’s bloodstream as the extent of her peril hit her in the face.
He’s going to throw me over
. The terrifying certainty had her straining to free her wrists from his strong grasp.

“
Kevin, don’t! Don’t kill me, too!” She started to knee him in the groin, only the slippery surface made her traction slip, and she quickly put her foot back down.

He hushed her wildly.
“Don’t say that, Dylan. I could never kill you. I swear I never meant for this to happen.” A wail of frustration tore from his throat as he tossed his head back. Tears streamed from his eyes, gathering just above the lower rim of his glasses like a scuba diver whose mask was filling up.

For a moment, pity overcame Dylan
’s fear.

“
Can’t you see?” he cried. “I had to do it. Those men would have tipped the scales in the president’s decision to send troops to Syria. Because of their influence, thousands of innocents would have been shipped to the other side of the world to endure the very same hell you’ve been though. It would happen all over again. Is that what you want—more young people to end up maimed, their lives destroyed?” His lungs convulsed on a sob. “My God, they’d be lining up at my door, expecting me to fix them, to give them drugs so they could sleep, so they could leave their houses without fearing for their lives. Don’t you see why I had to stop it?”

He rattled her with both hands now, shaking her until her neck felt in danger of snapping.
“Your life was already ruined. It’s not like you would ever go to jail—not if you plead insanity.”

Dylan gaped at him.
“But I’m not insane,” she protested.
You are
.

Chapter Twenty

The sound of an agitated male voice caught Toby’s attention. It seemed to come from below him on the side of the church that teetered on the mountain’s edge. Curiosity and fear of what he would find drew him toward the rear corner, trailed by the journalist. The hair on Toby’s nape rose straight up as he peered down the southern wall. Standing on a narrow ledge at the church’s foundation, Dr. Kevin Richardson gripped Dylan’s arms with both hands, shaking her as he railed. Only one of her feet touched the ground; the other flailed in the air as she clung to him in absolute terror.

“
Dylan!” Toby’s shout startled Richardson into nearly dropping her.   

Putting his back to the wall of the church, Toby picked his way down a rocky embankment toward the narrow ledge as quickly as he dared. Panic threatened to overtake him, making him reckless in his quest to reach her. His training kicked in, urging him to remain sure-footed. He
’d seen the look on Richardson’s face on other cornered individuals—the look of a man with everything to lose. Cursing his lack of a weapon, Toby edged closer.

“
Let her go, Richardson!” he called, raising his voice to be heard over the patter of rain. “It’s over. Everyone knows you tried to frame her.”

The latter might have been an exaggeration but the word
“Freeze!” shouted from somewhere inside the basement confirmed that Palmer had been listening to Dylan and Richardson’s conversation all along, and he’d finally decided to intervene.
About time, motherfucker.

And now Richardson had nowhere to go. He was, quite literally, a man on the edge.
My God, don’t throw her,
he prayed, catching sight of Milly and then Jackson at the front corner of the church, barred from helping by a wrought iron railing and a sheer drop. The look on Jackson’s face as he absorbed the situation mirrored Toby’s terror. Spying Dylan below her, Milly started to bark which, in turn, drew the attention of people leaving the church. Cries and exclamations of horror added an audio component to the already ghastly scene. Kevin Richardson held Dylan’s fate literally in his hands.

***

Dylan’s life panned through her mind, from her earliest years to this terrible unforeseen moment. She could see it in Richardson’s tormented expression. It would all end here and now, shaping her brief life into a pointless melodrama.

In terms of her professional life, she harbored no regrets, but what about her personal life? Richardson
’s fingers bit into her wrists. His chest seemed to expand as he prepared to hurl her off the ledge to her death. And out of the corner of her eye, she glimpsed the camera man bracing himself to film whatever happened. She was going to die. The anguish and regret on Toby’s face told the same story. At the same time, it communicated just how much he loved her. He’d told her the truth about that. He hadn’t lied!

From the recesses of her being, her spirit protested. Why should she be forced to leave this world and the resurrected life she had found in Toby
’s arms. “No-o-o!”

Her visceral protest cleared the haze from Kevin
’s eyes replacing it with sudden clarity. His eyes jerked left, center, then right, absorbing the presence of agents in the basement and on every side; townsfolk gaping; the media filming; even Milly, all poised in positions depicting dread as they waited for him to act. When he looked back at Dylan, the realization of what he’d done and what he was doing registered on his face.

