23 12 Lies by James Patterson

Author:James Patterson [Patterson, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2023-09-13T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 29

AN HOUR LATER, I’m standing out in front of my parents’ house, holding an ice pack to my scalp, where one of the two-by-fours thumped me harder than I had realized in the moment, and directing law enforcement traffic. Local cops as well as Texas Rangers need to be told where to go and what to do. The night is pitch black, but the ranch is awash with flashing lights from police cars and ambulances. It breaks my heart to see my parents’ property roped off with crime-scene tape.

Before anyone got here, I managed to untie my parents, give them each a hug, then use the same ropes to tie up the two intruders. I ran up to my house to make sure Willow was okay. She was shaken up but not injured. Lucky for all of us that she came by to return Mom’s cookbook. The night probably would have turned out a lot differently if she hadn’t.

Since the police arrived, Willow and Megan and my parents have all taken turns giving statements. Now they’re outside, leaning against the split rail fence next to Mom’s garden. I can see Megan and Willow both doing their best to comfort my parents, talking to them, placing consoling hands on their backs, offering hugs when my mom is about to burst into tears again. Whatever awkwardness there might have been when Willow burst into my house to find Megan seems to be gone.

The two women make a good team.

As for the intruders, they are being tended to by paramedics under the watchful eye of police. One’s got a dislocated jaw, the other a broken nose, but considering what they did to my parents, they got off easy. I overheard one of the local cops say to them, “Y’all are lucky to be alive. Not many people draw a gun on Rory Yates and live to tell about it.”

Both intruders have been cooperative, but not very helpful. They don’t know who hired them. They were contacted by an anonymous phone number. A cash deposit was left for them behind a tree in Cameron Park in Waco. One of the guys is from Odessa, the other from Abilene. In time, we might find some connection between them and Parker, but it will take some digging. And for that to happen, it’s going to take more than just Carlos and me doing this on our own.

I’ll need to come clean with my lieutenant.

Ty Abrams is on the scene, chatting with a local detective, DeAndre Purvis. I approach them and say, “Lieutenant, you got a sec?”

DeAndre, a man I used to butt heads with but have since come to think of as a friend, recognizes his cue and takes a walk. Lieutenant Abrams studies me with a discerning stare. He’s a big guy with a thick gray mustache and a head as bald as a cue ball.

“You ought to let one of these paramedics check you out,” he says to me.

“I’m okay,” I say. “Some bruises.

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