Rusk laughed.
“For you, maybe.”
He looked toward Daniel.
“Did he tell you, little brother?”
Daniel’s face hardened.
“Tell me what?”
David closed his eyes.
Rusk smiled.
There it was.
One last secret.
“He knew Michael’s brakes were damaged.”
Daniel stared at his brother.
I felt nothing.
Not yet.
David whispered:
“Not before he drove.”
Rusk laughed.
“Technicality.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“Explain.”
David looked at me.
“I found out minutes after Michael left the overlook.”
“How?”
“Pike told me.”
Pike shouted:
“He’s lying!”
Rusk kicked him.
“Quiet.”
David continued.
“I called Michael.”
My heart stopped.
“No call was in the records.”
“I used a secure line.”
“Did he answer?”
“Yes.”
The mountain disappeared.
I heard only David.
“I told him to stop the truck.”
My throat tightened.
“He said the brakes were already failing.”
I closed my eyes.
Michael.
Rain.
Dark road.
His voice.
David continued:
“I told him to use the emergency brake and steer into the mountain.”
“What happened?”
“He tried.”
I remembered the crash report.
The truck had gone through the outer guardrail.
Not into the mountain.
David’s face collapsed.
“He said there was another vehicle beside him.”
Everyone looked at Rusk.
Rusk smiled.
Pike began crying.
“No.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
Pike shook his head.
“No, no, no.”
Rusk pointed the gun at Pike.
I understood.
“Pike was beside Michael.”
Wade had not known.
David had not known.
Pike screamed:
“Sam made me!”
Rusk fired.
The gunshot cracked across the mountain.
Pike fell.
Agents fired.
Rusk dragged David in front of him.
Chaos exploded.
Daniel shouted.
Agents repositioned.
Pike groaned on the pavement.
Shot in the shoulder.
Alive.
Rusk pressed the gun beneath David’s jaw.
“Back up!”
Everyone froze.
Then Wade Hollister’s voice came from behind us.
“You always were a lousy shot, Sam.”
I turned.
Sheriff Wade Hollister stood beside an unmarked federal vehicle.
Handcuffed.
An agent held his arm.
I stared.
“What the hell?”
The agent said:
“He insisted he knew Rusk’s emergency route.”
Rusk’s face twisted.
“You.”
Wade smiled.
Not the old smile.
Something tired.
“You should’ve killed me when you had the chance.”
Rusk shouted:
“You were nothing before me.”
Wade nodded.
“That’s true.”
“I made you sheriff.”
“Probably true too.”
“I protected you.”
“No.”
Wade looked around at the armed agents.
“You owned me.”
The rain intensified.
Rusk’s grip tightened around David.
Wade stepped forward.
The agent tried to stop him.
Wade said:
“Sam.”
Rusk’s eyes locked on him.
“You remember Caroline?”
Rusk went pale.
I had no idea who Caroline was.
Wade continued.
“Your sister.”
Daniel whispered:
“What is he doing?”
Wade smiled sadly.
“You told everybody she left Oak Hollow.”
Rusk’s gun lowered half an inch.
“She did.”
“No.”
Wade shook his head.
“She found your first blackmail file.”
Rusk began trembling.
“Shut up.”
“You were twenty-eight.”
“Shut up.”
“You hit her.”
“Shut up!”
“She fell down the courthouse stairs.”
Rusk screamed.
For one second, the gun moved away from David.
That was enough.
David drove his elbow backward.
Daniel lunged.
Agents rushed forward.
Rusk fired wildly.
Wade jerked.
Then federal agents slammed Rusk onto the pavement.
The gun skidded away.
David collapsed.
Daniel reached his brother.
Pike screamed for medical help.
I ran to Wade.
He was on his back.
Blood spread beneath his shirt.
The bullet had entered below the ribs.
He looked at me.
“Hell of a breakfast.”
I almost laughed.
Almost.
“You idiot.”
“Yes.”
“Why did you do that?”
His eyes moved toward Rusk being handcuffed.
“Got tired of moving booths.”
I held pressure against the wound.
Wade winced.
Then looked toward the dark ravine.
“I’m sorry about Michael.”
I stared at him.
“Sorry doesn’t fix it.”
“I know.”
“You’re going to prison.”
“If I live.”
“You’re going to live.”
He smiled faintly.
“That an order?”
“Yes.”
For once, Sheriff Wade Hollister obeyed me.
Samuel Rusk survived.
So did Wade.
So did Pike.
That mattered because dead men become mysteries.
Living men become witnesses.
The hard drives beneath Ruby Lane Diner dismantled more than a local corruption ring.
Four judges resigned.
Two state officials were indicted.
Eleven contractors faced federal charges.
Three federal employees were arrested.