Joseph Finder - Guilty Minds

“Why?”

She was silent for a long time. She shook her head. “When I met you...? I got the feeling, I don’t know... you were one of the good guys.”

“Okay,” I said. I’d take that.

“I kept calling, and I kept getting your voice mail. And then when I finally reached you, one of the guys must have heard me talking because he grabbed the phone out of my hand.”

“You were brave to do that. And smart.”

“Yeah, but now what? Now what happens to me?”

“We’re going to keep you with us, keep you safe, and I’m going to need your help in finding the people behind this.”

“But I don’t know who they are!”

“You know things. Little details that might not mean anything to you. We’ll talk, and we’ll help each other.”

We all fell silent for a moment. I turned off the windshield wipers; the rain had stopped. After a long while, Kayla said, “Tell me something.”

“Okay.”

“I don’t understand. Why did you come for me?”

“Because I think you can answer some questions for me,” I said.

“And what if I can’t?”

“Doesn’t matter,” I said. “You’re still worth saving.”

The hotel had an available room adjoining mine. We put Kayla there and opened the connecting doors. I wanted to keep a close watch on her. I assumed that Curtis Schmidt and his comrade would be out of commission for a while, but others might come for her.

She knew that. She was frightened and distraught.

While Dorothy went out to pick up some toiletries for her, Kayla and I talked.

“Keep the security latch on at all times,” I said. “Don’t open your door for anyone. I don’t care if they say it’s housekeeping or room service, nobody comes in. Don’t call room service. If you need something, just ask one of us. Come get me, or call on the room phone.” I fixed her a drink from the minibar, a vodka and tonic, because she needed it. I couldn’t find any rocks glasses, so I used a wineglass. In another wineglass I poured myself a Scotch.

“Can I at least use a computer?” she said. “I left my computer on the tarmac and they took my phone, and I want to check in with a couple of my friends. Otherwise they’re going to worry about me. I just want to say I’m okay.”

I shook my head. “You’ve got to keep your head down. Don’t let anyone know you’re in DC.”

“So, like, I’m basically a prisoner here.”

“For the time being. To keep you safe.”

“How long?”

“Until it’s safe.”

“When’s that gonna be?”

I shook my head again, more slowly. “I’ll let you know.”

She sipped her drink. “Why are you being nice to me?”

“Because I need your help.” The simpler answer was usually better.

“Okay.”

“Tell me how you got into this.”

“What? The life? Or this... scam?”

“The scam.”

She sat down on the edge of the bed. I sat in the chair next to the desk and drank some Scotch. She had the faint smell of patchouli about her.

She let out a long sigh. “Okay. So, like, three months ago, I had this date, with a client, at the Willard, right? Gary something. When I got to his hotel room, he paid my fee, right up front — that’s unusual. Guys always do it after. Nicely dressed, suit and tie and all that. He said he just wanted to talk to me. I thought maybe he wanted something really kinky, but no, he wasn’t there for the sex. He told me he worked for an organization of businessmen and they wanted to hire me. They had a, a proposition for me, he called it.”

“Did you get the guy’s name?”

“No. Just ‘Gary.’ He said they wanted me to talk to a reporter at Slander Sheet and tell her that I’d had three dates with this Supreme Court judge named Jeremiah Claflin. They said they’d prepare me to talk to the reporter, they’d take care of everything, and they said they’d pay me a hundred thousand dollars — ten thousand up front, the rest later.”

“And you said yes.”

“No. Not yet. I was freaked out. I asked why.”

“Okay. What’d he say?”

“Just that this Claflin guy had to be taken down, for the good of the country.”

“Did he say who this ‘organization of businessmen’ was?”

She shook her head and gulped her drink like it was lemonade. “I didn’t ask. I didn’t really care. I was just afraid if I did this, I could go to prison. He said that would never happen. He said I could probably have my own TV reality show.”

“Is that what you wanted?”

“Are you kidding?”

“But you said yes to the proposition anyway.”

“No, I didn’t. Not until they... threatened me.”

“Threatened you how?”

She finished her drink and put the glass on top of the bed next to her. “So I said no to the guy.” She hadn’t answered my question, but I waited.

“You said no to a hundred thousand dollars?”

“I don’t know, I was scared shitless. Maybe I didn’t believe him about the money. I mean, he took out ten thousand dollars in cash and showed it to me and said I could have it right then and there if I agreed. It was all mine. Just do it. But how did I know he’d actually come up with the rest of the money when it was all over?”

“So what did you tell him?”

“I still said no. I mean, a hundred thousand dollars, that’s more money than I’ve ever had, enough to buy me out of the life. But how could I be sure I didn’t get exposed as a liar? I told him I had to think about it.”

“Sure.”

“He said don’t take too long. He said they knew about my sister. She’s — in prison. In Mississippi. For a drug bust. She was dealing meth.”

I knew that but didn’t want to let her know. “Okay.”

“He said they had ways of getting to her in prison. If I didn’t agree to do this thing, or if I told anybody about it, they’d hurt her bad. Or worse. So I flew to Jackson to visit my sister in prison. She’d just come out of the infirmary. But they let me see her. She got stabbed in the thigh. She was hurt bad. She told me she got shanked in the commissary. Some inmate came up to her in line and stuck her and said this is only the beginning, if your sister doesn’t cooperate. So when I came back to DC I called this guy Gary and said okay, I’ll do it.” She looked at me, eyes shining, vulnerable. “I didn’t have a choice, you know? It wasn’t the money.”

“I understand. Do you have Gary’s number?”

She shook her head. “It’s in my phone. I need another drink.”

“You didn’t write it down anywhere?” I got up and began fixing her a second vodka and tonic.

“I don’t remember. I don’t think so. So I met with him and he gave me the ten thousand.”

“They prepared you? They told you what to say?”

“That guy Gary did, yeah.”

“How many times did you meet with him?”

“Just one more time. To get me ready to talk to the reporter.”

“He gave you the name?”

“Mandy Seeger, yeah.”

“Just her? No other reporter?”

“Just her.”

“Any idea why?”

She shook her head again.

“Did you ever get the rest of the hundred thousand?”

“No. I think they were about to pay me when the story fell apart. They think I leaked to you. I told them that was bullshit, but they said they knew I met with you. Because they had this guy watching me all the time, this big bald guy.”

“I saw that. He was the same one who came to take you to the plane.”

“Right. Him and this other guy.”

“Gary?”

“No. It was someone I never saw before. But Gary called me today and said they were getting me out of town. I–I’m worried about my sister. If they did something to her because they think I—” Her voice broke as a sob welled up. “I’m so... I’m scared,” she choked out. She slumped forward and spilled some of her drink on the comforter cover. I got up from my chair and took her drink from her and sat down next to her on the bed.