CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
Alison felt a shiver run through her body as the knock came at the door.
She knew exactly who it was, but that didn't help to calm her nerves. Everything was set up, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t be in danger while in the room with Kent.
She brought her hand to her his, double-checking for the fourth or fifth time that her gun was there.
She went slowly to the door, not wanting to appear too eager. Her main goal once Kent was in the room was that no one would be killed. Her second goal, not that far behind the first goal, was to get the information she needed to prove his guilt.
Alison looked through the peephole to see Captain Kent. He had one arm held out to the side, his hand obscured from view.
He must have seen the light change behind the peephole and knew she was there. "Dr. Payne, I wanted to come and tell you in person. Tommy Castellano just confessed to all three murders. We have him."
Alison took a deep breath. Then, she opened the door. "That’s great news."
As soon as the door was open, she saw the gun in his hand. He pointed it at her, and she immediately backed into the room. Then she saw Tommy. Kent had a hold of him with his other hand, and he dragged him into the room.
Tommy was handcuffed and gagged, and there was a nasty gash on his forehead where he had been struck. He still looked a little dazed.
Kent kicked the door closed with his heel and gestured for Alison to sit on the bed. Once she did, he threw Tommy into the small chair in the corner of the room. Tommy breathed heavily through his nose and glared at Kent, but he didn't dare say anything.
"What’s going on, Dale?" Alison asked slowly. Her heart was beating at a thousand beats a minute. "I don't understand."
"No, you don't, do you? You’re the smartest person in this city, and you still don't get it, do you?"
"No, I get it," Alison said, making sure her voice shook as she said it, not that she needed much help with that. "I know you’re angry, Dale. He killed your sister, but you don't have to do this. I won’t let you do it."
The anger that had always been bubbling under the surface came to the forefront, but it was a measured anger in the captain.
He was in control of the situation, and there was a certain giddiness in the way he couldn’t stand completely still as he enacted the plan he likely believed he had come up with.
"You don't get it at all," Kent said. "I was worried when they brought you in, but I’m thankful now. You have given me the greatest gift in the world, and you don't even know it."
Alison held up her hands before her. Kent still held the gun, even if he didn't have it pointed at her. She knew he wouldn’t just shoot her, but she had to be ready.
At the first hint that he might act rashly, she was prepared to pull her gun and use it—that went for any violence directed toward her or Tommy.
"Let’s talk about this, Dale," Alison said. "You know you can't hurt him. You know that. If you take revenge on him, then you will go to jail. There's still time. All we need to do is take him back to his holding cell, and we can forget any of this ever happened. People will understand.
"No one understands," Dale snapped. "No one has any idea what it’s like. I had to listen to her for months complaining about the mistake she made while never admitting to her mistake. Do you understand what that is like? She messed up, and she could take responsibility for it, and because of her, people died. She took no responsibility for that. I don’t think she even felt bad about it. "
"You’re talking about your sister," Alison said. Just play a little dumb and gothic talking.
"Of course, I’m talking about my sister," Dale said. "She deserved everything she got."
"Wait, what are you saying, Dale?" Alison asked, knowing exactly what he was saying.
Dale still held the gun, but it was pointed down at the floor. "You still don't get it, do you? I can't believe you managed to outsmart so many people and track so many killers. You can't see what’s staring you right in the face."
"I think I’m starting to see," Alison said. She glanced at Tommy. His eyes swam as he tried to pay attention to what was going on. "You killed her, Dale. You killed your own sister. How could you do that?"
Dale smiled. "Oh, it was very easy in the end. I expected it to be a lot harder, but I had to do it. She wouldn’t have received any punishment for her mistakes, so I took matters into my own hands, so to speak.
You can judge me all you like, but it had to be done.
It didn’t matter that she was my sister.
She deserved to die, and the world is a better place because of it. "
"You’re supposed to be a cop, one of the good guys," Alison said. "You killed three people. You carried in dirt to cover one of them, for goodness' sake. Do you really think you’re on the side of good?"
"You’ve heard how the press is talking," Dale said. "The message will spread far and wide, and all these doctors will think twice before releasing the criminals we work so hard to put behind bars. I understand fully that my acts are crimes, but it’s all for the greater good. My acts will save hundreds of people in the future. You know that’s the truth. "
"It’s not the truth," Alison said. "It’s far from the truth. You’re looking at what you believe are mistakes, but you have no idea how many people we’ve saved with our decision.
By killing those who can make the decisions, we are spread thin, and we make more mistakes.
You’re not getting justice, Dale, you only think you are. "
Dale took a long breath in through his nose, waving his gun around a little. "I know what I’m doing is right. I’ve been one step ahead of you all this time, Dr. Payne. I got you to do exactly what I wanted you to do."
"Was it always the plan to frame Tommy, or did that come about later?" Alison asked. "Did you adapt when we called from Butte?"
"Ha!" Dale laughed. "You have no idea what is really going on, do you?"
I have a very good idea of what is going on, and I only need you to admit to it all, and I have you.
She looked at the gun in his hand. He wouldn’t use it unless absolutely necessary, but that time might come, and she needed to be ready.
"You’re here tonight to kill me, aren’t you?
" Alison asked. "You might have got the better of me, but you were still afraid I might work it out, so you’re here to kill me, and if you brought Tommy along for the ride, then it’s your plan to make it look like he escaped and did it? And then what? A murder suicide?"
"You are smart," Dale said. "Yes, that's the gist of it.
