“Can we pick where?”

“Ah, you might be given two or three choices. But you can’t just pick a city off the map.”

“Okay.”

“They’ll either get Will a job or provide him a pension sufficient to support you in your present standard of living.”

She makes a sour face. “I guess we haven’t won the lottery, huh?”

“No. But you’ll be surprised at how well they’ll take care of you. If Will keeps up his end of the deal. Why don’t you let me talk to my FBI contact before we get into any more details? Then you can speak to him directly.”

“Sounds good to me. I like to get it from the horse’s mouth.”

I almost laugh picturing John Kaiser dealing with this woman.

“There is one thing,” I tell her, leaning forward. “For me, it’s the most important thing.”

“What’s that?”

“The FBI’s primary goal is nailing Snake Knox and the remaining Eagles for their 1960s murders. But my main concern is saving my father.”

Mrs. Devine nods but says nothing.

“From what you’ve told me, Will has the power to get my father acquitted, by making reasonable doubt impossible to ignore. But to do that, he’d have to testify in my father’s trial within the next two days. Possibly even tomorrow. And I doubt Will’s plea deal can be completed by then.”

The fear in her eyes rises to the surface again. “So he wouldn’t have the federal protection?”

“Oh, he’d be protected. Absolutely.”

She begins chewing her lip again. “I know Dr. Cage is a good man. He took good care of Will when he worked at Triton, and my sister and aunts all go to him. They swear by him.”

“Do you think Will would be willing to help my father, if I help him arrange this plea-bargain deal? I’ll tell you right now, the feds won’t consider it a priority. Your husband will have to insist on it.”

Nita takes another drag with her quivering hand. “We ain’t no fans of the government. I just want to know Will is safe.”

“I can guarantee that, Nita.”

A new glint shines in her eyes. “If he does that, you reckon you could sweeten the pot a little? You personally, I mean. We ain’t greedy. Just something to help with the transition.”

I take a deep breath before answering, and in the silence I hear Serenity grinding her teeth. “How much were you thinking?”

“Well . . . twenty-five thousand?”

I look down at the table, taking my time with this. I expected her to start much higher, and of course there’s always time for them to go up, once they know they have me over a barrel.

“It’s a big risk,” I tell her. “The FBI would flip out if they knew we did something like that. They might revoke the agreement.”