Too Far Gone

65

Manseur exploded into the cabin, gun in hand, the sirens outside still blasting. “Clear!” he yelled.

Bond came through the back door, holstering his gun. “Back’s clear.”

“EMS’s ETA is thirty minutes,” Manseur told Alexa as he squatted beside her, looked at Decell’s corpse. “You’re all right?”

“Fine. Gary’s pulse is steady, but weak,” she said.

“Should we take him to the hospital in your car?” Casey asked. “Wouldn’t it be faster?”

“No,” Manseur said. “There’s a life-flight helicopter en route. The techs will get him ready for the ride, and see what he needs. We’d do more harm than good if we moved him, Mrs. West.”

“I shot the kidnapper,” Casey murmured. “I can’t believe I actually shot someone.”

“If you hadn’t, Gary and I would both be dead,” Alexa said. “I saw his and Leland’s faces…” Like avillain in some James Bond film, Doc had wanted to make sure Alexa appreciated his genius by setting his killing mechanism in operation before he killed her. Egotistical people were unpredictable criminals, and the smarter they thought they were, the dumber they thought everybody else was.

“So this kidnapper shot Decell for Dr. LePointe? Decell’s almost a foot taller than LePointe. Maybe the shooter had never seen Dr. LePointe in person,” Manseur said.

Alexa said, “Between the shadows, him expecting LePointe, not Decell, I can see it. And Decell was drawing a gun. We should make sure the rear is secure,” Alexa said, standing.

“Larry, could you kill those sirens?” Manseur said.

Manseur followed Alexa out the back door. Flipping on his flashlight, he ran the beam over the truck, the sloping yard, the small dock. “Cooley at the lab sure nailed that truck.”

“I have the diary,” Alexa said in a low voice.

“What’s in it?” he asked her.

“I’d like to examine it in private. Casey saw me pick it up. I told her to forget she did.”

“What about fingerprints?”

“Leland took me by complete surprise. I never saw him until he had my gun. The guy Casey shot is the one in the pictures from Fugate’s. Doc, Leland called him. He had gloves on, so I bet he didn’t leave his prints. I’ll wear gloves to preserve any other prints on the book.”

“And then you’re going to give it to me, right?” he asked. “The diary is part of the Fugate homicide.”

“It’s also part of the West kidnapping. I’ll pass the book to you after I’ve seen if it is relevant to any federal crimes. I want to know why Dr. LePointe was willing to go to so much trouble to get his hands on it, but I don’t want anybody else knowing I have it. Nobody else.”

“When can I read it?”

“Tomorrow.”

“First thing?” Manseur’s expression reflected suspicion.

Alexa smiled. “Relax. You’ll get your fair share of the credit.”

“It’ll be nice, having credit,” he said. “Maybe the federal prosecutors won’t be as easy for the good doctor to influence.”

“You think?” Alexa said, frowning.

Twenty minutes later, sirens announced the arrival of an EMS ambulance. After checking Gary West’s vitals, the techs placed him into the vehicle and it raced off to meet a helicopter being sent from New Orleans. Parish deputies had popped flares to guide the life-flight chopper to the closest paved road. After hugging Alexa tightly for a few long seconds, Casey accompanied her husband in the ambulance.

“Michael has to keep your gun for ballistics,” Alexa told Casey.

Casey said, “I don’t expect I’ll be needing it again.”

While Alexa and Manseur were standing beside the Mercedes, a Crown Victoria pulled into the driveway. Detective Kyler Kennedy got out.

“I called Detective Kennedy in because we need a warm body,” Manseur said.

Without looking at Alexa, Kennedy addressed Manseur. “What do I do first, sir?”

“Ask Agent Keen,” Manseur said. “We’re out of our jurisdiction. This is a kidnapping case. She’s in charge. It’s up to her.”

Flashing lights announced the arrival of two sheriff’s department cruisers, following a Blazer with a light bar on the roof.

A tall, pole-thin man in a starched white shirt climbed from the Blazer and approached them.

“I’m Sheriff Buddy Lee Tolliver,” he announced. “Y’all New Orleans