I call her.
“Killian?”
“Baby,” I say.
“What’s happening?”
“Don’t know yet, driving – but Willie’s coming, and I’ve got help meeting me at the house.”
“What kind of help?”
“The kind that will track him down. Do not worry about this. I will deal with it. Do you hear me?”
“I hear you, but I’m scared. And what are you doing if you catch him?”
“When I catch him,” I correct. “And trust me, I will.”
She laughs. But it doesn’t sound comical, it sounds painful. And it hurts me, too, because I know that a few weeks ago, I could’ve said “trust me” and she would’ve relaxed. But because of my mistakes, I’ve lost that.
And as for mistakes, I’ve made more of them today. I should not have said a word to Iadanza about his fate. I tipped my hand because I wanted to get in his head, but instead, I should have simply had him moved when the time came. If I had, he might not have made this desperate move tonight. He knew the clock was ticking and as much as Tony’s got responsibility for what happened tonight, so do I. Because I made Raymond afraid enough that he was willing to be bold when he heard those slide locks and that doorknob, feeling like he had nothing to lose.
“Will’s gonna be there in fifteen. He has a key, so he’ll come straight up and let himself in. He has the alarm codes. I told him where the gun is.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll call you in a bit.”
“Killian?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you,” she breathes, sounding winded.
Fuck. I needed this.
“I love you, baby. Very fucking much. Okay?”
“Be careful. Please, please be careful.”
“I will. I’ll be home as soon as I can.”
“Please come home soon,” she chokes.
“I will, Violet. Don’t stress. Promise, baby, I’ll be good. I promise you. Gotta go. I’ll call as soon as I have good news. Please try to trust me.”
“I trust you, Killian,” she whispers.
Fuck.
“Thank you, Violet,” I hope my inadequate words have enough feeling in them that she knows how much I appreciate the gift of her trust. “Love you so much. Call you soon.”
***
I’m relieved my brother is with my wife even though I doubt Iadanza is headed straight there. He’s probably planning to hunker down at least at first.
I get to Tillamook in record time, miraculously hitting no traffic or red lights and surprisingly not getting stopped for speeding in my Macan, as it’s a cop-magnet. Rarely do I drive it without finding them following me, just waiting for me to open it up.
After finding Tony still on the floor of Iadanza’s cell, without his gun or his keys, but thankfully breathing, groggy, bumbling, but breathing, I back the security footage up to when I left earlier today and play it back at maximum accelerated speed. After the door shut, Raymond fidgeted, looking tweaked. I was in his head, just like I wanted. Pacing the two paces his chain allowed to get him to and from his shit bucket, with the pill bottle in his hands. Looking at it. Pondering it. And then taking just one of the probably two dozen pills left in the bottle. Finally, he put whatever was left, likely a dozen of them, in the water bottle. He shook that bottle for a good hour in between examining it to see if the pills dissolved.
And like Violet described, as Tony came in, pretending he was asleep and then throwing his good leg out to trip him when Tony bent to grab the handle for the five-gallon pail with a couple days’ worth of piss and shit, Raymond used the few feet of chain he had to choke Tony out before letting him slide to the floor into the puddle of waste.
Whether he dissolved those pills with a plan to take them later or simply hoped someone would come that he could overtake, I don’t know, but he clearly took advantage of the opportunity when it came up and I still can’t fucking believe Tony was so oblivious.
He then unwound the chain and tried to force the dissolved pain meds down Tony’s throat, but at least some of it wound up on the floor with the shit and piss that got knocked over. And that was when he searched Tony and found the gun, fished through pockets until he had Tony’s wallet and keys and let himself out of his cuff before cuffing Tony, waving at the camera with a shit-eating grin meant for me, throwing the camera the finger, and fucking off.
I switched views and saw him limp out of the house on the camera and get to Tony’s car. But when he opened the door and the car interior light blinked on, I saw another person in the passenger seat. It was too far for me to get a good enough look to see who it was and I’m waiting for the doc to finish his preliminary exam on a now rousing Tony to find out who the fuck that was.