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He lifts his rheumy eyes to me, a sad little smile on his lips.

“An old man’s pride. I couldn’t bear the thought of disappointing everyone I care about, my brother…you. I deluded myself into thinking I could do some damage control, but in the end I’m just another old fool whose pride would be his downfall.”

Before I can even react, he raises the gun.

Rick

* * *

“She’s not answering her phone,” I tell Mancuso.

I was hoping I could give Dana a heads-up before we go out to pick up Edward Wilson for questioning.

The agent grabs his coat from the back of the chair and shrugs it on. I’m already wearing mine, ready to go.

“Who is covering Wilson? We can take our time if the man is simply chilling at home.”

“I don’t know, let me go check.”

I head over to Hugo’s office—he’s the one responsible for scheduling the deputies—and knock on his doorpost.

When he looks up, he waves me inside. Mancuso is right behind me.

“Who do you have on surveillance of Wilson?”

Hugo checks the schedule on his computer screen. “Sal should be out there. Why?”

“We’re pretty sure Wilson is in this up to his eyeballs.”

The disbelief on his face is instant as his eyes dart between me and the agent. “Doc? Are you kidding me? He’s the last one I would’ve suspected.”

“Tell me about it,” Mancuso agrees.

I’m already pulling out my phone to see if I have Sal’s number. I’d rather keep this off the radio until we’re sure it’s Wilson. The news is going to hit hard for a lot of people in this town, I would imagine, and I wouldn’t want this to spread before we know with absolute certainty.

I locate the deputy’s number and dial.

“It’s Althof. Where are you?”

“Outside the hospital, why?” Sal responds.

Immediately I’m on full alert, something that does not go unnoticed by Hugo or Mancuso.

“Do you have eyes on your subject?”

“Negative, but I saw him go into the clinic.”

Shit.

“He’s in the clinic,” I repeat for the other two, as I duck out of the office and start heading for the front door.

“Tell him to go inside, and see if he can get eyes on him in the clinic without being seen,” Mancuso calls out behind me. “He’s not to do any more until we get there. We want to avoid getting into a hostage situation we can’t control.”

“Did you hear that?” I ask Sal.

“Sure did. I’m heading in now.”

“Low profile,” I remind him.