John Grisham

by The Brethren (v5)

  He found a beer in a carry-on cooler. He drank it and fell sound asleep. They landed on the island of Eleuthera, a place Trevor had seen in a travel magazine he’d bought the night before. There were beaches and hotels and all the water sports. He paid Eddie in cash, then waited an hour at the small airport for a taxi to happen by.

  He bought clothes at a tourist shop in Governor’s Harbour, then walked to a hotel on the beach. He was amused at how quickly he stopped watching the shadows. Sure Mr. Konyers had plenty of money, but no one could afford a secret army big enough to track someone through the Bahamas. His future would be one of sheer delight. He would not ruin it by looking over his shoulder.

  He drank rum by the pool as fast as the bar maid could bring it. At the age of forty-eight, Trevor Carson welcomed his new life in pretty much the same condition he’d left his old one.

  THE LAW OFFICE of Trevor Carson opened on time and things proceeded as if nothing was amiss. Its owner had fled, but its paralegal and office manager were on duty to take care of any business that might unexpectedly develop. They listened in all the right places, and heard nothing. The phone rang twice before noon, two misguided inquiries from souls lost in the yellow pages. Not a single client needed Trevor. Not a single friend called to say hello. Wes and Chap busied themselves by going through the few drawers and files they had not yet inspected. Nothing of consequence was found.

  Another crew combed every inch of Trevor’s house, primarily looking for the cash he’d been paid. Not surprisingly, they didn’t find it. The cheap briefcase was in a closet, empty. There was no trail. Trevor had just walked away, with his cash.

  The Bahamian banking official was tracked to New York, where he was visiting on government business. He was reluctant to get involved from such a long distance, but he eventually made his calls. Around 1 P.M. it was confirmed that the money had been moved. Its owner had done so in person, and the official would divulge nothing else.

  Where did the money go? It was moved by wire, and that’s all he would tell Deville. His country’s banking reputation depended upon secrecy, and he could reveal only so much. He was corrupt, but he did have his limits.

  U.S. Customs cooperated after some initial reluctance. Trevor’s passport had been scanned at Nassau International early that morning, and so far he had not left the Bahamas, at least not officially. His passport was red-listed. If he used it to enter another country, U.S. Customs would know it within two hours.

  Deville delivered a quick update to Teddy and York, his fourth of the day, then hung around for further instructions.

  “He’ll make a mistake,” York said. “He’ll use his passport somewhere, and we’ll catch him. He doesn’t know who’s chasing him.”

  Teddy seethed but said nothing. His agency had toppled governments and killed kings, yet he was constantly amazed at how the little things often got botched. One bumbling and witless lawyer from Neptune Beach slipped through their net while a dozen people were supposed to be watching. He thought he was beyond surprises.

  The lawyer was to be their link, their bridge to the inside of Trumble. For a million dollars they thought they could trust him. There’d been no contingency plan for his sudden flight. Now they were scrambling to develop one.

  “We need someone inside the prison,” Teddy said.

  “We’re close,” Deville answered. “We’re working with Justice and the Bureau of Prisons.”

  “How close?”

  “Well, in light of what’s happened today, I think we can have a man there, inside Trumble, within forty-eight hours.”

  “Who is he?”

  “His name is Argrow, eleven years with the agency, age thirty-nine, solid credentials.”

  “His story?”

  “He’ll transfer into Trumble from a federal prison in the Virgin Islands. His paperwork will be cleared by the Bureau here in Washington so the warden down there won’t ask any questions. He’s just another federal prisoner who requested a transfer.”

  “And he’s ready to go?”

  “Almost. Forty-eight hours.”

  “Do it now.”

  Deville left, again with the burden of a difficult task that suddenly had to be done overnight.

  “We have to find out how much they know,” Teddy said, almost in a mumble.

