Page 108 of Line of Sight
9:40 a.m.
DAN KNEWexactly where to go. He remembered the headstone Gary’s parents had placed near the picnic table where Brad’s body was found.
The headstone he saw when he first came to Boston to work on a case.
Events had come full circle.
He headed for the picnic tables under the trees. There wasn’t much snow on the path, and only a little caught in the dark branches above his head. The gun Riley had given him was tucked into the back of his pants, under his coat. They’d argued about that, but Riley had been adamant.
Dan prayed he didn’t have to use it.
Without making it obvious, he tapped the Phone app on his watch, then tapped his AirPod. “There’s no one around,” he said in a low voice. He spotted the headstone and walked toward it, scanning the landscape around him for any sign he was being observed. As he drew closer, he spied something white on the picnic table where the stone stood. A typed sheet lay there in a clear plastic wallet.
He peered at it and read aloud, “To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.” He frowned. “Does that mean anything to you?”
“Hang on…,” Riley said in his ear. There was a pause. “Okay, it’s a line from a poem called ‘Hallowed Ground,’ by Thomas Campbell.”
“And?”
“That’s all I’ve got.”
Dan let out a low “Fuck.”
“Wait a sec. Lemme see if there’s anything nearby that could be classed as hallowed ground.” Another pause. “Okay, Forest Park… there’s the John F Kennedy Eternal Flame Memorial, the Trinity United Methodist Church in the northeast corner of the park, but it’s kinda outside it…. The Barney Mausoleum—”
Dan’s heartbeat quickened. “A mausoleum? Actuallyinthe park?”
“Yeah. Hang on…. Dan, that’s it!” His voice rose in obvious excitement.
“How do you know?”
“Because I’m looking at photos of the thing, and that quote is on one side of it.”
Dan picked up the sheet and pretended to study it. “Tell me which direction,” he said quietly.
“You’re at the picnic tables by the river? Head east toward Laurel Hill Road. It runs through the park. The mausoleum is right at the edge of the park, overlooking the river. I’ll find you. And I won’t be alone.”
Dan set off walking briskly, but it wasn’t long before he broke into a run, his feet thudding on the hard surface of the road. In the distance he saw a tall structure with two sweeping stone staircases rising to a canopied top. At its summit a sphinx sat where the staircases merged into one, and black railings encircled the edifice.
Dan wanted to tell Riley he’d found it, but he didn’t dare in case King was within hearing distance. A wrought iron gate was set into the railings, standing open.
Dan stepped through the opening and climbed the steps to the top, only to find an identical sphinx and another set of staircases behind the first. He descended those, then walked around to the side. The quote from the poem was set into stone above five slim archways, each containing scrolled ironwork panels. These were clearly in the middle of being maintained: Three were newly coated in fresh paint.
The archway nearest him was open, however, the ironwork missing.
His heart thudding, Dan went forward and peered under the arch into the dark interior. When he caught sight of a figure lying in the corner, he stifled a cry.
It was Gary.
Dan hurried over and knelt beside him. Gary appeared to be unconscious. Dan patted his face.
“Gary, can you hear me? Gary!”
Too late he realized he wasn’t alone. A second later, something sharp pierced his neck and a gloved hand clamped over his mouth.
“You won’t be out for long, Mr. Porter.”
He tried to struggle, to cry out, but with each passing second, he felt himself slipping deeper and deeper into oblivion.
