Guilty Pleasure (11 page)

“
What is it?” she
said.

“
He doesn’t look like a
monster, Nicole. I’m guessing he is about twenty-two and looks like
your average college kid. Don’t let your guard down. He will love
nothing more than to fuck with your mind. Don’t let him see that he
is getting to you.”

“
How do you know
this?”

“
I told you I have study
this subject extensively.” Michael gently stroked her cheek. “It
will be alright. I would prefer you just observe through the two
way mirror.” He stepped aside so she could get a look at
Johnny.

She gasped slightly. This guy was a serial
killer? He looked like the boy next door.

“
You won’t be able to hear
anything but you will be able to get a feel for this guy. Then the
next time we have to talk with him you will be
prepared.”

“
I will stay out here if it
makes you feel better.”

“
Thank you,
Nicole.”

The police officer gestured for Nicole to
sit on one of the two chairs then he opened the door for
Michael.

Michael entered the room. Johnny’s gaze
quickly went to him.

“
You are not what I was
expecting,” Johnny said.

“
Neither are
you.”

Michael sat at the table Johnny was chained
to.

“
Do I make you uneasy?”
Michael said.

“
Yeah. There is something
off about you.”

“
That’s funny coming from
someone like you. There is very little I can do to keep you out of
jail. You left enough DNA evidence all over the crime scenes, which
wouldn’t have been a problem since you have no priors. Why did you
let that hooker go?”

“
What?”

“
If you would have killed
the bitch you wouldn’t be sitting here now. So why did you let her
go?”

“
That is an odd
question.”

“
Just answer
it.”

“
I didn’t want to let her
go. I really don’t know how she managed to break free from my hold.
She took off running and I couldn’t catch her. She darted into some
bar where I knew she would have someone call the cops.”

“
You idiot.”

“
Excuse me?”

“
If you would have calmly
followed her into the bar, you could have pretended to be her pimp.
It was almost closing time for most bars I doubted there were many
people in there. Who is going to get in the middle of a pimp
wrangling up his whore? There might have been maybe one hero, but
don’t tell me that confronting another man is terrifying for
you.”

“
This is weird…”

“
Well, is it terrifying for
you? Is that why you only picked easy victims?”

“
Aren’t you supposed to be
defending me?”

“
I have to know the why of
everything if I’m going to defend you properly.”

“
I don’t kill
men.”

“
No, you wouldn’t, you
would only target women all the time. I know there is a sense of
beauty in watching a woman suffer, but there is also a thrill in
killing someone who can defend themselves against you. Killers who
only target children and women are very unimaginative.”

Johnny just looked at Michael like a scared
rabbit.

“
What is wrong with you,
dude?” Johnny said.

“
You rattle too easily. A
prosecutor will tear you up.”

Nicole watched Michael with Johnny. She
couldn’t hear what they were saying, but whatever Michael was
saying seemed to be scaring Johnny.

She was startled when a guy in a suit and
tie sat next to her.

“
I’m sorry I didn’t mean to
scare you. I’m Detective Tim Dane, by the way, I’m the guy who
brought that piece of trash in here.”

“
Oh, I’m Nicole Fisher, I’m
the defense lawyer’s assistant.”

“
Then why aren’t you in
there?”

“
My boss thought it might
be best if I just observe from out here this time.”

“
He is probably right about
that. You don’t look that old so I’m guess you are pretty green at
all of this. Johnny looks innocent doesn’t he?”

“
Yes. I wasn’t expecting
him to look like that.”

“
I’m guessing those poor
women he killed didn’t think he was a killer either. He sure don’t
look the part. Your boss seems to be giving ole’ Johnny a hard
time. That’s a bit unusual.”

“
Is it?”

“
Normally a scumbag looks
like that when he is talking with the prosecutor. It’s odd that he
seems afraid of his defense lawyer.”

“
My boss is good at what he
does.”

“
Oh, I’m not arguing that,
Michael is pretty good at getting trash back onto the street. I’m
sorry, I just don’t have much use for defense lawyers, but I guess
someone has to do it. I have worked with your boss before. I mean
no disrespect, because it’s obvious you like the guy, but there is
something a bit odd about that one.”

“
How so?”

“
He is always so calm and
collective. I can see being that way in front of your client, but
usually even the harden defense lawyers get rattled from time to
time. They come out of the interview room and you can see they are
rattled a bit by what their client has told them. But I have never
seen Michael that way.”

“
Maybe he hasn’t had a
really awful case yet.”

“
Well Missy, I’m guessing
you just started working for him.”

“
Yes. Why?”

“
There was this case a
couple years ago. Hell, it is still stuck in my head. A child
killer…this guy was convicted of killing six children and when the
fucker got caught he confessed to ten more. I remember watching
Michael talking with that guy. I was pretty much sitting here like
I am today. I was already to console Michael when he got out of
that room. Yet…there was no emotion at all in that man’s eyes. He
just spent several hours talking to a child killer, probably
hearing all the gruesome details and there was no emotion at
all.”

“
Maybe he learned to
distance himself from his work.”

“
Maybe. Or perhaps he is
just as cold blooded as those assholes he defends. I like you,
darling, you seem like a really sweet person, and I hope I didn’t
offend you by speaking ill of your boss.”

“
You are entitled to your
opinion. But you are wrong about Michael being cold blooded. I
think he is just protecting himself from the awful things he has to
hear all the time. I would find a way to do that.”