  “Yes, but we have no reason to believe they suspect anything,” York said. “I’ve read all their mail. There’s nothing to indicate they are particularly excited about Konyers. He’s just one of their potential victims. We bought the lawyer to stop him from snooping around behind Konyers’ post office box. He’s off in the Bahamas now, drunk with his money, so he’s not a threat.”

  “But we still dispose of him,” Teddy said. It was not a question.

  “Of course.”

  “I’ll feel better when he’s gone,” Teddy said.

  A GUARD with a uniform but no gun entered the law library in mid-afternoon. He first encountered Joe Roy Spicer, who was by the door to the chamber.

  “The warden would like to see you,” the guard said. “You and Yarber and Beech.”

  “What’s this about?” Spicer asked. He was reading an old copy of Field & Stream.

  “None of my business. He wants you now. Up front.”

  “Tell him we’re busy.”

  “I ain’t tellin him nothin. Let’s go.”

  They followed him to the administration building, picking up other guards along the way until a regular entourage emerged from the elevator and stood before the warden’s secretary. She and she alone somehow managed to escort the Brethren into the big office where Emmitt Broon was waiting. When she was gone, he said abruptly, “I have been notified by the FBI that your lawyer is missing.”

  No visible response from the three, but each instantly thought about the money hidden offshore.

  He continued, “He disappeared this morning, and there’s some money missing. I don’t have the details.”

  Whose money? they wanted to ask. No one knew about their hidden funds. Had Trevor stolen from someone else?

  “Why are you telling us?” Beech asked.

  The real reason was that the Justice Department in Washington had asked Broon to inform the three of the latest news. But the reason he gave was “Just thought you’d want to know in case you needed to call him.”

  They’d fired Trevor the day before, and had not yet informed the administration that he was no longer their attorney of record.

  “What’re we gonna do for a lawyer?” Spicer asked, as if life couldn’t go on.

  “That’s your problem. Frankly, I’d say you gentlemen have had enough legal counsel to last you many years.”

  “What if he contacts us?” Yarber asked, knowing full well they’d never hear from Trevor again.

  “You are to notify me immediately.”

  They agreed to do so. Whatever the warden wanted. He excused them.

  BUSTER’S ESCAPE was less complicated than a trip to the grocery. They waited until the next morning, until breakfast was over and most of the inmates were busy with their menial jobs. Yarber and Beech were on the track, walking an eighth of a mile apart so that one was always watching the prison while the other watched the woods in the distance. Spicer loitered near the basketball court, on the lookout for guards. With no fences or towers or pressing security concerns, guards were not that critical at Trumble. Spicer saw none.

  Buster was lost in the whining noise of his Weed Eater, which he slowly worked toward the track. He took a break to wipe his face and look around. Spicer, from fifty yards away, heard the engine die. He turned and quickly gave a thumbs-up, the sign to do it quickly. Buster stepped onto the track, caught up with Yarber, and for a few steps they walked together.

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” Yarber asked.

  “Yes. I’m positive.” The kid appeared calm and ready.

  “Then do it now. Pace yourself. Be cool.”

  “Thanks, Finn.”

  “Don’t get caught, son.”r />
  “No way.”

  At the turn, Buster kept walking, off the track, across the freshly cut grass, a hundred yards to some brush, then he was gone. Beech and Yarber saw him go, then turned to watch the prison. Spicer was calmly walking toward them. There was no sign of alarm around the courtyards or dorms or any of the other buildings on the prison grounds. Not a guard in sight.

  They walked three miles, twelve laps, at the leisurely pace of fifteen minutes per mile, and when they’d had enough they retired to the coolness of the chamber to relax and listen for news of the escape. It would be hours before they heard a word.

  Buster’s pace was much faster. Once into the woods, he began to jog without looking back. Watching the sun, he moved due south for half an hour. The woods were not thick; the undergrowth was thin and did not slow him. He passed a deer stand twenty feet up in an oak tree, and soon found a trail that ran to the southwest.

