“Good girl,” he said, and offered the only smile she was liable to see. “Tight on my six; humble fucking pie.”
* * *
She did as he asked and wasn’t surprised that they made it unseen. They’d come in low and from the side. The action would be at the sergeant’s desk near the front of the building and in the detective squad upstairs. The holding area would be a dead zone this late, and they were counting on that. Rounding a final corner, they saw a single guard at a desk near the heavy, steel door. He looked up, and James waved an easy hand. “Matthew Matheny. How’s it hanging?”
Matheny crossed his arms, looked at Elizabeth. “What’s going on, James?”
“Why don’t you catch a smoke?”
“Are you asking or telling?”
“I don’t tell you what to do. Come on.”
Matheny looked at Elizabeth, his skin washed out in the fluorescent light. Like James, he was in his fifties and bald. Unlike James, he was thin and stooped, a mean-eyed man who, every day, seemed to hate his life a little bit more. “You know who’s in there, right? Public enemy number one.” Matheny pointed. “She may as well be public enemy number two. That makes this a big goddamn favor.”
“The lady just wants a word. That’s all.”
“Why?”
“What does it matter? It’s a word, an exchange of syllables. It’s not like we’re walking him out of here. Don’t be such a girl.”
“Why do you always do that? I don’t like it, James. I never have.”
“Do what? I’m not doing anything.”
Matheny stared at Liz, doing the math. “If I say yes, we’re even. I don’t want to hear about the day ever again. It’s done. Even if Dyer himself walks in here and finds her. We’re even forever.”
“Done. Fine.”
“I can give you two minutes.”
“She wants five.”
“I’ll give you three.” Matheny stood. “He’s in the lockdown cell. All the way down on the right.”
“Why is he in lockdown?” Elizabeth asked.
“Why?” Matheny dropped keys on the desk. “Because fuck him, that’s why.”
When he was gone, she raised an eyebrow at James Randolph, who shrugged. “It’s a pretty common sentiment around here.”
“So, why is he helping us?”
“Matthew shot me on a quail hunt when we were kids. I tend to remind him about it from time to time. It irks him.”
“But, a lockdown cell…”
“I bought you an extra minute.” James unlocked the big door. “Don’t make me come in there after you.”
* * *
Elizabeth stepped into the hall, saw big cages on the right and left, the blank door of the lockdown cell at the far end. She moved deeper, and the hall darkened as old fluorescents flickered and snapped and made her uncomfortable. The place felt too much like prison, and prison, for her, was becoming a little too real. Low ceilings. Sweaty metal. She kept her eyes on the lockdown cell, which butted against the end wall. A grim affair, it had a solid-steel door, and an eight-inch cutout at face height. It was reserved for junkies, biters, the mentally disturbed. The walls and floors were padded with ancient canvas, stained with fecal matter and blood and every other possible fluid. Beyond anger, spite, and small-mindedness, no legitimate reason existed for Adrian’s confinement there.
Slipping a bolt, she opened a hinged plate and peered into the cell. For some reason she held her breath, and the silence seemed to radiate outward. No movement in the cell. No sound beyond a whisper.
It was Adrian, in the corner, on the floor. He had bare feet. No shirt. His face was tucked into knees.
“Adrian?”
The cell was dark, dim light fingering its way past Elizabeth’s head. She said his name again, and he looked up, blinking. “Who’s there?”
“It’s Liz.”
He pushed himself up. “Who’s there with you?”
“It’s just me.”
“I heard voices.”
“No.” Liz glanced down the hall. “No one else.” He shuffled closer. “Where’s your shirt? Your shoes?”
He made a vague gesture. “It’s hot in here.”
It looked it. Sweat glinted on his skin, beaded under his eyes. Parts of him seemed to be missing. The intellect. Much of his awareness. He tilted his head and sweat rolled on his face.
“Why are you here, Liz?”
“Are you okay, Adrian? Look at me.” She gave him time, and he took it. She noticed small twitches in the muscles of his shoulders, the single shudder that led to a cough. “Did something happen after they brought you in? I know it was rough, but were you