Part 19 (2/2)
”Doesn't look like you've gone pork chop on me yet.”
”I hope I don't have to use any of this stuff,” I said as I started to climb in the van.
”Me, too, but better to have it than not, right?”
”I guess so. Thanks.”
I looked toward the house. They were standing on the front porch. I could see that Caroline and Lilly were crying while Jack and Sarah were doing their best to remain stoic. Melinda had stayed inside with Gracie.
”They'll be fine,” Bo said. ”Don't worry about a thing.”
”If something happens to me-”
”Nothing's going to happen to you. You're a Ranger.”
”It was a long time ago, Bo.”
”Doesn't matter. I remember what you were like when bullets started to fly, and I doubt you've changed. Are you going to have any help when you get back down there?”
”I hope so.”
”Sure you don't want me to tag along?”
”It's not your fight, buddy.”
”You ought to at least take that shepherd with you.”
”Nah, he's my buddy too. I don't want to put him in harm's way.”
I started the van and put it in reverse, taking a long, last look at the people on the porch. My eyes started to water again.
”I'll see you soon, hillbilly,” Bo said. ”Go give 'em h.e.l.l.”
As soon as I got on the road, I dialed Bates' number.
”It's Dillard,” I said when he picked up.
”Where are you?”
”Driving. I'm on my way back. We need to get together as soon as I get there and figure out a plan.”
”What kind of plan?”
”A plan to deal with this case. To deal with Lips...o...b..”
”There is no case. Zack Woods and Hector Mejia, your best witnesses, are dead. Nelson Lips...o...b..is missing in action. It's over.”
I noticed he said ”your best witnesses” instead of ”our best witnesses” and wondered whether he was trying to distance himself. Leon Bates was not only a good sheriff, he was a master politician. He had excellent instincts when it came to figuring out which way the political winds were blowing, and they certainly weren't blowing in my direction.
”You got any idea what's been going on around here while you been off doing whatever it is you're doing?” he said. ”The press is going nuts. The politicians are all over me. My office was bugged, my house was bugged, my car was even bugged.”
”I know all that, Leon. Pinzon came to see me at the hospital last night. He told me about the surveillance. That's why the FBI came and checked everything out. We have to find a way to make a case on Lips...o...b.. Otherwise, he's going to-”
”Pinzon told you?”
”Yeah. He told me a lot. He's gone, too. He's hiding.”
”Then Lips...o...b..is the last man standing. He's the only one who hasn't run.”
”Pinzon didn't run from us. He ran from Lips...o...b.. And Nelson didn't run, either. Pinzon says he's dead.”
”You know something, Dillard? I think maybe Pinzon is playing you for a fool.”
”Don't be ridiculous. Have you forgotten about the phone call Nelson made from the cruiser? And what about Zack Woods? He identified Lips...o...b.. Hector saw him get on the boat. He killed those girls, Leon. I know it and you know it. We still have Turtle, and if we can get Lips...o...b..to trial, I think I can convince Pinzon to testify against him.”
”You got no case, counselor. My advice is you get your b.u.t.t back here and forget any of this ever happened. And you better start shoring up your end on the political side. There are a lot of people calling for your scalp. They-”
”Leon! Listen to me! Pinzon says Lips...o...b..has hired people to kill me, to kill my entire family.”
”Is that a fact? Has it occurred to you that Pinzon might be pulling your chain? He's the Colombian. He's the one that would know how to hire men from Colombia for a hit.”
”No, you don't understand. When he came to the hospital, Pinzon told me what happened on the boat. He told me all about his history with John Lips...o...b.. They dealt drugs together for years. They made millions. Lips...o...b..knows all about the Colombians. He's closer to them than Pinzon ever was.”
”And you believe everything he told you?”
”Yeah, Leon. I do.”
”He and Nelson are probably sitting on a beach somewhere drinking fruity rum with little umbrellas in the gla.s.s. They're probably laughing at all of us.”
”They've gotten to you, haven't they? Who was it? The governor?”
”A lot of people a lot of powerful people think you're using Lips...o...b..as a career builder.”
”But you know better, don't you?”
”Doesn't matter. The bottom line here is that this turns out bad for Joe Dillard no matter what. And if I stay with you, it turns out bad for Leon Bates, too. You can't prove your case against John Lips...o...b.. You're going to have to dismiss it, and when you do, the hammer is going to fall. I'm thinking seriously about putting out a press release tomorrow that says I've done my best to be loyal to the district attorney through this entire affair, but that circ.u.mstances now lead me to believe that he is engaging in a personal vendetta against John Lips...o...b..and consequently the sheriff's department will offer no further a.s.sistance.”
”You're kidding me, right? This is a joke.”
”Afraid not. All the signs have been there, but I've been too close. I haven't been able to see the forest for the trees.”
”What are you talking about?”
”You start off by treating the governor of the state like a b.a.s.t.a.r.d stepchild, then you barge into Lips...o...b..s office and d.a.m.ned near attack him. You make a decision to indict three men on thin evidence, you insist that they be hauled up here in a prison van, and then you a.s.sault Lips...o...b..at the jail. You top it all off by pa.s.sing out flat on your face in the courtroom in front of G.o.d and everybody, and then you disappear. I may have been blind before, but I see the light now. You're unstable, Dillard. You might even be crazy.”
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