I COULDN'T WAIT TO GET out of Dallas. I checked out of the Travelodge in Flower Mound over the telephone and hit I-30 east twenty minutes after leaving Valerie Cheatham in Red Oak Park. I drove until sleep wouldn't let me go any farther and pulled into a rest stop north of Nashville around 11 p.m. that night. I fell asleep before I could even get my seatbelt off. I hoped Josh Baker would visit me in my dreams again, but he had something more important to do. A semi popped its airbrakes behind me and the hiss nearly sent me through the window. When I woke up, all I could think about was Becca.
Vance and Turner snuffed Josh Baker from this world in the blink of an eye. Josh's mother turned her back for a moment and countless lives changed. Josh Baker lost his life, the Bakers lost their son, Vance and Turner lost their minds, and a town lost its innocence. I'd never know why Vance and Turner did what they did. I'd never know why they picked that day, that mall or that little boy. But that's how evil works. That's how monsters live.
I made up my mind before I had a chance to wipe the drool from the side of my mouth. Becca was too important to me to let anything happen to her. I knew I couldn't protect her forever and that one day she would be somewhere my watchful eyes couldn't reach. But until then I could do everything I could do to make sure any monsters that crossed her path kept on walking. Willie Baker wanted vengeance for the ultimate loss. I wanted to never know what that felt like.
FIVE HOURS LATER I PULLED into my apartment building's parking lot. Albert was watching television when I walked into our apartment. He jumped me like a swarm of mosquitos.
"You back for good this time?" he asked, wrapping an arm around me.
"I think so."
He nodded. "You know, that beard is kind of growing on me. I think I like it."
"You shitting me?"
He smiled. "Of course I'm shitting you. It looks terrible." He moved a hand across my back, as if checking for bullet holes or knife wounds. I jerked my arm to the side when he brushed my right collarbone.
"War wound?"
"Aluminum baseball bat."
"Been there."
I knew he wasn't joking.
"How was Texas?"
"I'd rather not talk about it." I saw the disappointment in his face. "Maybe later."
He walked back to the sofa, sat down and smacked the spot next to him. "Have a seat, son. Unless you got something else to do."
"Can't think of anything."
Albert clicked the remote and Jack Klugman came to life on the screen.
I sat down. "What happened to Columbo?"
"Finished the series. On to Quincy now." He looked over to me. "You should have been a doctor."
"He's not a doctor, he's a medical examiner. There's a difference, Dad."
He laughed. "I'm glad you made it back in time for Dewey's tonight," he said without taking his eyes off the screen. "Becca kept asking if you'd be there."
"Wouldn't miss it." I hadn't even realized it was Friday. "Brooke joining us again?"
"She is if you want her to."
"I'd like that." I crossed my legs. "You have any problem with her still being here in the morning?"
He shook his head and turned up the volume.