Just then my phone buzzed.
I picked it up. “This better be good,” I said to Julie. “I told you to hold my calls.”
“Lieutenant Stone is here,” she said. “He says it's important.”
I sighed. “Okay.”
Julie brought Chris Stone in. When she started to ask if we wanted coffee, I quickly shook my head. She shrugged and closed the door behind her.
I shook hands with Stone. “What's up, Chris?”
“I only got a minute, Mr. Coyne, but I wanted to be sure you heard it from me first.”
“Heard what?”
“It's one of those good-news bad-news things,” he said. “Gus Nash's lawyer wants to make a deal.”
“A plea bargain?”
He nodded. “Me and Roger, we've been puttin' the screws to those people in those photographs. Made it clear we want Nash, suggested we might give'em immunity in return for their depositions.”
“And they turned over on Nash.”
He nodded. “On the photos and the blackmail. Can't touch him on the murders, though.”
“So what's going to happen?”
“We make the deal, avoid a public trial,” he said. “Keep those photos, those kids out of it. That's Nash's leverage.”
“What happens to him?”
“It'll probably shake down to three or four years, maximum security, no special considerations.”
“That's not a lot,” I said. “Hell, he hired a guy to kill two people, and he was prepared to kill several others, including you and me.”
“Yeah, but we can't make the case.” Stone shrugged. “Law enforcement officer, big DA involved in kiddie porn? His colleagues in Cedar Junction will make that an extremely unpleasant few years.” Stone blew out a long breath. “Anyway, that's what's happening. Figured you had a right to know.” He hesitated. “That's only part of the reason I wanted to see you.”
“What else?”
“To thank you. You were right. You and Horowitz. You both always told me my head was up my ass, and I guess it was, because if it hadn't of been, maybe I would've listened to you. Gus Nash used people. He was using me. I should've stuck with Horowitz, listened to him. He's the best. I could've been a good cop.”
“You are a good cop, Chris,” I said. “When it came down to it at Sprague's house that night, you did the right thing. And Roger tells me you've been working your ass off on this case.”
“Yeah,” he said, “but for me it's personal, see? I just want to nail Nash. Horowitz says a cop should never let it get personal.”
“It's not supposed to be personal for lawyers, either,” I said. “But sometimes you can't help it.”
S
haron Gold's letter came to my office on the second Thursday in April. It was postmarked Madison, Wisconsin, and written on pale blue notepaper with a dark green fountain pen.
“Dear Brady,”
it began.
I wanted you to know that Brian and I are doing all right. We stayed with my mother for a week or so, and then we agreed that it would be better if Brian and I found a place of our own. We weren't ready to go home. So we're now renting a little house on a lake. It's very pretty and peaceful here, and the neighbors are friendly and don't ask questions about us.
Brian has enrolled in the local high school. He's made some new friends, and he didn't have much of a problem catching up on his schoolwork. He's a very good student, you know
.
We're both seeing psychiatrists. I still have dreams, and I know it's going to take a while, but I can see the improvement. It's going to take a long time for both of us. But we're getting there
.
I'm temping at an advertising agency in Madison. I go
to work every day, and it looks like they want to hire me. It's not a lot of money, but it could turn into a career, and I think I'm going to accept it.
Brian and I have decided we're not going back to Reddington. I know you can understand that.
I'll be calling you one of these days to arrange things for us. I'm going to put the house up for sale and have all our stuff shipped out here. This feels like the right thing to do, and Dr. Benning and Brian's doctor both agree with us.
We want to thank you for everything. You are a dear friend and a sweet man and we will never forget you.
She signed it,
“Love, Sharon and Brian.”
SCAR TISSUE. Copyright © 2000 by William G. Tapply.
All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America.
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner
whatsoever without written permission except in the case of
brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
For information, address St. Martin's Press,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
eISBN 9781429981484
First eBook Edition : February 2011
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Tapply, William G.
Scar tissue / William G. Tapply.â1st ed.
p. cm.
ISBN 0-312-26679-0
1. Coyne, Brady (Fictitious character)âFiction. 2. Traffic accident investigationâFiction. 3. Boston (Mass.)âFiction. I. Title.
PS3570.A568 S28 2000
813'.54âdc21
00-040229
First Edition: October 2000