Jack coughed. "What?"
"Assume you hadn't decided that I was anti-Theo and we were now several months into a real relationship. Say I had a slip of the tongue and confidential information about a case popped out of my mouth. Would you be busting my chops like this?"
Jack considered it. "I don't know. That's very hypothetical."
"Very" she said.
"Hypothetical always make me nervous."
She leaned closer, elbows on the table. "No, Jack. It's reality that makes you nervous."
Their eyes met, and her gaze was so penetrating that she seemed to be searching inside him for his response. He had none.
"So, do we have a deal?" he said.
She rose slowly, confidently, his concession of the point having apparently granted her satisfaction – at least for the moment. "I'll think about it. And then maybe I'll give you a call."
She turned and exited through the minimart. Jack drank his wine and watched as he let reality walk away from him. Again.
Chapter 26
Theo needed to buy a guard.
It was a pretty safe bet that an insider had helped Isaac Reems escape. Somebody – namely, a guard – had looked the other way when Isaac climbed out of a second-story window and lowered himself to the yard with a rope made from bedsheets. Part of Theo's "protection" arrangement with Andie Henning and the FBI was to work undercover and find the insider. Theo would honor the deal, but finding a corrupt corrections officer wasn't his main objective. He was more interested in finding out who had killed his mother, who had put a bullet in Isaac's head, and – most important – who had taken a shot at him. He'd be that much closer to answering those questions if he could figure out who had bribed the guard to spring Isaac loose. To do that, he first needed to learn which guards were for sale.
"Your buddy Isaac didn't get too far, did he?"
Theo was alone in his cell when he heard the guard's voice. He turned and saw MacDonald standing in the open doorway. They called him Old MacDonald, because he was the youngest guard on the cell block. He'd been a high-school football star, and he still carried himself with the cockiness of a teenage jock. He was showing signs of going soft around the middle, but his arms and shoulders were enormous. Save for the slight limp from a career-ending knee injury, he looked like he could have gone on to play college ball. Instead, he was a prison guard.
"Say what, dude?" said Theo.
MacDonald stepped inside, serious attitude in his swagger. He stopped about a foot away from Theo, getting right in his face. "None of this 'Say-what-dude' disrespect. Its 'Excuse me, sir"'
Theo was expressionless. "Say what, dude?"
The stare-down lasted a moment longer, and then MacDonald backed away. He checked the stack of magazines on Theo's bunk, the photograph of Trina taped to the wall. "Who's this?"
In prison, personal information was power, and Theo knew better than to give it out freely. "My grandmother."
"Pretty hot granny."
"She takes vitamins."
"Quite the wiseguy, huh? Maybe I'll stick you in a cell with a real wiseguy. See how you like sucking Italian dick."
"There ain't no Mafia in here."
"How do you know, chump?"
Theo couldn't tell him that he knew more about his fellow inmates than the guards did. Only Andie and her boss at the FBI, the state attorney, the director of the Department of Corrections, and the TGK warden were privy to the special arrangement that had gotten him arrested on sham charges and landed him in Isaac's old bunk pending a trial that would never happen. To everyone else, he was just a regular inmate.
"'Cause I don't smell any garlic."
MacDonald smiled insincerely, then got his ugly face right up in Theo's. "Listen to me, boy. I know Reems was your old buddy. I know you're in here because you helped him after he got on the outside."
"Me and my lawyer say I didn't do it."
He threw a forearm to Theo's throat and pushed him back against the wall. "I don't care what you or your lawyer says. Nobody cares."
Theo wanted to clock him, but he couldn't do his job from solitary confinement.
MacDonald said, "Do you think I enjoy coming to work every day and babysitting scum like you? I had a good record here. I was up for promotion. Then your friend Isaac busts out and makes us all look like Keystone cops. I'm pissed about that. You understand what I'm saying, Knight? I'm pissed'' he said, thumping Theo's chest for emphasis.
