(After 'The Next in the Last')
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John Hepburn waited patiently for whoever wanted to talk to him. He'd been arrested for murder and his lawyer was trying to work out a plea deal. He was hoping Tom came through for him. He didn't want to die and he was willing to turn state's evidence against Adam Peterson and whoever else they wanted him to so he could get life in prison.
Agent Booth entered the room with the prosecutor Ms. Julian and sat down across the table from him. While he waited for them to say something, Booth silently opened a folder to reveal a picture. Turning it to face him, John suddenly became sick. "What . . . How . . . When did this happen? Who did this?"
"So, you know this man." Booth studied Hepburn and saw a man trying to fight back tears. "His body was found at Great Falls, Virginia . . . across the river from where you killed Corbet Frye."
As tears escaped his eyes, Hepburn folded his hands on the table in front of him and leaned his forehead on them. He knew it had been mistake to get Woodrow to help him get rid of Frye, but he'd needed help and there was no one else he could ask. After a few moments, he sat up, wiped his hand across his eyes and sniffed. "Woodrow was my foster brother. His parents died in a house fire. They threw him out of the second story window and a neighbor caught him. His parents were afraid to jump and they tried to escape down the stairs. They didn't make it . . . Woodrow was nine when he came to live with us. I was ten. I always treated him like my brother . . . he was my brother."
"Do you have any idea who might have wanted him dead?" Booth could see that Hepburn was upset and he wasn't trying to hide anything so far.
"Woodrow has . . . had diabetes. Bad diabetes. He needed insulin." His voice was shaky, but he was trying to answer the questions clearly. "He couldn't afford it since the price had sky rocketed in the last few years. It's insane how expensive it is and a guy like Woody didn't have a hope to be able to pay for all of it. Not with the bills he had and the child support . . . You see, he needed it every day, twice a day . . . I was helping him out. I didn't expect him to pay me back. He's . . . He was my brother. I loved him." He saw the agent getting restless and got to the point of his story. "Adam Peterson wanted to send a message to Elton Winters and he needed me to do it. Elton was working on something that connected King's Company with Glen Durant and the murder of Gale Storm. Wayne Kitchen was in prison and everyone knew that he wasn't going to talk about what he had done and who he was working for. That was over. I worked for Kitchen and I knew some of the stuff he'd been involved in, so I was surprised when no one came after me. I thought I'd been lucky and I wasn't a suspect "
Feeling guilty for the bad decisions he had made in his life he could now see that his actions had led to the death of this foster brother and he'd never see Woody again. Not in this lifetime. "I realized that Elton was onto Durant and I told Glen and he kind of freaked out. The man prided himself on his calmness and he had a greater than thou attitude that made me want to punch him, but the man could have me killed with a snap of his fingers. He didn't want to kill Elton because that would have led to an active investigation and Homeland Security would have found out what he was working on. Instead Durant ordered me to kill Corbet and let Elton know he'd be next if he didn't stop his investigation." He paused and cleared his throat. "I asked Woody to help me kill Corbet. I didn't make him do it. I didn't say I wouldn't pay for his insulin. Instead I told him I might end up being connected to Wayne Kitchen. Everyone knows who Wayne Kitchen is . . . Woody was so mad at me. He cussed me out for being a fool, but that was water under the bridge. Either I did what Glen wanted or he would find someone else to kill Corbet and he'd have me killed too. Glen was a dangerous man . . . Woody thought about it and even though it made him sick he agreed to help me. He said he'd just be my muscle. He wasn't going to lay a finger on Corbet. He warned me that if I couldn't kill Corbet then it wouldn't be done . . . Poor Woody. When we were at the Falls, Corbet saw what was happening and he tried to fight back, but he was old and there was no way he was going to win. I hit him and knocked him down hard and I thought he was dead. I really did. He wasn't moving . . . I asked Woody to help me throw him off the ledge. I wanted the body found but not right away. While I was climbing down the rocks to take pictures of the body to prove to Glen the job was done, Corbet started screaming. God he was in so much pain. I screwed up. I didn't mean to hurt him like that. I should have shot him, but I didn't. I climbed down and I hit him in the throat and he died. I just screwed that up so badly . . . Woody cried the whole way home. He wanted to go to the police, but I told him he didn't do anything, I was the sorry bastard that killed Corbet not him. He wouldn't talk to me after that. I sent him money for his insulin and he sent it back. I think he quit paying child support to pay for his insulin. The Thompsons called me and told me that if Woody didn't start paying again, he'd never see his daughter again . . . I sent the child support money to them to get them off of his back. They knew I would. I told the Thompsons they couldn't tell Woody and as far as I know they didn't . . . Woody didn't do anything wrong. He was just there when I killed Corbet. Woody was a good guy and now he's dead and it's my fault."
