Free No More Mr. Nice Guy by Carl Weber Page A

seethed, watching me now, fully awake and fully alert. He glanced around the stark room, no doubt wondering how I had gotten into the room, especially without the detective being present. I knew exactly what he was thinking. He tensed up, studying me silently as he tried to put the pieces of the puzzle together in his mind.
    â€œYou did this, didn’t you? You set me up.” His rage was palpable, and if I were anywhere else, I would have actually worried about being alone with him at this moment; but I knew that he was smart. Too smart to take any chances. The fact that he was handcuffed to the table didn’t hurt either.
    â€œI can see why you would think that, because I am a woman accustomed to getting what I want, but let’s just assume that I didn’t have anything to do with your being here.”
    â€œSo you’re saying you want me to work for you bad enough to murder three men? How sick is that?” he asked, ignoring my comment.
    â€œI’m not admitting to anything. Truth is, like the police, I believe you did it; but unlike them, I think you’ve done the world a huge favor. I read their police jackets, and they were trash.” I moved to the chair across from him and sat down.
    â€œI’m not talking to you anymore, so please leave.” He glared at me.
    â€œNiles, I’m not so sure that you understand. I’m the only friend you have at this moment.”
    â€œYou are no friend of mine, so leave!” he fumed, gritting his teeth.
    I turned to look at the door and then back at his angry face. “If I do what you want and get up and walk out that door, what do you think would happen to you? Who is going to believe that you are innocent? A discharged special forces soldier just back from the war, angry at the world, and pissed off about a girl?” I waited as the truth of my words sank in. The defeat was immediate. His shoulders deflated and he stared down at the floor. “If I walk out of this building, they’re going to lock you up for a very long time.”
    â€œSo I’m fucked!” he spat out.
    â€œNot necessarily. I can get you out of here. I know a lot of people in very important places, and lucky for you that could work to your benefit. I mean, if you are willing to strike up a friendship with me, I can make this entire nightmare disappear.”
    I waited and watched as the Niles Monroe I had met in the hallway a day earlier returned. His chest puffed out. He was in control, and he was mad.
    â€œOh, now I get it.”
    â€œAnd what exactly do you get?” I pushed, wanting him to spell it out.
    â€œThat you want me to be your bitch. That me turning down your offer and walking away pulled your lace panties into a bunch and made you even more ruthless than I imagined you were yesterday. That you, Ms. Saint John, are the definition of a first class bitch .” He sat back, watching to see how his words had affected me.
    I smiled. “I’ve been called worse. In fact, I’ve been called a lot worse just today. But you still have not given me your answer,” I reminded him, ignoring all the emotional gymnastics. People hated to be cornered, and he was no different. It was a shame that he was so furious, but I intended to use that same aggression and anger that he was directing at me, and make it work for me.
    â€œI’m not doing it! If I have to spend the rest of my life in jail then so be it. I’m not letting you bully me into something I don’t want to do.” He fumed in his anger, but I was past the point of worrying about that. For Niles Monroe, I had become the lesser of two evils. I knew it, and so did he. It was only a matter of time before he accepted his fate.
    I decided to try a different approach. “And what about your mother? She’s bipolar, isn’t she? In need of constant care,” I reminded him in my matter-of-fact way.
    At first he seemed surprised, but that disappeared