The anger was all over MacDonald's face, but he didn't take that proverbial one step too many – he didn't say "I'm pissed, and I'm going to make you pay for it."
He ripped the photo of Trina off the wall, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it at Theo as he left.
Theo picked it up, flattened out the creases, and put it right back on the wall.
"MacDonald's an asshole," said Moses, as he entered Theo's cell.
Theo said, "You heard?"
"It ain't like I had my ear to the wall, dude. I'm just a couple cells away."
"It's cool," said Theo.
Moses leaned against the wall. "So, you and Isaac go back a ways?"
"Long, long ways," said Theo. "Before I was on death row."
"Isaac was cool in my book," said Moses.
"That so?"
"Yeah. It's a pretty short book, too."
"I'm sure he was honored."
Moses smiled, seeming to like Theo's sense of humor. He started out of the cell. "Walk with me."
"Where to?"
"I got a date. Come see."
Theo followed him out onto the cell block. Free time and recreation lasted until shower time at 8:00 p.m., so the block was abuzz with inmates who were watching television, playing dominoes, waiting in line to use the telephone, shooting the breeze, or just wandering around and trying to shake off the boredom. Theo followed Moses past the bank of telephones and up the stairwell that led to the laundry room and infirmary Moses took a seat on the third step from the top and peered through the bars that covered the stairwell's only window.
"Right on time," he said. "Have a look."
Theo went to the window and sat one step below Moses. In the distance, beyond a nine-foot-high chain-link fence that encircled the yard, a woman with long brown hair stood beside a car that was parked on the shoulder of the road. She was wearing a long yellow raincoat, even though the sun was setting on a clear and warm evening, not a rain cloud in sight. She unbuttoned the coat, grabbed the lapels, swung open the left: side, closed it, swung open the right side, closed it. She continued teasing in this fashion, and it was obvious even from a distance that she was naked underneath her coat, top and bottom, her tan lines highlighting the points of interest. She moved like an exotic dancer to spice things up, bending over and grabbing her ankles every now and then to tempt them with her ass. The show went on for several minutes before she spotted a vehicle approaching, jumped in her car, and drove off.
"Whoa," said Theo. "Who was that?"
"My grandmother," he said. "She takes vitamins."
They shared a little laugh and knocked fists together.
Theo didn't want to move too quickly on Moses, and he definitely didn't want to come across as too hungry for information about Isaac's escape. An indirect approach would test the waters. "Hey, man. How's a guy go about gettin' tits in here?"
He wasn't talking about what they'd just watched; "tits" was code for drugs in prison.
"What kind of tits you like?" said Moses.
"White tits. Fine white tits. Tits so fine and white you can breathe them up your nose, taste them in the back of your throat, and feel them go straight to your head."
"No problem," said Moses. "Just gotta know who to ask."
"I don't think I'll waste my time asking MacDonald."
"You don't go wasting your time on nobody."
"For tits, you mean?"
"For everything. You go through me."
"Thanks, dude. But I don't need you for everything. Just certain things."
It wasn't an offer. It was an order.
"So, you got yourself the TGK exclusive?" said Theo.
"You learn quick."
Theo nodded. He could have pressed for specifics beyond drugs, but he sensed that he'd already pushed far enough for one sitting.
Moses rose and leaned against the stair rail, looking down at Theo from the higher step. "I like you, Knight. You and me can be cool. But don't even think about muscling in or going around me. 'Cause I'll beat the black right off you."
For the sake of his undercover mission, Theo forced himself not to respond in any way. He simply swallowed what he was feeling and let Moses walk down the stairs and return to the cell block, unharmed and alone.
Theo decided to stay put until his anger subsided. He looked out the window again, his gaze drifting toward the spot where Moses' dancer had been shaking her naked ass. That little display hadn't been about entertainment. It was Moses' way of telling the new guy that he had contacts to the outside.
