Now the tattoo lies exposed under the harsh UV light—a thing that has probably haunted Sonny Thornfield since the day he cut it from a living man. Did Sonny really slice off that skin? I wonder. Or was it Snake? I remember reading about the Hells Angels, and how it was actually a small core of sadistic members who carried out punishments like rape and savage beatings. I’d be willing to bet the Double Eagles worked in a similar way. I can see Snake Knox laughing as he cut a man’s balls off, but it’s hard to imagine this shivering old man mutilating an innocent victim. Killing one, yes, out of some twisted sense of mission. But not torturing for pleasure—
“Sonny?” Kaiser asks, his voice still gentle. “Can you hear me?”
The old man’s shivering has grown more pronounced, and as I look beneath the hand shielding his eyes, I see tears dripping down his wrinkled face.
“Nod if you can hear me,” Kaiser says in a louder voice.
The old man’s head bobs once, like he’s ducking a blow in slow motion.
“That tattoo came from the arm of Jimmy Revels. We know it, and you know it. DNA testing will prove it. This little souvenir is your ticket to the lethal injection chamber. But you’re in a special position today. You’re in a position to trade this ticket in for a very different one. You can trade it in for freedom.”
“No, I can’t,” Sonny whispers. “You don’t know what you’re dealing with, mister.”
“I know it very well. I know Forrest Knox is standing in the shadows behind you. I know he’s got a knife at your back. And behind him you see Snake, Frank, and even old Elam Knox. You’ve known some depraved men, Sonny. And you’ve done terrible things yourself. But now you have a chance those men never had, or will. A chance at redemption. At peace. I can give that to you. I can protect you, Sonny.”
Thornfield actually laughs at this, a dry sound like rustling leaves.
“Have you ever heard of the Witsec program?” Kaiser asks.
Sonny doesn’t respond.
He’s shuddering violently, and I wonder how much stress he can stand before he throws a clot and dies right in front of us.
“No jargon,” I whisper from the observation room, urging Kaiser to speak as plainly as he can.
“The Federal Witness Protection Program,” Kaiser clarifies. “I’m sure you’ve seen shows about it on TV. Nod if you know what I’m talking about.”
It’s as though the man inhabiting the body across the table from Kaiser has dropped down some hole of pain and grief from which he might never emerge. I’ve seen this before, and Kaiser has, too. In normal circumstances, you send the guy back to his cell and give him time to adjust to the new reality, but thankfully Kaiser seems to understand that, on this day, we don’t have that time.
With slow deliberation, the FBI agent leans across the table and speaks just above a whisper. “Do you want to die in prison, Sonny? Do you want to ride the needle?”
“It don’t matter,” Sonny croaks. “I’m dead either way. All I care about now is my family.”
“What if we could protect your family too?” Kaiser asks.
Thornfield slowly looks up, his desolate eyes now alive with a glimmer of hope. “All of them?”
It’s all-or-nothing time, and Kaiser knows it. “You’ve got one daughter and two grandkids. Right?”
Sonny nods quickly, surprised by Kaiser’s knowledge. “My grandson’s got a baby on the way. A boy.”
“Where do they live, Sonny?”
“My daughter lives in Oklahoma. Her girl lives there, too. But my grandson’s in the service, been going back and forth to Iraq.”
“Is he stateside now?”
“He’s just about to ship out for another rotation. He’s in California.”
“That’s everybody?”
“Everybody I care about. Or that cares about me.”
“Do you think they would be willing to enter witness protection? Would they change their identities in order to protect you from retaliation? Or to protect themselves?”
Thornfield sighs wearily. “I don’t know. My daughter and me have had some hard words between us. She don’t like me much. You’d have to talk to her.”
“She has a phone, right?”
Sonny shakes his head. “We’re not doing this by phone. No way, no how. You gotta bring ’em here. Use a phone, and Forrest would know about it before you could say ‘boo.’”
Kaiser looks exasperated. “We’re the FBI, Sonny. We have some very secure communications gear.”
Sonny snorts. “Says you. No, you want a deal with me, you bring my kids here.”
“It would be tomorrow at the soonest before we could do that. Do you really want to go back into the cellblock with your Double Eagle buddies?”
The old Klansman laughs again. “Man, I been living with them guys my whole life. I reckon I can make one more night. But if you get my grandson and granddaughter here, and lemme talk to ’em, I believe they’ll do it. My grandson don’t want to do that last rotation. Not with that baby on the way. He’s afraid he’ll catch a packet this time.”
Kaiser gets to his feet and stares down at the old man, his eyes like lasers. “If I do this, Sonny, it will cost the taxpayers a lot of money. Millions of dollars over the years. Before I can commit to that, you have to convince me I’m not wasting that money.”
Sonny looks up at the FBI agent, his face as sincere as any child’s. “You protect my family, mister, and I’ll do whatever I gotta do to keep them safe. I swear.”
Kaiser’s gaze hasn’t wavered. “I’m afraid I need you to be more specific than that. I need you to convince me, Sonny. I need you to tell me what you know.”
The old man shakes his head. “I can’t do that till you live up to your end of the deal. You keep your promise, I’ll keep mine. Ain’t that how it works?”
This stumps Kaiser for a bit. He stares at Thornfield for several seconds, then looks up at the window and motions for me to come in. I dart to the door before Kaiser can second-guess himself. As I enter the interrogation room, Sonny’s eyes go wide in panic, but Kaiser quickly reassures him.
“Mayor Cage is only here to observe, Sonny.”
“I don’t know where Dr. Cage is at!” he cries. “I told you!”
“We know that,” Kaiser says, signaling me to keep my distance. He sits again, then says, “I tell you what. I’m going to mention some crimes, and I want you to nod if you know who’s responsible for them. Okay?”