“Meet ya at the hospital. He’s in room 223.”
***
Holt is cuffed to a hospital bed with a bandage over his leg. Compliments of me. His eyes become like a deer in the headlights. “No! You get that psycho away from me. She tortured me last night.”
Munroe crosses her arms. “Mr. Holt, I am Special Agent Munroe with the FBI. We are charging you with the murder of Colonel Jane Barret and the attempted murder of a Federal officer and a Florida Law Enforcement Officer.”
He scoffs and shakes his head. “Do what you gotta do. I’m not cooperating with you, bitches.”
“Aw, what happened, Jacob? You were so friendly last night. I mean, I thought we really bonded.”
“Because you tortured me and threaten to force-feed me drain cleaner, you crazy fucking bitch.”
Munroe’s chin lowers, nearly resting on her chest. “Mr. Holt, you tried to kill a police officer in her home last night. Your little fairytale is not gonna play. It will be her word against yours. I think the DA will side with a veteran officer over her assassin. The smart play would be to cooperate with us, and we get you in WITSEC and a possible reduced sentence.”
I step forward, stuffing my hands in my coat pocket. “Or we could just throw you in county lockup where you can hope your people don’t have anyone on the inside.”
He lets out a sarcastic laugh. “You can’t protect me from them. You couldn’t even protect Colonel Barret.”
Munroe points her index finger at him. “I’ll tell you what, hoss. Your only two choices are WITSEC or life in prison. Being’s you’re going to be charged in Florida, I’d say you’re looking at Lethal Injection. And that’s if your friends don’t kill you first.”
He lowers his head, weighing his options. “If I help you, what’re the perks?”
“You play ball with us, and we will try to keep life in prison and death row off the table.”
“Not really giving me much incentive to cooperate.”
“Hey! I snap. “Turn us down and see what kind of deals you get. Best case scenario: reduced sentence. Worst case: death row or life in prison. You best give us an answer in sixty seconds, or your lifeline walks out that door.”
“Fuck it! I’m dead anyway. I may as well drag the bastards down with me.”
I smirk. “That’s the spirit, jarhead.”
He glances at me with a raised eyebrow. “You military?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, you’re not a Marine, and you’re too rough around the edges to be Airforce, but not rough enough to be in the Corps. I’m not getting a sea hag vibe from ya, so that rules out Navy. I’m gonna go with Army.”
“Yep.”
“What was your MOS?”
“CID.”
“Pfft. Figures.”
“Mr. Holt, we’re going to call up the DA and see what kind of deal we can make,” Munroe says.
A short raven-haired Asian nurse greets us with a nod as we leave Holt’s room. Her name tag on her uniform reads, Yuriko Oyama. I glance over at Munroe. “Do you really think the DA will go for this?”
She stops at a coffee machine in the lounge. “This is a post 9/11 America, and considering the rise in mass shootings and cop killings lately, I doubt it.” She wraps her lips over the edge of the cup, sipping her coffee. “Personally, I think the best deal he’s going to get is life in prison.”
“Not much of a deal. I’d rather have someone flip my off switch than spend it rotting in prison.” I drop four quarters into the machine and fill the paper cup up with coffee. “Holt isn’t going to go along with life in prison in exchange for his cooperation. He’s gonna turn to stone and shut us out.”
“I know.”
“So, if you knew that, then what the hell?”
“It was a bluff, Lobos.”
“I see, and how do you expect the DA to go along with this scam?”
“I think she’ll go along with this plan quicker than the deal we offered him.”
I lean on the vending machine turning my head to the side. “Just so I understand this, your idea is to have the DA draw up a legal document and have Holt sign it under false pretenses, and then she is going to shred any evidence of the document?”
“Yes. The DA and I discussed this yesterday.”
“This is not right, Munroe. In fact, it’s illegal.”
“Do you want to stop these assholes or not?”
“Hell, yes I want to stop them! But not by turning myself into the corrupt pieces of shit we’re trying to stop.”
“My God, Lobos! She snaps her fingers in my face. “Will you wake the hell up? You have to fight dirty to get assholes like this.”
I shake my head. “Wrong. It’s you who needs to wake up and realize this is the first step to becoming the people we’re going after. Don’t sell integrity down the river.”
“Wow. Just fucking wow!” You of all people are going to get all holier than thou? Let’s talk about how you stopped that kiddy rapist, how he ended up shot several times at that playground after you were ordered to stand down.”
“That was a totally different situation that asshole was guilty as sin, and I busted him in the act when I tailed him. When I caught him, he drew on me, and I filled him full of coffin nails.” I shove my finger in her face. “What you and the DA are doing is blatantly corrupt and no different then what the CIA and that bitch Barret forced me to do.”
“Damn, I never thought you were such a girl scout.”
“I’m not a girl scout, and I know the difference between playing dirty and just fucking corrupt.” I set my unfinished coffee on the table. “You know what? I’m outta here
