Thirty-Nine
Greenwich Road
4:40 p.m.
“He was here.” Amelia Potter moved toward the river. “It was dark and he was afraid.” She turned to Bobbie. “He was crying.”
Bobbie surveyed the murky water. If Noah Potter ran from the Sanders home and ended up here that night... Jesus. His little bones were likely at the bottom of that river. “It’s possible he may have escaped.” It was a hell of a long shot but Bobbie hated to deflate the woman’s hopes entirely.
Amelia moved closer to her, the sharp wind flapping her sweater around her jean-clad legs. “I know I sound crazy.” She turned and stared out over the water. “It’s been thirty-two years. If he was alive, why wouldn’t he have come home? Why wouldn’t he have tried to find me?”
“We know Mrs. Bonner kept someone in that cellar,” Bobbie allowed. “It’s possible she could have kept Noah since her son was gone.” She refused to share the other possibilities that went along with that theory.
Amelia looked toward the cemetery. “My heart won’t let me believe he was here all this time.” Her lips trembled. “I’ve dreamed so often of where he could be. Far away on another continent or maybe as close as Tennessee. I imagined what he might be.” She smiled. “A schoolteacher or a doctor. Maybe a scientist. He’s handsome of course. And smart.” Emotion filled her eyes. “Then I wake up.” She sighed. “I’ve come to this very spot so many times over the years. I didn’t even know why. I just felt the need. I had no idea the other children were so close.” Her gaze settled on Bobbie’s. “How can I have been right here so many times and not have known?”
“I wish I had an answer for you.” Bobbie rubbed her hand over her back pocket as if by sheer force of will she could recharge her phone. The damned thing had died on the drive over here. Her charger was back in the room.
Amelia had called her from a shop two streets over from her own. She’d said she needed to get away from the officer watching her. Bobbie recognized the MO. She’d pulled that same move plenty of times.
“Amelia—” Bobbie moved toward her “—it’ll be dark soon. Lieutenant Durham will be worried about us. It’s not safe for us to be out here alone.” Bobbie had her weapon but she was no fool. Being overconfident could get you killed fast in a situation like this one.
The older woman grabbed Bobbie by the shoulders. “Please, just tell me the truth. Please.”
Bobbie instincts started to hum. “I’m not sure what you mean. Why would I tell you anything else?”
Amelia pulled her close and hugged her hard. “He told me you could tell me everything.”
When Bobbie would have pulled free of her hold, the other woman reached down and grabbed her weapon. Bobbie tried too late to snatch it back. Amelia threw the Glock into the water.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“Dr. Weller called me,” she said, her voice frantic. “He told me that you know what happened to my son. He said you could take me to him.”
Shit. “Amelia—” Bobbie reached for the other woman “—I need you to listen very carefully. I found out about your time in that clinic. Was Weller one of the doctors who evaluated you?”
For a moment Amelia simply stared at her, then she nodded. “It was a terrible time in my life. I made mistakes. Camille helped me get the treatment I needed. Dr. Weller helped me, too. He came to see me three times. He was always so kind. Then, after the Foster girl was murdered, he visited me again. He was so proud of how well I’d done for myself and my child. I couldn’t believe what I read in the paper about him. I never saw what he really was. How could I not know?” Her chest shook with her sobs. “How could I not see any of the evil so close to me...to my baby?”
“He fooled his own son,” Bobbie urged. “Please believe me when I say he’s a monster. He will kill us both. You have to tell me exactly what he told you to do.”
Amelia shrugged. “He just told me you could tell me the truth.”
Bobbie tried a different tactic. “I’ll tell you everything I know. I swear. First you have to tell me exactly what he said. Every word.”
Amelia blinked once, twice. Her grief had overridden her good sense. “He said I should bring you to the place in my dreams. I’ve dreamed of this place so many times. I knew that meant something. He said I should disarm you if I could so you wouldn’t try to arrest me. Please.” She searched Bobbie’s face. “Please tell me what happened to my son.”
“Weller lied to you. I don’t know what happened to your little boy. He’s using you.”
Potter drew away. “He said he was leaving but that he wanted to give me this one thing. The truth about my son through you.”
Bobbie turned all the way around, searching the gloom beyond the trees and headstones. He had to be watching. There were so many places for him to hide.
“We have to get out of here.” Bobbie grabbed her by the arm.
Amelia pulled away. “No. He said you would tell me the truth.”
“He lied, damn it. This is a setup.” Bobbie grasped her arm once more and started toward the car. “We have to get out of here.”
Amelia dug in her heels. “No.”
Bobbie understood it was her grief making her irrational. Finding the remains of the other children had opened that painful place again. She wasn’t thinking straight. “Randolph Weller is a master manipulator,” Bobbie warned. “He has murdered dozens of people. Please, Amelia, think. Why would I lie to you?”
“Why, indeed?”
Bobbie spun around.
Weller.
Fuck.
Bobbie pulled Amelia behind her. “You really are risking everything, Weller.”
He turned his hands up, then pulled his jacket lapels open and showed that he was unarmed. “I have complete faith in you, Bobbie. You would never allow yourself to be tailed by our fine boys in blue. You are far too good for that. So I know we’re alone.”
“Do not hurt this woman,” Bobbie warned, her anger building with each breath she took. “You’ve done enough damage here.”
“Quite the contrary,” he argued, “I didn’t have to do anything. You see, Edward Cortland’s confession to his wife set all this nasty business in motion.”
“His wife is dead.”
“A minor detail,” Weller offered. “Before taking that final swim, she shared the ugly truth she had learned from her husband and from Lucille Bonner with her closest friends. Apparently, after watching dear Allison lowered into the cold, cold ground, the ladies decided to do something about what their husbands had done.”
