Silence. Maddocks’s heart wentwhump whump whump. Angie. Even just talking about her. He was in far deeper than he thought. Heart and head and freaking body. And Holgersen had leverage.
“What do you want, Holgersen?”
“Don’t worry, boss. I’ms a guy who keeps my lips zipped.”
“Yeah. Right. Like when you came to me Friday morning and spilled on Fitz.”
“Man’s gotta have his loyalties, this is true. I happens to like Pallorino. All hard-ass and broken like. You sure I can’t smoke? I can open a window—”
“No.”
He fiddled again. Maddocks’s gaze dipped to Holgersen’s hands. A tool. That crackling paper. An interrogation tool. Fucking little genius.He’s interrogating me ... getting under my hood to see what makes me tick ...
“Watch the damn building, would you?” Maddocks snapped. “The second you see him, we’re on him. I want to get him in front of his friends, colleagues, profs, whatever.”
“But not meeee. I’s freeeee—” Holgersen started to sing in a soft and surprisingly good bass. “No deal with the devil for meee ...”
Jesus.Maddocks dragged his hand fast over his hair.Jayden, get out here already ...
“I’s been celibate two years, one week ... five days—” The gum popped out. “Ah, got it!” He held the green tablet up triumphantly. “They needs special adult instructions on how to open these things.” He popped the gum into his mouth, checked his watch. “And six hours and twenty-seven minutes,” he said, chewing.
Maddocks’s head spun as once more he recalibrated his sense of Kjel Holgersen. He sat quietly for a while. Minutes ticked by. “Okay,” he said finally, quietly, eyes fixed on the law faculty entrance. “So, you already did your deal with the devil. Now you’re in a twelve-step program. Sounds like an addict talking—you’re not ‘cured,’ just going minute to minute.”
Holgersen said nothing, just started rapping his fingers on the dash, humming a tune. He stretched, cricking his neck.
Maddocks sucked in air slowly.
“So,” Holgersen said finally. “Why’d you call me this morning, not one of the others?”
“Quality time, Holgersen. You and me. Thought it might be fun.”
He snorted, then launched forward. “There! There he is!” He swung open the door and lurched into an incredibly fast stride across the lawn on his long, skinny legs. Maddocks scrambled to get out of the vehicle and rush after him.
CHAPTER 57
“Your arms feel heavy, your eyelids are heavy—they’re lowering. You’re sinking, sinking, warm and comfortable, deeper, deeper into your chair.”
Angie listened to Alex’s low, calm voice, the soft crackling of the fire. He’d dimmed the lights and drawn the drapes. Her shoes were off, her phone silenced. She wasn’t so sure this was going to work. Nevertheless, she closed her eyes, focusing on his cues.
“Your breathing is becoming more relaxed, slower, in, and out, in, out. Air is going deeper into your lungs, deeper. You feel sleep like a warm blanket around your shoulders. It’s nice. You like it, and you’re welcoming it, giving in to the soft caress of her arms as she takes you down, down, toward a comfortable place. A bed ... you feel like a little child when your mother used to tuck you in after a long, happy day. She’s reading to you, but you can’t hear her words anymore because you’re feeling sleepy, so tired ...” His words droned on, and Angie was lying on her back. In a dark room. On her bed. There was a sense of a presence at her bedside. Someone keeping her comfortable in the dark room. Safe place. A hand holding hers. Words. A song filtering softly up into her consciousness. A gentle lullaby. It was a woman holding her hand. She was singing that lullaby. Warmth and familiarity blossomed through her, and Angie felt herself smile.
“What do you see?” he said gently.
“Darkness,” she whispered. “All dark. She’s holding my hand.”
“Who is, Angie?”
“Safe. Looking after me. She’s singing, softly, so that the others won’t hear.”
“What others?”
A clang of discord shattered the words. She shook her head. “I don’t know. I can’t see them. Just dark. She’s stopped.”
“Okay, breathe in, and out, and relax again. She’s with you. Safe. No others now. She’s singing again. What do you hear?”
Sweetly, ever so softly, the words came out of Angie’s mouth, the sound of a child ...
“A-a-a, a-a-a,