Theo pondered that for a moment, and it occurred to him that he hadn't really focused on the woman's car – what man would have? But he seemed to recall that it had looked new, and a thought crossed his mind.
He wondered if it was the one Isaac was supposed to have gotten.
Chapter 27
I'm here to see Theo Knight," Jack told the guard at check-in, handing over his Florida bar card. "I'm his lawyer."
In another decade, Jack's mere announcement of his arrival would have triggered only dread and self-doubt. Back in the bad old days, he had been Theo's only hope. Jack's visits to death row were never without news to deliver, and it was rarely good. Had his client believed in killing the messenger, Jack would have been dead long ago. Things were different now, of course, not the least of which was the fact that TGK would routinely allow a face-to-face visit between an inmate and his lawyer, no glass partition and telephone – which meant that Theo could pop the messenger right in the snout if he didn't bring good news this time.
The guard searched Jack's briefcase and patted him down.
"Come with me," he said, and he led Jack to the meeting room.
Attorneys and inmates met in an area separate from the main visitation room, a more private place where they could communicate confidentially. The fluorescent lights overhead were so bright that Jack almost needed sunglasses. The floor was bare concrete, and the cinder-block walls were pale yellow with no windows. Jack was taken to a small Formica-topped table and left to sit and wait. Two minutes later, the door opened, and Theo entered.
"Hey, stranger," said Theo.
The guard said, "You got twenty minutes," and then left the room.
Theo went around the table, and Jack rose to return the bear hug.
"Did you bring the tequila?" said Theo.
"Don't even joke about that"
"Who's joking?"
Jack gave him a reproving look.
"What?" said Theo. "You think somebody's listening?"
"They're not supposed to, but I say you never know."
They each took a chair on opposite sides of the table.
"How's Cy? He hittin' on Trina yet?"
"He's doing fine. I did have that talk with him, though."
"So… he knows?"
"I couldn't keep him in the dark any longer. Your going back to jail was eating him up inside. Now he's cool with it. Understands what we're trying to do."
"I wish I could tell Trina," said Theo, and then his gaze drifted off to the middle distance. "Man, I really miss her."
"You do?"
"Yeah. Somethin' wrong with that?"
"No, I – I just don't think I've ever heard those words come out of your mouth before. At least not without some additional reference to the female anatomy."
He put a finger to his temple. "Jail messes with your mind, but it also puts things in perspective. Makes you stop taking things for granted. Maybe you should go to jail. "Me? Why me?"
I'm talking about women. Makes you appreciate what's real
You mean Rene?"
No, dude. That ain't real. I mean Andie." What are you talking about?"
"I seen how you looked at her before, how you still light up at the sound of her name."
Jack averted his eyes, searching for a quick change of subject. "So, you and Trina been talking?"
Only a slight change, but thankfully Theo let him get away with it.
"She wanted to come and visit, but I don't think she's ready to see me like this. I call her every day."
"So do I," said Jack. "She's solid."
"You didn't tell her, did you?"
"About the arrangement? No way. Real undercover agents don't even tell their wives what they're doing, so I'm not about to tell your girlfriend. I try to reassure her, explain enough for her to know that the charges against you won't stick."
"Thanks," said Theo.
"No problem. I'm not just playing Cupid here. Don't forget, she's your alibi for Isaac's shooting."
"You telling me I still need one?"
"For now," said Jack. He told him about Andie's slip of the tongue – how Isaac shouted out Theo's name before the gunshot that killed him.
"How do they know that?" said Theo.
"A witness heard it. Presumably the waitress who was stuffed in the trunk."
Theo drew a breath, then let it out. "I don't doubt it happened. Makes sense Isaac would call out my name. He went there expecting me to come meet him. The phone messages prove that."
"I'm trying to figure out a way to convey that information to Andie without digging a deeper hole for ourselves."
"Meaning what?"
"It's a touchy situation. Isaac tells you he knows who killed your mother. Maybe you interpret that to mean that he killed her. You go and blow him away."
