Endangered Species Endangered Species (Time Served #1) - Onley James Page 0,3
a hand through his dark strands. “What the fuck have you gotten yourself into, Nicky?”
The use of his nickname caused a hollow feeling in his stomach. He was always Webster to Linc, unless he was in trouble or something bad happened. “Nothing. I don’t even know why I’m fucking here.”
Linc looked to the woman, who said, “Kelly Chao. I’ll be your attorney for the proceedings. Right now, they’re charging you with a number of things, but the one you need to worry about is the terrorism charge. It’s a class B felony that can cost you up to twenty years in a federal prison.”
“Terrorism?” Webster shouted before wincing, closing his eyes in an attempt to combat the throbbing in his head. “What are you talking about? Me? Who would I terrorize? The barista constantly fucking up my coffee order?”
Webster’s head was spinning. Terrorism? How? That would explain the hostility he’d experienced in the last forty-eight hours, he supposed, but not why people thought he was guilty.
“They claim they have proof you hacked into the FBI and threatened to distribute confidential information that could cause grievous harm,” Linc said.
“Thankfully, they’re not charging you with espionage. I’d be lucky to keep you out of supermax,” Ms. Chao added, all business.
“Linc, come on,” Webster said. “You know I’d never hack the FBI. Why would I? There’s nothing I can’t get my hands on with the people we know.”
“I didn’t hear that,” Ms. Chao said.
Webster ignored the woman, needing Linc to believe him. “I’m being set up, man.”
Linc nodded, rubbing his hand over his bearded chin. “Okay, but why? Who would want to set you up?”
That was a great question. Who would want to set him up? He wasn’t working on anything new. He hadn’t taken on any new side projects. Things had been so quiet lately, he’d started working on old cases. Well, one old case. But he’d been working on that off and on for years, almost since he was old enough to know his way around a computer.
“Fuck, man. I don’t know. I just know I definitely didn’t hack the FBI.”
“They’re offering you fifteen years if you agree to never use a computer again,” Ms. Chao said. “And I have to say, considering what they claim they have, they’re being generous.”
“What?” Webster asked. “No. No way. I can’t be without a computer. That’s my whole life.”
“We’ve got bigger problems than computers, Nicky. They’re offering you fifteen years as a bargain. If you’re being set up, they don’t just want to silence you, they want to fucking bury you.”
“Burying me would’ve been kinder,” Webster said. “I fucking hate this place.”
“You won’t be here long. They’re transferring you,” the attorney said, her face pinched.
Webster swallowed audibly, his mouth bone dry. “What? How? Where?” he heard himself asking, embarrassed at the panic in his voice.
“CSD,” Ms. Chao said.
Webster was stunned into silence. He’d heard the expression about the world crashing down around him, but, for the first time, he finally understood the experience. His chest tightened, and, for a minute, he wondered if he was having a heart attack or an anxiety attack. He was hoping for the former. It would be over much quicker. “Can they do that? Can they send me to a federal facility when I haven’t even been convicted yet?” The question was mumbled almost under his breath, his brain having checked out of the conversation.
“They’re blaming overcrowding in the jails, but it sounds like bullshit to me,” Chao said. “Honestly, if you’re being framed, you pissed off somebody pretty high up on the food chain.”
“It’s not a coincidence,” Webster said, brow furrowed in concentration. “It can’t be.”
“What isn’t, Nicky?” Linc asked. “I appreciate your Beautiful Mind moments as much as anybody, but I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s happening.”
“My brother.”
“You have a brother?” Linc asked.
“Not really, no. My mom married his dad. They were only married for a year before…” Webster trailed off. “That’s not important. What’s important is that my stepbrother, Cyrus, is housed at CSD. He’s been there for a very long time.”
“And that’s a bad thing?” Linc asked.
Chao was doodling on her legal pad, but Webster had no doubt she heard every word he said.
“I don’t think it’s a coincidence they want to send me to the same federal facility as my long lost stepbrother.”
“Why would they want you with family?” Linc asked.
“Because they clearly don’t want me out of the way. They want me dead.”
Linc leaned forward, his voice a sandpaper whisper.