“
Perhaps you are
right.”

“
Do you have to sit in with
all the suspects you bring in?”

“
No, I usually don’t look
in on the defense lawyer talking with the suspect. I just tend to
do that when Michael is defending someone. I guess I’m waiting for
the guy to show some kind of emotion.”

They both looked at Johnny as he tried to
distance himself from Michael.

“
What the hell?” Tim
said.

When Michael stood, Johnny slowly sat back
down.

“
Maybe you should go in
there. Michael might be in trouble,” Nicole said.

“
There is no way Johnny can
get to him, so don’t worry.”

“
I’m guessing Michael told
him he was looking at getting the death penalty.”

“
There is no death penalty
in Illinois, darling.”

Johnny looked like a trapped cat as he
fought with the chain. Michael slowly stood and headed to the door.
Tim got up and walked to the door. He unlocked it and let Michael
out. Then he stepped back.

Michael looked at Tim. He hated this guy. He
was like a bee buzzing around your head.

“
Well, Mr. Lyons it looks
like you spooked your client.”

“
He didn’t like his
options.”

“
I was just telling your
assistant about how calm and collective you always are. Even after
being face to face with some truly awful people.”

“
Come on, Nicole. It’s
always a pleasure Mr. Dane.”

“
Likewise, Mr.
Lyons.”

Tim waited for them to leave then he went
into the room where Johnny was still chained to the table.

“
Nice visit with your
defense lawyer?” Tim said as he unhooked the chains, so Johnny
could be moved. “Well, whatever he said to you certainly got you
spooked.”

“
He tried to get into my
mind.”

“
Okay.” Tim went behind
Johnny. “Let’s move out. You have to go back to your
cell.”

“
No man, that guy…you don’t
get it, he tried to get into mind and fuck with me.”

“
It sounds like he was
successful. Let’s go, you crazy piece of shit.”

“
I don’t want him to be my
lawyer.”

“
Well, sunshine, nobody
else will touch your case with a ten foot pole. A public defender
won’t even take your case. So you are stuck with Michael. You
should be grateful, that asshole has gotten several scumbags just
like you better than they deserve.”

***

Michael dropped Nicole off at her apartment.
He said he had a lot of work to do and needed a few moments to
decompress after talking with Johnny. This made Nicole feel better
after what Tim was saying about Michael. She wanted to call that
detective up and tell him he had Michael all wrong.

“
Are you alright?” Monica
said when Nicole entered the apartment.

“
I’m fine. Michael didn’t
let me talk with Johnny. I just watched through the two-way
mirror.” Nicole set her stuff down on the sofa then headed to the
kitchen.

“
Adam and I were a bit
worried about you. I couldn’t imagine what kind of vibe you would
get being in a room with a serial killer.”

“
I was a little worried
about that too, but Michael protected me from it.” Nicole twisted
the cap off her vitamin water then went over to the kitchen table
and sat on one of the chairs. “How did you know Adam was
worried?”

“
He called me about an hour
ago to check up on you. I told him you were tough and would be just
fine.”

“
Did Adam leave town to do
his gigs?”

“
Yep. I’m glad he did, but
right now I want to make sure you are alright.”

“
I’m not that fragile, but
thank you for your concern.”

“
Why didn’t Michael come
in? He is welcomed to stay here if he wants. I’m sure his apartment
is way better than ours…”

“
To be honest I like our
little apartment better, it feels homier.”

“
Well Michael did say you
could put your stink on his place.”

“
My stink.” Nicole
chuckled.

“
You know home that shit
up. Maybe that will defrost your boyfriend.”

“
Defrost him?”

“
No offence, girl, but so
far the vibe I’m getting from your man is a chilly one.”

“
Not all people are warm
and bubbly like you are. I think it just takes time for him to warm
up to people.”

“
Maybe. So, what was it
like to come face to face with a serial killer, even if he couldn’t
see you?”

“
He looked like an ordinary
person. You would never think him capable of doing the things that
he has done by looking at him. He was so young too, he was probably
close to our age.”

“
Oh, that is
scary.”

“
I know. I was expecting
someone creepy looking or at the very least tough and
hardened.”

“
That old saying you can’t
judge a book by its cover applies here I think. Is Michael going to
let you talk with him at some point?”

“
I think so. I have to,
it’s part of my job. I have to assist Michael. Though I hope I
don’t have to talk with that detective anymore.”

“
What
detective?”

“
His name is Tim Dane and I
guess he was the one who helped catch Johnny. The things he was
saying about Michael was just pissing me off.”

“
Like what?”

“
Michael is cold and
unemotional even when dealing with the harder parts of his job. Tim
told me about the serial child killer that Michael defended and how
Michael’s lack of emotions bothered Tim.”

“
What did you
say?”

“
I said Michael probably
has to shut emotionally down to deal with the horrible things he
has to hear.”

“
That makes sense,
but…”

“
But what?”

“
I did say Michael comes
across chilly. Why would he have to shut his emotions off around
me? I don’t give off a freaky vibe do I?”

“
No.”

Monica could see Nicole was starting to get
upset and that was the last thing she wanted to do to her. “I’m
sure he will defrost once he gets to know me. And I think you are
right he would have to shut down emotionally to deal with the crap
he has to hear from his clients. Maybe he is just stuck in that
mode. I’m sure you will turn him around.”