"I know he didn't kill her. My brother and me was riding with Isaac in his car the night we found my momma dead in the street."
"I'm thinking like a cop here," said Jack. "Isaac was a gang leader. Your mother was a prostitute and a drug addict. Maybe she owed somebody money. Maybe Isaac ordered her killing."
"That ain't what happened, dude."
"How do you know that?"
Theo leaned back in his chair, thinking. Jack could see from the expression on his face that it was a possibility he hadn't considered – one he couldn't readily dismiss. "I guess I don't know. Isaac and me never talked about it."
"And if the cops find out about Isaac's phone messages, they won't believe you never talked to him. They'll say you went there to meet him, he told you the truth, and you blew him away."
Theo rose and began to pace. "Bad enough somebody's trying to kill me. Now if I don't find the bastard, I could be tagged with Isaac's murder."
Jack let him pace a little more, blow off some steam. "That isn't going to happen;' he said.
"Says who?"
"We'll find this guy."
"How can you be so sure?"
"There's some good news," said Jack. He told him about Flo's grandson – the gang symbol he'd spotted on the shooter's car and sketched out for Jack.
"Cops been able to locate the car yet?"
"They're looking for it. We don't have a tag number, so they can't just run it through DMV and haul in the owner. Andie tells me it may take some time."
"True," said Theo. "These gangs are smart. They do a drive-by, they might garage the car for weeks, until the heat cools down."
Jack just listened, adding it to the long list of things that he really didn't want to know how Theo knew.
"Can I see the boy's drawing?" said Theo.
"Absolutely." Jack opened his briefcase and removed his notepad. He laid the rough sketch of the bloody knife on the table, facing Theo. "It's a KA-BAR," he explained. "A military fighting knife for a local gang called-" Jack stopped himself. Theo looked as if he'd gone cold. "You okay big guy?"
Theo didn't a
nswer. He kept staring at the drawing, unable to tear his eyes away from it.
"Talk to me," said Jack. "Do you know this symbol?"
He lifted his gaze and looked Jack in the eye. "Last night," said Theo. "I'm positive I seen it last night."
"Where?"
"In the shower."
"What, like graffiti on the wall?"
"No," he said in a voice so low that it rumbled. "A tattoo. On some dude's back."
Chapter 28
A buzzer pulsated throughout TGK as the guards took Theo back to his cell. It was a sound that Theo hadn't heard since death row, but he knew what it meant even before the voice came over the PA system: "Lockdown. All prisoners to their cells immediately."
A chorus of groans filled the cell block, followed by the shuffling of inmates' feet, like a rag-tag army in defeat, and finally the slamming of cell doors.
Charger climbed up to the top bunk. Theo went to the lower one.
In ten minutes, the place was secure. The PA system keyed for another announcement: "All prisoners to the bars. All clothing removed."
That triggered further grumbling, punctuated by sporadic shouts of profanity and some clanging on the iron bars in protest. But it was short-lived, quieted in part by a team of guards that swept through the cell block, nightsticks drawn in a show of force.
Theo rolled out of his bunk and began to remove his clothes. Charger jumped down and did the same. There was a protocol to undressing in the presence of your cell mate. It had to do with the eyes: you made damn sure they didn't roam.
"What are they looking for now?" said Charger.
"Hell if I know," said Theo.
But he did know. Theo was looking for the same thing: the CD-Town Posse tattoo.
Theo was certain that he'd seen it on somebody's back in the shower, but he remembered nothing more about it. The showers were a steamy crowded mass of naked male flesh. Looking around too much and making eye contact with the wrong dude was a good way to end up a "catcher" – a daily ticket to taking it up the ass. All Theo had been able to tell Jack was that he'd seen the tattoo, and it was on a black guy's back. Jack immediately passed the information along to Andie Henning, and before Theo returned to his cell the place was in lockdown. They were on a mission to find the guy with the tattoo.
Last Call Page 14
