The Secret Friend

21

The afternoon sun reflected off the rolling sheets of snow and ice. Darby put on her sunglasses to cut the glare. She waited until she was seated inside Bryson's car before she spoke.

'Did you know Hale hired Karim?'

'No.'

'You don't seem surprised.'

'It's what the rich do. They buy their way out of everything.' Bryson started the car and leaned back in his seat, probably wanting to give the engine a chance to warm up. 'Take the JonBenet Ramsey case. Their little girl is murdered, and what do the parents do? They hide behind lawyers and hire top-of-the-line forensic consultants. They get all these so-called experts involved, and wouldn't you know, they put up enough roadblocks to prevent that case from ever going to trial.'

'The Boulder police were sloppy at the crime scene – and don't get me started on how the district attorney behaved.'

'My point is the rich think they operate on a different playing field,' Bryson said. 'And guess what? They do.'

'Do you want to talk to Karim?'

'You're a peer. He might be more willing to share information with you.'

Darby wasn't expecting much. Legally, Karim didn't have to share anything.

'What do you think about our conversation in there?' Bryson asked.

'When we spoke about the intruder, Hale kept fidgeting – stubbing out the cigar, shifting in his chair and looking at his drinking glass. He barely gave us any eye contact.'

'It could be that he's pissed off at us because we won't share information and we haven't been able to give him any closure.'

'He seemed nervous.'

'I picked up that, too. Then again, I'd be nervous if I employed the services of the nation's number four Most Wanted felon.'

'That's quite a leap, Tim.'

'Maybe.' Bryson put the car in gear and drove down the driveway.

'He seemed genuinely surprised about the break-in,' Darby said.

'It's awfully convenient.'

'It is. Still, Fletcher might be working alone.'

When Bryson reached the end of the driveway he said, 'Do you have kids?'

'No.'

'I had one, my daughter, Emily. She had this really rare form of leukaemia. We took her to every specialist under the sun. Seeing everything she went through, I would have sold my soul to the devil to spare her life. I know that sounds overly melodramatic, but it's the honest-to-God truth. You'll do anything for your kids. Anything in the world.'

Darby thought of her mother as Bryson turned onto the main road.

'The other thing they don't tell you is that the pain never goes away. It hurts as much now as it did the day she died.'

'I'm sorry, Tim.'

'Guys like Hale aren't used to living with question marks. The man can buy anything he wants. His net worth, I hear, is somewhere north of half a billion dollars.'

'You think he's made some sort of Faustian deal with Fletcher?'

'His daughter was kept somewhere for half a year, endured only God knows what and then the son of a bitch decides to put a bullet in the back of her head,' Bryson said. 'Hale's been very vocal in the press about his opinions of us. He believes we've done a shit job. If he feels he can't get justice from us, maybe he's decided he can get it somewhere else.'