“You are too young to have been placed in the program when Sally was.”
“Jessica.”
“To me she will always be Sally Fontaine.”
“Whatever floats your boat,” replied Julie curtly.
“Her father was able to reach her through Witness Protection. Whether she is still in the program or that was merely a conduit to deliver a message to her, wherever she is now, I do not know.”
“Well, neither do I,” said Julie.
“I think that you’re lying.”
“Think what you want.”
“I will ask my questions and if I receive no answers I will have to ask more persuasively. It will not be pleasant for you, but if I have no choice…?”
Dikes clapped his hands together. The door opened at once. The person now in the doorway must have been waiting there for this command, Julie thought.
He was huge, but his uniform fit him. Apparently, Dikes’s group had more money to spend on uniforms than the Alabama correctional system did.
The prison guard Albert stared down at her. In one hand he held a fireplace poker, which was glowing red at one end. In his other hand was a whip that looked well used.
Dikes said, “This is my chief interrogator. I will allow him to take charge of you for a while, unless there is something you wished to tell me.”
Julie looked from Albert and his poker back to Dikes.
“What do you want to know?” she said fearfully.
“What I want to know is everything.”
Julie said, “Then I’ll tell you what I know.”
Chapter
42
I WANT TO TALK TO her,” said Reel.
“No, I don’t think so,” said Dikes.
“Then you can forget it. Knowing you like I do, she’s probably already dead. And so I’m not putting myself or Laura in danger if she is.”
“You are so tiresome,” said Dikes with an exaggerated sigh. “It was one of your least attractive features.”
“I want to talk to her. Now!”
A few moments later Reel heard Julie’s voice.
“I’m okay,” Julie said.
“I’m so sorry about all this, Julie. Have they hurt you?”
“Nothing I can’t handle. And they’re standing right next to me in case I say something wrong.”
“I know. I just want you to know that things will turn out okay, Julie. No matter what happens, you’re going to be safe, okay?”
“Okay,” Julie said in a small voice.
Reel heard a gasp from Julie, and Dikes said, “All right, you’ve confirmed that she’s just fine.”
“And she better remain that way,” warned Reel.
“You are in no position to make demands. And don’t attempt to employ your U.S. Marshal friends in WITSEC.”
“What?”
“Your little friend told me all about you. That you’re still in WITSEC. And that you are engaged to marry her guardian, Jerome, who is a very rich man.”
“You bastard,” snarled Reel. “Did you torture her to get her to tell you that?”
“The mere threat was enough. She’s only a child. A precocious one, but still only a child. And she apparently lives in a fantasy world. She tried to feed me a cock-and-bull story about her being kidnapped by a Saudi prince, as if I’d believe that. But the mere sight of my, uh, chief interrogator, and she confessed all. It was rather pathetic.”
“She’s just a kid, Leon,” barked Reel.
“Then she should act her age rather than wasting my time with stupid stories. And she also informed me about your friend, Mr. Robie. Or should I say Marshal Robie? Do not think of bringing him along. We will be able to see you coming from a long way off. And all you’ll find when you get here is Julie’s body.”
“How do you want to do this, then?”
“Did you contact Laura?”
“I wouldn’t be talking to you unless I had,” retorted Reel.
“She will come with you. No tracking devices. No weapons. I recall that you were adept with a knife.”
“Where am I going?”
“You mean where are you and Laura going,” corrected Dikes.
“Just tell me, Leon.”
“Don’t let your nerves run away with you, Sally. It’s unbecoming. How you were able to keep them in check when you were so young, I can’t imagine. Luck, like I said before.”
“Give me the instructions,” Reel said flatly.
They were elaborate and well thought out, she had to admit.
They would first take a commercial aircraft to Atlanta and then a puddle jumper to Tuscaloosa. There they would board a Greyhound bus that would take them to an even smaller town. A car would be waiting in a parking lot next to the only grocery store in the town. The keys would be on the front seat. Directions going forward would be in the glove compartment. They would drive to a prearranged spot and they would be picked up from there. After that they would be driven to their final destination.