Twisted Justice, page 3
Jimmy tossed his head from side to side. “I kinda...ate all of it.”
“Wow. I made three pints.”
“I was binge eating.”
“Nothing better for depression than ice cream.”
“And in a weird way...it made me feel closer to you.”
Now he was going to cry. “Jimmy, I’ll get out of this mess. But until I do, please eat all the food you find in the fridge. Might as well clear away the leftovers. Because when I get out of here, I’m going to cook every recipe I know.”
Jimmy looked up, eyes wide. “Promise?”
“Promise.”
* * *
Apparently the authorities were allowing anyone to visit as long as they claimed to be his attorney. And he knew a lot of attorneys.
Moments after Jimmy left, his remaining partner, Garrett Wainwright, holding an iPad, settled into the chair on the other side of the Plexiglas.
Garrett got right down to business. “Few details about the murder have been released. The crime scene is still locked down. Putting a real dent in Beachcombers’ business.”
“They’ll recover.”
“The police are confident they’ve captured their murderer, so they’re not conducting any real investigation. Forensic reports are still under lock and key. Probably not completed. I’ve been looking into the legal precedents for getting bail in cases like yours.”
“And?”
“You already know. Judges tend to play it safe. And it’s always safer to leave accused murderers behind bars.”
“We got Camila out. She wore an electronic ankle bracelet so they could monitor her movements.”
“She was the mayor of the city. Nothing personal, but you don’t have the same status. Still, I’m digging up every helpful precedent. Maria will come to court locked and loaded.”
“Thank you. I appreciate it.” He nodded toward the iPad. “And?”
Garrett unfolded the cover. “Our boss would like to have a few words.”
“Can you get Wi-Fi in here?”
“Of course not. I’ve got a 4G hotspot on the iPad. Top of the line, but reception still may be spotty. We’re behind a lot of thick walls.
“You can get cell service in prison. All the best inmates have phones.”
“Good point.” Garrett started Skype and placed a call. It took longer than usual, but eventually they made a connection. The call was voice-only. They could hear Mr. K, but they had no idea what he looked like. Didn’t even know where he was.
Garrett place the phone receiver beside the iPad. The voice was crackly but recognizable. “How are you holding up, Dan?”
“I’m fine, K.” He tried to speak as loudly as possible, but he knew guards were watching this operation and he didn’t want to attract any more attention than necessary. Don’t give them an excuse to shut it down. “No problems.”
“Really? I heard you were attacked in the shower. Our old friend Crenshaw tried to cripple you.”
Garrett looked up at him, eyes wide. How did K know that? How did he always know everything? “He landed a few lucky punches. I talked my way out of it.”
“A few punches is not nothing. Especially for someone recovering from a savage beating. I’m going to see if I can pull a few strings. There must be someone in that detention center who owes me a favor. Maybe we can get you isolated from the general population.”
“Don’t waste your energy. I’ll be fine.” He paused. “But I do think you should hire some security. Someone to watch over Maria. And the rest of the firm. Maybe my boat, if you wouldn’t mind too much.”
He could hear the smile in the voice. “I’ve already done all that. Don’t worry, Dan. I’ll take care of the team.”
“And Camila, if she gets out.”
“She has security of her own.” Pause. “But I’ll make sure she’s safe.”
There was an awkward silence. Only a few seconds, but to Dan, it felt like an eternity. “K, I didn’t do this. I didn’t kill Belasco.”
“You think I don’t know that? You don’t have to tell me the obvious. Dan, we are behind you one hundred percent. We will beat these charges if it costs everything I have. People before pennies. Do you think Sweeney is behind this?”
“Of course Sweeney is behind this. Sweeney is always behind this.”
“He has a strong motive to get you out of the courtroom. But that doesn’t prove that he did it.”
“Makes him the most likely suspect.”
“Perhaps. But still—” He could tell something was troubling Mr. K. “Sweeney has always been vile, but he’s also always been...subtler than this.” He paused, as if thinking. “I don’t know. He had Belasco in his back pocket. And Belasco was running for mayor, which would make him even more useful.”
“Are there any other suspects?”
“Not as far as the police are concerned. Which makes it all the more important that we conduct a thorough investigation. I gave some thought to hiring outside counsel.”
“No. I trust my team.”
“I trust all my teams. And I know many good lawyers. All over the country.”
“There’s no need. I know my friends have got my back.”
He could tell K was not satisfied. “We’ll table that idea for now. See how it goes. One thing is for certain. We are not going to lose this case because it’s understaffed. Or underfunded.”
Garrett spoke up. “The police say they have a rock-solid case. And they’re only beginning to assemble evidence, Dan.”
He nodded. “Someone wants me out of commission.”
“That’s about the size of it.” Garrett’s lips were tight, his expression grim. “I know I should probably say something reassuring, but you’re in a bad situation here, Dan. And I’m not sure there’s any way to get you out of it.”
Chapter 5
Conrad Sweeney grabbed the brown paper at the corner and ripped it off in a single dramatic swipe. He felt a tingling throughout his body, a incipient adrenaline rush.
