Read No Escape for Free Online

in his thick belt. ‘I hear Mr. Smith wants to have a chat with you?’
    She frowned. ‘He does and I am surprised.’
    ‘Not much surprises me anymore.’ He shook his head. ‘I hate to see you dragged all the way out here for a wild-goose chase.’
    ‘You think this trip is a waste of time?’
    ‘Mr. Smith is one of our wilier inmates. Been known to jerk some chains, as I’m sure Brody has told you. He’s likely gonna do that to you.’
    She’d considered that. ‘Well, I’m here, so I might as well talk with him. How is his health?’
    ‘Not too good these last couple of weeks. He had a surge in energy yesterday and that’s when he called this meeting. Hospital doc says that kind of energy boost often comes before the end.’ His frown deepened. ‘A word of advice. Don’t let him get in your head. He’s good at it, and he will try. The man likely wants to inflict one last bit of pain before he leaves this world.’
    She arched a brow. ‘I’ve interviewed men like him before.’
    Warden Maddox shook his head. ‘No doubt you’ve talked to your share of bad guys, Dr. Granger. But this one is dangerous. A whole new level of evil.’
    An unexpected chill passed over her body. ‘I’ll be fine.’
    Larry eyed Brody as if to say,
You’ve been warned
. ‘Then let’s get this show on the road.’
    With Brody steps behind her, Jo followed the warden down the long, narrow, gray hallway to the interview room.
    The warden stopped at the interview room’s entrance. ‘Smith was clear he only wanted you and Winchester in the room.’
    ‘Both of us?’ Jo said.
    The warden shrugged. ‘Don’t pretend to understand Smith’s mind. Likely he wants the arresting officer front and center when he gives his last big speech.’
    Brody shifted his stance but didn’t speak.
    Jo flexed her fingers. ‘The sooner we start, the sooner we’ll know.’
    Brody opened the door and this time walked in ahead of her. His gaze swept the small room, roaming over the glass partition that separated the prisoners from visitors. On this side of the glass, there was a chair in front of a small desk and a phone resting in a wall cradle. His frown darkened. ‘Have a seat, Dr. Granger.’
    Dr. Granger
. Sounded odd, overly formal, even a bit pretentious when Brody said it. But she realized since they’d met, he’d used her formal title when they’d been in front of others and when they’d been alone, he’d kept his words to a minimum.
    She passed by him and took a seat in front of the glass partition. In the glass’s reflection, she could see Brody taking his post by the door. He didn’t lean against the wall but stood straight, his hands clasped in front. In her home he’d been edgy but now his muscles all but snapped with tension. Brody knew dark facts about Smith, had witnessed events that he’d most likely not share with her because she was technically a civilian. She suspected that knowledge now preyed on his mind.
    Jo refocused her gaze into the other room and the door on the opposite side of the glass. For several seconds she stared at the plain door, barely breathing as her heart thumped hard against her chest. The case of unexpected nerves had now grown annoying. Smith couldn’t hurt her, and the sooner she stopped giving in to this ridiculous case of anxieties, the better.
    The second hand on the wall clock moved in slow motion. Her heartbeat pulsed against her neck and wrists. Finally, the knob that she thought would never turn did and in a blink it rotated, and the door opened. She flinched but settled immediately as wheelchair-bound and shackled Smith was wheeled in by a guard.
    In all the pictures she’d seen of Smith, he had been a robust and muscled man with dark, thick hair, penetrating green eyes and a sly smile that suggested he knew many secrets. However, the cancer had left him fragile, a good seventy pounds lighter and his ebony hair had grayed and thinned. His once-attractive face was lean and lined, but