Joe Victim: A Thriller

Suddenly it’s more important than ever that Melissa gets me out of here. If this were to come out in court I don’t know how I could face the world. Even though my mum wouldn’t be there or watch the news, I think somehow she’d hear about all the things her sister did to me, and no doubt she wouldn’t believe me.

Ali better not share any of this after I’ve escaped.

Suddenly I’m glad my mom won’t be there.

I do what I’ve been doing the most of lately—I wait, and I try to be positive. I try not to think about my auntie and I try to focus on a positive future, but sometimes, in a place like this, thinking positive thoughts is just so, so hard to do.





Chapter Thirty


“This is bullshit,” Schroder says.

“I agree. This is bullshit,” Wellington, says. “This deal you’re bringing him, this is no good for my client.”

“You don’t even want to defend this case,” Schroder says. “So why make this difficult?”

“You’re right, I don’t want to defend him, but I’m going to do the best I can for him because that’s the job, you know that. If you killed somebody, Detective, I’d do my best to represent you too.”

“What do you mean by that?” Schroder asks.

“What do I mean by what?”

“That if I killed somebody?”

“Just how it sounds. If you killed somebody and hired me, you’d want to know I’d do all I could. If I didn’t, who would hire me again?”

“Okay,” Schroder says.

“Anyway, I’m not the one making it difficult,” Wellington says. “It’s Joe.”

Both men are still in the interview room at the prison. Schroder hates it in here. The room smells. And it’s cold. And it’s depressing. And Wellington has just made a good point.

“He’s asking for something I can’t help arrange,” Schroder says.

“And if we do arrange it,” Wellington says, “it goes against what’s best for my client. There is no way we can have a police escort to the body, and then try to convince a jury Joe had no idea where it was.”

Schroder agrees. “And there’s no way we can have a police escort, then have Jones use his psychic abilities to find the body.”

They’re going around in circles. The deal isn’t going to happen. Jonas won’t get to show off his body-finding abilities. Schroder’s not going to get his bonus. Joe won’t get his money. And Detective Inspector Robert Calhoun isn’t going to be going home. Schroder doesn’t care about the first three things, but the fourth one is important to him. It’s been important since Calhoun went missing. Important enough for him to still be in this room trying to figure out a way to make Joe’s life easier.

“How does it feel?” Wellington asks. “Working for a guy like that?”

Schroder winces at the question. The way Wellington asks it makes it pretty obvious what Wellington’s views are. It makes Schroder think everybody must be feeling the same way. Yet despite it all, Jonas is doing well for himself. Not everybody can hate him. “Probably about the same as it must feel defending Joe,” Schroder says.

Wellington slowly nods. “That bad, huh?”

“Look,” Schroder says, “I know you don’t want him to take this deal, I see that, but Detective Calhoun deserves to be returned. That’s what we have to focus on here. He was a cop, damn it, a good cop, and like any cop he deserves a proper burial, he deserves to be mourned and remembered as something other than the policeman who disappeared and never came back.”

Wellington says nothing as he takes it all in, and Schroder is reminded of how quickly this guy thinks, of how far ahead he really is.

“There has to be a way,” Schroder adds.

“There is no way,” Wellington says. “As soon as we involve the police Jones doesn’t get his deal.”

Schroder gets up and starts pacing the room. Wellington watches him. He starts running different scenarios through his head. If he were still a cop, this would be a whole lot easier. But if he were a cop, he wouldn’t be coming to Joe with a deal that gives a serial killer fifty thousand dollars. The cops aren’t going to get Calhoun’s location from Joe. They’ve tried. The prosecution has tried.

The only way to get that location is to pay him.

And the only way Joe will tell them is to show them.

And the only way Joe can show them is if it doesn’t involve the police.

And that’s just not going to happen.

“I’ll try working on him,” Wellington says. “See if he can just tell us the location. I mean, if he doesn’t tell you, he doesn’t get the money, and that’s why he’s doing this. I think he really believes he’s going to be going free after the trial.”

Schroder turns and leans against the wall. He stares at Wellington. An idea is coming to him. He just has to work at it for a few more moments. “And what do you think?”