“Hey,” Sonny says to Kaiser. “You were being straight about my grandson, right? About getting him out of that second tour? ’Cause he’s really scared about going back to Iraq.”
Kaiser gets to his feet. “That’s one thing I can do, Sonny. I’m the government today, and we are definitely making a deal.”
“It really messed him up when his buddy got hurt like that. I saw that kind of shit all the time in my war, of course. Back then, you just had to choke it down and go on. But these kids today didn’t come up the way we did, through the Depression. They’re not as hard. I don’t judge ’em. I’m glad, you know? But they can’t stand the same stuff we could.”
Kaiser gives him an understanding nod. “I hear you, Sonny. And after you sign that plea agreement, I will take care of him like he’s my own. You have my word.”
“I just hope my daughter doesn’t screw this thing up.”
“Me, too,” Kaiser says worriedly. “I think we’re done, Sonny. Let’s get you back to your cell.”
The old man grins. “I’m ready, believe it or not.”
“I’m going to have a word with Mayor Cage outside. My guys will be in to take you back. If you get anything from Snake about where Dr. Cage is, act like you’re having another heart attack. I’ll get you out of there quick.”
“Got it.”
Kaiser follows me into the hall, where the electromechanical sounds of the open office out front filter back to us. Phones, printers, HVAC, the dispatchers’ radio—
“Do you realize what we just heard in there?” Kaiser asks, his eyes glowing with excitement.
“Yeah, I heard it.”
“What do you think?”
“I think he was telling the truth. The question is, was Frank Knox telling him the truth?”
“But the details—”
“I know. It’s like you and Dwight scripted everything he said. I’d say you guys had it figured pretty close. I’m glad Dwight’s going to hear that before he goes under. Hopefully it’ll help him through.”
Kaiser nods like someone who can’t quite believe he’s been so fully vindicated. “And good news about your dad. How do you feel about that?”
“Compared to his present crisis, I don’t much care what he did forty years ago.”
“I understand. Well, with luck, Sonny can get Snake to tell him where Dr. Cage is.”
“Maybe. But how long will it take him?”
Kaiser shrugs. “With Snake, Sonny gives us a better chance than using a car battery and jumper cables. Where will you go in the meantime?”
“No idea,” I answer truthfully. “I can hardly think right now.”
“Go see your little girl, Penn. I swear I’ll call you the second I have any news. You did good work today, buddy. It was the tattoo that broke him.”
Kaiser grips my shoulder, then steps back into the interrogation room and closes the door. As I make my way through the open area of the office, I recognize few of the remaining deputies, but Spanky Ford gives me a thumbs-up as I pass and walk through the main doors, out into the winter sun.
CHAPTER 64
“IF I HADN’T had tickets on that flight to Cuba,” said Jordan Glass, “I think that redneck sheriff would have kept us in his office all afternoon.”
“Cuba wasn’t what did it,” Caitlin countered. “If you weren’t married to an FBI agent, good old Billy Ray Ellis would have jailed us as commie sympathizers.”
Jordan laughed and led them out to her car, which Carl Sims had kindly sent a deputy to retrieve.
Caitlin looked back at the sheriff’s office, thinking of the hour of her life she had wasted inside it. Billy Ray Ellis had a lot in common with Billy Byrd, and during his rather hostile interrogation, she’d gotten the feeling that he had spoken to his Adams County colleague. The only kindness he had shown was to give Caitlin a prison jumpsuit to wear while a matron dried her wet clothes.
“Look at that building,” Jordan said. “It looks like four glorified mobile homes nailed together, but he’s got a concrete helipad with klieg lights, a windsock, and the biggest Mississippi flag I’ve ever seen.”
Caitlin looked up at the Stars and Bars in the corner of the state flag, which hung just below an equal-size version of the Stars and Stripes.
“The only good thing I got out of there was the peppermints,” she said. “I’m still starving.”
Jordan laughed and pulled a handful of cellophane-wrapped peppermints out of her pocket. “Me too. I emptied that secretary’s jar.”
“We need to get some lunch.”
Jordan shook her head and moved on toward the car. “I don’t have time. If I don’t leave in the next twenty minutes, I’ll miss my flight.”
Caitlin felt an anticipatory sense of loss at the realization that she would soon be without Jordan. She had already called Terry Foreman, a girl from the Examiner’s marketing department, to pick her up at a local service station, but Terry was no substitute for Jordan Glass.
When they reached the car, Caitlin stood rather awkwardly by the door and stared at her friend across the roof. “I can’t tell you how much today meant to me.”
Jordan waved her hand dismissively. “I’m glad I came. But the day’s not over yet. I’ve got a surprise for you.”
Caitlin was confused. “Surprise?”
Jordan gave her a mischievous, almost elfin look. “You’re about to owe me sooo big. Before you jumped in the drink, I shot two pictures of Toby Rambin’s map.”
“What?”
Jordan’s eyes twinkled with pleasure. “While you were studying it earlier, I shot a couple of pics and made sure we had a copy. I didn’t tell you in the boat because I didn’t want Mose to hear.”
Caitlin still couldn’t work it out. “But Sheriff Ellis had us searched when we got to his office.”
“Mm-hm.”
“He confiscated your memory cards.”
“He confiscated a memory card.”