  In his left front pants pocket he had $2,000 cash, given to him by Finn Yarber. In his other front pocket he had a map Beech had drawn by hand. And in his rear pocket he had a yellow envelope addressed to a man named Al Konyers in Chevy Chase, Maryland. All three were important, but the envelope had received the most attention from the Brethren.

  After an hour, he stopped to rest, and to listen. Highway 30 was his first landmark. It ran east and west and Beech figured he would find it within two hours. He heard nothing, and started running again.

  He had to pace himself. There was a chance his absence would be noticed just after lunch, when the guards sometimes walked the grounds in a very casual inspection. If one of them thought to look for Buster, then other questions might follow. But after two weeks of watching the guards, neither Buster nor any of the Brethren thought this was a possibility.

  So he had at least four hours. And probably a lot more because his workday ended at five when he turned in his Weed Eater. When he didn’t show, they’d start looking around the prison. After two hours of that, they’d notify the surrounding police agencies that another one had walked away from Trumble. They were never armed and dangerous, and no one got too excited. No search parties. No bloodhounds. No helicopters hovering over the woods. The county sheriff and his deputies would patrol the main roads and warn the citizens to lock their doors.

  The escapee’s name went into a national computer. They watched his home and watched his girlfriend, and they waited for him to do something stupid.

  After ninety minutes of freedom, Buster stopped for a moment and heard the whine of an eighteen-wheeler not far away. The woods stopped abruptly at a right-of-way ditch, and there was the highway. According to Beech’s map, the nearest town was several miles to the west. The plan was to hike along the highway, dodging traffic by using ditches and bridges, until civilization in some form was found.

  Buster wore the standard prison issue of khaki pants and an olive-colored short-sleeve shirt, both darkened with sweat. The locals knew what the prisoners wore, and if he were spotted walking down Highway 30 someone would call the sheriff. Get to town, Beech and Spicer had told him, and find different clothes. Then pay cash for a bus ticket, and never stop running.

  It took him three hours of ducking behind trees and jumping over roadside ditches before he saw the first buildings. He moved away from the highway, and cut through a hay field. A dog growled at him as he stepped onto a street lined with house trailers. Behind one of them he noticed a clothesline with someone’s laundry hanging in the windless air. He took a red and white pullover and threw away his olive shirt.

  Downtown was nothing more than two blocks of stores, a couple of gas stations, a bank, some sort of town hall, and a post office. He bought denim shorts, a tee shirt, and a pair of boots at a discount store, and changed in the employee restroom. He found the post office inside the town hall. He smiled and thanked his friends at Trumble as he dropped their precious envelope into the Out-of-Town slot.

  Buster caught a bus to Gainesville, where he purchased, for $480, the right to ride a bus anywhere in the United States for sixty days. He headed west. He wanted to get lost in Mexico.

  THIRTY

  THE PENNSYLVANIA PRIMARY on April 25 was to be Governor Tarry’s last mighty effort. Undaunted by his dismal showing in the debate there two weeks earlier, he campaigned with great enthusiasm, but with very little money. “Lake has it all,” he proclaimed at every stop, feigning pride at being the pauper. He did not leave the state for eleven straight days. Reduced to traveling in a large Winnebago camper, he ate his meals in the homes of supporters, stayed in cheap motels, and worked himself ragged shaking hands and walking neighborhoods.

  “Let’s talk about the issues,” he pleaded. “Not about money.”

  Lake, too, worked very hard in Pennsylvania. His jet traveled ten times faster than Tarry’s RV. Lake shook more hands, made more speeches, and he certainly spent more money.

  The result was predictable. Lake received 71 percent of the vote, a landslide so embarrassing to Tarry that he openly talked about quitting. But he vowed to hang on for at least another week, until the Indiana primary. His staff had left him. He was $11 million in debt. He’d been evicted from his campaign headquarters in Arlington.

  Yet, he wanted the good people of Indiana to have the opportunity to see his name on the ballot.

  And who knew, Lake’s shiny new jet might catch on fire, just like the previous one.