Booth was patient and so was Caroline, Hepburn was telling them everything and he didn't appear to be leaving anything out.
"At first Elton wasn't going to give in, but I told him that his family wasn't safe either. The man has twin girls and he and his wife adore them. I showed him pictures of Corbet's body and Elton got it." Hepburn shuddered. "Elton dropped the investigation. What else could he do? Glen wanted it done and he'd risk killing Elton's kids to get his way."
"Why was Woodrow killed? Do you now who did it or why?" Booth found this whole thing to be disgusting. He wanted to make Glen Durant pay for what he had done to people, but Durant was dead and no one was going to get the revenge they wanted.
He thought about it for a moment. "Adam Peterson took over King's Company when William King died. Adam was Durant's go between. I'm in jail and I think Adam is worried I might rat him out. I heard he's out on a million dollar bond . . . He's made the mistake of a lifetime. He killed Woody to shut me up and now I'm going to kill him. I'll testify against him. His fingers were in the pie all along. He worked for William King and he was the one that ordered the hits . . . Gale Storm, Congressman Abbot . . . Yeah, of course he was ordered to be murdered." Hepburn had seen the surprised look on Ms. Julian's face, but he noticed that Booth wasn't surprised at all. "Corbet Frye was just the last hit that I knew about since I was the one that did it . . . I should have taken care of Corbet by myself. Now Woody is dead and his blood is on my hands . . . I'm so sorry."
Disgusted, Caroline tried to keep her face neutral while she pushed a notepad and a pen across the table. "Write it all down, Mr. Hepburn. Everything that you can think of. Everyone that was involved with Durant and King's Company. You may be the final chapter of a very sad story. Don't leave anyone out."
"That's not going to happen. I'm sure you recorded this interview. Let me write this up and then you guys type it up and let me sign it. Witness it. Bring in some people you trust. I have a feeling that I might not make it to any trial. Adam Peterson will probably find a way to get me killed and I accept that. Woody was all the family I had left. I won't be missed by my ex that's for sure. I treated her pretty badly. I worked instead of paying attention to her. She wanted a baby and I couldn't be bothered. I'm sorry for that too. Anyway, what's done is done. I helped make this mess and I'm going to finish it. Durant is dead and so is William King. Wayne Kitchen is in prison and that means that Adam Peterson is the last really big fish in this tale. I'm going to help you take him down because he's just as bad as Durant was. He and Durant and King wanted to steal this country from the people and turn it into something else. They failed, thank God." He bowed his head for a moment then looked at Caroline. "I need to make out a will before I leave here today and I need it witnessed. I have a life insurance policy and money saved in the bank. My house is paid for . . . I want to give half of my estate to Woody's daughter and half to my ex. I don't want the state of Virginia to take it because I don't have a will."
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As far as Booth was concerned, it was over. The biggest case in his life was finally over. For a while, he had worried that some of Durant's people would escape justice, but there had been nothing he could do about that. The Director of the FBI had been certain that everyone had been arrested that had been connected to Durant, but Booth thought it was possible that some people had slipped between the cracks. Peterson had made a huge mistake and had killed a man loved by his brother. If Peterson had left Woodrow Bridges alone then he might have been able to mount some kind of defense at his upcoming trial. Now that Hepburn was talking, Peterson's bail had been revoked ant he was safely in prison where Booth hoped he remained until he died. He was certain that Hepburn had tied up all of the loose ends in the Durant case and there was nothing else to learn.
Sitting in his living room, Booth held his daughter on his lap and read her a story from a book she loved, 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'. He knew that his daughter was too young to understand everything going on in the story, but that didn't matter. The book had colorful pictures of the characters and Christine loved him to read from the book when he had time. While he read, Brennan entered the room and sat down on the chair near the fireplace.
She admired the way her husband read to their child. He used different voices for each character and tried to convey emotions while he read. Christine watched her father with a look of adoration and Brennan knew that she loved her life. She had a man that she loved in her life and she knew that he loved her. Many times, he had told her that he would die for her, but she never wanted that to happen. She wanted Booth to live a long and healthy life with her. She was going to have her second child soon and a new chapter was about to begin for them. Brennan was excited about the possibilities and knew that she had never been as happy as she was at that moment.
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