They'll find an officer in a car a couple of blocks from here.
They'll believe me when I tell them that Tommy somehow got out and knocked both of us out, only for me to come to shortly after and go after him.
It won't be a murder suicide. The murder part you have right, but I'll arrive here just in time to kill Tommy as he comes at me.
For you, it'll be too late. I would love to reenact a crime scene from one of your mistakes, but you were never a part of the original plan.
It was always the plan to frame Tommy for this.
I knew Arturo was talking to him about the crime scene and the way he felt.
That was always his problem. Arturo liked to talk too much.
You'll be the last victim, and Tommy will be dead.
His crime spree will end with that, but who knows?
Maybe in a couple of years, another killer will pop up, and everyone might question whether they got the right person the first time around.
Don't worry, I'll be there to help guide the investigation. "
"Please, let me go and I’ll go straight home," Alison begged, putting on her best act. "I promise that I won't bother you again. You have my word."
"I don't believe a word you say," Dale said. "I’m sorry, but you’re not going anywhere. I really wish I could save you, Dr. Payne, but you’re not going anywhere. You need to learn to keep your big nose out of other people’s business.
You could have gone home after we had Marcus, but you had to stick around.
You had to believe you were better than everyone else because you knew he wasn’t the killer. "
"I was right, wasn’t I? I had it figured out when no one else did."
Dale chuckled. "You're forgetting that I also had it all figured out.
I thought it might fool you, but I guess I was wrong.
That's why I wanted to test the waters with Tommy here.
Have you been in the room and seen if my scapegoat would be enough, and you proved that he was.
You really do think you're so clever, but you've only known what I've allowed you to see.
Now, shall we let Tommy watch as I gut you like a fish before putting a bullet through his head? "
Alison was scared. If he pounced on her, she might not have any time to get away, but she wasn’t ready to stop there. She wanted it all to come out, and she was certain there was more.
"The original plan was to have him locked up for the crimes and then have him killed in jail, wasn’t it?" Alison asked.
The smile dropped, and his anger came dripping out for a moment before he regained himself. "I’m nothing if not adaptable."
"I have to admit it was a perfect plan. No one would believe Tommy was innocent, no matter what he claimed, and with you pulling the strings from the shadows, you would make sure he went down for all of this.
And now, you can just kill him and get everything you want, but far quicker and with less risk to you. "
"Maybe I haven’t given you enough credit," Dale admitted. "I’ll admit that you have some intelligence, but it’s far too late."
"It’s weird that he went off grid two weeks ago, only to show up in a diner.
That doesn’t make sense if he’s the killer, but we know he’s not.
It does make sense if he’s doing something else that he doesn’t want to speak about, especially in front of the police.
It took me a while, but you had him go off-grid, didn't you? What was it? An anonymous call telling him you knew the truth about his brother and that you would share, but you were putting yourself at risk, and he might be at risk, too? That he should lie low and stay away from cops in the city. Is that what happened? Did you promise to give him the truth? That’s ironic, seeing as you do know the truth.
You were the one who threatened Arturo’s mother, weren’t you? "
Dale had a tight smile plastered on his face. He didn't like that she knew so much about what he had done. He took another long breath through his nose, trying to stay in control.
"Very good. I’ll admit that I didn't think you would get to that. Yeah, I called him, knowing that he would do anything to find out the truth about his brother. I knew he wouldn’t cause any trouble when we brought him in for murder, because he just needed to hear the truth, and he would know it was retaliation against him.
He would know to keep his mouth shut in case the wrong person heard him talking about his brother and took matters into their own hands.
We were face-to-face in the interview room, and he didn't know I was the person on the other end of the phone.
He didn't know I was his puppet master all this time. "
"So, you do something back then, and Arturo finds out, and then what? He threatens to turn you in, so you orchestrate his death at the drug bust?" Alison asked.
"There are so many bullets flying at those things that who knows who shot who. I wasn’t there, so I can't tell you, but someone must have shot Arturo."
"He was worried he was in trouble," Alison said. "He told his mother. I think he told Tommy, too. But he didn't mention you by name. I don't think he truly believed you would hurt him."
"It was for the best that she dropped the case, or I would have had to hurt her. Thankfully, she saw reason pretty quickly. I even counseled her a little in person, always manipulating. It can be so easy when you know people."
"It has to be planting evidence; that’s the only way it all fits together into a neat parcel."
"Go on," Dale said, giddy that he got to share his story before he killed them both.
"You planted the evidence at Tommy’s apartment.
Your whole thing is about seeking justice.
You have killed people to achieve that, but you believed they deserved it.
You believed that criminals back then deserved punishment, too, so you planted evidence on the criminals you knew for a fact were committing crimes so they could be arrested.
Arturo found out, and he wanted to report you, rightly.
It was all for the greater good, though, right? You did it all to save people."
"Wow," Dale said. He clapped his hands, the gun swinging back and forth.
"I really underestimated you. A bullseye on everything. It’s a shame that you figured that out now, but they do say that people have a moment of clarity right before they die.
I was prepared to let you go, but I felt inspired. "
Alison laughed. She was still wary of his gun, but she was ready to pull hers and fire it just like her father had taught her.
"What’s so funny?" Dale asked.
"No, it's just that you see yourself as some great mastermind who has everything figured out, but this wasn't your idea at all, was it?
You only came up with this idea because it's what I wanted you to come up with.
You're only here because I made you come here.
This is exactly what I wanted. Have you heard enough? "
On the signal, the door burst open with a bang