[Georgia 03] Fallen

before the Doraville police released them. Will understood intellectually why the detectives wanted to talk to them. There were two dead bodies and bullet holes everywhere. There was a stockpile of illegal machine guns on a shelf in the back. There was a large safe in Julia Ling’s office with the door swinging open and hundred-dollar bills scattered on the floor. You didn’t just roll up on a scene like that and release the only two witnesses. There were forms to be filled out, questions to be answered. Will had to give a statement. He’d had to wait while Amanda gave hers. It seemed like she had taken her time. He’d sat in the car, watching her talk to the detectives, feeling like an earthquake was going off in his chest.
    His cell phone had been in and out of his hand a dozen times. Should he call Sara? Should he leave her alone? Did she need him? Wouldn’t she call him if she did? He had to see her. If he saw her, he would know how to react, to do what she needed. He would wrap his arms around her. He would kiss her cheek, her neck, her mouth. He would make everything better.
    Or, he would just stand there in the hallway like a jackass, molesting her hand.
    Amanda snapped her fingers for his attention. Will didn’t look up, but she talked anyway. “Your emergency contact is Angela Polaski. Or I should say Angie Trent, I suppose, since she’s your wife.” She paused for effect. “She is still your wife?”
    He shook his head. He had never wanted to punch a woman so badly in his life.
    “What did you expect me to do, Will?”
    He kept shaking his head.
    “So, I tell you that your—I don’t know, what is Dr. Linton to you these days? Mistress? Girlfriend? Pal? —is in trouble, and then what? We drop everything so you can go make googly eyes at her?”
    Will stood up. He wasn’t going to do this. He would hitchhike back to Atlanta if he had to.
    She sighed like the world was against her. “The warden will be here any minute. I need you to pull up your big-girl pants so I can prep you for your conversation with Roger Ling.”
    Will looked at her for the first time since they’d left the hospital. “Me?”
    “He asked for you specifically.”
    This was some kind of trick, but he couldn’t see where it was going. “How does he even know my name?”
    “I imagine his sister filled him in.”
    As far as Will knew, Julia Ling was still on the run. “She called him at the prison?”
    She crossed her arms over her chest. “Roger Ling is in solitary confinement for hiding a razor blade in his rectum. He doesn’t get phone calls. He doesn’t get visitors.”
    Isolation had never deterred the prison message system. There were so many illegal cell phones inside the walls that last year during a statewide prisoner strike, The New York Times had been flooded with calls from inmates making their demands.
    Still, Will said, “Roger Ling asked for me specifically?”
    “Yes, Will. The request came through his lawyer. He asked for you specifically.” She allowed, “Of course, they called me first. No one knows who the hell you are. Except for Roger, apparently.”
    Will sat back down in the chair. He felt his jaw ratcheting tight. The silence wanted to come back. He could feel it like a shadow looming behind him.
    She asked, “Who do you think the cop is who confronted Dr. Linton in the hospital?”
    He shook his head. He didn’t want to think about Sara anymore. He felt sick every time he thought about what she’d been through today. Alone.
    Amanda repeated herself. “Who do you think the cop is?” Again, she snapped her fingers to get his attention.
    He looked up. He wanted to break her hand.
    “This isn’t about me. This is about Faith and getting back her mother. Now, who do you think the cop is?”
    He cleared the glass out of his throat. “How do you know all of these people?”
    “What people?”
    “Hector Ortiz. Roger Ling. Julia Ling. Perry the bodyguard who drives a Mercedes. Why are you on a first-name basis with all these people?”
    She was silent, obviously debating about whether or not to answer. Finally, she relented. “You know I came up in the job with Evelyn. We were cadets together. We were partners before they got tired of us busting all their cases.” She shook her head at the memory. “These are the bad guys who were on the other side. Drugs. Rape. Murder. Assault. Hostage negotiation. RICO cases. Money laundering. They’ve been around as long as we have.” She added