Andie stopped stirring and, for a moment, put the business expression on hold. "How are you doing?"
Jack hadn't given that much thought, and the question forced him to stop and consider it. "It's been crazy, but Theo and I have survived worse."
"You've always been there for him."
"And him for me."
"Old friends are the best friends. You're lucky to have that."
Jack didn't know how to respond – one more pro-Theo plug from Andie, yet another refutation of the basis for his decision to stop dating her.
"What is it you wanted to talk about?" she said.
"I want to deal with you."
"Me?"
"Well, the FBI, actually. And you, specifically, because you're heading a task force that is supposed to find out how Isaac Reems escaped from prison."
Her business face was now firmly back in place. "Are you saying that Theo has information about that?"
"No. He told the police everything he knew the first time, after Isaac came to see him at Sparky's. What I'm offering up now is something we figured out afterward."
"Do you know who helped Reems plan his escape?"
"We think it's the same person who killed Theo's mother in 1986."
"And who is that?"
"Don't know. The crime was never solved."
"Why do you think there's a connection?"
"Not so fast. I said I came here to deal, not to do my singing-canary impersonation."
"Shouldn't you be talking to a prosecutor about that?"
"Prosecutor? For what? Is Theo being targeted for something?"
She paused. Then it came, one of those all-too-familiar sighs. "I'm not at liberty to discuss-"
"Yeah, yeah, blah, blah, blah. Come on. Theo was about an inch away from going facedown on the sidewalk with a bullet in his brain."
"All I can tell you is that the waitress who was abducted by Reems told me something tonight that isn't especially helpful to Theo."
"What does that mean?"
"It means that I'm not at liberty-"
"Will you cut that out already?"
Andie swallowed more coffee. "Take my advice. Talk to the prosecutor."
Jack locked eyes with her, gazing over the rim of his own cup. "A prosecutor won't give Theo the protection he needs," he said.
"Protection from what?"
"The person who killed Isaac."
She blinked. It was hardly noticeable, but Jack seemed to be developing a sixth sense when it came to reading Andie's body language – another one of those strange connections he felt toward this woman. Even more unsettling, Jack's read was that Theo was a likely suspect in Isaac's slaying.
Jack added, "He's the same guy who tried to kill Theo tonight."
She lowered her cup, seeming to collect her thoughts. "I'm open to that possibility."
"You should be. By the way, did your fingerprint analysis turn up anything on the listening device we found on Theo's phone line?"
"Nothing."
"I'm not surprised. In fact, an installer smart enough not to leave prints fits perfectly with my theory. Reems finds out who killed Theo's mother. He extorts the killer into helping him escape. The killer-"
"Wait a second. How does Reems find that out? And how does a prisoner on the inside extort a killer on the outside?"
"I don't know yet," said Jack. "But this is the point I'm making. The killer knows better than to trust the likes of Isaac Reems. In fact, Isaac told Theo – and Theo told the police – that this outside helper didn't deliver the car, the cash, and all the other stuff that was supposed to be waiting for Reems when he escaped. It's possible that somebody stole that stuff before Reems could get to it, but I think it's more likely that the killer played along with the extortion only to a point."
"And then he had second thoughts?"
"I think he had second thoughts all along. So he planned ahead. The only person on the outside who knew exactly when the escape would occur was the man Isaac was extorting. He tapped Theo's phone line right before it was supposed to go down. That way he'd know immediately if Reems called to tell his old friend who killed his mother."
Andie seemed intrigued. Or suspicious. "Did Reems in fact make that call to Theo?"
"Obviously not. Or we'd know who the killer is."
"Did Reems make any calls at all to Theo?"
This was more than Jack was ready to confirm. "What if he did?"
"Well, I suppose there could be a few possibilities."
Jack studied her expression. "Such as?"
"He could have told Theo to meet him in the alley behind the old Homeboy's."
Her insights were impressive. Then again, maybe it tied in with what the abducted waitress had told Andie. "Could have," said Jack.
"And Theo could have packed his pistol and gone."
"Except that he was at his girlfriend's house. Which leaves only one other possibility. Whoever tapped Theo's phone heard Reems say where he was hiding. He went there, and he killed him."
"Because he feared that Reems was going to tell Theo who killed his mother," she said.
"Glad to see you're with me."
"I follow you. That doesn't mean I'm with you."
"Something you disagree with?"
"I just need to give you fair warning. It's my job to consider more than one possibility."
"Understood. But you have to ask yourself, would Theo have called the cops after Isaac came to see him if he was planning to gun him down himself?"
"That's a fair point. But people do stupid things. They have a change of heart."
"Then you should jump at the chance to protect Theo. If my theory is correct, Theo is the live bait that helps you catch a two-time killer who helped Reems escape from prison. If I'm wrong, or just plain bluffing, what better way is there to keep your eye on Theo the suspect?"
She fell silent, thinking. Finally, she said, "I need a little time to sell that to the bureau."
"But you'll try?"
"I'll try."
"I have your word on that?"
"You have my word."
She raised her cup, and Jack clanked his against it in a silent toast. His coffee spilled on impact, and as they fumbled for napkins to mop it up, Jack got the uneasy feeling that this was a metaphor.
Hard to imagine an alliance with Andie that was anything but rocky.
Chapter 21
Uncle Cy didn't like it one bit.
Just six hours after his release from the hospital, Theo was already trying to sweep his uncle out of the house. "I'm fine," Theo kept telling him. "Take a walk, see a friend, rent some porn. Just go."
The doctors had told Cy the same thing – not the part about the porn, but the fact that Theo was "fine" They'd kept him overnight for observation, liked what they saw, and discharged him with a flesh-tone bandage on his head and a prescription for painkillers. Cy pushed him out of the hospital in a wheelchair – it was hospital policy, undoubtedly implemented after a patient tripped over his own feet and sued the world for failing to remind him that it was left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot – and from then on, Theo was Mr. Independence. "Cy, go away" seemed to be Theo's message. He was a good nephew. He was a really lousy patient.
The phone rang. "I'll get it," Cy shouted.
"No, you won't!" Theo fired back. He launched himself from the couch, muted the television, and picked up before Cy could count another ring.
The old man watched from across the room. It was a short conversation. Cy couldn't hear what his nephew was saying, but Theo had a serious expression on his face. As he hung up, Theo brought his hand to his head, right to the oversized bandage that covered his stitches, and grimaced in pain. It wasn't clear if Theo had touched them because they hurt or if they hurt because he'd touched them.
"Something wrong at the bar?" said Cy.
"No, that was-" He stopped, apparently unwilling to say. "I'm sure everything's fine there"
"You look upset."
Theo was still deep in thought, not at all focused on the conversation. He went to his computer desk and rifled through a drawer. "I'm not upset."