Page 38 of Save Her Life (Sandra Vos #1)

THIRTY-SEVEN

The administrative staff at the prison were miserable with Sandra as they followed the standard protocol for visitors. She was stripped of her gun and anything that could be deemed a weapon, even patted down by a female corrections officer.

“You realize I’m FBI?” Sandra said.

The woman looked at her as if to say that was the only reason she was being admitted at this hour. “Just doing my job, ma’am.”

“I’ll take it from here.” A man in his fifties with a lean, lanky frame approached. “Warden Synder,” he told her as an introduction of himself.

“Special Agent Sandra Vos.”

“Oh, I know who you are. Your boss too. I made something clear to him, and I’m going to do the same with you. This meeting is unprecedented and could be seen as violating the inmate’s rights. He never approved this visit.”

Did this man not know why they had an interest in speaking with Patton? “I’m not sure what Assistant Director Rowe told you, Warden, but Darrell Patton is of primary interest to the FBI pertaining to a kidnapping.” She left it vague, thinking that Elwood would have done the same.

“Your boss told me that much, but it still doesn’t make it cool in my book.”

The fact the warden so strongly defended the rights of a convicted killer didn’t earn any respect in her book.

The warden continued. “Patton has the right to signal the guard to leave the room at any time, and if he does, you are to let him go. Are we understood?”

Elwood hadn’t mentioned that stipulation, and she was curious if the warden had said this to him. “Understood. Now, I’d like to get started.” She met his gaze, not backing down when his drilled through hers.

The warden held the eye contact for a few beats before nodding and saying, “Follow me.”

As she traversed the linoleum hallways that she’d been down just days ago, dread washed over her. It was sinking in that she was about to come face to face and one on one with the man who had killed her brother. Her heart started thumping wildly in her chest, and her throat constricted. She must have been a fool to even think she could pull off talking to him while remaining calm. But she wasn’t beyond trying. Remember, this is for Olivia. She’d repeat it until it flooded her with the strength and courage to see this through.

The warden stopped outside a door with a window and a guard standing next to it. “This is it,” he told her.

She nodded, unable to speak, afraid to even try. She imagined her words coming out as a croak. She gave the guard a fast look before grabbing the door handle and giving it a turn. Her pulse pounded in her ears as a fresh shot of adrenaline flooded her system. Behind this door was Sam’s killer. Unplanned or not, the result of his actions cost her Sam. This thinking ramped up her rage, overriding her anxiety and easing her doubts about her abilities. To hell if he was taking Olivia from her too.

One deep breath, and she swung the door open. She walked inside with confident strides, holding her head high and squaring her shoulders.

Darrell Patton was seated at a table and facing toward the door. He was chained to the table by restraints that hooked to cuffs around his wrists. Manacles were around his ankles and linked to hoops on the floor. He watched every step she took.

“You,” he seethed. “They dragged me from my cell for you ? Guard!”

The man popped into the window of the door, and Sandra shook her head at him. No way was Patton getting off that easy.

Patton’s shoulders lowered when the guard didn’t come into the room. “Listen, if you’re here to berate me some more, I don’t want to hear it.”

“Berate…” She snapped her mouth shut. Remember Olivia. “This has nothing to do with you and me. It involves Natalie.”

“What about her?” Tossed out with nonchalance. Not the reaction she’d expected, but it could be a performance.

“Your daughter,” she stressed. “And she’s found herself in a dangerous situation.”

“I’m not sure why I should care.” But his words and tone were in conflict with his body language. He shuffled forward on his chair if only a bit, and his shoulders tensed just enough to tell her he did care. Good.

“Because you’re her father. Years apart doesn’t change that. There was a time you put everything on the line just to be with her.” She hoped that she wouldn’t need to go deeper than that.

“Huh, and look where that got me. The brat won’t even talk to me. I haven’t seen her since that day. She’s an adult now. She could come here and visit. As you pointed out, she wasn’t even at the hearing.”

His bitterness had Sandra believing his claim more than she had initially. Though it would have been in his favor to lie before, bolster up the hope for reconciliation. She released the need to check visitor logs, but she’d need to deepen her lying. “Natalie wants to reconnect with you.”

“And how would you know that?” His tone softened a minuscule amount.

“Her husband told me.”

“She’s married?” There was a slight hitch to his voice, and she knew she had him.

“Yes, and she has two children. A boy and girl. You could meet them someday, but right now Natalie needs your help.”

“Is she hurt?”

He was clearly invested now. “It’s hard to say.” The longer she was here, the easier it was getting to speak with him. Most of the time, she could even set aside that it was really Olivia who was in danger. She’d dipped into this world of make-believe, and it gave her the strength to do what she had to do.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Just that. Lonnie has her.”

