into the folders or envelopes they used as briefcases, and one by one made ready to leave.
Meantime, Marcantoni discussed his case with the volunteer, giving him a very complex story about missing witnesses and prejudiced ex-wives. The volunteer nodded through it all, listening, taking notes, and finally the three other cons left, trailing out, all of them trying to look hopeful. The door closed behind them at last, and Marcantoni reached out across the counter to grasp the volunteer’s yellow tie, yank him forward, and head-butt him so hard the volunteer slumped, eyes out of focus, and would have fallen to the floor on his side of the counter if Marcantoni hadn’t kept hold of the necktie.
Williams went over to lock the corridor door as Marcantoni and Parker pulled the volunteer up far enough on to the counter to go through his pockets, pulling out wallet, thick key ring, notepad, two pens, comb, cellphone, pocket of tissues, eyeglass cleaner cloth, and a state police ID card to put on your dashboard when illegally parked.
‘Jesus,’ the volunteer gasped, flopping draped over the counter like a fish over the gunwale, ‘what are you, what are you fellas, what can you, what can you possibl
‘
They ignored him, Parker going over the counter to see what was available on the other side, while Marcantoni kept hold of the volunteer’s tie and Williams took a quick scan through his wallet, then hunkered down close to the counter so he could look the volunteer in the eye and say, ‘Jim? You okay, Jim?’
‘What?’ Hearing his name both calmed the volunteer and focused him, so that he quit flopping around and blinked at Williams. ‘What did you say?’
Williams tapped the open wallet, showing it to the volunteer. ‘Says here you’re gonna be an organ donor, Jim,’ he said. ‘That’s a wonderful thing, I want you to know that.’
‘Yes,’ the volunteer said, still trying to catch up.
‘I mean it, Jim,’ Williams told him, while Parker went through the rear half of the library. ‘Being an organ donor’s just about the most generous thing a person can do.’
‘It’s the least,’ the volunteer said. He was still groggy, but focusing more on Williams now.
‘No, it’s the most, man,’ Williams insisted. ‘That you want to be an organ donor.’ He leaned closer, almost nose to nose with the volunteer. Low-voiced, confidential, he said, ‘But not today, Jim.’
The volunteer flinched, and Marcantoni had to yank him down again by the necktie. Wide-eyed, the volunteer stared at Williams. ‘I don’t want to die!’
‘Of course you don’t, Jim.’ Williams went on in that low, soft, confidential manner, saying, ‘These two guys I’m with, I’ve got to tell you, they’re the meanest people I ever met in my life. I come along because they asked me to, and whatever they ask me to do I’m gonna do, you know what I mean? Jim? Do you know what I mean?’
‘Yes,’ said the volunteer.
‘Now, listen, Jim,’ Williams said. ‘I made these boys promise me one thing before we started. I made them promise me no killing, unless it’s absolutely necessary. I mean, none of us have guns, and youdon’t have a gun, and any guard that comes in here, theydon’t carry guns, not in the part where the cons are.’
‘That’s right,’ the volunteer said.
‘So there won’t be any killing,’ Williams assured him, ‘there won’t even be any danger for anybody, if we all just stay calm and do it by the book. And Jim, what I mean here is theirbook. They’re gonna ask you to do a couple things pretty soon, nothing bad, nothing hard to do. Jim, I want you to promise me, you’re not gonna make me look bad. Just do what these fellas say, and you’ll be outa this mess in no time.’
The volunteer nodded. ‘I know what you’re saying,’ he said. He sounded better now.
Parker walked back toward the counter. ‘There’s a chair back here.’
‘I think Jim would like to sit awhile,’ Williams said.
‘Time,’ Marcantoni said.
‘Oh, you’re right,’ Williams said. ‘Jim, I’m not gonna steal your watch, but I would like to look at it. Could you twist your arm around here? Thanks. It’s twelve minutes to five. You gonna be okay if Tom lets go of your tie?’
‘Yes,’ said the volunteer, so Marcantoni released the tie and the volunteer slid backward off the counter until his feet were on the floor, then stood there reeling a bit, holding to the counter edge with both hands.
Williams, sounding concerned, said, ‘Your vision a little blurry, Jim?’
‘Yes.’
‘What you’ve got there,’ Williams told him, ‘you’ve got a slight concussion. Nothing serious. But when this is done, just a few minutes from now, you’ll take my advice, you go straight to your family doctor. Not the ones in the dispensary here, they’re not that good, if you want the truth. You go to your family doctor, right?’
‘Yes,’ the volunteer said.
Marcantoni said, ‘Have somebody drive you. Don’t drive yourself.’
Williams said, ‘Good thinking.’
While Parker looked around the back library area for anything useful, he listened to Williams and Marcantoni herd the volunteer. They knew how to go about it, hard and soft, a menace but not quite a mortal threat. He’d needed to find a crew in this place, and he’d found one.
Williams said, ‘Jim, whyn’t you sit down in your chair.’
The volunteer made it across the clear space from the counter to his small desk and chair, tucked away in a corner out of sight of anybody in the inmates’ area. He dropped there, both forearms on the desk, mouth slightly open.
Marcantoni was fooling with the volunteer’s cellphone. Now he said, ‘How do I get this thing to work?’
‘It doesn’t work in here,’ the volunteer told him. ‘You have to take it outside.’