  Tarry licked his rather deep wounds, and the day after the primary he promised to fight on.

  Lake almost felt sorry for him, and he sort of admired his determination to endure until the convention. But Lake, along with everybody else, could do the math. Lake needed just forty more delegates to lock up the nomination, and there were almost five hundred still out there. The race was over.

  After Pennsylvania, newspapers across the country confirmed his nomination. His happy handsome face was everywhere, a political miracle. He was praised by many as a symbol of why the system works—an unknown with a message who came from nowhere and captured the attention of the people. Lake’s campaign gave hope to every person who dreamed of running for President. It didn’t take months of pounding the back roads of Iowa. Skip New Hampshire, it was such a small state anyway.

  And he was condemned for buying his nomination. Before Pennsylvania, it was estimated he’d spent $40 million. A more precise number was difficult because the money was being burned on so many fronts. Another $20 million had been spent by D-PAC and half a dozen other high-powered lobbying groups, all working on Lake’s behalf.

  No other candidate in history had spent anything close.

  The criticism stung Lake, and it dogged him day and night. But he’d rather have the money and the nomination than suffer the alternative.

  Big money was hardly taboo. Online entrepreneurs were making billions. The federal government, of all bumbling entities, was showing a surplus! Nearly everybody had a job, and an affordable mortgage, and a couple of cars. Lake’s nonstop polling led him to believe that the big money was not yet an issue with the voters. In a November matchup against the Vice President, Lake was now practically even.

  He once again returned to Washington, from the wars of the West, as a triumphant hero. Aaron Lake, lowly congressman from Arizona, was now the man of the hour.

  OVER A QUIET and very long breakfast, the Brethren read the Jacksonville morning paper, the only one allowed inside Trumble. They were very happy for Aaron Lake. In fact, they were thrilled with his nomination. They were now among his most ardent supporters. Run, Aaron, run.

  The news of Buster’s walk to freedom had created hardly a stir. Good for him, the inmates were saying. He was just a kid with a long sentence. Run, Buster, run.

  The escape wasn’t mentioned in the morning paper. They passed it around, reading every word but the want ads and the obituaries. They were waiting now. No more letters would be written; none would be brought in because they’d lost their courier. Their little scam was on hold until they heard from Mr. Lake.

&nbs
p; WILSON ARGROW arrived at Trumble in an unmarked green van, handcuffed, with two marshals pulling at his elbows. He’d flown with his escorts from Miami to Jacksonville, of course at the expense of the taxpayers.

  According to his paperwork, he had served four months of a sixty-month sentence for bank fraud. He had requested a transfer for reasons that were not clear, but his reasons were of no concern to anyone at Trumble. He was just another low-security prisoner in the federal system. They moved around all the time.

  He was thirty-nine years old, divorced, college-educated, and his home address, for prison records, was in Coral Gables, Florida. His real name was Kenny Sands, an eleven-year veteran of the CIA, and though he’d never seen the inside of a prison, he’d had much tougher assignments than Trumble. He’d be there a month or two, then request another transfer.

  Argrow maintained the cool facade of an old prison hand as he was processed, but his stomach churned. He’d been assured that violence was not tolerated at Trumble, and he could certainly take care of himself. But prison was prison. He suffered through a one-hour orientation by an assistant warden, then was given a quick tour of the grounds. He began to relax when he saw Trumble for himself. The guards had no guns, and most of the inmates looked rather harmless.

  His cell mate was an old man with a spotty white beard, a career criminal who’d seen many prisons and loved Trumble. He told Argrow he planned to die there. The man took Argrow to lunch and explained the vagaries of the menu. He showed him the game room, where groups of thick men bunched around folding tables studying their cards, every one with a cigarette stuck to the lips. “Gambling’s illegal,” his cell mate said with a wink.

  They walked to the lifting area outdoors where the younger men sweated in the sun, polishing their tans while their muscles expanded. He pointed to the track in the distance and said, “You gotta love the federal government.”