“Oh, we will,” Kendra said as she turned away. “But expect us to be back.”
AS THEY STEPPED OUT of the hospital parking garage, Jessie held up Hutchinson’s business card and snapped a picture of it.
“Think you can get his client list?” Kendra asked.
Jessie put away her phone. “Maybe. I can search some databases and scan online court records for filings. But good attorneys usually keep their clients from going anywhere near a courtroom.”
“I’ll look into it, too,” Lynch said. “It would help if we could find out who’s paying for Powers’s defense.”
Jessie had stopped at her motorcycle. “I’ll look into it right now.” She looked at Kendra and slowly nodded in approval. “By the way, you handled yourself pretty well on the back of this bike.”
“I’ve ridden a few motorcycles in my time.” Kendra smiled. “But tell me, do you always travel with a pocket full of ball bearings?”
Jessie smiled back at her and pulled a few of the little silver balls from her pocket. “Pretty much. I got the idea a few years ago, when smash-and-grab thieves were using them to break car windows and steal purses on passenger seats. No one thinks of these as weapons, so even if I’m searched, I can go anywhere with them. I’ve gotten very accurate, and can inflict pretty heavy damage if the occasion demands it.”
“How accurate?” she asked curiously.
In response, Jessie swung her arm in a lightning arc and released one of the ball bearings. The motion was followed by a metallic ting behind them.
Kendra whirled around. “What did you do?”
Lynch chuckled. “I’ll show you what she did.” He walked twenty feet to a steel lamppost, where a cardboard sign advertising a local band had been taped. Lynch tore off the sign and brought it back to Kendra.
She took the sign. A hole had been punched cleanly through the head of the band’s lead singer.
“Wow,” Kendra said. “Very good. Are you some kind of ninja?”
Jessie gave her a peculiar look. “What makes you say that?”
“I’m just… impressed. You nailed this all the way from over here.”
“Oh. Well, I’m no ninja. I’ve just picked up a few things along the way.”
Yet that response had been a little strange, Kendra thought. “I meant it as a compliment.”
“Then that’s how I’ll take it.” Jessie threw her leg over the bike and started it. “Stay in touch. I accepted that you might have not had time to contact me this time. Next time remember we’re working together.”
Jessie revved the bike and roared away.
HUTCHINSON ENTERED THE HOSPITAL room and closed the door behind him. He walked over to the bed, where the extremely banged-up and bruised Powers was handcuffed to the side rail.
“We don’t have much time,” Hutchinson said. “They’ve gone, but the police will be here anytime now.”
Powers nervously adjusted himself on the bed. “So what’s the play? I don’t think they have any real proof.”
“They say they have DNA.”
“No way. I was careful. Incredibly careful. I did just as I was told.”
“DNA can be left behind in many ways. A finger on a touch screen. Perspiration on a shirt. A sneeze on a window. Or…” Hutchinson placed his fingertips on Powers’s left temple and turned his head to reveal the scratches on his neck. “… skin under a fingernail. Did Michaels give you those scratches?”
“Shit,” Powers whispered.
“This clearly puts you in that building as her attacker. So you see, there’s careful, then there’s careful.” Hutchinson moved Powers’s head back with slightly more force than was necessary. “You have the right to remain silent. You’re going to avail yourself of that right, do you understand me? When the police come, don’t say a word.”
“What if they-”
“Not a word. You mustn’t even listen to them. Everything that comes out of their mouths will be only to trick you. Understand? When they begin talking, you just think of your favorite song and mentally sing it to yourself over and over again. Don’t try to strategize. That’s my job, and I guarantee I’m a hell of a lot better at it than you could ever be. Not one word must pass your lips, do you understand?”
“Okay, I got it. You didn’t have to tell me this. I’ve already gone through a hell of a lot of pain and didn’t tell them anything.”
“That’s good. Because you and the others were incredibly clumsy, and Jaden is not pleased.”
Powers’s eyes widened in alarm. “You’re not sending Jaden after me?”
“That’s not my call. I just take orders like you do. I’m only telling you that Jaden is a perfectionist and would be happy to clean up loose ends.” He stared him in the eye. “If you prove to be a problem.”
“I won’t be a problem,” Powers said quickly. “We did everything we were told. It should have gone smooth as glass.”
“But it didn’t, and now we’re faced with a very delicate situation we have to solve.”
“Not by using Jaden.”
Hutchinson shook his head. “That would cause ripples. Ripples are discouraged in this matter. Which is your good fortune. Our mutual employer appreciates your cooperation. He has at great expense employed one of the world’s greatest legal minds-that’s me-to fight on your behalf. If he senses that you do not appreciate the extent of his concern, he will cut off all contact, all assistance. Do you understand what that means?”
Powers turned and stared out the window. “It means I’ll die.”
“I’m accustomed to a fair bit of melodrama from my clients, but in your case, your concern is warranted.” Hutchinson reached into his jacket and produced two foil packets.
Powers tensed. “What are those?”
“A token of appreciation.” Hutchinson grabbed two plastic cups from a countertop and set them on the small serving table next to the bed. He tore open the packets and emptied their gooey contents into the cups. He then picked up a pitcher, filled both cups with water, then stirred each with a straw.
Powers stared at the cups. “Is that what I think it is?”
“Yes. It’s your medicine. Something that no hospital can provide you. You need it, don’t you? Less efficient than the type you inject, but I’ve been told it’s just as effective. The officer on duty searched me before I came in and I never would have been allowed to bring a syringe and needle in here. Drink the one on the right first, then the left.”
Powers picked up the right cup and examined it for a long moment. “No offense, but… how do I know this isn’t poison?”
Hutchinson smiled. “Poison? Is that why you think I came here?”
“I think you came here to make sure I keep my mouth shut. Okay, you won’t use Jaden. But two packets of fast-acting poison would do the job, wouldn’t it?”
“If that’s what they really wanted, then all they had to do was absolutely nothing. Correct?” His voice lowered. “Why are you being difficult? It’s a little incentive to keep you doing what we want you to do. You know you need it.”
Powers looked at the cup for a moment longer, then downed it.
Hutchinson tapped the other cup. “Now this one. I’m not to leave until I’ve seen you drink both.”
Powers drank the other one in one long gulp. He wiped his lips. “Sour.”
Hutchinson folded the foil packets and placed them back into his pocket. “Now remember our discussion. Cooperation is everything. Not one single word.”
“I won’t forget.” His lips twisted bitterly. “How could I? I’m just wondering something.” Powers leaned back in his bed. “Would you have given me those packets if I hadn’t agreed to keep quiet?”
Hutchinson brushed his hands together and straightened his jacket. “See you soon, Mr. Powers.