“
Oh, Dylan. Please forgive me,” he rasped. The crushing grip on her wrists abruptly eased. His eyelids sank shut with an air of resignation He folded his arms across his chest and pitched backward, in slow motion, off the ledge into nothing but space.

“
No!” Dylan lunged for him instinctively. Her own scream filled her ears as she lost her balance, her arms wheeling in an effort to recover. In the next instant, a powerful grasp snatched her back, suspending her shrill cry as she watched Kevin’s body strike a projection, bounce, flip, and plummet some more.

“
Don’t look.” Tobias crushed her to him, blocking her view and banding her in the safety of his arms.

“
Oh, God, oh, God!” she cried in a high, frightened voice.

“
It’s over,” he crooned. “Shhh.” His soothing voice and the sound of his heart galloping under her ear suspended her outburst as he guided her to safety. A number of hands reached out, hauling them out of sight of the crowd and back into the cellar. From there she was swept up the steps into the warmer sacristy where Tobias drew her down on the sofa next to him. Palmer and his three subordinates, even her priest, formed a tight circle around them. 

Too overcome to speak, Dylan hid her stricken face against Tobias
’s shoulder. His warmth fended off the icy coldness that made her shiver uncontrollably. The sweet assurance of his embrace mingled with her recollected horror, keeping her detached from the storm breaking loose around her, as Tobias thundered, “Palmer, you son-of-a-bitch, you used her as bait!”   

“
Now, calm down, Burke,” Palmer warned, pointing a finger at him. “We had her monitored the entire time. Nothing would have happened to her.”

“
That’s bullshit. Richardson could have thrown her out that door, and you couldn’t have done a thing to stop him.” Patting her down with gentle hands, Tobias found the recording device in her breast pocket. He drew it out and waved it accusingly. “Is this how you were monitoring her?”

“
Give me that,” Palmer snapped. “Do you seriously think we could’ve convicted Richardson on the basis of a single, synthetic fiber? Wake up. We needed more proof than that.”

“
At Dylan’s expense?” Toby slapped the wire tap into Palmer’s hand. “Here’s your goddamn proof. And now your suspect is dead, having nearly killed Dylan in the process. I can’t believe you threw her in this room with him without checking first if there was a basement door.”

“
Er…I’m afraid that was my idea.”

Father Nesbit
’s timid confession pulled Dylan’s face out of Toby’s shoulder. She looked over to find the priest hovering at the door.

“
I’m so sorry, Dylan,” he cried, meeting her eyes and shaking his head to forestall her suspicions. “I swear to you, I had no idea what he intended. Richardson and I often discussed the tragedy of war and what it’s done to veterans like you. But I had no idea he was willing to kill to keep another war from breaking out. My God!” He wrung his hands in obvious distress. “Who would never have guessed that he could murder in the name of peace, especially when he expressed so much concern for others—and for you.” Nesbit broke into a sob. “I was so afraid you might hurt yourself! I arranged for him to meet you, thinking he would help, never suspecting…”

“
It’s okay.” Relieved that her priest hadn’t betrayed after all, Dylan crossed the room to console him. “It’s not your fault.” Glancing back, she impaled Palmer with an accusing gaze. “It’s exactly what the FBI hoped would happen.”

Tobias glared at Palmer also.
“Since you now have what you came for, I’ll be taking Dylan home.” His tone brooked no argument; nor did it allow for a return to jail to process papers. “I assume she’s no longer a suspect.”

No longer a suspect.
The words blew through Dylan’s mind like a warm, spring breeze. She felt compelled to pinch herself. Was it truly over?

Palmer flicked her a dismissive look.
“We may have questions for her later, but—yes—she’s free to leave.”

A bitter laugh worked its way up Dylan
’s throat. “That’s it?” She narrowed her eyes at the agent. “No apology? No statement to the press?”

“
Our public affairs officer will issue a statement in time,” Palmer promised. “As for an apology, I spent three nights hunkered on the cold, hard ground making sure your trigger-happy soldiers didn’t open fire on federal agents. Count yourself lucky you got off as easy as you did,” he retorted.

“
Lucky? Is that what you call it? I have every right under the American Constitution to defend my own land.”

“
That’s our cue to leave,” Tobias interjected firmly. “You have a body to collect,” he coldly reminded Palmer. “Come on, sweetheart.”

