Lifeguard - James Patterson [66]
Liz wasn’t Gachet. Stratton had twisted this, set her up. He had maneuvered the whole thing. And they were buying it!
“Actually, there’s only one question we still have for you,” Lawson said, leaning in close.
“What the hell happened to the art?”
Chapter 80
I WAS BROUGHT BEFORE a judge and charged with burglary, resisting arrest, and interstate flight.
For once, they got the charges right. I was guilty of all three.
The public defender they assigned me advised me to plead not guilty, which I did, until I figured I could call Uncle George in Watertown and have him get me one of his fancy lawyers, as he had offered. I sure needed one now.
They set my bail at $500,000.
“Can the defendant post bail?” The judge looked down from the bench.
“No, Your Honor, I can’t.” So they took me back to my cell.
I stared at the cold, concrete walls, thinking this was going to be the first day of many like it.
“Ned.”
I heard a familiar voice from outside. I shot up on my cot.
It was Ellie.
She looked so good, in a cute print skirt and a short linen jacket. I ran over to the bars. I just wanted to touch her. But I felt so ashamed in my orange jumpsuit, on the wrong side of the bars. I don’t know, but that might have been the most depressing moment of all.
“It’s going to be all right, Ned.” Ellie tried to look upbeat. “You’re going to answer all their questions. Tell them everything, Ned. I promise, I’ll see what we can do.”
“They think it was Liz, Ellie,” I said, shaking my head. “They think she was Gachet. That she set everything up, with her bodyguard. The art . . . They got it all wrong.”
“I know.” Ellie swallowed hard, clenching her jaw.
“He’s gonna get away with murder,” I said.
“No—” she shook her head—“he’s not. Listen, though. Cooperate. Be smart, okay?”
“That would be a shift.” I gave her my best self-effacing smile. I searched her eyes. “So, hey, how’s it going for you?”
Ellie shrugged. “You made me a big hero, Ned. The press is all over me.”
She put her hand next to mine on the bar and glanced down the hall to see if anyone was watching. Then she wrapped her little finger around mine.
“I feel pretty ashamed, in here like this. Just like my father. I guess everything’s changed.”
“Nothing’s changed, Ned.” Ellie shook her head.
I nodded. I was a felon, about to plead guilty and go to prison. And she was an agent for the FBI. Nothing’s changed. . . .
“I want you to know something. . . .” Her eyes were glistening.
“What’s that?”
“I’m going to get him for you, Ned. I promise. For your friends. For your brother. You can count on it, Ned.”
“Thanks,” I whispered. “They put my bail at five hundred thousand dollars. Guess I’m gonna be in here for a while.”
“At least there’s one good thing that can come out of this. . . .”
“Yeah, what’s that?”
She smiled coyly. “You can go back to being blond.” That got me to smile, too. I looked in Ellie’s eyes. God, I wanted to hug her. She squeezed my hand once more and gave me a wink. “So, I’ll have Champ crash through the wall at, say, 10:05?”
I laughed.
“Take it easy, Ned.” Ellie brushed her thumb tenderly against my hand. She started to back away. “I’ll see you. Before you even know.”
“You know where to find me.”
She stopped. “I meant what I said, Ned.” She looked me in the eye.
“About Stratton?”
“About all those things, Ned. About you.”
She gave a one-fingered wave and backed down the corridor. I sat back and took a look around at the small, cramped place that was going to be my home for a while. A cot. A metal toilet, bolted to the floor. I was psyching myself up to spend some quality time.
Ellie had been gone for only a couple of minutes when the heavy black cop appeared in front of the cell again. He inserted a key.
“The spa, right?” I pulled myself up. Guess they weren’t done with me yet.
“Not this time,” he laughed. “You just made bail.”
Chapter 81
THEY LED ME to the Intake Center and handed back my clothes and my wallet. I signed a couple of forms and looked beyond the desk to the