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“When we get out, I want to sit down,” she said.
“Absolutely,” Derik answered. When she looked over tohim, she saw a new bandage on his head, and she wondered how he was feeling.Maybe coming back down into the mines after what had happened to him earlier inthe day wasn’t the best idea. But she respected the hell out of him for doingit.
She found that the barricade had been destroyed enough forher to pretty much walk straight out. When she stepped out into the night, thefirst thing she saw was a small group of police officers a few feet away fromthe mine entrance. Two of them held flashlights and one of them came rushingover to the officers ahead of Morgan and Derik.
She saw Samson between them, his hands cuffed behind hisback. He was walking with a hunch, but remained quiet. Morgan started afterhim, somehow feeling that whatever was going on between them wasn’t over. Shestill needed answers, and he still needed to understand that whatever he’d hadplanned for her had ultimately failed.
“Nope,” Derik said. “You sit.”
She didn’t need much more urging. She took one more stepand then took a seat in the tall grass along the outer rim of the mine. Shelooked down at her arms and saw that they’d been bandaged in a makeshift way.Was that a shirt on her right arm, torn into ribbons and wrapped around it? Shethought so. And when she finally took a good look at Derik and saw that he onlyhad a T-shirt on, that was all the answer she needed.
“Thank you,” she said.
“Yeah. I mean, did I have a choice?” Derik asked, sittingbeside her.
“Does Mueller know you’re here?”
“He does now. I called him when I realized where you were.”
“How did you know where I was, anyway?”
“The truth? There’s a small tracer tucked behind yourbadge in your badge holder. There was also one on your phone but…well, you sortof destroyed that.”
“Mueller’s been tracking me the entire time?”
“It was Mueller’s idea. But I’ve been the one in chargeof making sure I know where you go.”
She knew she should be slightly upset about this, but itdidn’t seem important in that moment. There were so many other things that tookpriority over Mueller feeling the need to keep tabs on her. And really…shecouldn’t blame him.
“Samson…I think I shot him…is he going to live?”
“You got him high in the shoulder. I think you shatteredhis collarbone. He says that entire area is numb. Other than that…he’s okay.But really…is that what you’re worried about? That the maniac is still alive?”
“Maybe,” Morgan said. A bird chirped nearby, and shefound herself turning her head to look at it. “What happens now?”
“We take him in.”
“And then what? I’m really afraid there’s….there’s moreto the story. I think there might have been another man involved.”
“What? Why?”
“Because Samson told me. And he had a point. It goes backto the fourth victim…when I was framed. It’s…”
“We can talk about that later.”
“I had the chance to kill him,” Morgan said, the wordscoming unexpectedly. “I could have done it. And now I wonder…did I make theright call?”
“Professionally, yes. I’d say so.”
She was silent for a moment, trying to put her feelingsinto words. But it all came crashing down on her at once. She rested her headagainst Derik’s shoulder and started to cry.
“Hey, hey,” he said, putting his arm around her. “It’sokay! Everything is going to be fine. Just take a breath.”
“No, it’s not. Will it?”
“What do you mean?”
“The anger I felt down there…it was scary. When it wasjust the two of us in the dark…I think I felt his humanity. I know that soundsweird, but…Derik, I really don’t think he had a hand in framing me.”
