Last Call

Theo lay motionless in the bed. His left arm was falling asleep from lying on it, but the rest of his body was wide awake. He stayed in that position for five solid minutes. Ten minutes. Almost half an hour. Either Jefferson had forgotten about him or he was having trouble finding MacDonald. He wasn't coming back with the keys to the handcuffs anytime soon. Theo would just have to make the best of it.

He shifted his weight, trying to get comfortable. Then he heard a noise. "Jefferson?" he said.

There was no answer.

He was sure he'd heard something. He remained perfectly still, completely silent.

There it was again – a kind of scuffing noise, but it was so faint that Theo couldn't determine where it was coming from.

"Jefferson, that you?" he said.

The room was silent.

Theo's pulse quickened. Lying alone on death row for four years had taught him to differentiate sounds. He could tell the difference between mechanical sounds and the sounds of the building. The sounds of falling rain and a leaky faucet. The sounds of his cell and another cell. The sounds of an inmate and a guard. The sounds that meant nothing and those that meant trouble.

He heard the noise again – louder, closer, a stealthy attacker's misplaced footfall. Theo sprang into action, but with his hands cuffed behind his back, he couldn't react fast enough. The man quickly overpowered him, burying a knee in Theo's back and pi

Theo kicked and squirmed, but he felt himself weakening. Arterial flow continued in the head and neck, bringing more blood from the heart. The veins, however, were completely compressed, leaving the blood no escape, building pressure on the brain. His head pounded with congestion, like the worst sinus headache imaginable. His eyes bulged, and his face flushed red. He could taste blood, not just from the earlier wounds Officer MacDonald had inflicted, but as additional small bleeding sites erupted in the moist, soft mucosa of his lips and mouth.

Theo felt the man's weight shift. He was leaning forward, and Theo suddenly felt his breath on the back of his neck.

"This is for-"

Before the man could finish, Theo arched his spine and threw his head back like a wild bull, effecting a reverse head butt. It was a direct hit, and the man cried out in pain. Theo seized the opportunity, drawing up his knees, pushing up with all his strength, and sending his attacker flying to the floor. The cord was off his neck. Theo coughed as he sucked in air, but he didn't miss a beat. He rolled off the bed – falling, more than pouncing on his attacker. His arms were useless, but Theo had legs like an Olympic wrestler, and he immediately recognized his serious height and weight advantage over this punk. They were both on the floor. Theo had the guy in a scissors lock, nearly crushing his attacker's ski

"Now it's your turn to choke," said Theo. He knew he could have killed him if he'd wanted to. But dead men don't talk. He squeezed tightly, but not too tightly.

"Jefferson!" he shouted into the darkness.

Chapter 33

Just after 2:00 A.M. Jack and Uncle Cy were in the infirmary with Theo, waiting for the on-call physician to arrive. Theo downplayed his injuries, but the evidence of his beating was obvious. Jack got a full recitation of the evening's events while Andie He

Warden Beth Johnson was the only person at TGK who knew about Theo's undercover assignment. At least she was supposed to have been the only one. The abuse Theo had taken at the hands of Officer MacDonald and the fellow inmate's attack in the infirmary raised serious questions. Jack had no intention of leaving TGK without the answers.

Johnson was seated in a squeaky office chair behind a typical government-issue gray metal desk. Jack and Andie sat on opposite ends of an old couch, trying way too hard – as only people trying to deny the attraction do – to put distance between their bodies.

"You two have some kind of contagious disease or something?" said Johnson.

Their responses tumbled out together- "Me? Huh? No." But they quickly took her meaning and relaxed a little.

Johnson was known around TGK as the hard-ass with the great ass, which was basically a handy way of saying that half the inmates wanted to kill her, and the other half wanted to bed her. She was definitely attractive, though the conservative Laura Ashley attire toned things down. Some said that being the mother of three children was the only qualification she needed to become a jail warden, but she was also smart, tough, and savvy, with framed diplomas from Duke, the University of Virginia, and Emory University hanging on the wall behind her desk. Had she taken her law degree and entered private practice, Johnson would have been a formidable opponent for Jack or anyone else on the opposite side of the table.

"Whatever," said Johnson. "To put it in bottom-line terms, I can't tell you how this happened tonight. I'm still trying to figure it out for myself."

"Let's break it down," said Andie. "We have two distinct situations here. MacDonald is an internal disciplinary matter. He abused an inmate as part of an interrogation. Jack and I are both upset about that, but it's not something we need to deal with in the wee hours of the morning."

Johnson said, "Let me assure you, TGK has internal investigative procedures that can adequately deal with Officer MacDonald."

"The state of Florida has a few criminal statutes that also come into play," said Jack.

The warden bristled.

Andie said, "That will all run its course in due time, Jack."

Her tone might have sounded condescending if their past dealings had not taught Jack something about the nuances of her voice. Jack knew she was just trying to keep peace between him and the warden.

"I see your point," said Jack. "But the infirmary is another matter. That was clearly a second attempted hit on Theo. Somebody was trying to finish the job they botched in Overtown."

"Hold on," said the warden. "Before we go riding off into la-la land with conspiracy theories, we need to deal with prison realities. Inmates attack other inmates. That's a fact. It's usually about nothing – one guy doesn't like the way the other one looked at him."

"This one wasn't about nothing," said Jack.

"How can you be so sure?" said the warden.

"Let me talk to the punk who tried to strangle Theo, and I'll prove it to you."

"His names Holloway," said the warden. "But I can't let you talk to him."

"Why not?"

"He's in solitary and already demanded to speak to an attorney. If I send you down there, some lawyer will claim I used you as my agent to violate his constitutional rights."

"Then bring CO Jefferson in here," said Jack. "I'll show you."

The warden stiffened in her chair. "You expect me to let a criminal defense lawyer interrogate my own correctional officer before I've even talked to him myself?"

Jack said, "You got something to hide, Warden?"

"No, but-" She stopped and looked to Andie, as if expecting the FBI agent to side with her.

Andie said, "It beats having to talk to the Miami Tribune!"

"Is that a threat?" said Johnson.

"No," said Andie. "It was more of an appeal for a promise from Jack. This stays out of the newspapers, right?"

Jack had to contain the urge to smile broadly and say, "Smooth move, He