pause, then, “I asked Rafer in the hospital, and he said he didn’t know, said he was going to report it stolen.”
“And you know nothing about it?”
“Of course not. You know, Rafer’s lawyer, Mr. Jobs, said you couldn’t hold Rafer, said he was going to file for habeas corpus. Rafer’s going to leave the hospital today.”
Griffin knew this. Mr. Jobs had already called him, pointed out there was no evidence, presented him with a release warrant, so Griffin had agreed to his staying with his parents when he left the hospital. And he was to stay there until further notice. Mr. Jobs had grumbled, but finally agreed.
Bodine said, “Rafer didn’t do anything, neither did anyone else in my town.”
Why not lay it out? Griffin said, “Let me add I’ve met his mother, Cyndia Bodine. She’s a person of interest, along with her son and your brother. Tell me, Sheriff, did you call her or your brother at Rafer’s house before you brought Dr. DeSilva and me in? Did one of them tell you to remove the evidence? Or vice versa?”
Booker snapped back in his chair, his face flooded with furious color. “No, I didn’t call her! I didn’t call anyone!”
Griffin studied him a moment, knew he’d never get the truth out of him. He rose as he said, “Be here tomorrow morning, Sheriff.”
“Tomorrow’s Saturday.”
“You’re right. So not too early, say eight o’clock?”
After Booker marched stiffly out of his own office, Griffin sat back down, took stock. Then he picked up his cell to make sure Quint Bodine was at the bank and not at home with his son. Then he called Carson. “You said you needed to call your boss. What did Aquino have to say?”
“He thinks there’s a great story here, and I can stay as long as I wish, just so I bring home the goods.”
“I’ll make sure the goods happen. Be ready in ten minutes. You and I are going to visit with Rafer’s daddy at his bank, the grand pooh-bah himself, Quint Bodine.”
He opened his cell phone to the files Savich had given him about Quint Bodine and started reading.
When Carson stepped into Booker Bodine’s office, Fayreen’s laser glare nearly searing her back, Griffin looked up. “I called Slick and DeAndre. Rafer already left the hospital. I told them to go back to Richmond, I’d holler loud if I ran into trouble.”
Carson couldn’t believe it. “He’s out of the hospital? Not coming here to jail? But—but—Griffin, he kidnapped me!”
“I know. But I’m thinking his being free might work to our advantage. You ready to go see Quint?”
46
* * *
ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA
WAREHOUSE DISTRICT
FRIDAY MORNING
Justice Cummings woke up to humming—soft, soothing, close by. He opened an eye to see a man with a towel around his head sitting cross-legged next to him. He smelled ripe.
The man stopped humming, leaned in close to study Justice’s face. He said, “I’m Dougie.” He straightened his towel and smiled down at him. Justice saw the towel was more gray than white, MARRIOTT emblazoned on it. Justice eyed the grizzled man, who could have been fifty or eighty, impossible to tell. He wore a dirty Hawaiian shirt and pants once green, now more like stale guacamole. And that weathered Marriott towel. He had surprisingly beautiful white teeth.
“Hummer will be back with some more antibiotic cream for your leg and nose. If you don’t know, your nose is offline, but I’ll tell you, boy, when the swelling and bruising go down, it’ll make you look tougher, less like a nerd.”
“But I am a nerd,” Justice said, and sucked in his breath when a mountain of pain slammed into his leg.
“A nerd’s okay. I knew a nerd, a long time ago, maybe ten years, I dunno. Hummer left me aspirin to give you. All I got is Wild Turkey to wash it down. Here you go.”
Justice didn’t care if Dougie was giving him arsenic. He opened his mouth, felt his stomach lining burn off when the Wild Turkey hit it. He wheezed and coughed and Dougie laughed. “I guess you gotta get accustomed to it,” he said, and drank down the rest of the bottle without stopping. He wiped his hand over his mouth. “Oh yeah, Hummer’s going to bring you back some bottled water. I told him booze cures anything, but he said since you’re hurt, you need the water to keep you hy-drated.”
“Dougie?”
“That’s me.”
“My name is Justice. How did I get here?”
“You’ve been kind of out of it since Hummer found you huddled in