“Lonnie? Why the hell would he…?” But he abandoned the question there. His eyes met hers, and there was a moment of truth and understanding. He knew why he’d take her. “She’s no good to him. Why is he doing this?”

“Why is he doing this?” she parroted, as if she didn’t know and wanted him to provide the answer. Letting the silence stretch was tough. Jennings’s deadline wasn’t far from mind.

Patton narrowed his eyes. “Tell me what you think you know.”

He clearly wasn’t biting. “All right, I’ll play along. A week before you kidnapped your own daughter, you and two friends, Lonnie Jennings and Dennis Eaton, robbed Liberty Bank in Washington, DC. You made off with nine gold bars. Lonnie said you hid them until things cooled down. But that didn’t happen because you got yourself sent to prison. Well, he’s run out of patience. It’s the gold bars or your daughter’s life, Mr. Patton.” She set all that out there coolly, but her body stiffened. Also for one tiny flicker of a moment, she’d lost the narrative and her voice fluctuated.

Patton met her eyes, smiled, and shook his head. “Nah, it’s not Nat in danger. It’s someone who means something to you. You want to know what I think?”

She splayed her hands as if to say, By all means, tell me.

“I’m starting to think it’s your daughter, the way you keep throwing daughter around.”

Her turn to shake her head. “Even if I had a daughter, why would Lonnie take her? I can’t offer him anything.”

“You’re assuming I can.”

“You know where the gold bars are.”

“Says who? You’re trying to rope me into confessing that I robbed that bank. But I ask you, what proof could you possibly have?”

He had her in a corner, and she didn’t particularly like it there. They didn’t have any solid evidence against him, but they had logic. “Why else would Lonnie be demanding to know the location of the gold if you didn’t know where it was?”

“Lonnie’s lost his mind? I don’t know.”

“Is that how you want to play this? If you don’t tell me where the gold is, your daughter will die .” That impactful word had her slipping back to reality, and her voice cracked, betraying her again.

Patton sat back. “I’m a little lost here. Lonnie takes Natalie and gets a fed to find out the location of gold obtained in a bank robbery. Why would he implicate himself? And what do you care about Natalie?”

“It’s my job to care about people, Mr. Patton, and Lonnie doesn’t intend to get caught. He just wants the gold, and he’s tired of waiting for you to get out of here.” She was surprised by her ability to hold it together.

Patton sat silently for a few beats. “I don’t know. You can’t even provide proof to back up your claim. Besides, if I was involved in some robbery, why would I bare my soul to you? You’re the freaking FBI. I’d be lucky to see the light of day again before I die.”

“I can help you.”

“ You help me ? That’s a joke. Days ago you stood in front of the parole committee and made it clear you think I’m shit.”

I still do… “Tell me to save your daughter, and if not for that, because you found God. Isn’t that what you told the parole committee? Don’t you want a clear conscience before Him?” Or Her…

“Nah, I’m out. Guard!”

She looked over her shoulder, and the man was alerted and turning toward the door. “Lonnie will kill Natalie if you don’t give up the location of the gold.”

The door handle turned.

Darrell shook his head. “Lonnie doesn’t even have Natalie. This is all some ruse to get me to confess to a crime I didn’t commit, so you can ensure I rot in here. Well, I’m not in the accommodating mood.”

“I can make you a deal,” she rushed out. She had wanted to reserve this as a last resort, but she was pinned against the wall.

“Really?”

The guard was in the room, looking between Sandra and Patton. “You finished in here, Patton?”

Patton held up his hand. “I’m listening,” he told Sandra.

“Just tell me where the gold is, and I’ll give you immunity regarding the bank robbery.”

Patton studied her eyes. “Nah, I don’t believe you.”

“I can have it put in writing before you tell me. Think of your daughter.”

“I’m quite sure we both know it’s not my daughter that he has. You’re trying to manipulate me, but I’d suggest you plan a funeral for whoever Lonnie does have. The guy has always had a short fuse.”

“I know. He killed Dennis.” She threw that out to shock him, jolt him to reality.

“He… He killed Dennis?” The question scraped from his throat, and the impact of this news played over his facial features.

“Shot him in the head.”

“Nah, I can’t accept that.” Patton looked at the guard, who started to release him from his restraints that bound him to the table and floor.

As Patton shuffled from the room with the guard, she remained frozen in her chair, numb. He’d already taken her brother from her, and now the same man just may claim her daughter. All because she’d messed up. She’d let emotion interfere. She smacked her palms against the table and roared at the empty walls.