The paper fell to the floor. The Miró was revealed.
“Magnificent.” The large man beamed with pride. “This will be the jewel of my collection.”
“It is brilliant.” His chief assistant, Prudence Hancock, stood to the side, hands behind her back, maintaining deference, but always at the ready. “A bit more modern than the rest of your collection, isn’t it?”
He did not face her as he spoke. He could not remove his eyes from the artwork. “Funny thing about art. What’s considered modern changes as time marches on. Miró is no longer modern. Only modernist. Given the changes in the art world today, soon nothing from the twentieth century will be considered modern.”
“Your collection is the finest in the world in private hands. Dr. Sweeney, may I say again what a shame it is that the rest of the world is not allowed to see it?”
“Perhaps in time.” He tore his eyes from the art. “But for now, I’m keeping these masterworks for myself. I don’t want to fight my way through a crowd of noisy schoolgirls to get a closer look.”
“Is that the only reason?”
A small smile played on his lips. “As I believe you know, there are delicate issues of...provenance.”
“Coogan is behind bars. The police believe they’ve recovered everything he ever stole. You’re safe.”
“Only the passage of time can provide the level of assurance I desire. When my collection is finally revealed to the public, there can be no incriminating aspersions about where it came from. I don’t want a repeat of the Getty Museum debacle.”
“Understood.” Prudence pulled her phone from her pocket. “Ellison is here.”
“Show him in. I want to linger with my painting another moment.”
“Of course.” Prudence left his office, which took some time, given that the office occupied most of the penthouse level of his downtown office building. When she returned, she escorted an older man, graying at the temples. Sweeney had seen Bradley Ellison recently, but the man looked as if he had aged a year since then.
Ellison appeared to have a complaint. He decided to deflect it by seizing the initiative. “Have you found a snitch?”
“Not yet. And that’s not what I came to talk about.”
“Find a witness before Pike pulls another rabbit out of his hat.”
“Pike is not likely to do anything at the moment. Since he’s behind bars for the murder of George Belasco. The man I last saw in this office.”
“Walk with me.” Sweeney knew the gallery outside the elevator lobby was imposing, a long stretch of marble flooring and artwork. Ellison needed a reminder of whom he was addressing. Prudence followed behind them.
“I didn’t come here to look at pictures,” Ellison said. “We need to talk. Right this minute.”
“Take it down a notch,” Prudence said, almost growling. “In fact, take it down several notches.”
“Don’t tell me how to talk, young lady.”
Prudence marched toward him. Sweeney raised his hand, halting her. For the moment. “I can see that you’re upset, Bradley. That saddens me. I thought we were partners. With a common cause.”
“I would never countenance murder. Never.”
“Did you like Belasco?”
“I didn’t want him dead.”
Sweeney repeated himself, this time more slowly, emphasizing each syllable. “Did—you—like—Belasco?”
Ellison’s chest rose, then fell. “No. I didn’t like him. I feel the same way about a dirty DA that I would about a dirty cop.”
“You were on the police force for over twenty years, before you retired and plunged into the world of cold-case investigations. You must have seen more than a few officers on the take.”
“Not really. There are more dirty cops on tv shows than in real life.”
“‘Dirty,’ of course, is a point of view. What’s dirty to some can be keenly useful to others.”
“Did you want Pike this badly?”
Prudence stepped between them, looking fully ready to deck Ellison, but again, Sweeney restrained her. “Yes, I want Pike badly. And this time, his tricks can’t save him.”
“He’ll think of something.”
“I’m pretty good at thinking myself. Prudence, do we have our surveillance in place?”
“For the most part. We haven’t tapped the camera and microphone on his computers. He has a firewall we haven’t managed to penetrate. And we haven’t bugged his office yet.”
“Why not?”
“Don’t you think the cops will tear that place apart? Looking for evidence? They can’t go to trial with nothing but an audio recording.”
He nodded slowly. “Of course. Thank you again for reminding me why I hold you in such esteem, Prudence. You are invaluable.”
“Working for you is a pleasure, Dr. Sweeney. And an honor.”
Ellison pushed himself beside them. “You’re behind this whole mess, aren’t you? You’ve got your fingers everywhere, in every pie. I don’t want anything—”
Prudence slapped hard against his chest and shoved him into the wall. The paintings rattled. Ellison seemed startled, blinking, as if he didn’t know what had hit him.
Sweeney placed a single finger on Ellison’s chest. “Stop posturing and moralizing and listen to my words, Bradley. You’re already involved. Complicit. In fact, you’re on the front lines. I can protect myself. But if anyone gets suspicious, you’re the one who goes down.”
Ellison slowly found his voice. “This crusade against Pike is your obsession, not mine.”
“Are you completely delusional? You’re the man whose testimony put Pike’s father behind bars.”
“I told the truth.”
“You think that will get you brownie points in heaven? But for you, Pike might be off in the Keys drinking margaritas and kitesurfing all day. You turned him into St. Pete’s dashing crusader, the perpetual thorn in my side. So you will damn well help me pluck this thorn and crush it.” His voice deepened. “Or the next body they find in a back alley might be yours.”
