The Darkness of Evil (Karen Vail #7)(52)
Nathan’s left eye twitched—but he apparently calmed his anger and did not make trouble. He trudged off and retrieved the articles of clothing.
Marcks took them and slipped one over Cassie’s head, covering her eyes. He stepped over to Nathan and held out his left hand. “Car keys. What do you drive?”
“Mercedes.”
“That’ll do.”
Nathan hesitated, then pulled them from his pocket and gave them to Marcks, who turned to Victoria.
“Seems kind of weird for me to say this, but thank you for following the rules, Vicky. Have a seat at the other end of the kitchen table.”
Marcks secured her just like he had done with Cassie—except that for her, he stuffed a rag in her mouth before sealing her lips with duct tape. He pulled the second hat over her head and, as with Cassie, brought it down to the level of the bridge of her nose.
“When does your cleaning person come?”
Nathan recoiled. “How do you—”
“By now you’ve gotta know I’m not some dumbshit criminal. Somebody with your kind of money doesn’t clean his own toilets and mop the floors. Just answer the question.”
“Wednesdays. Around noon.”
Marcks absorbed that, thought a moment. The timing would work. He would be far enough away when the maid would discover her subdued boss. “Give me your cell phone.”
Nathan fished it out of his jacket pocket, but before Marcks took it, he said, “Call your office and tell them you’ve got a stomach flu and you won’t be in for a few days. Make it convincing.”
When he finished, Marcks took the mobile from Nathan and switched it off, dropped it to the tile floor and smashed it with his heel. He then did the same to Victoria’s.
He picked up the last wool hat and duct tape and turned to Nathan. “It’s just you and me. Let’s go.”
“Go? I thought you were just gonna leave us alone. We did everything you asked!”
“Calm down, Nathan. I don’t want to have to make you relax. Because I will.”
“No. I’ve had enough. You want my car? Fine, take it. You want my watch? Take that too. But just leave—”
Nathan never saw it coming. The first punch struck him in the abdomen and the second fractured his left cheekbone.
Victoria and Cassie could not see what was happening but they could undoubtedly hear—and their imaginations filled in the rest. While their muffled cries expressed their emotions, they did nothing to reverse Nathan’s fortunes.
Marcks hoisted Nathan over his shoulder and strode out to the Mercedes, chirped the remote, and was on the road thirty seconds later.
26
Vail and Ramos pulled into the Potter Correctional Facility parking lot at 6:00 PM. After securing their firearms they were led to the warden’s office. Jimmy Barfield was sharing a laugh with an officer when Vail and Ramos were led in.
“Warden,” Vail said with a nod.
The guard—doing his best to stifle his cackling—vacated the lone guest chair and made his way out of the small room.
Vail and Ramos remained standing, sending the message that they were there on business.
“You know,” Barfield said, “when I told you to come on back real soon, I didn’t really mean it. Figure of speech.”
“Last time I was here, Roscoe Lee Marcks was still under lock and key. I was worried about his daughter, not him breaking out.” Nice work.
“Well, things change. That’s life, Agent Vail.”
“Anything we should know about since he escaped?”
“Been fairly quiet. Any progress in your investigation?”
“Some things, yes. But we’re not anywhere close to finding Marcks.”
“Which is why we’re here,” Ramos said.
“I was wondering about that, Agent Ramos. I really don’t see the need for you to interview my entire staff.”
“We’re not interviewing your entire staff. Not tonight, at least. But we will. Including you. If fact, I now have an opening in my schedule tomorrow. So how ’bout you put me down for 11:00 AM.”
I like this guy.
Barfield ground his jaw. “I can do that.”
“We’ll hit the other executive staff every thirty minutes after that. Please see that it gets done.”
Barfield’s eyes narrowed.
“Meantime,” Vail said, “we’re ready to sit down with Officer Kubiak.”
“And what’s that about?”
“That’s between us and Officer Kubiak.”
“I’m the warden of this institution,” Barfield said. “And—”
“And that counts for shit when we’re talking about a federal manhunt for a fugitive who’s already killed two people since his escape. Which—in case you hadn’t noticed—happened under your watch.”
Barfield’s face shaded the color of blood. “Yeah, well, Kubiak’s not available to talk to you.”
Vail stepped closer to Barfield’s desk. “And why’s that, Warden?”
“Because I sent him away.”
“Where, exactly?”
“That’s for me to worry about.” He stood up and hiked his pants. “Understand something, Agent Vail. I’m the boss here. If there’s something you want to know, you go through me.”