When the Dead Speak

Chapter 78

Chapter 78

Cain pulled into the back parking lot of an all-night restaurant just a block from Preston's house. He never parked on Preston's premises, always walked around to the side of the estate and through the opening in the fence used by the landscapers.

He was puzzled that he hadn't heard on his police scanner about the car bomb. The thermostat on the Jeep should have reached the required temperature in fifteen minutes. But the delay might work to his advantage.

For a large man, he moved silently through the shadows. In the distance, he saw lights on in Preston's bedroom. Cain would pick up his money and go back to his motel room. As far as he knew, his job here in Chasen Heights was complete.

As Cain crossed the parking lot, he saw movement in the trees. He stopped to watch and listen. The movement stopped. Maybe it was Jasper walking the dogs, but he would have heard the dogs bark by now. About fifty yards south of the first movement, he saw a second one.

Slowly, he pulled out his .357 Magnum from his hip holster and moved deeper into the shadows. The full moon slid behind a large cloud. In the distance, he could hear the bubbling of the fountain in the flower garden.

Cain moved from one tree to the next, stopping to listen, his eyes darting from shadow to shadow. The moon made an appearance from behind a cloud. When a figure darted out of the light, Cain made his move.

"STOP WHERE YOU ARE! a voice yelled.

Cain was bathed in spotlight. He aimed and fired.

It took four shots to bring Cain down. Cowles and his men approached the fallen man carefully. Cowles felt for a pulse, looked at his men and said, "Good job."

Upstairs in his bedroom, Preston sat up in bed re-reading his speech for tomorrow morning. When he heard the gunshots, he snatched his reading glasses off and smiled broadly. He picked up the phone and made a call. But this call wasn't to Captain Murphy.

"I told you to keep her in line. Now it's too late." Preston hung up before he could hear a response. Then he unplugged the phone, laid his glasses and speech on the nightstand, reached up and turned off the lamp.