A Good Day for Chardonnay (Sunshine Vicram #2) - Darynda Jones Page 0,36
cuffs would allow. “I’m all but forgotten.”
“If your blood is really on Brick’s clothes, I won’t need your confession.”
“Ah, but there’s so much more, apple blossom.” He swiveled around in the chair to face her more fully. “A lot you don’t remember about the time leading up to the abduction. About the days you spent in that shed. About that night. You’re right about one thing. Kubrick didn’t do it alone.”
She felt her eyes round and cursed inwardly. If she were interviewing a suspect, she would never give away the game so easily. She would never reveal her thoughts. Show emotion. Give him the upper hand. With this case—her case—she seemed incapable of doing anything but.
“I’ll tell you everything,” he said, very aware of the fact that he was winning.
“Then you lied.”
“I lie all the time. Can you be more specific?”
“If you know everything, you and Kubrick were definitely in it together.”
“Not hardly. The man liked to brag. As did his partner in crime.”
“Whose name is … ?”
“Nah-ah, apple blossom. When my … demands are met, we can talk.”
“I’m the sheriff of a small county in New Mexico. I have exactly zero pull here, but feel free to demand away.”
“Don’t worry. They’re simple.”
“Sure. What is it exactly you think I can do for you?”
“I’m in here for the rest of my life, apple. I don’t have a whole lot to look forward to, and I want to be closer to my family so they can come visit me more than once a decade. I want to be transferred to Santa Fe.”
The look of astonishment she planted on him said everything he needed to know about her ability to pull that off.
“It’s called a transport order.”
“I know what it’s called. But getting a prisoner transferred across state lines is kind of a big deal. I just don’t think it can happen.”
“Why not? I have vital information about an ongoing murder investigation and am willing to testify to certain … atrocities that were committed in said case. I can even lead the authorities to the weapon I used to defend myself, which will have my fingerprints on it.”
“You have the knife?” she asked in surprise.
“I know where it is. In return, I’m transferred to the state where the case occurred and will be available to testify once I name my brother’s accomplice. Et cetera, et cetera. It can be done.”
“You came prepared,” she said, walking back to the table.
“Always.”
She sat across from him again. “And two?”
“I want you to look into my case.”
“Oh, right. I forgot, you’re innocent.”
“Hell, no,” he said with a snort. “There’s not a single innocent person in this place. But I am innocent of the crime they put me in here for, and I’ve heard you are just savvy enough to figure that out and prove it for me.”
Wow, was he ever wrong about a person. Then again, she’d been wrong about him. “Who do I have to thank for spreading false rumors about me?”
He relaxed against the chair, the metal cuffs jingling with each movement, and refused to answer once again. After giving her enough time to form her own flawed opinions, he said, “My lawyer is sending over the case files. Everything we have.”
“Wonderful. Is there a magic wand in there, too? I’m going to need one.”
He laughed softly. “I think that’s in my other case file.”
“Of course it is. And three?”
He waited a beat. Studied her. Sized her up just long enough to make a layer of sweat appear on her palms. She suddenly desperately wanted him to be telling the truth. His claims would exonerate Levi.
After another moment, he straightened in the chair, and said, “I wanna see the girl.”
Disturbing. “Look, I know it’s been a while for you—”
“Not as long as you might think.”
Okay. She didn’t need to know that. “—but smuggling women into prison is not one of my talents. And, believe me, I have many.”
“So I’ve been told.”
The more they spoke, the more she wondered who was out there talking her up to a convicted murderer. Because she wanted a word. “What girl?”
“Your girl.”
Sun stopped tapping the pen on the pad and tilted her head. “I’m sorry?”
“When I get back to New Mexico, I want you to bring your daughter to see me.”
Emotions Sun didn’t know she possessed rushed through her like a lightning strike. Sharp and hot and desperate, they blinded her for a few seconds. Why would a convicted killer want to see her daughter? How did he even