The police and the Krewe would be handling it as a joint investigation. Because of her key role in the operation, Jordan found herself at headquarters as it neared midnight, waiting for Jackson to finish his questioning of Marie Donnell.
Both the young woman and the man who had been in the room where Jordan had come upon Patrick were in the hospital. The woman was doing well. The EMTs had been impressed with Patrick’s makeshift tourniquet, telling him that he might have saved her life.
The man with blown-off fingers had suffered a seizure and had been put into a medically induced coma.
A day that had begun with a pleasant poolside breakfast had turned into hell—but a hell that she had to admit had been better because of Alfie. And Patrick. She was alive—and so were so many victims.
That meant it had been one hell of a good day.
Patrick Law had remained at the warehouse while she, Jackson, and a few other Krewe agents had headed to headquarters, along with a select group of captives.
Jackson had been determined to get at Marie Donnell. She was capable of appearing demure and frightened. He knew better, and Detective Flannery agreed that Jackson just might get something out of her, using his “Krewe magic,” as Flannery called it.
Donnell hadn’t demanded an attorney, but she’d refused to back down on her claim she’d been held captive as well. She kept crying and asking for food and drink, which was provided to her.
Jordan was in Angela’s office, where Jackson’s interview could be watched on the computer screen via the conference room’s camera as Jackson brought in another cup of coffee for Marie. Angela sometimes questioned people, but she usually kept to her office for observation. Angela was glad to have Jordan with her, as many of the agents involved were still working with other departments. “Two eyes are always better than one—wait, I mean two sets of eyes.”
But as they prepared to sit and watch Jackson try again, there was a tap at the door.
It was Patrick Law.
Jordan was surprised when Angela greeted him warmly; she hadn’t thought Patrick Law had been that involved with the Krewe other than having been there on the day Jordan had set herself up to be taken by one of the “Embracers.” And he had been at the gun range when part of the last case had gone down.
Patrick was a psychiatrist, after all. That meant he typically dealt with criminals after the fact, or possibly in figuring just how far their criminal acts had taken them.
He glanced at her and nodded. She found herself wondering how he’d been so quick to figure out the man in the room with them had a second weapon.
She didn’t know why she was feeling so resentful. Patrick Law had saved her life—possibly twice. But he had all but chastised her as if she’d somehow messed up. Yes, she had been in a bad position. And the outcome could have easily been worse. But she’d had no choice, really; once they’d been brought into the warehouse, her chances to escape would have been nil.
“Thanks for joining us,” Angela said to Patrick. “You just might see what we don’t. Draw up that last chair, if you don’t mind.”
Patrick grabbed a chair that was uncomfortably close to Jordan’s. He didn’t seem to notice. His attention was on the screen.
Jackson had taken a seat across from Marie. He waited as she sipped her coffee and then said, “Marie, help us, and we can help you. There’s no way that you were one of the captives; you are impeccably dressed, and you were trying to slink away—”
“I knew you would think I was guilty,” the woman cried. “Those horrible people! They might have known about my past, too. I was at the library, and when I left, they just swept me up.”
“Marie, you’re going to go down—just how far is what’s up in the air,” Jackson said calmly.
She shook her head. “You need evidence in court. You don’t have a shred of evidence against me.”
“I’m sure we’ll find lots of shreds as we finish tearing apart the warehouse,” Jackson said. “And talking to some of the captives.”
“I was a captive!”
“Really? Like I said, it will be curious to know what the young women and men being held there will have to say.”
“I—They’re all liars! I was treated better than others. They will hate me for that and lie about me!”
Jackson smiled at her. He opened a folder he had in front of him, and produced a sketch done by Maisie Nicholson, one of the Krewe’s amazing sketch artists.
“Who is this?”
“I haven’t the faintest idea. It’s a sketch,” Marie said.
“You’ve never seen this man? I hear his name is John Smith.”
Marie looked at Jackson. “I don’t know a John Smith. And I don’t know this man.”
“Well, I guess it’s time you got your attorney,” he told her. He rose.
She did the same. “No! You’ve got to let me go!”
Jackson walked out of the room. Marie continued to rant and rave as he did so.
“She’s lying,” Patrick said, looking at Angela. “Of course, we all know that. But there’s something more going on. Her mind is a mess, and I’d guess fear is the reason for it. She’s afraid to talk—and she’s terrified of being locked up. She’s got a special reason for wanting to get out of here and not be incarcerated.”
“What is it?” Angela asked.
“Like I said, she’s afraid.”
“I’d be afraid of prison,” Angela said.
Patrick shook his head, his eyes intense as he said grimly, “She’s afraid of being killed once she’s in prison. I believe there’s more than that, though. I think Alfie may be right; there’s a major connection here.”
“To John Smith, yes. We’ve been questioning Ayers, looking high and low for more connections between guards and prisoners and attorneys.”
“Well, whether it’s Ayers or not, there is someone at the top who is protected by use of threats against the family members of those working for him. I think he’s been running major criminal rings, including the burial murders that were stopped recently. We keep thinking Rory Ayers is manipulating everything from behind bars, but we don’t know how. A lot of the people who died today knew what was coming. Because the big boss is afraid someone will talk, and his minions know if they don’t die, someone else will.”
Angela nodded gravely. The door opened and Jackson entered. Angela asked Patrick to relay everything to Jackson.
“They’ll hold her in a federal facility in isolation,” Jackson said.