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Lancaster shrugged. “What about life is guaranteed?”
“How’re things in Burlington?”
“Town’s hanging in there.”
“Unemployment’s down around the country.”
“Yeah, we have lots of ten-dollar-an-hour jobs. If you can live on twenty grand a year, even in Burlington, more power to you.”
“Where are Earl and Sandy?”
“School function. Earl handles those more than me. Work’s been a bitch lately. Bad times make for bad crimes. Lots of drug-related stuff.”
“Yeah, I’ve seen that. Why did Hawkins come to see you?”
“We worked that case together, Decker. It was our first homicide investigation.”
“When did he get out? And is he really terminal? He definitely looks it.”
“He wandered into the station two days ago. Shocked the hell out of me. At first I thought he’d escaped or something. I didn’t accept his story but straight away checked with the prison. He’s telling the truth about his cancer. And his release.”
“So they can just kick out terminally ill prisoners to die on their own?”
“Apparently some see it as a good cost-cutting tactic.”
“He told me he’s staying in town a couple more days. He’s at the Residence Inn.”
“Where you used to live.”
“He could use some fattening up with the buffet, but I doubt he has much appetite. He says he gets by on street drugs, basically.”
“Sad state of affairs.”
“He wants to meet with me again.”
She took another puff. “I’m sure.”
“He came to see me at thecemetery.”
Lancaster took one more luxurious drag on her smoke and then crushed it out in an ashtray set on a table next to her chair. She eyed the remnants with longing.
“I’m sorry about that. I didn’t tell him exactlywhyyou were in town when he came back to the station earlier today and asked, though I did tell him about your family. And I didn’t actually tell him to go to the cemetery.” She studied Decker, her pale eyes finally focusing on his. “I presume you’ve gone over the case in immaculate detail in your head?”
“I have. And I don’t see any issues with what we did. We went over the crime scene, collected evidence. That evidence pointed like a laser to Hawkins. He was arrested and put on trial. We testified. Hawkins’s lawyer put on a defense and cross-examined the crap out of us both. And the jury convicted him. He got life without parole when he could have gotten the death penalty. It all made sense to me.”
Lancaster sat back in her chair.
Decker ran his gaze over her. “You don’t look so good, Mary.”
“I haven’t looked good for at least ten years, Amos. You above all should know that.”
“But still.”
“You’ve lost a lot of weight since you left here, Amos.”
“Jamison’s doing, mostly. She’s got me working out and watching my diet. She cooks a lot of the meals. All salads and vegetables, andtofu. And she got her FBI badge and creds. Worked hard for them. Really proud of her.”
“So you two are living together, then?” said Lancaster with hiked eyebrows.
