Rough Men Read Online Free

way, Mrs. Daniels?”
    Alison nodded, and Will could see the truth sinking in on her face, now looking nearly jaundiced under the kitchen lighting.
    “Your son was found burned beyond recognition in the remains of an abandoned barn, next to a van that had also been burned. The van, and your son, are both considered to have been involved in the robbery and killings that took place at the LakeMichigan Credit Union branch a few miles from there. You’ve heard about that robbery?”
    Will mouthed assent, and Alison nodded.
Alex was involved in that bloodbath?
The robbery was all the news had been talking about for days, how three armed gunmen had broken that ancient rule of armed robbery, gunning down innocent people who’d been doing what they had been told. “Here’s what we know so far: At eleven forty-five a.m. on Tuesday, your son and two other men entered the credit union. One of the men, who I believe to be Alex, shot a loan officer who was attempting to trigger the silent alarm. Alex and one of the other suspects went into the vault—there’s video of them stealing a great deal of marked bills—and the third accomplice opened fire with a rifle inside the credit union lobby.
    “As you might’ve heard, four people have been pronounced dead, not counting Alex, with two more in critical condition. None of those people are likely to survive. One of them is a little girl who was shot in the back of the head. She was there with her parents, both of whom are dead now. Even if she does live, she’s going to be a vegetable.”
    Detective Van Endel looked at his hands, which he’d begun clenching and then unclenching as he spoke. Now he opened his fists one last time and laid his palms flat on the glass tabletop.
    “The three suspects then left the credit union and got in a van, believed to be the one found burned along with your son, and disappeared. Smoke led us to the fire, which was very far along by the time the firefighters could get to it. Even so, a fragment of your son’s driver’s license was discovered intact in what little was left of his wallet. We’re—”
    “So you’re not sure,” Will said. “That body could’ve been—”
    Van Endel lifted one palm from the tabletop to quiet him. “I’m sorry, sir. And, yes, we’ll need your help to obtain your son’s dental records. But I don’t want to provide you any false hope. We’re quite certain the body is your son’s. I apologize again forthe delay in relaying this information to you. For what it’s worth, I’ve only just come from the lab.”
    Will’s mind spun pointlessly for a while, and then he found himself saying, “Yes. He was always difficult. More than just difficult. But Alex...he would never kill another person. Not without good reason. I know my son. I...I knew him...”
    “I only know what I see, sir. I see it over and over, though. I would guess that your son went to jail thinking he was a bad dude and then came out friends with some truly bad dudes. And then maybe these dudes talked him into doing some things you just can’t imagine him doing. It’s a terrible thing, but it happens. As I said, I’ve seen it over and over. And then it’s likely that he either offended one of his partners or, who knows, questioned the killings. There could be a hundred different reasons for them to have turned on him.”
    Will tried to imagine Alex pushing back on the killers, facing up to them. It was a stretch. He couldn’t imagine his son killing anybody, but he couldn’t see him playing such a noble part, either. All the same, he appreciated Van Endel offering up the possibility.
    “So what now?” Alison asked. “What do we do now?”
    “Well, we’re going to have to wait for forensics to finish up with Alex before we can release the body to you. It might not be a bad idea to talk to your church, if you have one, and whatever your family prefers for funeral arrangements.”
    “What are the chances that the men who killed my son