Дэвид Балдаччи - Mercy

“They’ve got nothing on me. You just wait until I get myself a lawyer.”

“Heard you pulled the same crap with another girl like you did with me. Sounds like she got away from you a lot faster than I did. You must be losing your touch.”

“Shut up!”

“It’s a wonder I was ever scared of you. I mean, you look like a plump little mouse ready to be eaten. And I can eat a lot.”

“I scared you well enough back then.”

“Not that hard to do with a six-year-old. A lot harder to do with a sixteen-year-old. And damn impossible to do right now.”

Desiree shook her head. “You’re full of it! You had no idea who you were dealing with.”

“The harder you tried to hurt me, the farther inside my head I went. Then your little fantasy fell apart and you left me alone. So guess who won the head game?”

“You think I care about any of this?”

Mercy smiled broadly. “I’ll testify at your trial. I can be exhibits A to Z on your being a sadistic bitch.” She looked over at Blum. “And now this lady wants to ask you some questions.”

“Go to hell.”

“That’s not very nice,” said Mercy.

Blum interjected, “If you help us, Desiree, maybe we can help you.”

“How?”

“The police know you were running a drug operation. They want to know who you were working with. If you can tell them that, they can work a deal on your sentencing.”

Desiree’s face lighted up for a moment and then went hard again. “Well, they better make it a damn good deal or they get squat from me.”

“What can you tell us?”

“Nothing, until I get a deal in writing.” She smiled maliciously. “But the guys I work with, they are some bad hombres.”

“Do you think they know you’ve been arrested?”

“They’re not stupid, okay?”

“But you haven’t spoken with them?”

She looked at Blum curiously. “Why do you want to know? And where is that other FBI bitch? Why isn’t she with you?”

Blum looked at Mercy and then returned her gaze to Desiree. “I’ll see what I can come up with. But if I do come back with an offer, can you help us?”

“Help you do what exactly?”

“I’ll let you know once we have a deal in place.”

Blum walked over to the door. “Officer?” she called out between the bars.

As the man headed toward them Desiree said to Mercy, “You think you’re all high and mighty now?”

Mercy didn’t even look at her. “Compared to you, I am.”

“You’re just big and ugly. An animal, that’s all you’ll ever be.”

“And loving every minute of it.”

They left her there and walked back down the hall to meet up with Callum.

They passed an older man with graying hair, thick jowls, and a pretentious expression, heading the other way. He was dressed in a sleek, dark blue suit with a red tie and a pocket square. He had a black leather briefcase in one hand. He glanced at Blum and Mercy and came away obviously unimpressed. The jailer escorting him said, “It’s right down this way, Mr. Marbury.”

As they were out of earshot Mercy said, “I don’t trust people in suits who carry briefcases.”

“Well, you just knocked out the entire legal profession.”

“I know.”

Blum said, “I’m not sure she’ll be able to help us. I think she was lying about the bad hombres. That’s why I didn’t mention what had happened to Agent Pine. There would have been no point.”

“But if the guys working with her didn’t snatch Lee, who did?”

Blum said glumly, “I don’t know. And we’re running out of time. I can just feel it.”

Back with Callum, Blum talked to him about a possible deal in exchange for information on Pine’s whereabouts.

“I’m certainly sorry to hear about Agent Pine,” said Callum. “But I don’t think we can do any deals, at least not right now.”

“Why?”

“Because the lady is represented by counsel now. He’ll have to come up to speed and then we’ll have to have the prosecutors meet with him. If we don’t go by the book, we can jeopardize our entire case.”

“Who’s her lawyer? A local guy?”

“Nope. Guy named Marbury, Stephen Marbury. He’s in from New York. You probably passed him in the hall. Older guy, gray hair, dressed in a suit that probably costs more than my truck.”

Mercy said, “That’s the jerk we passed in the hall. He’s her lawyer?”

“That’s right. Just flew into town, he said.”

Blum thanked Callum for his help, told him not to mention them to the lawyer, and then she led Mercy outside.

They climbed into the Porsche and eyed the black Escalade that was idling out in front of the detention center, with the driver on his phone.

Mercy said, “Probably Marbury’s ride. He looked like a guy who gets driven around.”

“So maybe we wait around and see where that ride takes him.”

“Maybe to my sister?” said Mercy.

“Maybe,” said Blum in a distracted tone.

“What’s the matter?” asked Mercy, glancing at her.

“Something Desiree said,” Blum suddenly exclaimed. “Stay here, I’ll be right back.”

She hurried back into the facility. About two minutes later, she came out and got back into the Porsche.

“So what’s going on?” asked Mercy.

“I just talked to Callum. He said Desiree has made no phone calls since she’s been here. And you recall she told us she was going to get a lawyer?”

Mercy nodded slowly, thinking this through. “So if she made no calls and said she was going to get a lawyer, she obviously had no idea this Marbury dude was even coming today.”

“So if Desiree didn’t send for this high-powered lawyer from New York, who did?”

Peter Buckley listened on his phone for a few minutes. He liked to listen. That was the way one learned things. When you talked, you gave away things.

He said, “Fine. But I want to meet face-to-face and you can give me a fuller briefing. I’ll text you the address. I’ve arranged a place for the very short-term.”

He put his phone back in his pocket and returned to the room where Pine was seated in the chair. They had tied her to it this time, so if any more beatings happened, she wouldn’t fall off it. Britt Spector stood off to one side, watching, a nervous expression on her features.

“Agent Pine,” said Buckley. “The woman you arrested is Dolores Venuti. She is accused, among other things, of kidnapping a child and holding her prisoner.”

Pine said, “I know that.”

“Why do I think Dolores Venuti and Desiree Atkins are one and the same?”

“Think what you want,” replied Pine. “It’s a free country.”

“You won’t confirm it?”

“No.”

“I’ve also heard that Dolores will try to make bail.”

“That’ll never happen. She’s a flight risk.” Pine caught herself a beat too late.

Buckley allowed himself a brief smile. “Right. She’s a flight risk because you told them about what happened in Georgia. Good, thank you for confirming my theory that Dolores and Desiree are one and the same. As for the bail, we will have to see. Court decisions are sometimes unpredictable.”

“Not this time.”

“But if she does make bail I will pay her to tell me what she knows.”

“Desiree hasn’t seen the woman in nearly twenty years. What could she possibly tell you?”

“One never knows until one asks.”

“And if you talk to her, then you’ll just drop me back at the hotel all safe and sound?” said Pine in a blistering tone.

Buckley eyed Spector before answering. “I will give you one more chance to tell me all you know about El Cain. Then, your death is not inevitable. You have my word.”