Part 9 (2/2)
”That's all well and good,” the agent in the back said, ”but we don't exactly have time to console the community right now.”
”I couldn't care less about the community,” Jade said. ”Atlasia's a megalomaniac. Nothing would be more attractive to him than a big group of people talking about him. Admittedly, it's a long shot-he's on the run and he doesn't have a base yet-but it's worth a try to see if we can lure him in.
”Second, I want my face all over the press. As fast and as much as possible.”
”What was that about megalomania, Marlow?” Travers asked.
Jade ignored her and continued. ”I need to be painted as a supercop. The best of the best. It shouldn't be too hard. Throw my record around, my credentials. I want to challenge him to contact me. We have to feed him all the information. I want my house on the news, my address, my phone number. No, scratch that. No phone number-I don't want any weeping mothers calling me. I'll leave it listed. But I want my location advertised.”
”You have a death wish, Marlow?” the agent next to Jade asked.
” 'Want,' ” Jade replied. ”I prefer 'death want.' ”
”How the h.e.l.l are we gonna get press to comply?” McGuire asked.
”I don't know. That's your job. Why don't you run a check and see if any TV field reporters have fathers or relatives on the force? Press tend to be independent, so if we want someone to cooperate, we gotta cross their loyalties or trade an exclusive.”
McGuire scribbled notes furiously. He finally stopped and looked up. ”That it?” he asked.
”Badge. Where's my badge?” Jade asked.
Travers set her briefcase on the table and snapped the locks open. She pulled out a badge and looked at it. Sighing deeply, she slid it down the long table to Jade, who caught it as it flew off the end.
Jade checked it. His full name, ”temporary” nowhere in sight. He slid it into his back pocket, where it bulged uncomfortably.
McGuire stood to leave.
”His parents live in San Jose. Have you set up twenty-four-hour surveillance on them?” Jade asked.
”The minute we heard about the break,” Travers said. McGuire sat back down. ”But we'd like you to go down and talk to them.”
”Obviously. I'll go later. I'm heading to the Tower after this meeting.”
”Well, we'll certainly miss your company at lunch. Mr. Marlow, you have-”
”Excuse me. It's ex-Agent Marlow.”
”Oh for f.u.c.k's sake!” McGuire yelled, pivoting around in his chair. ”You two stop it. We don't have time for this s.h.i.+t. See them tomorrow. I thought Trav-”
”Thanks, I'll go alone,” Jade interrupted.
After a moment of icy silence, Travers continued. ”Mr. Marlow, you have the ma.n.u.scripts and tapes from the prison's psychiatric department to study. Unfortunately, we can't get access to reports from any private psychologists Atlasia may have seen before he was imprisoned.”
”We'll see about that,” Jade said.
”Did he have any relations.h.i.+ps with other prisoners who may currently be free?” Fredericks asked.
”None of any significance,” Travers and Jade replied at the same time. They glanced at each other.
Travers continued, ”There are very few prisoners who have received parole from the kinds of jails Atlasia has been in for the last six years. The few who have been paroled didn't overlap with him very much at all.”
Jade paused and ran his thumb across his bottom lip. ”This kid's a reject. He had no visitors at Maingate or at the two jails before that. No friends, no family, nothing. He spent half his time in solitary. Clearly, he doesn't like people much.”
”Funny, ex-Agent Marlow,” Travers said, ”that's just what some people would say about you.”
21.
T H E first briefing had gone well, Jade thought. The agents seemed willing to give him access to the materials he needed. In the past, whenever they'd hired him, the FBI had tried to exert control, but evidently he had earned their trust.
For much of the ride to Maingate, Jade thought about Agent Travers. He found her severity amusing, and once he got out on the highway, he actually laughed out loud. His laugh came in three descendent atonal notes. He didn't laugh much, but when he did, it was always the same. Travers had a quick mouth and a caustic wit that rivaled his own. And clearly, she could get extremely p.i.s.sed off in a hurry. A few times, Jade had seen her clamp down her teeth to hold her temper inside.
Maingate was in disarray when he arrived. Men with equipment ran back and forth through the front gates, barking instructions. Trucks drove down to the sh.o.r.e where there were several large cranes. Two guards armed with Win Mag .300s paced the top of a small guard tower. Extra prison-security officers oversaw the operations, their bright-blue jackets standing out against the colorless prison.
Jade glanced at the Tower and saw men scurrying over it like ants. A black security guard ran by him, yelling into his walkie-talkie. Jade reached out and touched him softly on the arm.
”What?” he asked.
”I'm looking for Walker Banks.”
”That's good to know.”
”I'm Jade Marlow.”
”Oh s.h.i.+t. d.a.m.n. Sorry. Warden's tied up right now on the Tower. We'll have to run you out on a boat.”
Four more security guards walked by briskly, their sleeves whistling against their sides. ”What's all the panic?” Jade asked.
”Looks like we're evacuating the prisoners. Too much activity. Trucks and equipment all coming and going.”
Two white buses with thick bars across the windows pulled in. ”Looks like a big operation,” Jade said. ”You moving 'em in small groups?”
The guard smiled. ”Just ten at a time. We got over two hundred men to clear out of here. Not exactly juvenile delinquents, either. It's a big job.” He looked over at Jade. ”Even for you, I'd imagine.”
”I'd imagine,” Jade said dryly.
A sudden blast sent Jade into an instinctive crouch, his pistol drawn and at the ready.
”Hey, relax, man,” the guard said. ”They're just blasting out some of the rock to get the cranes through.”
The ride out to the Tower was b.u.mpier than Jade had thought it would be. The speedboat flicked over the water's surface like a skipped rock, and by the time they reached the ladder leading up the Tower, his clothes were soaked.
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