Remo grimaced. "More power to him. I haven't been to church since I was an altar boy. Hell, every punk I arrest tells me he was an altar boy, even Protestants and Jews. Maybe they know something I don't. Maybe it helps. Yeah, I'll see the priest."
Remo stretched his legs and walked over to the bars where he rested his right hand. "It's a hell of a business, isn't it?"
The guard nodded, but both men took a step back from the bars.
The guard said: "I can get the priest now if you want."
"Sure," Remo said. "But in a minute. Wait."
The guard lowered his eyes. "There isn't much time."
"We have a few minutes."
"Okay. He'll be here anyway without us calling."
"It's routine?" The final insult. They would try to save his mortal soul because it was spelled out in the state's penal code.
"I don't know," he answered. "I've only been here two years. We haven't had anyone in that time. Look, I'll go see if he's ready."
"No, don't."
"I'll be back. Just to the end of the corridor."
"Sure, go ahead," Remo said. It wasn't worth arguing. "Take your time. I'm sorry."
CHAPTER TWO
It was a legend in the state prison that condemned men usually ate a heartier meal on the night of an execution than Warden Matthew Wesley Johnson did. Tonight was no exception.
The warden tried to concentrate on his evening paper. He propped it against the untouched dinner tray on his office desk. The air conditioner hummed. He would have to be at the electrocution. It was his job. Why the hell didn't the telephone ring?
Johnson looked to the window. Night boats moved slowly up the narrow black river toward the hundreds of piers and docks that dotted the nearby sea coast, their lights blinking codes and warnings to receivers who were rarely there.
He glanced at his watch. Only twenty-five minutes left. He went back to the Newark Evening News. The crime rate was rising, a front-page story warned. So what, he thought. It rises every year. Why keep putting it on the front page to get people worked up? Besides, we've got a solution to the crime problem now. We're going to execute all the cops. He thought of Remo Williams in the cell.