“You think I couldn’t have had you?” Kelson dared me.
“That’s exactly what I think.”
“And Hartley could?”
“I’ve never known Hartley to use his charm on men,” I pointed out. “Have you?”
He shook his head. “But he’s not so good either.”
“In what way?”
“I—the women he took were all whores. How hard could that be?”
And now the jealousy. So while he wanted to be in Hartley’s inner circle, he also hated him a bit. I could hear it underlying his words. “None of the women that Hartley killed were prostitutes, so I don’t—”
“They all cheated on their husbands!”
Ah. “That’s true,” I agreed. “But that doesn’t make them whores.”
“I think it does, and some would say they had it coming.”
“I think you deserve a divorce for cheating, not death,” I said flatly, scowling. Like murderers got to make judgment calls on others.
“Perhaps.”
I took a breath, and he put his arms on the table and rested his chin on his fists.
“What are you thinking about?”
“I’m really sorry I tried to hurt you this morning. I apologize.” Kelson appeared contrite.
“Apology accepted.”
“He’s right, you know. You’re very easy to talk to.”
“Thank you.”
Kelson smiled.
WE TALKED for a long time, a couple of hours, and then I led Kelson to the door. When I opened it, Eli was there.
“What’re you doing here?” I asked, pleased to see him.
He shrugged. “The day’s pretty much over, so I thought I’d check on you.”
I nodded. “Thank you. I’m driving out to Elgin because I don’t want him to hurt himself, and the Feds will just leave him here all night.”
“I won’t hurt myself,” Kelson promised.
“Things change,” I pointed out.
“True,” he agreed.
“Let’s go to Elgin,” Eli said, chuckling. “I’ll drive.”
Leaving Sharpe and White manning the main desk, Eli and I took Kelson down the elevator and put him in one of the Chevy Suburbans we’d taken out this morning.
According to any GPS or any online directions, the trip from the office downtown out to Elgin Mental Health Center by way of I-90 West should have taken forty-five minutes. I had never gotten there in less than an hour. Since we were thick in the middle of rush-hour traffic, I was sure it would take at least two hours one way.
Halfway there, Kage called, and I put him on speaker.
“Jones.”
“Sir.”
“Where are you?”
“On my way to Elgin with Kelson, sir.”
And because Kage was a very smart man, he knew why. Whether he thought so, Kelson was a suicide risk. Anyone totally brainwashed by a serial killer could easily decide on a whim to kill themselves, or remember they’d been told to do so after speaking for a certain amount of time, or God knew what else. There were a hundred scenarios, but basically the result was Kelson had to be watched, and in one of the cells in the marshals’ office or with the FBI, he would not get the observation he needed. Had it been earlier in the day, someone else would have transferred him to Elgin. But I knew the drill; I’d had dealings with more than one psychotic felon in my life. Hartley was the worst, but there were enough others for me to know what I was doing.
“Just you, Jones?”
“No, sir,” Eli spoke up. “I’m here.”
Deep breath. “Okay.”
“The Bureau can deal with this tomorrow. I just want him dropped off tonight,” I explained. “It was the only thing to do.”
“Agreed.”
I didn’t want to ask. “Sir? Ryerson’s family?”
“His wife is in stable condition in the hospital.”
He didn’t say where. It wasn’t for Kelson to know.
“Does he have kids?”
“He does. They’re all accounted for.”
That was good. “And Hartley?”
“No sign of him beyond his fingerprints and DNA.”
I wasn’t going to ask where his DNA was.
“Ryerson is very thankful,” Kage said. “He wants you to work for him.”
“I work for you, sir,” I told him. “I’ll send you a notification when Kelson’s dropped off.”
“Good,” he said and was gone.
“That man has terrible communication skills,” Kelson said, shaking his head as he sat beside me.
“I would agree with that,” Eli replied from the front seat.
I EXPLAINED to the doctor in charge at Elgin that I thought Kelson would be the model prisoner if he didn’t try to swallow his tongue. The last thing I heard him asking the doctor, as two orderlies walked him slowly inside, was if he could stay in Hartley’s old room.
“He really likes you,” Eli said once we were outside.
“All the crazy ones like me,” I agreed, walking over to the grass next to the Suburban and losing everything in my stomach.
“I’m thinking it’s lucky tomorrow’s Friday.”
I nodded as he passed me a bottle of water. My phone started ringing, and Eli answered because I wasn’t sure if I needed to dry heave.
“Yeah, he’s good. We’re out at Elgin. Where are you?” He listened for a moment. “We’re heading back now. I’ll drop him off at—oh, okay. Thanks.”