Wade accepted the apology, which sounded sincere.They’d survived a hostage situation.No one except Charlie had been seriously injured.Nava had taken the shot when it counted.That action spoke volumes, as did Nava’s initial attempt to enter the bar himself.It wasn’t easy to make life or death decisions in the blink of an eye.
Nava changed the subject.“We need to talk about your trip to Last Chance today.”
“Okay.”
“Did you speak with your father about Cameron Pickett?”
Wade’s brows rose at the question.“I did.”
“What did he say?”
“Not much.”
“I knew Cameron,” Nava admitted.“I knew you were his son the first time I saw you.I also knew where he was buried.”
“How?”
“Because I buried him.”
Wade was baffled by the confession.“Why?”
Nava’s mouth tightened into a grim line.“There’s a history behind it that doesn’t really matter.The important part is that I didn’t like Cameron, and I had a crush on your mother.I was cruising around on my motorcycle one day, pissed off and looking for trouble, when I spotted Wynona on Riverbend Lane.She came out of the woods crying, face all swollen.Then she drove away in Cameron’s car.”
“She didn’t notice you?”
“No.I figured he’d put his hands her, so I grabbed the tire lever out of my toolkit and went in search of him.I was going to straighten him out.When I found him, he was dead.I sat there for hours, staring at his body.Then I dragged him to a more secluded spot, dug a grave with the scoop end of the lever, and buried him.”
“How old were you?”
“Seventeen.It took all night.”
Wade shook his head in wonder.
“I didn’t see your mother again for almost twenty years.She married Boyd Hendricks, and you came along.I decided to let sleeping dogs lie.”
“She married him because he promised to get rid of the body.”
Nava squinted at him.“Are you serious?”
“Yes.She still thinks he did it.”
He seemed floored by this revelation.“She married him for doing what I’d already done, and he never told her?”
“He never told her.”
“Son of a bitch,” he swore.
“What are we going to do about it?”
“Nothing,” Nava said.“We aren’t going to identify him.We’ll disregard the evidence, set the file aside, and move on.”
Wade inclined his head, because the solution suited him fine.He’d become a realist in his tenure in law enforcement.Justice wasn’t always straightforward, or even aboveboard.Cameron Pickett didn’t deserve to rest in peace.His mother didn’t deserve to be prosecuted.It was a fair outcome, all things considered.
“Should I meet you at the station?”Wade asked.
“No,” Nava said.“The report can wait.Go home and celebrate being alive with that pretty girlfriend of yours.”
Wade exited the vehicle, eager to follow this advice.
