“Now look, Herb,” Dink said, tears appearing in his eyes, “I want to apologize for this whole thing. It was just a big practical joke that went wrong, and I’ll do whatever I possibly can to make it up to you, really I will.”
“Well, Dink, that’s a great start on the new attitude you’re going to have to adopt if you want to be a free man before you’re forty.”
“I’ll do whatever you tell me, Herb. Trust me, I will.”
“Trust you?” Herbie laughed at that one. “You’re a junkie and a drug dealer, two of the most untrustworthy beings on the planet. You’ve just put the girl you supposedly love and your best friend, perhaps your only friend, in jeopardy of long prison sentences, and you’ve gravely endangered your relationship with the father who loves you and, not incidentally, with his very considerable fortune, and for what? You should start asking yourself that today.”
“I’ll do whatever you say, Herb,” Dink said, and he sounded truly contrite.
“You can start by stopping trying to use the people in this place who want to help you. The general consensus among them, you might like to know, is that you are a liar, a narcissist, a con man, and a sociopath who is a danger to himself and to others. You see, they are accustomed to being lied to by people like you, and they know how to deal with you.
“By the way, while we’ve been having this conversation, the staff have taken apart your very comfortable quarters and removed all of your personal possessions and confiscated them. For the foreseeable future you’ll be wearing the orange hospital gown that you already know identifies the least trustworthy patients of this facility, and you are being moved to a room that is very much like the prison cell you will be occupying, if you should give your father or me the slightest difficulty. He and I are the only people authorized to contact you, and you may not contact anyone, especially Carson and Parker. Have you grasped your situation yet?”
Dink looked out of breath. “Yes,” he said. “I’ll be good.” He sounded like a small child who had been chastened.
“Ah, here come your escorts to your new quarters,” Herbie said. “They’ll give you your new gown after they’ve strip-searched you and given you today’s medications.”
Herbie got up to leave as the two large men in white approached. “Enjoy your stay on the farm, Dink. I’ll be in touch from time to time, when I feel like it.”
The two men took Dink’s arms and marched him away.
Herbie went back to the Maybach and turned it toward the city. He thought he might do a little car shopping on the way home.
35
When Herbie got back to his office, Stone Barrington was seated on his sofa, drinking a cup of coffee. “How did it go?” he asked.
“Pretty much as we expected,” Herbie said “He started with bluster and finished with blubbering. How did it go with Marshall?”
“I think we’ve underestimated Marshall,” Stone replied. “Not only did he take it very well, but I think he had been dreading something like this situation. He seemed, at first, relieved, then determined to leave Dink in your hands, without interference.”
“It’s a responsibility I don’t want, but I’ve got it, and I’ll handle it as best I can,” Herbie said, pouring himself a cup of coffee.
“Dino called. His people found Parker Mosely at his parents’ home in the city, so he didn’t have to involve the Connecticut authorities. He reduced Parker to a quivering mass of jelly and got a signed statement from him. Both he and Carson will be in rehab facilities before the day is out.”
“I’m very grateful to you and Dino, Stone.”
“Oh, I don’t think you would have been convicted on her evidence alone, Herb.”
“No, but my career would be in ruins.”
“Put that behind you,” Stone said. “If anything, you’re in better shape today than you were this time yesterday. You’ve certainly earned Marshall’s trust, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he sends more business your way.”
Herbie shrugged. “The really bad thing about all this is, I don’t know if it’s going to help Dink. I’m not at all sure that a year at the farm can make a decent human being out of him, and I’m very much afraid that Marshall will end up having to do all the things I told Dink he would.”
“If that happens, Herb, it won’t be your fault. You’ve done everything you possibly could to help him.”
Cookie knocked at the door. “Josh Hook is on his way up,” she said.
“God, I forgot about him,” Herbie said.
“Who’s Josh Hook?”
“He’s the guy who’s running Strategic Defense’s new training camp for armed bodyguards,” Herbie replied. “I said I’d spend a few days up there learning to do whatever it is that they do.”
“It’ll be good for you,” Stone said. “Take your mind off Dink Brennan.” He got up. “I’ll leave you to your client.”
Josh Hook arrived, and Herbie introduced him to Stone.
“I’ve heard about you from Mike Freeman,” Hook said.
“Mike is a good man,” Stone replied. “You’ll enjoy working with him.”
“He says the same about you,” Hook replied.
Stone took his leave.
“So,” Josh said, settling into a chair, “what have you been up to, Herb?”
“If I told you, you wouldn’t believe me,” Herbie said.
DINK SAT on his bed and looked around his new quarters. It was a room of about nine by twelve, furnished with a bed and a chair. There was a small bathroom with a shower, but no closet and no chest of drawers. They were unnecessary, since its occupants had no clothes. There was no TV, either, and the overhead light was controlled by the staff.
Dink had recovered from the shock of what Herb Fisher had said to him, and now he was angry. He got up and walked around the room, looking for something of interest. There was nothing. Well above his head was a single window, of about one by two feet, covered with a heavy wire mesh that let little sunlight through.
He sat back down on the bed, since the single chair looked very uncomfortable. He reflected on what he had going for him, and it wasn’t much. He knew he was not going to be beaten up or raped, and that was a start. He took a few deep breaths and tried to relax.
He had more assets on the outside, of course, but at the moment, he had no access to that world. There were clothes out there and money, and he was going to need those things.
The door opened and the two men who had escorted him to the room stepped inside.
“Medication time,” one of them said, holding up a small paper cup and a cup of water.
“What kind of medication?” Dink asked.
“Just something to relax you,” the man said.
“I’m perfectly relaxed,” Dink said. “Please tell the doctor I don’t need to be medicated. Tell him I’ll be cooperative.”
“I’ll be sure and mention that to him,” the man said, “but right now, you have to take your medication.”
“I really don’t-”
“You want us to help you get it down?” the man said. Apparently, the other one never spoke.
“All right,” Dink said, “I’ll take it.”
“That’s a good boy,” the man said, handing him both cups.
Dink looked at the large pill inside. He swallowed it, and chased it with the water.
“Good boy!” the man said. “Everything’s going to be fine now. The doctor will be here in a few minutes.” They left.
Dink immediately put to work a skill that had served him well in the past. He went into the bathroom, stuck a finger down his throat, and vomited the pill into the toilet.
“Fuck you all,” he said aloud, then he went and sat down on the bed again.
The door opened, and a middle-aged man in a white coat carrying a clipboard came into the room. “Good afternoon,” he said, “I’m Dr. Morton.”