Final judgment

SEVENTY-SIX

Fish’s rental car was parked in front of the house. Mason opened the driver’s door looking for any hint that Fish was there for a reason other than to split the pot. He found a receipt on the floor from a sporting goods store that Mason had passed on the highway. According to the time printed on the receipt, Fish had made his purchase less than an hour ago. The timing bothered Mason as much as the description of what Fish had purchased-a box of. 38 caliber ammunition.

When Mason rang the bell, Webb opened the door wide enough to see who was there. Mason shoved it all the way open and walked past Webb into a large den with a vaulted, wood-beam ceiling. The sofa, chairs, tables, and rug had a fresh, barely lived-in look. The whole place had the feel of a safe house, not a home.

The far wall was all glass, opening to the deck. The kitchen was to his right. There was a darkened hallway to his left that he assumed led to bedrooms.

He didn’t see Sylvia, Fish, or a bag full of money. He took a slow pass around the den, luring Webb to follow until he had a view of the lake and Webb’s back was to the deck. It was the best he could do to make certain Webb wouldn’t see Blues.

“Where’s Lila?” Mason asked.

“I told you,” Webb said. “She’s ill. She didn’t come to work today.”

“Then why was her car in the parking lot?”

“She got sick yesterday. She couldn’t drive so I took her home.”

Mason knew he wouldn’t get anywhere trading lies with Webb. He had to buy time until Blues could free Lila.

“Then we’ve got nothing to talk about. I’ll just go to the police, tell them about your blackmail scheme, and you can do business with them. Of course, you can’t blame the cops if they’re more interested in the three murders you committed and the money you robbed from the bank.”

“I thought you were only obsessed with blackmail. Now I see that you are completely out of your mind. I didn’t blackmail the judge. I didn’t kill anyone and I don’t know anything about a bank robbery.”

“Killing Rockley and Keegan makes a certain amount of sense if they were about to give you up. You might catch a break on Mark Hill if you claim self-defense. But I think you’re screwed on the bank robbery.”

“Blackmail, murder, and bank robbery. Who do you think I am?”

“I know who you are,” Mason said, walking down the hall leading to the bedrooms. “Fish! C’mon on out and bring Sylvia with you.”

The first door down the hall opened and Fish stepped out. Sylvia McBride was next, turning on the hallway light. She darted past Fish, barely giving Mason a glance as she joined her husband. The color had drained from Fish’s face and his breathing was labored. He lumbered past Mason, bracing himself with one hand against the wall. Mason caught him by the elbow.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

“Never better, boytchik. ”

Kelly Holt followed Fish, a gun in one hand, the bag of money in the other.

“Hello, Counselor,” she said. “Like they say in the movies, put your hands up.”

“You were in this all the time,” he said, raising his hands.

“From the beginning. Now let’s join the others,” she said, directing him with the gun.

Fish sat in a chair barely big enough to contain him, one hand on his chest, sweat pooling in the folds of his cheeks and neck. Sylvia stood next to Webb. Two shadows appeared on the deck and Webb quickly unlocked the sliding door, pulling it open as Dennis Brewer shoved Blues into the den, his gun inches from the back of Blues’s head.

“Facedown on the floor; hands behind your back,” Brewer said to Blues.

Blues looked at Mason, shaking his head in apology, and laid down. Brewer holstered his gun and pressed his knee against Blues’s spine, lashing Blues’s wrists with plastic cuffs. Finished, he stood and pointed to Mason.

“You’re next,” he said and then repeated the procedure.

“Put them downstairs with Lila,” Kelly said.

“What about him?” Brewer said, pointing to Fish. “Should we cuff him?”

“What for? He’s harmless,” Kelly said. “Put him with the others.”

“Why don’t you kill them and get it over with?” Webb asked.

“Because,” Kelly said, “having four bodies turn up at this house may not be in our collective best interests. We’ll get rid of them, but not here and not together.”

Brewer marched them down the deck stairs and deposited them in the storage room with Lila Collins, who lay on the floor unconscious, knees to her chest, her head on one arm, the other covering her face. The floor and walls were bare concrete. The deck provided the ceiling. The room was empty except for them.

A single bulb hung from the ceiling. Brewer turned the light on long enough to make certain the cuffs on Mason and Blues were secure, then shattered the bulb with the barrel of his gun, leaving them in the dark as he locked the wooden door behind him.

Mason felt his way to Lila, sitting next to her and bumping her gently until she moaned softly.

“They drugged her,” Blues said.

“You were supposed to rescue her.”

“I had her in my arms when Brewer showed up. He didn’t give me a chance.”

Mason sat next to her. “Lila. Lila, wake up.”

“Let her be,” Fish said, his words and breath coming slowly. He had slid to the floor and was propped against the wall, legs stretched out in front of him. “Sylvia said she’d come out of it soon.”

“I’m glad the two of you had a nice chat. What in the hell are you doing here?” Mason asked him.

“I came for the money,” Fish said.

“All of it or just your cut?”

“All of it.”

“Too greedy. If you’d been satisfied with your cut, you’d still be upstairs with them instead of downstairs with us.”

“Is that what you think, boytchik? That I helped them steal the money?”

“Mickey said you called him while he was in the vault with Sylvia and told him to let her take the money.”

“You were with me. You know I didn’t make the call. Wayne must have imitated my voice. The whole thing was actually very nicely done. I especially liked the car wreck. I’ll bet anything that other driver walked out of the hospital the first chance he got.”

“If you weren’t involved, how did you know Sylvia would bring the money here?” Blues asked.

“After Lou told me that Wayne was using this house, it was a good guess. I thought if I could get them to give the money back, it would settle my account with the government.”

“Did you really think they would just give it to you?” Mason asked.

Fish laughed, gasping at the effort. “Even I’m not that good of a con man. I had a gun. But that Kelly Holt took it away from me.”

Mason felt a surge of affection for the old man, mixed with guilt at having been so quick to condemn him. “You did good, Avery.”

“Well, boytchik, doing good is something new for me. I thought I’d give it a try while I still had the chance,” Fish said, struggling to get the words out.

“Take it easy. We’ll get you out of here.”

“Of course you will,” Fish rasped. “Such a good lawyer I’ve got.”

Blues felt his way along the wall until he came to the door, feeling the lock in the dark. “Damn,” he said. “Can’t pick the lock from this side even if I could see what I was doing. We’re stuck here until they come and get us.”

The sliding door overhead opened and two people walked across the deck and down the stairs.

“Won’t be long,” Mason said as he and Blues backed themselves against the wall opposite the door.