Page 99 of Sting
Adrian Dover was in her forties, sharp, no pushover. Better still, recognizing the implications of Josh’s escape and Jordie’s abduction, she was willing to adjust her schedule and come to Jordie’s aid on short notice. On Jordie’s behalf, Gwen called Joe Wiley and asked if the interview could be moved back to noon, allowing Jordie time to confer with her lawyer. He granted the request.
A few minutes before twelve Gwen ushered Jordie and the attorney down a corridor in the FBI building and into an interrogation room, although it was not identified as such. Jordie had been through this drill before.
Wiley and Hickam were already there. Everyone was painstakingly polite. Jordie thanked Wiley for agreeing to the postponement. He said it was just as well, because one of the toilets at his house had overflowed, creating a minor flood in an upstairs hallway.
Jordie curbed her impatience for as long as she could before interrupting Wiley’s anecdote about his wife’s encounter with the indifferent and unhurried plumber.
“What is Shaw Kinnard’s condition?” she blurted. “Did he make it through the surgery all right?”
The two men exchanged an uneasy glance.
Jordie’s stomach plummeted. “He died?”
Wiley cleared his throat. “No. He came through the surgery okay and was expected to make a full recovery.”
She tried to keep her relief from being too obvious. But then she caught the tense of the verb. “Was expected?”
No longer the genial family man harassed by a faulty toilet, Wiley now assumed his game face. “About fifteen minutes ago, we got a call from the Houma hospital’s administrator. Preemptive, I think. He’s covering his…behind.”
“For what?”
“Kinnard is en route to a trauma center here in New Orleans. His condition is a lot more serious this time.”
Jordie’s ribs seemed to shrink around her lungs. She couldn’t take in sufficient air. “More serious than what I…what I did to him?”
“The admin guy described him as being critical. Of course, he’s not a doctor.”
She wheezed. “What happened?”
Wiley’s frown deepened. “An assistant DA here in Orleans Parish, name of Xavier Dupaw, failed to indict Kinnard on two murder raps when he had the chance to. He’s been eating crow ever since. He heard about Kinnard’s capture and went to see him in the hospital this morning.
“No one knows exactly what was said between them, and, believe me, Dupaw can be provoking as hell. Whatever he said caused Kinnard to go apeshit, if you’ll pardon the French. He started yanking on his restraints, yelling that he was gonna kill Dupaw if it was the last thing he ever did.
“The admin guy described quite a scene. The upshot of it? Kinnard was too aggressive and hostile to be left down there in Houma. Dupaw insisted that he be moved immediately to a more secure facility, a hospital with bars on the windows, concertina wire around the perimeter, and dozens of guards, not just one deputy outside his door, who Dupaw described as ‘green as they come.’” He paused and looked at her with concern. “You want some water, Ms. Bennett?”
She shook her head.
“You sure?”
“Please go on.”
He hesitated, then resumed. “The hospital staff objected to him being moved, said their patient wasn’t up to it, that he wasn’t out of danger yet. Since Kinnard is technically Morrow’s prisoner, Dupaw enlisted his help.
“After some arm-twisting, Deputy Morrow got the surgeon’s clearance to make the transfer. The admin guy signed off on it. That’s where the ass covering comes in. He doesn’t want to be held responsible for what came later.”
Jordie’s throat was too constricted to ask what had come later.
Wiley took a deep breath. He looked over at Hickam, who gave him a nod of encouragement to continue. “Somehow—we don’t know the details yet, because we’ve been unable to confirm with Morrow. But somehow while in transit, Kinnard got hold of that green deputy’s service revolver. Busted out of the ambulance and took off on foot. Almost made good his escape. Morrow managed to, uh, stop him.”
“Stop him.”
“We were told he ordered Kinnard to halt. He didn’t. Morrow had no choice.”
“He shot him?”
Wiley just looked at her, which was answer enough. “They packed him back into the ambulance and, since they were closer to New Orleans, continued on this way rather than returning to Houma. I think the admin guy in Houma is relieved that it’s out of his hands.”
“Because he doesn’t expect him to survive.”
