Play Dead

As I watch from a distance, the area around Franklin’s house is suddenly, eerily bathed in bright spotlights, and the sounds of men shouting through the previously quiet street are deafening, even though they do not include any gunfire.

Ignoring Pete’s admonishments, I start to walk toward the house. As I approach, I am stopped by an officer cordoning off the scene. “You can’t go any farther,” the officer says.

“I’m with Pete Stanton.”

“That’s fine, but you can’t go any farther.”

After about ten minutes, Pete comes out and walks over to me. “Franklin is dead,” he says.

I’m surprised to hear this. “Suicide?” I ask.

“Only if he’s a real bad shot. He had seven bullets in him.”

“Any idea how long he’s been dead?”

Pete shrugs. “I’m no expert, but I’d guess an hour or so. He sure as hell wasn’t the shooter at the school.”

Without a doubt, Franklin was the person who set Karen up to be shot, and without a doubt, he was not the one who shot her.

Pete verbalizes the questions that are forming in my mind. “You think he was forced to call her? Or did his partner turn on him after he did?”

“I don’t know,” I say. “I don’t know who the bad guys are or what the hell they’re trying to accomplish. The only thing I know for sure is that Richard Evans isn’t one of them.”

* * * * *

EVEN THOUGH I’M anxious to get to the hospital, my first stop in the morning is the prison. I don’t want Richard hearing about his sister’s shooting from his radio or a guard. I want him to hear it from me.

On the way there I get a phone call from Kevin, who has gone to the hospital to check on Karen’s condition. She is weak but doing well, and her wound is not considered life threatening. She is very lucky, or as lucky as a completely innocent person who is suddenly shot by a high-powered rifle can be.

I spend most of the drive trying to deal with my guilt. I’m aware that it’s illogical; I did little to involve Karen in the case or expose her to danger. She constantly begged to be included, and most of the time I resisted. Nor did I send her to the school; I didn’t know about it until it was too late, and my arrival probably saved her life.

Yet the feeling of guilt is so heavy it feels crushing. I started a series of events that led to Karen Evans getting shot. If there were no Andy Carpenter, she would not be in a hospital, hooked up to IVs.

I get to the prison at 7:45, fifteen minutes before the prisoners can have visitors, even from their lawyers. By the time Richard is brought into the room, I can see by the look on his face that he already knows what happened.

“Please tell me she’s all right,” he says. “Please.”

“She’s going to be fine. She took the bullet in the shoulder, but she’s conscious and doing well. She’s not in danger.”

Richard closes his eyes for maybe twenty seconds without saying anything, probably giving thanks to whoever it is he gives thanks to. Then he looks up and says, “Please tell me everything you know about what happened.”

I take him through all of it, starting with Franklin showing us the crates of money at the port, right through to finding him shot to death at his house.

“Why would Franklin have showed you the money if he was part of the conspiracy to sneak it out of the country?” he asks.

“I don’t think this has anything to do with that money. Maybe Franklin discovered it and used it to throw us off the track. Or maybe he was an innocent victim and was coerced into calling Karen.”

“But how could anyone have anything to gain by killing Karen? Who the hell did she ever hurt? What the hell did she know that could hurt someone?”

These are questions I can’t begin to answer, and my fear is that Karen won’t be able to answer them, either. First Richard was gotten out of the way, and now an attempt has been made to permanently remove Karen. They apparently posed a mortal threat to someone, without knowing who or how.

Before leaving, I question Richard extensively about his relationship with Franklin. He’s answered the questions before, though now they have gained far more importance.

“We met through work,” Richard says, “but we became friends. Richard and his girlfriend would go out on the boat with Stacy and me pretty often, maybe ten or twelve times.”

“Could he have had a relationship with Stacy that you didn’t know about?”

He shakes his head. “Not possible.” He considers this a moment. “Sorry, I answered too fast. Anything’s possible, but I saw absolutely no evidence of that, and I can’t imagine that it could have happened. But even if it did, what would that have to do with Karen?”

“Nothing,” I say. “I’m just grasping at straws here. Was there anything about Franklin’s work that might be viewed as unusual in the light of what has happened?”

“Not that I can think of. We each handled our own area, so we didn’t interact at work that often.”

“And he came to see you for a while after you were convicted?”

Richard nods. “For about a year.” He starts to say something else, then hesitates.

“What is it?” I ask.