The Edge

The voice screamed, “I will fucking kill you. Just give me the chance, you little prick.”

Devine didn’t recognize the voice, but he knew who it was anyway.

Chapter 80

I think you have the wrong prick in mind,” Devine called through the wood.

There was no reply for a count of five. Then—

“Shit. Travis Devine, is that you?”

“Yes, it is, Mr. Bing. You don’t sound very good.”

He grunted in pain. “That’s because I took one in the belly and I’m bleeding to death. Threw up and shit my pants.”

“Anything I can do?”

“Yeah, stand in the doorway so I can blow your ass away.”

“How about I call an ambulance instead?”

“So I can spend the rest of my life in prison? No thanks.”

Devine pulled out his phone, moved through some screens, and then set the phone on the floor against the wall.

“Your niece is dead. Somebody strangled her and threw her off a bluff. That would have been you?”

“Poor little thing. What a way to go.” There was mirth, not sadness, behind his words.

“Fred drove here in his Jeep. You got here in your niece’s Bimmer. Your rental is still at the house. I guess you didn’t want any of her trace in your vehicle. And you killed Jenny and tried to kill me. But your nephew tried to kill Dak.”

“How do you know Freddy tried to kill Dak, Sherlock?”

“You went to sniper school. He screwed the shot on Dak even though it would have been a piece of cake to a shooter who knew what they were doing. And you had no reason to kill Dak. What did you care if Dak was selling out and Alex might leave here? But your nephew cared. And I was the one who told him about Dak’s plan to sell Jocelyn Point.”

“Freddy had it really bad for gorgeous Alex, like she’d look at him twice.”

“He tried to appear helpful and friendly to me, but he also tried to subtly convince me that you were the one interested in Alex.”

“Hell, I wouldn’t have minded getting in her pants, too.”

“How did you know Jenny was close to figuring things out?” asked a disgusted Devine.

“Got a phone call from Freddy. ‘Please, big, strong Uncle Ben, come up here and save my skinny ass.’”

“So you came up here, assessed the situation, got Jenny alone, and shot her. Then dropped the .300 Norma to implicate, what, foreign enemies from her CIA job?”

“Oh, so you’re not so smart after all. You got the first part right, sure. Jenny went to meet with Françoise, because she didn’t know the little bitch was in on it. But there I was instead. She had figured out it was a cop car the rapist was in and suspected it was me or Harper. I brought Freddy along for the ride so the little shit could see how it’s done properly. Jenny always was a tough little gal. Took the round like a true warrior. She actually flipped me off. Then we took her to the bluff and threw her off.”

“And the part I got wrong?”

“I never chambered the fuckin’ Norma polymer, Devine. I was an early investor in Warwick Arsenal, and that would have been a red flag. However, this was known to certain family members, including Freddy. I’d even given them some of the fired polymer casings as souvenirs. I used the good old NATO round to shoot Jenny, and when I shot at you.”

“Why dump the body at the same spot where Alex was attacked?”

“Just to confuse the shit out of everybody. We were making this stuff up as we went along. It’s not like we had months to prep this sucker.”

Devine tensed. “And her laptop and cell phone?”

“Chucked them in the ocean. Figured they had classified shit on them. I’m an asshole, but not a traitor.”

Devine breathed a sigh of relief and jumped ahead because time was growing short. “You policed your brass with Jenny, but Freddy dropped the polymer casing where Jenny was found to make it look like a long-range shot, but he didn’t know enough to get it right on the shot angle. But Françoise said the round fired at Dak was a .300 Norma Magnum.”

“I gave the family some live rounds along with the polymer casings as well. I thought I was going to make a killing. And then I ended up being the one killed.” He laughed and then groaned. “I would have policed my brass when I shot you, too, but you ducked just in time. I had to get the hell out of there.”

“And Françoise? Did she know her brother raped Alex?”

“The whole family knew. We circled the wagons. It’s what we Bings do.”

“I can understand why your brothers would go along with it, but why would Françoise?”

“She didn’t want to labor all her good years in the mortuary business. My brother Ted is a stingy jerk, and he tied up the money his kids would eventually inherit the same way our old man did with him and my brother John. But now, with all that’s happened, Françoise cut a new deal with her father. She helps get the family through this crisis, little Franny gets an after-tax eighty-million-dollar payout right now. Enough money to live like a queen while she’s still young.” He coughed up some more of his dwindling blood. “Only she didn’t expect to die,” he added grimly. “But you try and fuck with me you get dead.”