Katie knew McGaven had heard the shots and would be covering the exits. She kept moving forward, not letting her guard down.
Rounding a corner and double-checking the area, she saw the body of Tom Grand lying on his back. She could tell he was breathing; his hands covered his stomach.
“Grand,” said Katie as she kneeled down. “Keep pressure on it. Help is on its way.”
Katie saw the wounds and could tell they were hits to major organ areas. Blood seeped quickly between Grand’s fingers. He looked at her with pleading eyes.
“Please…” he said, barely audible.
“Who is behind this?” Katie kept cautiously scanning around them.
Grand kept shaking his head. “He will not be caught… He can’t… You can’t stop him…” he wheezed. “Please…” He grabbed hold of Katie’s hand. “You can’t win… I’m free now. We all want to be free… every… time… I close… my eyes… I still hear the screams… and then it was my turn…” His air escaped his lungs with a low wheeze.
“Who’s he? Is it Junior?”
Grand began gasping. Blood pooled around them.
“Is Junior responsible for the death of his dad and Sydney? Why?”
“For all of it…” was the last thing Grand said before he took his final breath.
“Grand. Tom?” she said.
Tom Grand was dead.
“Hey,” said McGaven, out of breath, running to his partner.
“Where’s Junior?”
“In the wind.” He looked down at Grand’s dead body.
“No, no, no,” Katie kept saying. They’d lost their most important lead. Junior knew they were on to him and he would be going back to wherever he had been hiding—or leaving the area altogether. Katie’s strength seemed to instantly leave her body as her exhaustion and lack of sleep took over. “He got away in his car?” she said.
“No, he literally disappeared in the wind. I chased him, but then he vanished. I was afraid he was going to circle back and come after you to finish the job.” He caught his breath. “C’mon.” He helped Katie to her feet.
“He’s not coming back now. But he’s going to get rid of the loose ends.”
“Yeah, we’ll just see about that.”
Katie looked at the ground and saw two spent shell casings. “Look. Maybe they’ll match the bullet from Griffin Sr.?”
“That would connect another piece.”
She nodded. There was hope they were getting to the truth.
McGaven drove Katie back to the farmhouse after their backup arrived and they could leave the scene. Both detectives wereextremely exhausted. It was almost four in the morning and Katie felt as if she had been up for several days.
“Gav,” she said weakly. “Crash on my couch and get some sleep. I don’t want you driving home this tired. I know how you feel and I wouldn’t want to drive.”
“No, I’ll be okay.”
Katie opened the passenger door and jumped out. Her legs were rubbery and she didn’t think she could make it to her bed. “C’mon. Leave Denise a text message so she knows you’re safe.”
McGaven relented and followed Katie inside.
“Cisco is going to love you sleeping on the couch,” she said.
“Can’t wait,” he managed to say.
