“You’re crazy, mister, you really are.”
“The press conference is tomorrow, LuAnn.”
“What press conference?”
“You know, that’s where you’re going to hold that big old check and smile and wave to the disappointed masses.”
“I’ve gotta go.”
His right hand shot across and gripped her arm. “I don’t think you can spend that money from a prison cell.”
“I said I gotta go.” She jerked her hand free and stood up.
“Don’t be a fool, LuAnn. I saw you buy the lottery ticket. I was at the lottery drawing. I saw the big smile on your face, the way you ran down the street whooping and hollering. And I was inside the lottery building when you went to get your winning ticket validated. So don’t try to bullshit with me. You walk out of here and the first thing I’m going to do is place a call to that Podunk county and that Podunk sheriff and tell them everything I saw. And then I’m going to send them this piece of shirt. You can’t believe the high-tech stuff they’ve got in the lab these days. They’ll start piecing it together. And when I tell them you just won the lottery and maybe they should grab you before you disappear, then you can just kiss your new life good-bye. Although I guess you can afford to put your kid up somewhere nice while you rot in jail.”
“I didn’t do nothing wrong.”
“No, what you did was stupid, LuAnn. You ran. And when you run, the cops always figure you’re guilty. It’s how cops think. They’ll believe you were in it up to your pretty little ass. Right now, they haven’t gotten around to you. But they will. It’s up to you to decide whether they start focusing on you ten minutes from now, or ten days from now. If it’s ten minutes, you’re dead. If it’s ten days, I figure your plan is to disappear forever. Because that’s what I intend to do. You only pay me once, that I’ll guarantee. I couldn’t spend all that money even if I tried and neither could you. We all win that way. The other way, you lose, slam-dunk. So what’s it gonna be?”
She stood frozen for a moment halfway out of her chair. Slowly, inch by inch, she sat back down.
“Very smart of you, LuAnn.”
“I can’t pay you half.”
His face darkened. “Don’t be greedy, lady.”
“It’s got nothing to do with that. I can pay you, I just don’t know how much, but it’ll be a lot. Enough for you to do whatever the hell you want to.”
“I don’t understand—” he began.
LuAnn interrupted, borrowing phraseology from Jackson. “You don’t have to understand nothing. But if I do this I want you to answer one question for me and I want the truth or you can just go and call the cops, I don’t care.”
He eyed her cautiously. “What’s the question?”
LuAnn leaned across the table, her voice low but intense. “What were you doing in that trailer? You just didn’t happen on by, I know that sure as I’m sitting here.”
“Look, what does it matter why I was there?” He threw his arm up in a casual motion.
LuAnn reached out as quickly as a striking rattler and grabbed his wrist. He winced as she squeezed it with a strength he had not anticipated. Big and strong as he was, it would’ve taken all his might to break that grip. “I said I wanted an answer, and it better be the right one.”
“I earn my living”—he smiled and corrected himself—“I used to earn my living by taking care of little problems for people.”
LuAnn continued to grip the wrist. “What problems? Did this have to do with the drugs Duane was dealing?”
Romanello was already shaking his head. “I didn’t know anything about the drugs. Duane was already dead. Maybe he was holding out on his supplier or maybe skimming off the top and the other guy cut him up. Who knows? Who cares?”
“What happened to the other guy?”
“You were the one who hit him, weren’t you? Like I said in the note, dead as a doornail.” LuAnn didn’t answer. He paused and took a breath. “You can let go of my wrist any time now.”