Page 54 of The Smart Killer
Inside, the church was dimly lit, the soft glow of candles flickering against the stone walls. Rows of pews stretched towards the pulpit, where a solitary figure knelt on the first of three steps, his back to the entrance. Alejandro turned ever so slightly at the sound of their footsteps approaching.
“Don’t come any closer.”
“Alejandro,” Noah said, his voice firm.
“I know why you’re here,” he replied.
“The letters,” Noah continued, his eyes narrowing. “Help me understand. Why send them if you intended to harm those families?”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“Help me then,” Noah replied.
Alejandro stood, his hands trembling as he revealed a gun in his grasp. He tapped it against his leg, his eyes filled with desperation. “Don’t come any closer.”
Angus pulled his service weapon, instincts kicking in.
Both Noah and McKenzie froze, their eyes locked on Alejandro. Behind him, Porter cautiously entered through a side door, his gun ready. Noah motioned for Porter to lower his weapon, attempting to regain control of the situation. There were still so many unanswered questions.
“All we want is to talk to you,” Noah said, his voice soothing, trying to defuse the tension between them.
“That’s what they said last time. No, you want to send me back. I won’t go back. I told you that,” Alejandro said.
Porter inched closer.
“Porter, stand down!” Noah commanded, his eyes never leaving Alejandro. “Listen, Alejandro. I want to believe you. I do. I want to hear your reasoning, but that starts by putting the gun down.”
Alejandro shook his head, continuing to tap the gun against his leg. “They didn’t deserve to die. I couldn’t go to the cops. They wouldn’t have believed me. I wanted to warn them before he got to them,” Alejandro said, his voice cracking with emotion. A tear streaked his cheek.
Noah frowned. “Before who got to them?” He took a few more steps forward. “Alejandro, give me a name. Who did it?” Noah urged, his hand still outstretched in a gesture of understanding.
“Oh, stop the bullshit. We know you did it,” Porter interjected, moving closer to Alejandro, his patience wearing thin. “You wanted to get back at them. Didn’t you?”
“Stand down!” Noah shouted, his voice echoing through the church.
Alejandro looked bewildered. “He said you would eventually come knocking. He said it would end this way. But I thought if I warned them…” He turned toward the stained-glass window depicting Christ. “Oh God...”
“Who said that?”
“I thought if I sent the letters…” Alejandro’s voice trailed off as he raised the gun to his head. “That I would be forgiven for my transgressions.”
“No. Wait. Alejandro.”
“Please tell my mom I’m sorry.” With that said, he turned the gun away from his head toward Porter. Porter did what any officer might when faced with a life-threatening situation.
He pulled the trigger.
“No!” Noah cried out, lunging toward Alejandro.
A deafening crack resonated through the church, echoing off the walls as Noah collided with Alejandro to stop him. The collision was hard and fast. Noah wrapped his arm around him. The two men hit the floor. A collision that took the breath out of Noah.
But it was too late. Alejandro lay still, his life extinguished in an instant.
In the hushed aftermath, Noah knelt by Alejandro’s lifeless body, his hands stained with regret. The stained-glass window loomed overhead; the image of Christ seemed to mourn the tragedy that had unfolded in his sanctuary. The weight of the unanswered questions hung heavy, leaving Noah and his team grappling with the realization that they may never fully understand the motive behind the letters and the family murders that had shaken the town to its core.
18
The Diaz home buzzed with activity as State Police and Adirondack Sheriff’s Office deputies moved in and out, meticulously searching for evidence to shed further light on Alejandro’s actions. Melissa Diaz sat on the porch rocker, her eyes swollen from crying, nursing a hot drink in her trembling hands. Her voice trembled as she spoke, her anguish palpable.
