Boris and Rick initially found themselves at odds with each other—not so much about Janelle’s past guilt, but over whether the deal that was promised to her should be kept. Boris had known Janelle personally and had interacted with her face-to-face. He had seen the evil within her and knew exactly what she stood for. Rick, however, despite everything his colleagues had told him and bits and pieces of interviews he’d seen, he only knew the version of the crying, desperate woman on the other end of the phone. That was the one he genuinely felt sorry for.
“I know she’s going through a horrible ordeal,” Boris warned him. “Really, I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. But don’t get suckered into her bullshit, man. She’ll play you like a gambling addict plays a slot machine.”
“Are you saying she’s making some of this stuff up?”
“Oh no, not at all. She’s definitely in there, and she’s definitely going through hell. But she’s also an actress. A good one too. I tell you, she was running. I don’t care what she says—she was on the run, something she threatened to do a few times. Now, I don’t know how much her friend knew about what was going on, but as dumb as Stone has always come off, I can’t believe she didn’t know the trip couldn’t be made in a single day. As for not knowing about her friend’s record; I don’t know.”
“Yeah,” Rick said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
Boris continued. “Sure, there are some things we can only guess and speculate on and never know for sure, but let’s just say I’d be willing to bet an entire paycheck not only on what she was up to when they were grabbed but also on everything else she’s always claimed she was innocent of.”
“Have you contacted the husband?” Rick asked.
Boris nodded.
“And what did he say?”
“He confirms she was running. They got into it, and she just stormed off. He said he didn’t know the details, though, and had only heard her mention the Henrietta woman but had never actually met her.”
“Yeah?”
Boris nodded again. “The guy has always come across as truthful and, if anything, embarrassed by his wife’s behavior. I’m usually pretty good at reading people, and I get a strong feeling that he has always regretted getting with her.”
“Poor guy.”
“The thing is, we have to put on a better act than she is. If we don’t, she’ll try to escape before she can be arrested for attempted absconding and attempted murder. Or manslaughter or whatever it’s going to be. There’ll also likely be charges for associating with a convicted felon and refusing to make some of her mandatory monthly payments.”
“Why did she refuse to make payments?”
“She claims that having to wait too long when she came to see me one day caused her to be late for an appointment and they charged her a late fee. So she took it upon herself to deduct it from one of her payments.”
Rick gave a slight whistle. “Jeez, a real stickler for the rules, huh?”
“As the person I consulted with said, we have to let the brazen bitch think she’s got the upper hand and that she’s in control.”
“I hear you, but damn. She’s probably looking at a minimum of 15 to 20 years when she gets out. Lotta time for her anger to fester and grow. As vengeful as she is, ever think she may come after any of us when she’s out?”
Boris laughed that off and said, “I’ve been in touch with the police department and here’s the plan. We tell her she’s not safe enough to be in a safe house and we put her in jail under the ruse of protecting her and her crucial testimony. The reason we’re gonna bullshit her at first and not hit her with her pending charges is that we’re going to need video statements from her as we will from other survivors once this is over. If she knows she’s being charged, she won’t give us the statement.”
“But how do we convince someone we throw in jail, assuming she makes it out alive?”
“Well, as her husband said, she’s always been pretty gullible, so we have that much and the fact that she has a rather low IQ in our favor.”
Rick thought for a moment, then gave a slight chuckle. “It’s funny how she did everything she could to get rid of you, avoid you, and run from you, and now, God knows she’d just love to see you.”
Boris laughed. “Yeah, they always love us when they need us.”
Rick’s expression turned serious. “She may be a horrible person, but she was still kidnapped, and she still had to watch her friend be brutally murdered. So yeah, I think putting on an act for the sake of her testimony should be simple enough if we keep in mind all she’s been through.”
Boris considered the situation but kept his thoughts to himself. The logical side of him knew Janelle had been through one hell of an ordeal over the last week, but he still didn’t care. All that mattered to him was that he wanted her to get out of there alive—alive so she could not only provide insight but also be held accountable for the attack on his friend and her relatives, as well as absconding, and other probation violations. Boris believed Janelle Stone was dangerous, and with every moment she was locked up and away from society, people would be a little safer. Yes, the hateful, racist, lying, manipulative, narcissistic little idiot deserved nothing less.
“Yeah, Stone,” he thought to himself. “I’ll be your savior. Your knight in shining fucking armor.”
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