With a hand under her elbow, he escorted her past the priest into the now-empty sanctuary, where she broke away to collect the urn from its pedestal. Carrying it reverently, she marveled that she would, in fact, get to disperse Terrence
’s ashes, after all. The events of the past twenty minutes replayed in her mind, subjecting her to shivers that would not subside, not even when Tobias took her other hand and led her to the exit.

The doors had been bolted shut, presumably to keep the public from reentering. As Tobias opened them and drew her out, the crowd hovering on the portico and in the piazza before it erupted into exclamations of victory.

Unable to push past them, Dylan acknowledged the well-wishes with a strained smile. A journalist, forcing her way through the crush of bodies, stuck her microphone into Dylan’s face and barraged her with questions. Dylan turned with relief to Milly, as the dog wriggled through the crowd, planted her front paws on Dylan’s chest, and licked her face with exuberance.

“
No comment. Let’s go.” Tobias and the light-skinned agent who’d once worked for Palmer used their athletic frames to carve a path through the crowd toward the parking area on higher ground. 

The tenacious journalist pursued them.
“Who was the man who just fell to his death?” she demanded. “Is it true that he tried to kill you?”

Another journalist shouted from the crowd.
“Are you still the primary suspect in the Nolan and Treyburn murders?”

Halfway up the steps, Dylan halted.
“I have to say something,” she told Tobias. Here was her chance to reclaim her reputation as an ordinary citizen with God-given rights, not the fanatic the federal government had portrayed her as.

Tobias gestured for her to go ahead.

Facing the crowd, Dylan raised her voice to thank the town of Harpers Ferry and her militia members for supporting her. “In the famous words of my ancestor, John Brown,” she called out, raising her voice so that everyone could hear her, “‘This is a beautiful country.’ We may all have our differences, but ultimately, we are all united and protected under the American Constitution, which guarantees us the right to bear arms against tyranny and corruption. Today, my good name has been restored, and the charges against me dropped.”

Her announcement elicited a roaring cheer. With a final wave for the crowd, Dylan allowed Tobias to guide her up the remaining steps to a waiting vehicle.

“I want to sit with Milly,” she insisted when he tried putting her up front.

Before he could protest, she dove into the back seat where she wrapped her arms around a supremely happy dog. Milly
’s warmth eased the shivers that continued to wrack her. The memory of her horror on the ledge replayed through her mind as she processed what had happened.

Tobias
’s colleague drove them away, but moments later, they were idling at a standstill in the congested, narrow street. The
whoop-whoop
of a siren startled Dylan into looking up. Sheriff Cal Fallon circled their vehicle on his motorcycle. With a wave of his hand, he signaled for them to follow him, using his lights and his imperious gestures to part the traffic before them.

Dylan closed her eyes with relief. Soon the town of Harpers Ferry and the chaos that had surrounded her for days would be a thing of the past. Opening her eyes again she found Tobias studying her over the back of his seat. His protective gaze cloaked her in warmth

“You okay?” he inquired.

Dylan drew a shuddering breath.
“I thought he was my friend,” she whispered, stating out loud what disturbed her most about the recent tragedy. Despite her efforts to stem them, tears of betrayal and dismay welled in her eyes. How could such a well-meaning man have turned into a murderer? Not only that, how could he have lived with himself for making it look like
she
was guilty of the crimes he’d committed?

“
He
was
your friend, sweetheart,” Tobias assured her. Reaching through the seats, he laid a hand on her knee. “If he weren’t, he would have thrown you over that ledge and told everyone that you’d committed suicide. I’m sure he was tempted, but he didn’t do it. He took his own life, not yours.”

The memory of Kevin
’s body bouncing like a rag doll down the side of the mountain made her stomach pitch. She swallowed down her sudden nausea. “He said he never meant to hurt me,” she relayed. “The way he figured it, my life was already ruined, so what difference did it make if he framed me? I could plead dissociative identity disorder and live like a queen in a mental institution, and it wouldn’t make a lick of difference.”

“
That’s not how you feel about your life, is it?” Tobias asked, giving her knee a gentle squeeze.

Tree branches flashed past the windows followed by open pastureland. She would soon be home. With Tobias
’s steady hand on her knee, she could feel her shock and disillusionment falling away behind her. The fact that she was free, no longer a suspect, filled her with giddy relief. “Not since I met you,” she dared to admit.