Schrader looked at her. “What? No.”
“Why not?” Livia said.
“Because . . . I don’t want to show you how it’s designed. I don’t want to give you access.”
“I get it,” Diaz said. “But you know, Andrew, if those videos come out, it makes your case worse. It’s more evidence of the allegations against you.”
“But then you could just drop the case.”
“I’m just an assistant US Attorney. Those decisions are above my pay grade. But look, there are two possibilities. One is the videos never come out. The other is they do come out. If they never come out, you won’t have lost anything in helping us blur out the girls’ faces. If they do come out, you can impress the judge by showing how you cooperated. To protect those girls. Not the men—they’re hypocrites, they deserve it. Besides, the videos would lose their impact if the men weren’t in them. But the girls’ faces? Help us blur them. That’s what a nice guy would do, anyway.”
“I guess so,” Schrader said.
“Maybe you don’t believe me,” Diaz said, “but I believe in you. I want you to do the right thing, Andrew. Will you?”
Diaz glanced at him in the rearview mirror, and Livia could sense how much Schrader wanted her approval. When it came to establishing rapport, Livia had worked with some of the best. And no doubt, Diaz was among them.
“Will you really help me?” he said. “Tell the judge I wasn’t mean or anything?”
Diaz nodded. “Yes.”
“But what if I can’t?” he said, his eyes welling up. “Because . . . I’m upset. Those men . . . they really hurt me. And if someone tries to make me, it won’t work. Because of the voice-stress analyzer. I thought it would be a good idea, but I shouldn’t have done it. It’s like when someone’s watching you pee, and you can’t.” He started crying again.
Livia looked at Carl. He nodded. “It’s all right,” he said. “Andrew, it’s all right.” He took out a plastic water bottle. “I’m going to fix you a drink. It’ll make you feel better, I promise.”
chapter
fifty-nine
RAIN
They were still in the hotel room, talking about their next move, when Delilah’s phone buzzed. For a second, Rain was alarmed, and then remembered it was connected to the satellite hotspot.
She picked up and listened for a moment, then looked at Rain. “It’s Dox. They got Schrader.” She listened again, then said, “That’s great. But you should brief him yourself.” She looked at Rain again. “No, he’s not mad at you. Hold on.” She handed Rain the phone.
“Everything good?” Rain said.
“Hey, amigo,” Dox said. “You’re really not mad at me?”
“For what?”
“Come on, don’t pretend. It makes it worse.”
“All you did was go out of your way to get involved in a national freak show involving some of the world’s most powerful people, drag Delilah and me into it, and ruin a beautiful evening in Paris, along with my retirement.”
Dox laughed. “Anyone ever tell you you’ve gotten funnier with age? I think it’s my influence.”
“Who’s being funny?”
“I deliberately didn’t call you, you know. I thought the angel of death and I could handle it fine on our own.”
“I know. Delilah told me.”
“You forgive me, then?”