Jesse shook his head. “I saw her at the hearing but she never said anything the whole time, just sat there listening with this weird look on her face. She left town a while later, after Cole went to Red Oak.”
“What about Cole? Did he see what happened?”
Jesse shook his head again. “I don’t know. Ollie and Fred found him hiding upstairs.”
“What about Pryce? Did he see anything?”
Jesse looked up. “Pryce?”
“Did he see what you did?”
Jesse shook his head.
“You’re sure?”
Jesse looked up at him. “He was out front…he…I don’t know, I don’t know.”
Louis stared at Jesse, trying to read his reddened eyes. They were filled with confusion – or was it fear? Jesse looked away. Louis pressed closer to the sofa. He had to find out how far they had gone to cover up the mess.
“You knew Pryce suspected you, right?” he said.
Jesse wouldn’t look up at him.
“Pryce suspected something was dirty and you all knew it,” Louis said.
“Pryce was – ” Jesse stopped himself.
“Pryce was what?”
Jesse stared into the fire, his face streaked with sweat and tears.
“Pryce was going to expose you,” Louis said. “He knew about Johnny and Angela and he was going to turn you all in.”
Jesse frowned, his eyes locked on the fire.
“Pryce was going to take everything to Steele and Gibralter knew it and told you,” Louis said. “So you killed him.”
Jesse’s eyes shot to Louis.
“You found Lacey – ”
“Lacey?” Jesse interrupted.
“You planned it all out so he’d take the rap.”
Jesse was shaking his head, his mouth agape.
“You killed Pryce, you and Gibralter,” Louis said, leaning down on the arm of the sofa. “How’d you do it? How’d you find Lacey?”
A glimmer of comprehension registered in Jesse’s eyes. “Wait, wait,” he said, holding up a shaking hand.
Louis knew he should just shut up and let Jesse talk but his anger was pushing him forward now.
“How’d it feel?” Louis said, leaning down into Jesse’s face. “How’d it feel when you pulled the trigger and saw Pryce fall? How’d it feel when you heard Stephanie scream?”
“No, no…”
“You were this close,” Louis whispered, holding two fingers in front of Jesse’s face. “This close to being behind bars, your worst fear.”
“No, I didn’t – ”
Louis’s hand balled into a fist and Jesse tried to squirm away. “How’d it feel?” Louis hissed.
Jesse swatted Louis’s hand and jumped to his feet. “No!” he yelled. “I didn’t kill Pryce! Lacey killed Pryce!”
Louis grabbed his arm. “You
Jesse jerked away, stumbling back. “You’re nuts! Lacey killed – ”
“Yeah, stick to your story! You were stupid enough to let Gibralter suck you into one murder, why not more? Why not Ollie and Lovejoy? Tell me this, you bastard, who shot me in the back? You or him?”
Jesse stared at him, his face twisted.
Louis drew in a deep breath. Now that he had said it, put his thoughts into words, it didn’t seem so outrageous. For a second he felt a pang of sympathy for Jesse but it dissipated fast, replaced by rage. He couldn’t see Jesse as any kind of victim in this.
“Give it up,” Louis said.
Jesse was shaking his head, raking a hand through his hair.
“Maybe you can strike a deal for Gibralter,” Louis said.
“No,” Jesse said quickly. “No, no.”
Louis reached out to grab Jesse’s arm but Jesse spun away, stumbling against the counter and knocking over a stool. He pulled himself upright and started to the door.
“Where are you going?” Louis said.
Jesse didn’t answer.
“Stop,” Louis said, moving toward the door.
Jesse glared at him. “Either you arrest me or let me get the fuck out of here.”
Louis started to the counter to get his cuffs from his belt but Jesse moved more quickly, pulling out his gun and pointing it at Louis.
Louis stared at the gun, not moving. “Jess, this isn’t the answer.”
“Let me go, Louis. I’ve got something to take care of.”
Jesse moved slowly toward the door.
“Don’t do this, don’t make it worse,” Louis said.
Jesse flung open the door and ran out, the door banging against the wall and slamming closed behind him.
“Jess!”
Louis grabbed his gun, ran to the door and jerked it open. He ran outside and stood for a moment, scanning the darkness. He went quickly around the side of the cabin. Jesse’s cruiser was parked where he had left it. Louis circled the cruiser, peering inside. An empty Jack Daniel’s bottle lay on the seat.
“Jesse!” he shouted.
He ran up the driveway toward the main road. He stopped, looking off into the night. Fresh boot prints led off down the road in the direction of town.
“Fuck,” he murmured.
He had blown it. He had tipped his hand and let Jesse get away. And now he was probably on his way to alert Gibralter.
Louis looked down the road and scanned the dark trees. He shivered. He had been walking in Pryce’s shadow for weeks and now, like Pryce, he was a threat.
He went quickly back into the cabin. He locked the door and pulled all the curtains closed. He paused to survey the room then dragged around a chair from the corner to face the door. He turned off the lights.
