Free The Gods of Guilt (Mickey Haller 5) by Michael Connelly

you’ve got no choice right now.”
    “You said you could get me into another module?”
    “Sure, I can do that. Give me the word and I’ll get you on keep-away status.”
    “Do it. I don’t want to go back there.”
    I leaned in closer and whispered lower.
    “Did something happen to you last night in there?”
    “No, but there are animals in there. I don’t want to be there.”
    I didn’t tell him that no matter where he was placed in the jail complex, he wasn’t going to like it. The animals were everywhere.
    “I’ll bring it up with the judge,” I said instead. “Now I want to ask you a couple things about the case before we go in there, okay?”
    “Go ahead. You got the gold?”
    “Yes, I got the gold. More than we asked for but it will all go toward your defense, and if it doesn’t get used, the remainder goes back to you. I have a receipt for you if you want it, but I don’t think you want to carry around a piece of paper in Men’s Central that shows you’ve got money.”
    “No, you’re right. Keep it for now.”
    “Okay. Now the questions. Did Giselle have any kind of security that you know about?”
    He shook his head like he wasn’t sure but then answered.
    “She had a burglar alarm but I don’t know if she ever used it and I—”
    “No, I mean people. Did she have like a bodyguard or somebody that ran security for her when she went out on calls or dates or whatever you call them?”
    “Oh, no, none that she ever told me about. She had a driver and she could call him if there was a problem but he usually just stayed in the car.”
    “My next question was about the driver. Who was he and how do I reach him?”
    “His name is Max and he was a friend of hers. He had a different job during the day and drove her at night. She basically just worked at nights.”
    “Max what?”
    “I don’t know his last name. I never even met him. She just mentioned him from time to time. She said he was her muscle.”
    “But he didn’t go in with her.”
    “Not that I know of.”
    I noticed another prisoner was hovering behind my client’s left shoulder. He was trying to listen in on our conversation.
    “Let’s move down,” I said.
    We moved down the bars to the other side of the holding cell. The eavesdropper stayed behind.
    “Okay,” I said. “Tell me about the phone call you made to the hotel to check out the Julia Roberts client. How did that whole thing go down?”
    I checked my watch.
    “Quickly,” I added.
    “Well, he made contact through the website. I told him the prices and—”
    “Was this by e-mail?”
    “No, he called. From the hotel. I saw it on the caller ID.”
    “Okay, go on. He called from the hotel, then what?”
    “I told him her price and he said that was fine, and so we set it up for nine thirty that night. He gave me the room number and I told him I needed to call back to confirm. He said fine, so I did.”
    “You called the hotel and asked for room eight thirty-seven?”
    “That’s right. They connected me and it was the same guy. I told him she’d be there at nine thirty.”
    “Okay, and you never dealt with this guy before?”
    “No, never.”
    “How did he pay?”
    “He didn’t. That’s why I got in the fight with Giz. She said he didn’t pay because there was nobody in that room. She said they told her at the desk the guy checked out that day, and I knew that was bullshit because I talked to him in that room.”
    “Right, right, but did you discuss payment with him? You know, cash or credit?”
    “Yes, he said he was going to pay cash. And that’s why I went to Giz’s place, to collect my share. If the guy had just paid with a credit card, I would have handled the transaction and taken my share. It was paying with cash that made me want to go collect before she had a chance to spend it all or lose it.”
    La Cosse’s business practices were becoming clearer to me now.
    “And this is how you always did it?”
    “Yes.”
    “It was