Page 70

While Danny’s phone is on a charger in the nurses’ station, Jalbert is on Route 56, heading for Great Bend.

The Interstate would be shorter, but he’s less likely to run into the Highway Patrol on 56 and he’s running hot.

According to his GPS, the trip from Lawrence should take about three and a half hours if he kept to the speed limit, but with the highway almost completely deserted at this small hour, he’s doing 85.

It was almost twelve-thirty in the morning before he got rolling.

He expects to be there by 3 AM at the latest.

150 minutes, which is 1 to 17 when added sequentially.

With three left over, of course, but who is counting?

It’s vital that he should give Coughlin the justice he will otherwise escape; nothing must stand in his way.

It will be his ultimate sacrifice, to save all the girls and women Coughlin might otherwise encounter.

The burner he used to call Andersson is in the center console of his car.

He pre-programmed the number for the Great Bend Police Department before he left home for what will be the last time.

He makes the call at 2:15 AM, never taking his eyes off the cone of his headlights.

He doesn’t have the voice-altering device he used with Andersson, so when the night dispatcher answers—“Great Bend Police, how may I help?”—Jalbert just makes his voice a little higher.

He hopes he sounds like an adolescent, but it doesn’t really matter; they will respond.

On calls like this they must respond.

“There’s going to be an explosion at the high school.

A big one.

It’s going to happen around the time the kids start arriving.” And then, it just pops out: “Three.”

“Sir, where are you calling fr—”

“Three bombs,” he says, improvising on the fly.

“Three.

They want to take out the whole school.”

“Sir—”

Jalbert ends the call.

He throws the phone out the driver’s side window without slowing down.

They may find the phone and if they do, they’ll find his prints when they dust it, but it doesn’t matter.

He won’t be coming back from this, and that will be a relief.