The Stickmen Read Free Page A

nodded briskly, in hilarity. “Okay,
okay, I get it. You drop charges if keep my mouth shut. Fine. It’s
shut.”
    “That’s not what I meant at all, Mr.
Garrett,” Calabrice bid, “but that’s a moot point now. Have a good
day.”
    Calabrice took his finely suited bulk out of
the dim interrogation room. This left Garrett alone with the
Detective Demeter.
    Garrett shrugged at the policeman. “Hell, I
can’t afford to go to jail again, and everybody knows his firm pays
off the public defenders to deliberately blow the case.”
    “You’re something, Garrett, a real pride to
humanity.”
    “I agree. And I can leave now, right?”
Garrett said. “He’s dropping charges.”
    “ He is, but we aren’t,”
Demeter was happy to say. “You’ll still be charged criminally by
the District of Columbia for—”
    Garrett vocally exploded. “For what! If
they’re not going to prosecute, the Nevatek files aren’t admissible
as evidence!”
    Demeter nodded with a long smile. “When you
were on your way home from your little caper the other night, you
were observed failing to stop at the traffic signal at 14th and U
Streets, exceeding the speed limit, negligent driving—oh, and for
operating an unsafe vehicle. The tag light was out on that boat
anchor you call a car.”
    “And you’re incarcerating me for that
nickel-dime crap!”
    “Under the law, it’s our right to refuse to
release you pending court summons.””You’re just doing that to jerk
me around!” Garrett stared fiercely at the detective. “I’ll bet
Perry Mason out there is padding you, just to warn me off! His
firm’s got more money than Bill Gates!”
    Demeter’s rock face stared right back. “Just
get out of here, asshole. Your girlfriend posted your bail. See you
in court.”
    Disgusted, Garrett got up, was about to
leave, but then he stopped short and twirled around at the door.
“All right, Dick, I admit it. I broke into Nevatek and stole some
of their R&D files. But no one, and I mean no one , knew
that I was going to make the heist, but you guys were waiting for me at my apartment. How did you know? Come on. I
won’t tell, and who’d believe me anyway?”
    “The good fairies tipped us off,” Demeter’s
voice grated. “Now get out of here before I misplace your bail
release and put you back in the tank. Shit, I’ll over-night you to
the city general-pop. A skinny, good-looking guy like you? You’d be
considered prime relationship material.” Demeter winked. “And those
guys in there? They’ll change your name to Mary Jean in less time
than it takes you to bend over. Shit, Garrett, they’ll be trading
you back and forth for cigarettes and cell-block cookies every
night.”
    Garrett’s stomach turned at the thought. It
was no joke. He got up from the table and left the smoky room as
fast as his rotten sneakers could propel him.
    “See ya later…Mary Jean…”
     
    ««—»»
     
    Jessica was radiant, kind, considerate,
and—moreover—beautiful. In all the bad things about Garrett’s life,
there was always Jessica, to add something good. She was always
there for him.
    She’ll understand, Garrett felt
sure.
    “Goddamn you, Harlan, you goddamn bastard!”
Jessica shouted at him the minute custody sergeant let him out of
the tank and into the exit corridor.
    Garrett, in his inept misinterpretation of
her reaction, almost wanted to turn right around and go back to
jail.
    “Honey, I’m sorry,” he pleaded.
    “Oh? Whose fault was it then?” she bellowed
back, more irate than he’d ever seen her. “What, you’re possessed
by some devil that makes you get arrested every time?”
    Garrett ground his teeth. “They’re tapping
my phones again, I know it,” he explained. “And I’ll bet
DARPA or NSA is intercepting my e-mail. That’s the only way anyone could’ve known in advance that I was going to pull the
Nevatek job.”
    It was all Jessica could do to walk next to
him toward the exit doors. She didn’t say a word