“You expect me to believe Deidre Wilson and Shelia Cotton are responsible for all these murders?” The idea that he could be telling the truth was not lost on Bobbie. Numerous small details suddenly fell into place.
“They did, indeed. They took care of the Sanderses first. Then they gave their husbands what they deserved, one by one. Their plan was rather ingenious.”
As Weller talked, Bobbie slowly ushered Amelia backward. The one thing he liked almost as much as killing was listening to the sound of his own voice.
“Why did you kill Lucille Bonner? Hadn’t she suffered enough when her son was torn away from her?”
Weller sighed. “The entire ordeal has been quite tedious, but Pandora’s box was opened and there was no turning back. When Lucille called Lawrence, he, of course, loyally passed along the message.” Weller shook his head. “His death was so unfortunate. I depended upon him for quite a number of things. Sadly, he had grown a conscience in his old age.”
The picture was beginning to clear for Bobbie. “You knew Bonner took those children.”
“The poor thing came to me, desperate for counseling. I was one of the last people who did anything nice for her son. She had no one else to talk to. I only allowed her to regain her confidence. I encouraged her to tell me what she wanted to do to the people who had hurt her and her son. She was desperate to make them feel the way she had felt. To torture their children the way they’d tortured her sweet, mentally deficient boy. Who knew she’d follow through?”
“You’re a sick piece of shit, Weller.”
“Do you want to hear the rest of the story or not?” he snapped. “I have my doubts about the good lieutenant’s ability to sort out all the details.”
Bobbie smiled at the idea that she’d gotten under his skin. “So tell it already.”
“Lucille found herself incapable of overcoming one simple stumbling block—those infernal second thoughts about killing the children. After all, her son had survived, despite being more damaged than he’d been before. Still, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. At the time her son was in no condition to help her and she simply couldn’t finish what she’d started. So she rushed to her secret lover. While he was comforting her with his penis, his wife brought the children here, one by one, and held their heads under the water until they stopped wiggling.”
Amelia gasped. Bobbie held on to her, keeping her close behind her when her knees tried to buckle. Rage blasted Bobbie. She wanted so badly to end this son of a bitch’s existence.
“The kindly veterinarian spent the rest of his pathetic life trying to make up for what his negligence had allowed to happen to the poor children.”
“There’s just one fatal flaw in your story, Weller. Treat Bonner is dead,” Bobbie argued. “His remains were found yesterday.”
“I’m sure Savannah’s finest are aware by now that the remains they discovered are unequivocally not the boy’s.”
Weller was a lot of things but he rarely overplayed his hand. If he said the bones weren’t Bonner’s, then he damned well knew that to be the case.
“If Treat is alive, why did she keep him chained in the basement? What kind of mother does that?”
“You see,” Weller explained, “the beating and then the lack of oxygen from almost drowning did even more damage to the poor boy. He could no longer control his violent outbursts. Lucille was, in truth, terrified of him. But he was her child, she loved him. It was all quite tragic.”
Weller dared to move closer. Bobbie took a step back, ushering Amelia along with her.
“Where is my son?” the older woman cried. “You said she could tell me where he is.”
“As I told you,” Weller said, “Bobbie knows your son very well. For that reason, I had to bring her here to meet you.”
“You said he lied,” Amelia accused, struggling to draw away from Bobbie.
Movement in her peripheral vision snapped Bobbie’s attention to the right.
Kessler.
“I thought you’d never catch up.” Weller turned to the agent. “It’s your move, Janet. I’ve set everything up nicely for you.”
Kessler took a bead on Bobbie. “You’ve been a pain in my ass, Detective.”
Bobbie pulled Amelia behind her once more. “The pleasure was all mine.”
“What’re you waiting for, Janet?” Weller snarled. “Finish this. Let’s see if the lovely detective is willing to sacrifice herself this fine day.”
Kessler shifted her aim to him. “You son of a bitch,” she growled. “Did you think I’d come here and do your bidding after what you’ve done? You almost cost me everything.”
Weller laughed. “Since I gave it to you, I certainly had the right to take it back. You would still be sucking hind tit, as they say, had I not secured your current position for you. Eliminating the competition gave you the edge you needed. You and Rodney owe me a great deal. I made both your careers and asked so little in return.”
“Shut the fuck up.” Kessler took the shot, the blast echoed in the air.
Weller stumbled back.
Bobbie pushed Amelia toward the woods to her left. “Run.” She lunged forward, ushering the older woman away from the threat.
A bullet whizzed past Bobbie’s head. Shit!
Bobbie pushed harder, urging Amelia forward. They had to reach the cover of the trees.
Another shot rang in the air.
Amelia’s body jerked and she tumbled to the ground.
Bobbie grabbed her under the shoulders and pulled her to her feet. “We have to run!”
Amelia stumbled forward.
Kessler was coming.
They reached the tree line.
Bobbie looked back. Didn’t see Kessler. She zigzagged, taking Amelia with her. Another backward glance.
The ground disappeared from under her feet.
Bobbie swallowed her scream as she went down, Amelia held tight to her side.
The cold water swallowed them.
They were sinking, sinking, sinking.
Bobbie’s feet hit the river bottom. She bent her knees and pushed upward with all her might. Up...up...up!
Suddenly their faces broke the surface of the water. Bobbie gasped for air. Amelia coughed and gagged.
Holding tight on to Amelia and treading water for both of them, Bobbie looked back to where the ground had run out. Nothing. She turned to Amelia. “Where are you hit?”
Amelia blinked. Her body was shaking hard in the icy water. “I’m sorry. This is my fault. Save yourself...” Suddenly she went limp and sank, her weight tugging Bobbie down with her.
As their heads disappeared under the surface, Bobbie watched the bright red blood float up around them.