They stared at one another for several seconds. Prudence watched for a sign. But Sweeney held back and let the room cool.
Ellison was the one to finally break the silence. “What do you want me to do?”
Sweeney smiled. “I think perhaps this murder prosecution should be...enhanced.”
Chapter 6
Camila sat in the jailhouse holding area, disgusted and distraught, trying to figure out what to do next.
“Wassa matter, chica?”
The woman speaking to her was dressed in a ridiculously short skirt and a low-cut halter that left little to the imagination. She was obviously a prostitute, as were the two friends sitting on either side.
So this was what it had come to. She was a candidate for the US Senate. And she’d been thrown into a tank with sex workers.
“Just waiting,” she replied. “I assume someone wants to speak to me.”
“Wish I had someone waitin’ to see me, girlfriend. You lucky.”
“All depends on who the someone is.”
“Why do I know your face? You been in a commercial or something?”
She pondered. It would probably be smarter to hold her tongue. But she couldn’t stop herself. “I’m your mayor.”
“Sure, girl. And I’m Banksy.”
“I intend to be your US senator. But there are men who feel threatened by me.”
“Well, we know all about that, don’t we, girls?”
One of her friends spoke up. “I intimidate all men. I intimidate them so hard they can’t function, half the time. Can you imagine? A body like this, and they can’t work it up.” She poised her fingers like claws. “I’m the spider queen.”
The rattling behind the door told Camila she probably wasn’t going to be in here for long. “May I give you ladies a little advice?”
“Long as you don’t ’spect us to take it.”
“Get off the streets. I know it’s hard to find good work. I know your pimp won’t like it. Do it anyway. Go to one of the Sweeney shelters. They’re all over town. You can stay for thirty days and your pimp won’t be able to touch you. That’ll give you time to get your life on a different track. Find a better job.”
“Who would hire me?” the spider queen asked.
“You’re smart, you’re funny, and I know a lot of businesses that could use you. The mayor’s office has a Job Placement Center.”
“I’ve...thought about makin’ a change,” the first woman said. “But I feel...trapped.”
“I know exactly how you feel. But you’ve still got time. Trust me on this. It’s never too late to change your life. It’s not where you start, it’s where you finish. You can be anything you want to be.”
The woman gave her a long look. “Are we on camera? You with some kind church crusade or somethin’?”
Camila rose to her feet. “No. Trying to make a difference. Any way I can.”
* * *
Maria could see Camila was surprised to find her sitting on the other side of the Plexiglas screen. Had she thought it would be Dan? He might be a miracle worker, but there was no angel in heaven who could get his butt out of jail this quickly.
“To be clear, Camila, this is a courtesy call. I cannot represent you. My firm cannot represent you.”
If Camila was experiencing irritation or disappointment, she hid it well. “You did before.”
“Yes, but the circumstances have changed. Dan is also charged, and the two of you have potentially conflicting interests.”
“We do?” She arched an eyebrow. “We’re both innocent. We both would like to avoid execution.”
“I have a list of top-flight attorneys I can recommend.”
Camila did not appear placated. “Does Dan know you’re cutting me loose?”
Maria licked her lips. She had always felt there was some...tension between her and Camila. Did Camila see her as a potential rival? “We are not cutting you loose. We will make sure you’re taken care of. And yes, I have discussed this with Dan and he understands.”
“But it wasn’t his idea. Will you be investigating?”
“You know we will. And we will share whatever we discover. Please don’t take this personally. It’s a matter of legal ethics.”
“I’m not taking it personally. I never take anything personally. I’m an all-business woman.” She kept her voice low, obviously trying to avoid attracting attention, though most people recognized Camila the instant she entered the room. How often did you see a candidate for the US Senate behind bars? “Have you heard the recording?”
“Several times. And I have experts working on it, trying to verify that it’s authentic.”
“Don’t waste your money. It’s real. But it was a joke. We were messing around.”
She resisted the instinct to say, ick. “I have to tell you, Camila...it doesn’t sound like it.”
“That’s because you can’t see the expressions on our faces. Given the background static, you can barely make out the tone of our voices. You can’t see that we were being playful, standing around in his tiny bedroom cabin half-naked.”
Double-ick. “You’ll have to explain that. Convincingly. On the witness stand.”
“You think it will come to that? An actual trial? Over this foolishness?”
“I think that’s likely. The cops have staked their claim. It’s been in the media. There’s no turning back now, not without making themselves look like fools.”
“They do look like fools.”
“Maybe to you.”
“Their whole case is based on one twenty-second illegal audio recording.”
“The cops say they have more. Look at it from their standpoint. The District Attorney, the highest, most prominent legal official in the city, has been brutally murdered. In many respects, this is a cop killing. They needed a scapegoat and an anonymous informant gave them one.” She brushed her hair back. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence Dan was targeted. Sweeney, cops, lots of people want him out of the way. He was at the top of the scapegoat list. Why else was he being bugged?”
