Tony made his way over to the SUV that had transported Killian. Two of Bennett’s team stood guard. “How is he?” Tony asked.
“Alive,” the young female deputy said. “He’ll recover. We cleaned him up and dressed his wound the best we could. When the ambulance gets here, the paramedics will treat him and transport him to the hospital. After that, he’ll have plenty of time to think about what he’s done.”
Tony frowned at them. “And what is it you think he’s done?”
The other deputy, an older man, stepped forward. “We heard he partnered with Alan Gerard. That he may have helped kill all those women. But . . .” He turned to look at the female deputy. “We don’t draw conclusions. ‘Innocent until proven guilty’ means something in this country. And to the U.S. Marshals.” He looked at Tony. “She’s new.”
The girl colored. “He pointed a gun at you,” she said to Tony. “Kinda blows away his innocence, don’tcha think?”
“I don’t know,” Tony responded. “But I want to.” He addressed the older deputy Marshal. “I’d like to talk to him. Just for a couple of minutes.”
“You’re not gonna shoot him, are you?” the deputy asked.
“No, not planning to.”
The deputy smiled at his own joke. “Okay, but make it fast. The ambulance should be here any moment.”
“Okay. No problem. I just have a couple of quick questions.”
“Go for it.” The deputy pointed his car door remote at the SUV and it beeped, signaling the doors were unlocked.
Tony thanked him and opened the door. Killian was leaning against the other end of the back seat, his eyes closed. Tony got in and shut the door behind him.
“Are you awake, Killian?” he asked.
The deputy grunted and opened his eyes. When he saw Tony, he struggled to sit up. “I need to talk to you,” he said. “I need to explain. . . .”
“That’s why I’m here. Kate doesn’t believe you were working with Gerard. She seems to think there’s something else going on. I’m not sure she’s right, but I have to admit this whole thing isn’t sitting well with me somehow. I talked to you before I left town. Your concern for her sounded real.”
Killian nodded, wincing from the pain of the gunshot wound in his shoulder. “It was.” He glanced out the car window. “They’ll be coming for me soon. You’ve got to listen to me. It’s important.”
Tony nodded. “Okay. Go for it.”
Killian twisted a bit but moaned from the pain.
“I can hear you just fine. Stay still. You don’t want to start bleeding again.”
Killian waved his hand at Tony. “Okay, okay. Let me talk and don’t interrupt. I don’t know how much time I’ve got.”
“I’m listening.”
Killian took a deep breath. “My mother was Tammy Rice, B.E.K.’s first victim. When she was killed, the police thought I’d done it. But after an investigation, they realized I didn’t have anything to do with it. I wasn’t even home when she was murdered. Not long after her death, another woman went missing. Ann Barton. She lived in Garden City, which isn’t far from Holcomb, where my mother and I lived. The killer left behind lyrics from the song ‘Blue-Eyed Angel’ in Ann’s bedroom. He also left them with my mom’s body. The authorities finally realized they had a serial killer on their hands and completely lost interest in me.” He winced in pain, took another breath, and started again. “There were these two boys. Troublemakers. One from Garden City. One from Holcomb. I’d caught them hanging around outside my house more than once. Ogling my mother. She was beautiful. Long, dark hair and lovely light blue eyes. I understood it, but I didn’t like it.”
“Who were these boys?” Tony asked.
“Barney Clevenger and Darrell Fisher.”
“I don’t know the names.”
“You wouldn’t. But I think they had something to do with my mom’s murder. I always have. When I found out that Alan Gerard wasn’t really the Blue-Eyed Killer, I went back to Garden City and talked to Darrell’s uncle. Barney’s family moved away long ago, and I have no idea where they are. Darrell’s uncle didn’t know where Darrell was. He and Barney disappeared not long after Ann’s death. Seems suspicious to me.”
“I don’t get what this has to do with anything,” Tony said, growing impatient. “I’d like to know what you’re doing here. In Shelter Cove. Near Kate.”
