Tyler’s eyes glistened with tears. “I’d seen a CSI episode where they check the drains for blood. I thought if I ran it multiple times and used bleach…”
“It’s harder than you think to get rid of that evidence.”
He finally looked up at Decker. “Look, I didn’t want to think that my dad…”
Decker’s tone softened. “I know.”
“I…I was hoping it was all in my head. That I was just thinking crazy stuff. I made myself believe that my mom was fine. That I’d see her soon. Right until the police showed up to tell us she was dead.”
“I understand, Tyler.”
“No, you don’t fucking understand anything. Now, thanks to you, I’ve lost my mom and my dad. I’ve got nobody. I’ve got nothing. I’m all alone,” he screamed.
Tyler threw his duffel at Decker and sprinted flat out to his car. He slid into his BMW, fired it up, and roared off.
Decker just stood there and watched him go before slowly walking back to his car.
Chapter 96
T?HEY HAD CHECKED OUT OF the hotel and were heading to the airport after saying their goodbyes the night before to Agent Andrews, who was doing well in rehab. He offered free golf lessons to Decker and White should they ever be back in his neck of the woods again.
“Is it relaxing?” White had asked.
Andrews had grinned. “Only if you play well. So, not really.”
On the drive to the airport White asked, “So, why was Langley trying so hard to work up an alibi for that night if he didn’t kill Cummins?” asked White.
Decker said, “Gloria Chase called me. She hired a detective to do some more digging because she was puzzled about that, too.”
“And?”
“And turns out Langley had another relationship going. He left from the liquor store to have a quickie with a married client while her husband was out of town.”
“What a scumbag.”
“I don’t think that term actually goes far enough.”
They dropped off the car and walked into the terminal.
And found Tyler Davidson inside waiting for them.
He looked like a pale shadow of his former self, but he walked resolutely up to them and said, “I found out you were leaving from Agent Andrews. I…I just thought I’d come out to see you.”
Decker said, “Okay, Tyler. How are you holding up?”
He shrugged. “My dad has a good lawyer. They might plead insanity or something like that. I don’t know what that will do. He’s going to go to prison, I know that.”
“I’m sorry,” said White. “I can’t imagine how hard this is for you.”
Tyler looked up at Decker. “I just wanted you to know that my dad isn’t really a bad person. When I was a kid my parents really got along. We had so much fun. We were a great family, we really were.”
“I’m sure, Tyler. But sometimes life is good and sometimes it’s bad, and sometimes it’s good and bad at the same time. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be real. And you can’t assume either one will last forever. So while things look really bad now, that won’t last, Tyler. I promise you.”
“I don’t know if I can believe that.”
Decker took this in and said, “I played ball against a guy in college. Best pure football player I’ve ever gone up against. He was a running back at the University of Texas, and every time we played them the guy killed us. He was a finalist for the Heisman his junior year, and he would have easily won it his senior year.”
“What happened? Did he go pro early? What’s his name? If he was that good, I probably heard of him. I follow stuff like that.”
“He never played a down of pro football.”
“Why? If he was that good.”
“He got framed for murder and spent twenty years in prison. Over half of that time was on death row.”
Tyler gaped. “Holy shit!”
“His innocence was finally established and he was released. He got a big payment from the government for what they did to him, and he’s now married and living a wonderful life in California.”
“He deserved it.”
“He never got to realize his dream of going pro, of being maybe one of the best of all time. But my point is, Tyler, no matter how bad it ever gets, it can also get better.”
“I…I guess if things turned out okay for him, they could turn out okay for me.”
“And, remember, you have a lot of money coming your way,” pointed out White.