Broken City

Chapter Twenty Seven

“Calm down, Mari, why—”

“Orin, it’s him!” Mari is almost hysterical. “It’s him—he killed Dax, and Roland and Rothe—all of them!”

“Mari get a hold on yourself, you don’t know what you’re saying,” reprimands Orin.

“You don’t understand,” Mari try’s to quell the shuddering breaths that rack her small frame. “Dax sent, Dec, to live with Tom. He was afraid that if he didn’t Dec would die—he was so fragile and vulnerable, Dax said keeping him was like signing he death warrant ourselves. He said the only way of keeping him safe was to send him away with Tom, but we couldn’t tell anyone for fear that we would tell the very person who wanted to kill him!”

As Mari finishes, her breathless sobbing is the only sound that can be heard in the silent room.

“You knew—all the time you knew and you never told us,” Val’s voice is soft.

“How could I—I hardly believed it was true at first, after Roland died and Dax, insisted that it wasn’t an accident, I didn’t believe him, I thought that it was the grief. But then Rehu died and Dax, got scared and sent Dec away,” Mari’s voice wobbles and tears course down her face. “And then Dax…how could I not believe then, and how could I trust any of you when I found it impossible to mistrust one of you?”

“You called me Mr. Orin?” Lester has re entered the room.

“I called you,” it is Adin that answers. “Take a patrol and have Jim Brook brought here at once.”

Lester leaves the room looking slightly bemused and the brothers assembled all turn to Adin.

“That recording could easily have been altered—to say that the moon was cheese if that was what Jimmy wanted it to say,” Adin spreads out his hands. “I need a heck of a lot more than that to give my own brother a death sentence!”

“Ryder destroyed the recordings,” points out Jeshua.

“He had too, they showed that Deeta and Jan—and Tom—were from the tribe that had, Dec,” explains Mari. “Ryder couldn’t have the killer knowing that, Dec, had been with, Tom, the whole time, and twisting the facts to incriminate him.”

“But, Jimmy, did see, and do just that,” Val mutters, sinking his head into his hands.

“And we believed him!” Jayden groans.

“Jimmy, seemed pretty sure that, Tom, wouldn’t kill Adin,” Val remarks slowly. “If Tom, and Ryder, were trying to kill us one by one, Adin would be dead.”

“So would, Dec,” Mari’s voice is husky.

There is a small disturbance at the door and Lester walks in.

“Excuse me sir, but we can’t seem to find, Jimmy,” his tone is apologetic.

“What do you mean?”

“The records show that he left the compound, fifteen minutes ago, sir.”

“He knew we were on to him!” Val’s fist crashes on to the table in exasperation.

“No, wait—how could he?” asks Cayden, “Tom and Rye didn’t exactly protest innocence, in fact quite the reverse.”

“If, Jimmy didn’t expect us to twig what was happening, why leave? He could have done a lot more harm if he had stayed,” Blake reasons.

“And where is he going anyway?” asks Jeshua.

“I don’t know, but I’d bet a packet that something’s going to happen—something not good,” answers Adin.