“I was a police officer in Kansas City when women started going missing from St. Louis. I transferred to St. Louis because I wanted to help catch the killer. I was actually involved in capturing Alan Gerard. The trial was on TV and, just like everyone else in the country, I followed it. I felt really close to Kate because we’d both lost loved ones to B.E.K. Two years ago, a buddy of mine came back from a fishing trip and told me he thought he’d seen Kate O’Brien in a little town in Arkansas. I didn’t believe him at first, but I decided to check it out. Came here and saw Kate. That was when I joined the sheriff’s department here.”
“So you gave up your life to be near her? Even if you felt some connection that doesn’t make sense,” Tony said.
Killian sighed. “I don’t know if you can understand this, but since I never really believed Gerard was B.E.K., I was afraid the real killer would come after her. I moved here so I could protect her. It meant something. Maybe it’s because I couldn’t save my mom. I don’t know. All I can tell you is that it just felt right.”
Tony could hear a siren getting closer. His time with Killian was coming to a close.
“Okay. Now tell me what you were doing on that mountain.”
It was obvious Killian knew they didn’t have much time. The muscles in his face tightened. “Listen, Tony. When I got back from Garden City, I couldn’t let go of the idea that the police had missed something. Then Kate disappeared. I needed her to know that there was someone else.” His last sentence was mumbled, his words thick. Tony noticed he’d grown extremely pale.
The sound of a vehicle door slamming got Killian’s attention. Voices outside made it clear someone was approaching. The back door of the SUV swung open, and a paramedic looked in.
“I’m sorry, sir,” he said to Tony, “but I need you to step out. We’ve got to get this man to the hospital.”
“Wait,” Killian said weakly. “There’s more . . .” With that, he lost consciousness.
“Sir, I need you to step out now,” the paramedic said with more emphasis. “He’s bleeding. If we don’t get it stopped right away, we could lose him.”
“Okay, I’m gone.” Tony jumped out of the SUV and strode away. He intended to check out what Killian had told him, but at this point, he figured the man was just trying to find a way out of his situation. Nothing he’d said explained why he’d pulled a gun on them. Malcolm Bodine was dead. The Blue-Eyed Killer was dead. The ravings of Warren Killian didn’t change that.
As Tony started walking through the city park that sat in the middle of town, someone called out his name. He turned around to see Gil Bennett waving him down.
“Hey, DeLuca. I need to give you something your boss wanted you to see.”
Tony waited for him to catch up.
“It’s that file from Batterson. Can I send it to your email?”
Tony shook his head. “Wouldn’t do any good. Lost my phone up on the mountain.”
Gil frowned. “Just use mine. After you go through this, bring it back to me. I’ll be here for a while.”
“I can just get it later,” Tony said.
“He acted like it was important. I get the feeling Richard Batterson doesn’t like it when people don’t follow his instructions.”
Tony laughed. “You’re right about that. Okay. Let me see it. I’ll bring the phone back in a bit. Right now I want to check on Kate.”
Gil handed him the phone. “Sounds good. See you later.”
Tony clicked on the file Gil had pulled up. Then he sat down on a nearby bench and began to read.
Batterson’s notes detailed the information that Killian had just given him. It certainly seemed that Batterson suspected the deputy of collusion in the B.E.K. murders. Still, Killian seemed genuinely convinced that someone else was involved. But how could that be? There wasn’t anyone else. Was there?
Tony started to turn off Gil’s phone, but then he noticed an attachment. He clicked on it and some pictures came up. All teenage boys. One looked like a young Killian. Another one reminded Tony of Malcolm Bodine. Tony briefly looked at the third picture. A boy he’d never seen before. Tony closed the file and put Gil’s phone in his pocket. He’d gotten up and started toward Kate’s when something struck him about one of the pictures. He pulled the phone out of his pocket and brought up the photos again. He stared at the phone for a few seconds as a horrible realization flowed through him. He quickly jammed it in his pocket and began to run for Kate’s house, praying he wasn’t already too late.