Mercy

CHAPTER 49

The Nashua Street Jail was a big brick building housing more than seven hundred pretrial detainees, Jordan among them. Jordan maintained a calm, measured demeanor as he spoke to Julie on the other side of the glass partition. He massaged his fingers repeatedly, while swiveling on his metal stool, but these were the only outward signs of his nervousness. The wound to his temple had been sutured, and the area protected by a bandage.

Julie’s heart ached for him. Seeing him here, dressed in prison orange, fueled her resolve to get him out. As Jordan had predicted, the presiding judge denied bail at Jordan’s arraignment. They had led Jordan out of the courtroom in handcuffs with his mother and sisters crying, and Julie looking on dolefully.

Julie had not yet been linked to the murdered security guard. She planned to keep it that way until the time was right for her to come forward.

Jordan had been confined to a cell for two days, but reassured Julie he was doing just fine. The guards were treating him well. He was familiar with the routine and joked about how it was like riding a bicycle.

“Word I heard is the guy who tried to kill us was an ex-cop turned PI named Lincoln Cole,” Jordan said.

“I heard the same on the news,” Julie said.

“What you didn’t hear is that Dominick ID’d Cole as the guy who paid him to scare you.”

“Scare me? We both know that wasn’t the plan.”

“He still isn’t owning up to what he was really going to do.”

“You believe him about Cole?”

“Sure as heck, yes I do.”

Julie concurred.

“Who hired Cole to be a guard?” Jordan asked.

“That’s what we’re trying to find out,” Julie said. “I’m waiting for a call from Allyson. When I get it, I’m going to see Detectives Spence and Capshaw. Then I’m taking down whoever murdered Sam. That’s a promise.”

Jordan gave Julie a sideways glance. “You know who it is, don’t you?”

“Let’s just say I have my strong suspicions.”

“How did they do it? The Kounis syndrome, how was it induced?”

Julie knew this conversation was being recorded. If her visits to Brandon Stahl had taught her anything, it was that the less she said the better.

“Let’s just say you’re not going to be in here for long,” Julie answered.

A guard whistled. It was her time to go. On the way out, Julie stopped to retrieve her personal items from the locker. She saw a missed call followed by a text from Allyson. This was a new phone, but Julie had Trevor look it over to be safe.

Her son had lived up to Jordan’s expectations. With help from Google, he had found a program called TrueSpy installed on her previous phone and learned about what it could do. Julie told Trevor it was a practical joke, and never to do such a thing to somebody else. It was unclear if he believed her.

She read Allyson’s text.

Julie had thought she knew who got Cole that security job.

And she was right.