Pike’s mask of calm was teetering. He stared down at the table, his forehead and cheeks reddening.
“You have two outstanding warrants from other states for speeding and petty theft,” Hatty chimed in. “You’re still on probation for the arson conviction for which you served three years in the Limestone Correctional Facility, and those out-of-state arrests are a violation of your probation and your parole. You’re going to jail, Waylon. Probably back to prison regardless of whether you’re convicted of Dr. Waters’s murder.” She leaned her elbows on the table. “But we’re going to convict you. We have a statement that you said you did it.”
“That’s hearsay,” Pike said, meeting her eyes and darting his gaze to Mitchell. A tell. He was beginning to panic.
“Actually, Waylon, it’s not,” Hatty said. She’d heard Shay Lankford argue this exception in court enough to commit it to memory. “A statement made by a defendant to another person is considered a party opponent admission. It is by definition not hearsay. Tara Samples’s statement comes in.” She flung her hands up in the air. “Of course, what Marshall County jury is going to believe a retired veteran?”
“She was drunk.”
“You keep on saying that, but she remembers what you said very well. You were talking about ‘kills.’ She told you about her escapades in the army, and you had to say something, too, didn’t you?”
Pike glared at Hatty but said nothing. “What about the money?” she continued. “You didn’t get that from fixing someone’s boathouse. And why’d you leave Guntersville right after Dr. Waters’s murder?” She looked at George. “What do you think, Deputy?”
“I think it’s obvious someone paid Mr. Pike here a handsome fee to kill Dr. Waters.”
Pike glanced down at the table, keeping his arms crossed tight to his chest. An extremely defensive position. Almost got him. “Waylon,” Hatty said, lowering her voice, “tell us who hired you to kill Dr. Waters. It’s your only way out. If you don’t, you’re going to ride the needle. Brutally executing a human being and then kicking his body over the side of his boat dock? There’s no way a Marshall County jury won’t return the death penalty.” Hatty leaned back in her chair, letting her words hang in the air.
“What’s it going to be, Pike?” George asked.
Waylon Pike kept his gaze fixed on the table, not moving. His mind raced with possibilities . . . doubt . . . frustration. How could he have been so stupid? Leaving the money at his mother’s house. Telling Tara Samples about his kill. He blinked but didn’t look up from the table. Let’s not make it worse, he told himself.
This wasn’t the first time he’d been questioned by police officers. They want to deal, he knew. But if he started trying to negotiate, there was no going back. They’d know he did it.
Were they bluffing? He finally lifted his head and looked at the Black woman and her hard-ass partner. Both were staring at him with confident, calm expressions. If they were the least bit nervous about what he might do or say, they weren’t showing it. They’d told him they were going to arrest him. Were the money and Tara’s statement enough? He should get a lawyer, but, if they’d confiscated his cash, he couldn’t afford one. It had been a week since Braxton Waters’s murder, and he knew they had to be feeling pressure to do something. If he didn’t talk, would they charge him?
His gut said yes.
Waylon cleared his throat and looked past the two officers to the closed door. He’d been in fixes before, but nothing like this. How could his own mother have sold him down the river? The money should have been safe.
“All right, George,” the Black officer said. “Charge him.”
“Wait,” Waylon said, hearing the panic in his voice and gritting his teeth. He lowered his eyes to her. “What’s the deal? I ain’t talking unless I have a deal.”
“That’s not the way this works,” she fired back. “We don’t negotiate until we know what you know. Only the district attorney can make an offer.”
“I want immunity,” Waylon said. “Complete immunity or I say nothing.”
The woman glanced at her partner and then back at Waylon. “No chance. You murdered Dr. Waters. You’re going to be put to death unless you talk. If any deal’s struck, it’s going to be on your sentence. I suspect that our prosecutor will be willing to negotiate, but immunity would be an outrage.”