Bunny stared across the desk at his lawyer. “Are you drunk?”
The man now had three-day-old stubble and looked as if he’d spent the twenty-four hours since they’d spoken having tequila fired at him from a high-powered hose. It would certainly explain the stench. He also had what looked like the beginnings of a black eye.
“Drunk?” slurred Gold, all outrage. “How fucking dare you! I am a lawyer in good standing in this state. I was in an important meeting, until some crazy, one-eyed nun turns up, drags me off my stool and says I have to come back here and talk to your smelly ass again. I got stuff to do, y’know?”
Earlier that morning, Bunny had written “lawyer” in the air with his finger a couple of times. Thankfully, whoever had been monitoring the cameras had caught it.
“I need to talk to—”
“I know. I know,” said Gold. “And to be clear, this is the last” – he hiccupped loudly and Bunny detected a distinct waft of nachos mixed in with the booze – “last friggin’ time. I’m a busy man. So what if I got a couple of old ladies to sign over some stuff that—” He stopped, and looked around, alarmed, before jabbing a finger at Bunny. “The point is, I’m not the one on trial here. It was a simple misunderstanding and I resent being held over a barrel because of it.”
Bunny ran a hand through his beard. “Can I talk to—”
“Alright, alright,” said Gold, as he started to fiddle with his hearing aids and began talking to himself. “Turning off this one and, hang on – pressing that button …” He clicked his fingers around his head a couple of times and then nodded. “Alright, go!”
Bunny covered his lips. “Can you hear me?”
“She says yes.”
“I made contact. I had a grand chat, just the three of us – me, Carlos and Mr Pie.”
“She says, ‘Who is Mr Pie?’”
“His teddy bear.”
Gold turned his head slightly. “I presume you don’t want me to actually say … Oh, you do.” He looked up at Bunny. “She asks – ‘What the fuck?’”
“Yeah,” said Bunny, as Gold quickly remembered himself and went back to staring at the table. “That was my question too. The lad has learning difficulties or … Ara, I don’t know the correct terms, but he’s like a child. I don’t know if he was always that way, or if being left with nobody to talk to for three years has driven him gaga, but whatever he is he isn’t any kind of killer. I’d stake my life on it. I don’t understand how the poor lad is even in prison, or why the hell someone is going to all this trouble to bust him out.”
Gold nodded and looked as if he were listening. “Alright, hang on. Let me just … OK. She says the guy was charged with conspiracy to commit murder and he pleaded no contest. According to the records, his lawyer didn’t ask for any kind of assessment to be carried out. The two guys who were with him – they’re both dead. Died in prison.”
Bunny raised his eyebrows. “Wait a sec, I didn’t know this. Both of them?”
“She says yes.”
Bunny slammed his fist on the table, which caused Gold to jump back. Bunny extended a hand. “Sorry. Sorry.”
“Calm down, asshole.”
“Sorry,” repeated Bunny. “This makes no sense at all.”
Gold looked down at his hands and listened. “OK. She says that none of this changes the objective. She says … Oh, for Christ’s sake. What happened to talking in code?” He shook his head angrily. “She says, ‘Can you still get him out?’ Which, for the record, I don’t know what she is referring to. Ah, who am I kidding, anyone has a recording of this and I’m sharing a cell with this butt-munch.”
“I think so,” said Bunny. “But I need you to get me an eye.”
“She says, ‘What?’”
“His teddy bear is missing an eye. He’s scared. Doesn’t know if I’m someone he can trust. I need to get an eye, stick it on his bear and then, y’know, he’ll hopefully trust me.”
“She says, ‘Can you not just explain to him that you are getting him out?’”
Bunny took a deep breath. He could feel his temper rising. “The lad has the mind of a child and he’s been told not to talk to strangers. Literally. I’m telling you, stupid as it sounds, we need to do this.”
There was silence for about a minute. Bunny touched Gold on the hand and the lawyer looked up at him.
“Don’t blame me, dude. They’re talking amongst themselves.” Gold paused. “Can I ask? That fight you were in yesterday – did they mess up your eye?”
Bunny shook his head. “Always been that way.”
Gold shrugged. “Oh. OK.” He held his hand to his ear. “They’re back. She says, ‘Go to the place the fight happened tomorrow afternoon at two … and something will fall from the sky.’”
“OK,” said Bunny, who knew what that meant.
“And she says there will be an earpiece. Only enough battery for four hours. Don’t put it in until you see the light under the camera flash three times.”
“Right,” said Bunny. “Does this mean I’m not going to have to sit here while this wino breathes over me any more?”
“She says, ‘Yes, that is the case.’”
“Hallelujah!” said Bunny. “Now, how’s the escape plan coming?”
“She says it’s progressing well.”
“I’m going to need more than that.”
“She says, ‘We can’t tell him—’” Gold stopped and looked annoyed. “For Christ’s sake, what have we talked about? Mute the damn mic.” Gold paused again. “She says that they’ve still got a couple of things to figure out, but they’re making progress.” He laughed. “I smell bullshit.”
Gold leaned back on his chair and stared up at the ceiling. “Look, lady, I’m done. I’ve got a splitting headache and this one-time thing for you to forget my teeny-tiny mistake has already become a two-time thing. You’ve had your time. I’m out of here.” He reached his hand
