happened. He swung his legs off the bunk, swiped his hands across his face, then stumbled to the bars, rattling them to emphasize his demand.
âHey!â he yelled, then winced. Yelling made his head ache. âJailer! Jailer! I need to make a phone call. Itâs my right. I get to make a call.â
A few moments later, the door across the aisle opened and a tall scrawny man in a khaki uniform sauntered in. Dieter stared. The man was rail-thin with a hawk nose and a big bushy mustache.
âWhat?â the man drawled.
âI get to make a call! Bring me my cell phone.â
The jailer shrugged. âYou use our phone and reverse the chargesâ¦understand?â
âI donât understand anything,â Dieter muttered. âHow did I get here?â
âHauled your drunk ass in, thatâs how.â
Dieter frowned. He hadnât been drinking. Heâd beenââOh hell,â he muttered. Alicia. The big Indian. Richard was going to kill him.
âHereâs the phone,â the jailer said as he thrust a cordless headset through the bars. âMake it quick.â
âWhere am I?â Dieter asked, realizing he didnât even know the address of the jail.
âYouâre in jail, mister,â the jailer said dryly.
Dieter cursed beneath his breath. âVery funny. Whatâs the name of this godforsaken place?â
âYouâre in Justice, Georgia, and I hope the irony of that is not lost on you.â
Dieter glared. âI need privacy.â
âTough shit. You get one call, and Iâm not going anywhere.â
As Dieter punched in the number, it occurred to him that he was probably safer in jail. At least here, Richard would have a harder time killing him. However, Richard didnât answer the call, and Dieter was forced to leave a message.
âMr. Ponte, itâs Dieter. Iâm in Justice, Georgiaâ¦in jail. I caught up with Alicia at a gas station, but she wasnât alone. She had someone with her who knockedme out. Iâm not sure how I got from there to jail, but I need someone to bail me out.â
As soon as heâd disconnected, he handed the phone back through the bars. The jailer took it, smirked and slammed the door behind him when he left.
Dieter dropped back down on the bunk, then put his head in his hands and groaned. This wasnât good. It wasnât good at all.
Â
Alicia was accustomed to the best. The best cars. The best clothes. The best of everything money could buy. So when John Nightwalker said he was taking her to his place, she didnât expect to find much of a house at the end of this road through nowhere, but to say this exceeded her expectations was an epic understatement. His home was a magnificent edifice of wood, rock and glass that appeared to have grown from the very bluff on which it was sitting.
The front of the house faced the driveway, which left the back to overlook the ocean. She could see all the way through the soaring front windows to two stories of glass at the back that seemed to go on foreverâdisappearing up and into the startling blue of the sky overhead. The panorama they would reveal up close had to be amazing.
Her breath caught in the back of her throat. The beauty of it was obvious, but it was the loneliness she sensed along with that beauty that brought tears to her eyes.
She got out without speaking and walked toward the rim of the bluff, mesmerized by the view beyond. But the longer she stood there, the more she felt he hadnât built here for the view. As she looked around the area, sherealized that from where she stood, it would be impossible for anyone to get to him without being seen. She couldnât help but wonder what demons John Nightwalker watched for when he looked through those windows.
âWelcome to my home,â John said.
Alicia couldnât find the words to answer. She just nodded, then turned around and followed him back to the car,
âHey!â he yelled, then winced. Yelling made his head ache. âJailer! Jailer! I need to make a phone call. Itâs my right. I get to make a call.â
A few moments later, the door across the aisle opened and a tall scrawny man in a khaki uniform sauntered in. Dieter stared. The man was rail-thin with a hawk nose and a big bushy mustache.
âWhat?â the man drawled.
âI get to make a call! Bring me my cell phone.â
The jailer shrugged. âYou use our phone and reverse the chargesâ¦understand?â
âI donât understand anything,â Dieter muttered. âHow did I get here?â
âHauled your drunk ass in, thatâs how.â
Dieter frowned. He hadnât been drinking. Heâd beenââOh hell,â he muttered. Alicia. The big Indian. Richard was going to kill him.
âHereâs the phone,â the jailer said as he thrust a cordless headset through the bars. âMake it quick.â
âWhere am I?â Dieter asked, realizing he didnât even know the address of the jail.
âYouâre in jail, mister,â the jailer said dryly.
Dieter cursed beneath his breath. âVery funny. Whatâs the name of this godforsaken place?â
âYouâre in Justice, Georgia, and I hope the irony of that is not lost on you.â
Dieter glared. âI need privacy.â
âTough shit. You get one call, and Iâm not going anywhere.â
As Dieter punched in the number, it occurred to him that he was probably safer in jail. At least here, Richard would have a harder time killing him. However, Richard didnât answer the call, and Dieter was forced to leave a message.
âMr. Ponte, itâs Dieter. Iâm in Justice, Georgiaâ¦in jail. I caught up with Alicia at a gas station, but she wasnât alone. She had someone with her who knockedme out. Iâm not sure how I got from there to jail, but I need someone to bail me out.â
As soon as heâd disconnected, he handed the phone back through the bars. The jailer took it, smirked and slammed the door behind him when he left.
Dieter dropped back down on the bunk, then put his head in his hands and groaned. This wasnât good. It wasnât good at all.
Â
Alicia was accustomed to the best. The best cars. The best clothes. The best of everything money could buy. So when John Nightwalker said he was taking her to his place, she didnât expect to find much of a house at the end of this road through nowhere, but to say this exceeded her expectations was an epic understatement. His home was a magnificent edifice of wood, rock and glass that appeared to have grown from the very bluff on which it was sitting.
The front of the house faced the driveway, which left the back to overlook the ocean. She could see all the way through the soaring front windows to two stories of glass at the back that seemed to go on foreverâdisappearing up and into the startling blue of the sky overhead. The panorama they would reveal up close had to be amazing.
Her breath caught in the back of her throat. The beauty of it was obvious, but it was the loneliness she sensed along with that beauty that brought tears to her eyes.
She got out without speaking and walked toward the rim of the bluff, mesmerized by the view beyond. But the longer she stood there, the more she felt he hadnât built here for the view. As she looked around the area, sherealized that from where she stood, it would be impossible for anyone to get to him without being seen. She couldnât help but wonder what demons John Nightwalker watched for when he looked through those windows.
âWelcome to my home,â John said.
Alicia couldnât find the words to answer. She just nodded, then turned around and followed him back to the car,
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