“That’s not the way Bailey tells it. You want to read the tran-script?” There wasn’t any transcript, nothing to show him, but Heinemann’s hesitation said he may not have been in contact with Bailey. “We might have a copy with us.” Marquez looked at Shauf, said, “Mine’s gone to the DA, what about yours?” She shook her head. “Okay, I guess we don’t tonight, but I’ll get you a copy. I don’t have a problem with you reading it; I’ll drop it by your cell, if you want.”
“It was Bailey that got me into this. He offered me five bills for the Point Reyes dive and helping move it in Sausalito. But that was all and you already know what happened. You ask Meghan if she’s seen me since. I’ve been like a captive on a slave ship, man, and then they brought me out for this bullshit tonight.”
“Another problem I have,” Marquez said, “is that you and Jimmy go back a ways. What I’m hearing is you two were work-ing together in San Diego a lot of years ago, so it makes it hard to believe he sucked you into this.”
“I was never in San Diego.”
Marquez reached out and shut off the recorder. “I’m going to let you take that back,” he said. “But you’ve only got about three seconds to decide.”
“I got out of all that. I put that behind me and Meghan will tell you I’ve been thinking about going back to school. I don’t deal drugs anymore. That was a bad phase of life.”
“You berth three down from Jimmy at Pillar Point and you want to tell us that’s coincidence.”
“I thought we were talking about ab diving. I’m getting fuck-ing confused.”
“We’re talking about all of it.”
“I don’t deal drugs anymore. If you think I’m in with Jimmy on that, you’re wrong.”
“Convince me about you. I want to believe we’re not wasting our time talking to you but so far it seems like we are. It’s getting late and you keep repeating the same story but you don’t explain away the inconsistencies, so it’s looking like you’re blowing smoke at us.”
“I’m just telling the truth, man.”
“About a diving slave ship? Come on, Mark, give us a break.”
“I’m not shitting you.”
“We found your girlfriend’s pickup at Marina Bay here in Richmond, but you say you were dropped off by boat. Do you want to say Jimmy drove it up here? Maybe Meghan gave him the keys and we should arrest her? That what you’re saying?” He stared at Heinemann. “No answer? Okay, maybe we ought to bag it and get some sleep, let you get in there and meet your cellmates.” Marquez glanced down at a sheet. “Twenty years in prison. That’s what I get when I add up what you’re charged with. You’re way past abalone but you don’t seem to get that we can make it swing one way or the other.”
“Man, you keep changing subjects. I can’t fucking keep up.”
“Okay, tell us about the Emily Jane, and this is your last chance.”
“I just ran for the boat. Your warden had her fucking knee on my back when they pulled guns on you.”
“Tell us about the men on the Emily Jane.”
“I don’t know about them. They never let me in the cabin and they dumped me on a dock in Eureka and then I got on the other boat.”
Earlier, Heinemann said he’d run to the Emily Jane because that’s what Bailey had said to do if anything went wrong. Marquez looked over at Shauf. “I’m going to find a bathroom,” he said. “When I get back we’ll wrap this up.” He paused before going out the door, looked at Heinemann. “Tomorrow isn’t the same for us, I want you to understand that. Tomorrow, every day after that you can talk to your lawyer instead of us.”
“Whatever.”
“Whatever?”
“Hey, man, Fish and Game is a fucking joke. You think I’m risking something happening to Meghan or me?”
Marquez threw cold water on his face in the bathroom and ignored the sidelong look of a Richmond cop. He walked back in as Heinemann was telling Shauf how easy it was to poach and not get caught. He was in his head swimming underwater somewhere with a light stick when Marquez cut him off.
“Why’d Bailey run?” Marquez interrupted.
“You tell me.”
“Is Meghan Burris in on this too?”
Heinemann avoided the question. “Everything that happened to me I got forced to do.”
“How many times are you going to tell us that?”
“As long as you keep asking the same questions.”
“Who’s buying the abalone?”
“Ask Jimmy since you said he’s talking to you.”
“He’s talking to them, also. He’s convincing them it was you that fucked up. Maybe when you were on that boat with the Mexi-cans you were wondering, what’s going on, why am I not hearing from my friend, Jimmy? Should be hearing from Jimmy, right? Isn’t he the guy to get you off that boat? You’re not hearing from him because he put it all on you. Who’d they get Meghan’s name from if it wasn’t Jimmy?” Heinemann rubbed the back of his neck like a mosquito had bit him and Marquez knew they had an open-ing. Heinemann really was worried about his girlfriend. He studied Heinemann’s face, thinking about how he could bring the image home. “The divers who got killed up north were selling to the same people you and Jimmy have gotten involved with and you’re right to be scared of them. I was up there at Guyanno Creek; I saw those two. Do you know how they died?”
When Heinemann didn’t answer, Marquez asked the question again.
“Stabbed,” Heinemann said.
“Stand up. I want to show you what happened to them.”
“I don’t need the bullshit.”
“It’ll stay with you better if I show you.”
“You hit me, I’ll sue your ass.”
“Nothing like that is going to happen.”
Heinemann was visibly uncomfortable and squared his thick shoulders, showed a stance that said I can take care of myself and Marquez pressed two fingers low against Heinemann’s abdomen, just under his belt, enough to make him nervous, enough to make him feel sexual vulnerability and Heinemann’s eyes went to Shauf.
“Fuck man, what are you doing?”
“With the divers up north, these guys that got chained to a tree and killed, the knife cut was just above the pubic bone. He’ll push the knife in and not too deep, at first. I’ve heard that arouses him, but I don’t know if that’s true, or not. Only you and he will know that, because he’ll be pressed up against you. Good chance he’ll be talking to you, maybe asking you questions, telling you it can be okay still, that everything can work out if you’ve got the right answers. But then, after you’ve told him what he wants to know, he’ll push the blade in further. Not enough to kill you yet. We used to hear terrible stories about him making promises not to kill as long as you don’t scream. If you can take the pain and not cry out, he’s going to stop. Just don’t say anything. Just listen to him. Your blood will run down into your crotch and your scrotum will shrink back as your gut burns. You’ll watch his eyes change as he breathes into your face and you’ll know he’s not going to let you go.”
Marquez brought his fingers up Heinemann’s abdomen. He pushed Heinemann back against the wall with his fingers up under his breast bone. “The blade will rip up through your gut. Those divers up at Guyanno are no different than you. They messed up and he made an example out of them and when he’s done here, if we don’t get him first, he’ll wipe all his tracks and move on. That’s how he’s managed to survive and stay ahead of the FBI. And they’re not trying to bring him in, either. They’re way past that. They want to corner him and bring enough firepower to make sure it’s over.” Marquez dropped his arms to his side and stepped back. “Your best chance is to help us. I’m not kidding you, I know this man.”
“Then what do you need me for, if you know him?” Hein-emann smiled like it was nothing. “Hey, I haven’t seen any freaks and I’m not really involved in all this shit.”
“He’s tall, fairly thin, but not in a way that would make you think he’s weak.”