Hard Rock (A Hardboiled Private Investigator Mystery Series): John Rockne Mysteries 2 (13 page)

Chapter Thirty-Eight

We met at a park in Birmingham. 

It was now the heart of fall in Michigan.  One of those picture postcard days where the sky was beautifully blue, the leaves on the trees were tinged with color, and the threat of a long, cold winter was pushed aside in the spirit of soaking up the sun and savoring a change of season.

Amanda Collins and I sat at a table near a fountain.  We each had a coffee from the Starbucks just up the street, along with a copy of the Detroit Free Press.  The front page story was about the arrest of Charles Pierce for conspiracy to commit murder.

I had filled her in on the long, sordid story.  She cried softly when I told her about Lawrence’s suicide.  But the tears had stopped when I’d filled her in on Ellen’s shooting of the killer.  They were still trying to figure out his actual identity, but no prints or dental records had matched.  It didn’t really matter to me anymore.  He was dead.  That was the important thing.

“There will be a lot more charges to follow,” I said, gesturing at the newspaper story.  “And considering the fact that he’s in his eighties means he’ll never be a free man again.”

“All this time,” she said, shaking her head.  “All these years he had gotten away with it.  Benjamin dead.  That old man still pulling the strings.  And the rest of us trying to move on with our lives.  Surrounded by the broken pieces.”

I nodded. 

“I’m sorry,” I said.  “I’m sorry it took me so long to–”

“John, don’t,” she said.  “You were a victim.  We all were.  It’s time to forgive yourself.  I’ll never forgive him,” she said, gesturing toward the newspaper.  “But I’m moving on.  You should, too.”

We sat awhile longer.  An unnaturally warm breeze stirred the leaves in the trees.  Somewhere a child’s laughter rang out.  Behind us, a sculpture stood in the middle of the park.  A man and a woman, linked, each with a hand raised toward the pale blue sky.

THE END

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Dani Amore is an international bestselling crime novelist and winner of the Independent Book Award for Crime Fiction.  Learn more about her at
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