Nathan's Run

Chapter 19

As Hackner pulled into the JDC parking lot, Michaels was waiting for him. After their conversation yesterday afternoon, Jed had been shocked by Warren's sunrise call to meet him here at nine. When pressed for a reason, he would say only that he wanted to talk to some of the residents. Jed didn't ask why the change in heart. With Warren, it was always best just to accept the little victories silently.

"Mornin, Boss," Hackner called as the two men converged in the parking lot. Two minutes outside of the air conditioning and Jed could already feel his undershirt sticking to his back. "Did you get the sleep you wanted last night?"

The circles under Warren's eyes answered that question without words. "Johnstone came up and chatted with me while I was waiting. He's getting the interview set up for us."

"Does he know I'm coming with you?"

"I mentioned it, but he didn't say anything about your conversation yesterday."

"Imagine that."

Warren extended a reproachful forefinger. "You behave yourself, okay? No fighting."

"Yes, Dad," Jed promised with exaggerated innocence.

As they approached the main entrance, they removed their weapons from their holsters and placed them in the lockers designed for that purpose, just outside the door.

"Mine's bigger than yours," Jed commented as he put his newly issued seventeen-shot 9mm Glock into the locker.

"You're just like the kids," Michaels scolded, adding his Smith amp; Wesson snub-nose and closing the door. "If I can't hit what I'm shooting at in five tries, I'll be damned if I'm sticking around for twelve more."

At Michaels's request, Johnstone had set up a private meeting with Tyrone Jefferson-street-named Aces-a fifteen-year-old three-time felon whose rap sheet included a drive-by shooting. Fortunately for all concerned, his marksmanship matched his aptitude for evading the police, and no one was hurt. If he served out his whole sentence, he wouldn't see freedom until his twenty-first birthday. Aces occupied the cell next to Nathan's, and it was Michaels's hope that they might get a clue as to where Nathan might have escaped to, and who might have helped him. Several investigating officers had attempted to obtain similar information the day before, with no success, but Warren wanted to give it a shot personally. For a lot of reasons.

Johnstone was waiting for them in his office. After the obligatory pleasantries, they walked together through security.

Aces was already seated at a table when the officers entered the otherwise empty classroom for their chat. To protect the boy from the prying eyes of his fellow residents, the venetian blinds had been pulled shut.

Johnstone spoke first. "Aces, this is Lieutenant Michaels, and this is Sergeant Hackner, both with the Braddock County PD. They want to ask you a few questions." Warren and Jed both extended their hands, but Aces didn't move. Johnstone sat in a chair in the corner.

"Could you excuse us, please, Mr. Johnstone?" Michaels asked. His tone was friendly, but they all knew it really was not a request.

Johnstone sat frozen for a moment, trying to think of a dignified exit line. When none came to him, he stood and exited the room. The look he shot at Jed showed that he held him responsible for this humiliation. Aces seemed to take pleasure in the superintendent's discomfort. So did Jed.

Michaels took the seat immediately opposite Aces, swinging it around so his chest was leaning against the seat back. The young black man across the table was sullen, impassive, dressed in the orange coveralls worn by all the residents. His face was a mask of practiced indifference, his expression telling them that they were wasting their time. At age fifteen, he was tougher than either one of them would ever be.

"I'm gonna cut to the chase… Aces, is it?" The single, subtle movement of his head could have been mistaken as a nod. "You don't like me because I'm a cop, and I don't want you dating my daughters, okay? But we both have a problem. Nathan Bailey ran away from here the other night after killing one of the guards. Your life in here isn't gonna be the same until we find him and bring him back. The evidence points to an accomplice, and until we find that accomplice, or rule it out as a possibility, you're gonna spent a lot more of your day locked up. So I want you to answer some questions for me, okay?"

Aces's eyes shifted to Hackner, and then back again. "Which one o' you dudes is the good cop, an' which one's the bad cop? I want t' get the cast right before the show starts."

Warren smiled, but otherwise ignored him. "Nathan had the house next to yours, right?"

Aces remained expressionless, examining his fingernails. "Do you know who might have helped him escape?"

Silence.

"Any idea where he might have gone?"

No response.

"Look, Aces, I know you don't want to believe this, but I'm only looking out for Nathan's best interests. If we don't bring him in, he's liable to get killed."

"Why? You gonna kill him?"

"No," Michaels said after dropping a beat. "That's Sergeant Hackner's job. He's the bad cop."

Aces acknowledged the riposte with the slightest movement of an eyebrow.

"Fact is, Aces," Michaels went on, "there's a whole bunch of people with guns out there looking for that kid. They think he murdered Ricky Harris in cold blood. Sergeant Hackner and I are willing to believe there was more to it than that. If we can find him before the others, there's just less chance he'll get hurt."

"But if I stay quiet," Aces reasoned, "there's that much less chance he'll get caught at all. Seems it was pretty important to him to get outta here. I hope he makes it. If he gets killed, well, what the fuck. 'Least he was killed tryin'."

Michaels studied the boy's eyes for a long time, but saw nothing. With Aces, the system had won, even as Aces thought he had beaten it. The look in the boy's eyes was the same one he had seen in the eyes of countless adults in countless interrogation rooms. Aces had trained his entire life to be king of the prison system. He had risen to the top of the juvenile pyramid, where he would remain for another six years. If the model proved correct, he'd last maybe a year on the streets before signing on as a rookie in the big leagues at Richmond. Michaels was about to get up and leave when Hackner spoke up.

"What about Ricky?" Jed asked. "Was he as much of an asshole as I've heard?"

Something flashed behind Aces's eyes as they darted over to Jed. Where there had once been studied indifference-maybe even mild amusement-there now was a raw hatred. Had the setting been different, the transformation would have been frightening. In seconds, the emotion was gone, replaced once again with total neutrality.

"Let's just say I hope he died slow," Aces said, an evil smile just bending the corners of his mouth.

"And why's that?" Jed baited.

Aces didn't even sniff the hook. "If you heard he was an asshole, then you don't have to ask."

"Fair enough."

They all sat in silence for a long, awkward moment until Michaels broke the tension.

"Thank you for your time, Aces," Warren said, rising from his chair. "You've been very… tolerant. I hope your time goes smoothly." Jed rose with him and they walked to the door.

"Yo, cops," Aces said as Warren's hand touched the knob. They both turned. "Bailey's a pussy. That fuckwad Harris had it in for him, but I don't know why. It's good Bailey got out o' here. This place was gonna kill 'im."

Warren nodded respectfully toward the prisoner. "Why, thank you, Aces."

"I didn't say nothin'."