Ties That Bind (29 page)

“What’s wrong, Tim?” Grant asked, alarmed. Kerrigan looked like a drunk or a crack addict. If he came apart it would be a disaster.

“I . . . I have dreams. I see her burning, and I can still see the way her face looked when I pulled the trigger. It exploded. There was so much blood.”

The judge sat next to Kerrigan. “I’m glad that you’ve come to me, Tim. I’m glad that you know that you can trust me to help you.”

“You’re the only one I can talk to.” His head dropped into his hands. “I can’t take it. I can’t live like this. Maybe I should go to the police. I’d tell them it was all my idea. I wouldn’t tell them about you or anyone else.”

Grant kept his voice calm. He had to stop Kerrigan from coming unglued.

“You’re not thinking straight,” the judge said. “A confession would destroy Cindy. And think of Megan. She would always be known as the daughter of a murderer, and she’d lose her father. You know what happens to children who grow up with that curse. You would be destroying her chance of happiness.”

Kerrigan nodded. “You’re right. I have to think of Megan. But what can I do? I feel lost. I can’t find any peace.”

“Time will make the pain go. Two years from now you won’t remember how sad you are today. You’ll be in Washington, D.C., with Megan and Cindy by your side. You’ll be one of the most powerful men in America and Ally Bennett will seem like someone who only existed in a dream.”

Kerrigan looked at Grant hopefully. “Do you think that will really happen?”

Grant squeezed Kerrigan’s shoulder. “Trust me, Tim. This empty feeling, your guilt, it will all fade away. You’ll be fine and your life will be good.”

Kerrigan embraced Grant. “Thank you, Harvey.”

Grant patted Tim on the back. Then he got him a glass of water and waited while Tim pulled himself together. They talked for a while more and Kerrigan was calmer when he left. As soon as the door closed behind the prosecutor, Grant sagged.

“Detective Gregaros is here, Judge,” Grant’s secretary said over the intercom.

“Send him in,” Grant said.

The judge had rarely seen Gregaros rattled, but he looked bad today.

“What happened last night?”

“Castillo fucked up. He’s dead and so are his men.”

“What about Amanda Jaffe?”

“She’s the one who killed Manuel.”

“She’s a goddamn girl.”

Gregaros shrugged. “Manuel is still dead.”

“This just keeps getting worse,” Grant said. “Tim Kerrigan was just here.”

“I saw him leave,” the detective said. “He looked like shit. What happened?”

“He’s a mess. I calmed him down for the moment, but I’m concerned.”

“You should be. We’ve got real problems. Remember I told you that that maintenance guy wrote down most of Kerrigan’s license plate? Fucking McCarthy. The son of a bitch is too smart. He ran the partial license number through the Department of Motor Vehicles computer and spotted Kerrigan’s name on the printout. Then he checked Kerrigan and Bennett’s phone records. Bennett phoned Kerrigan’s house a few days before he killed her. And they both called a motel near the airport. McCarthy got a positive ID on both of them from a clerk at the motel.”

“What is McCarthy planning to do?”

“I convinced him to move slow. I told him Kerrigan’s career would be ruined if we went public without an airtight case. He’s going to talk to Jack Stamm before he talks to Tim, and Stamm is out of town until tomorrow. We don’t have much time to decide what to do.”

Grant closed his eyes. Events were getting out of hand.

“I hate to admit it but bringing Tim in was a mistake,” the judge said.

“What are we going to do about that?”

“I’ll call the others. I’m going to suggest that we cut our losses.”

“What’s going on?” Tim asked, shielding her with his umbrella.

“A woman called,” Maria said when she’d caught her breath. “She says that she can prove Dupre murdered Senator Travis. She wants to meet us at Travis’s cabin.”

“When?”

“Now. Travis taped his sex acts secretly, and the tape was running when Dupre killed him. The tape is at the cabin. We have to go now because she’s leaving town tonight.”

“Hold on. Who is this woman?”

“She wouldn’t give me her name. From what she said I’d guess she was one of Dupre’s escorts, one of the women he beat up.”

“This doesn’t sound right. We searched the cabin and didn’t find any tapes.”

“Maybe she brought it with her.”

Tim thought for a moment. “I’m going to call Sean McCarthy. I want him with us.”

“She said no cops. She’ll run if she sees anyone else.”

Tim hesitated.

“We’ve got to go,” Lopez insisted. “Our case against Dupre for the senator’s murder isn’t that strong. If this tape is what the woman claims, we’ll nail him.”

“All right. Let’s go. My car is in the lot.”

“No. She wanted to know what car we’d be driving. I described mine. If she sees another car she may bolt.”

“I hope this isn’t a wild goose chase.”

“She sounded scared, Tim. I don’t think she was faking.”

“It’s nothing. I’m just worn out.”

“Have some coffee,” Maria said. “It’ll warm you up.”

“Good idea.”

Tim unscrewed the top of Maria’s thermos and filled it with steaming coffee.

“You want any?” he asked Maria.

“I’m fine.”

Kerrigan finished his coffee just as Maria turned off the main road onto the unpaved driveway that led to the cabin. No lights showed through the trees and Kerrigan began to wonder if they weren’t on a fool’s errand.

“It doesn’t look like there’s anyone here,” he said, looking for a car.

Maria parked in front of the cabin. Kerrigan opened the door and started to stand. The movement made him dizzy and he sat back down.

“What’s wrong?” Maria asked.

He shook his head. “I’m fine. Let’s go.”

Kerrigan pulled himself up and followed Maria. She was carrying the thermos and her briefcase and seemed oblivious to the rain. It took Tim a while to join her at the front door. He was having trouble focusing.

“Here, let me help you,” Maria said, taking his elbow and supporting him as he stumbled inside.

“I don’t feel well,” Tim said. Maria flipped on the living room light and helped him to the couch.

“Must be something you ate,” she said. The words sounded as if they came from far away. Tim looked up. Maria was holding out the plastic cup that acted as a cover for the thermos. “Drink some more coffee. It will wake you up.”

Tim swallowed half a cup, dribbling some of it on his raincoat. His mouth didn’t work well.

“Let’s get you out of that coat,” Maria said as she slipped off one sleeve of Kerrigan’s raincoat.

Tim looked around. “There’s no one here,” he managed. Saying the words took an effort.

“Guess we’ve been stood up,” Maria answered. She was opening her briefcase and extracting a sheet of paper. It looked familiar. He was so focused on the paper that he didn’t notice the gun in the Ziploc bag until it made a noise when it hit the coffee table in front of the couch.

“Wha’s that?” Tim asked. He tried to sit up but he didn’t have the energy. The paper looked like the confession he’d signed for Stan Gregaros, but he couldn’t get his eyes to focus long enough to read it.

“I’m sorry this didn’t work out,” Maria said. “No one realized how weak you are.”

It took a moment for her comment to register. By the time it did, Maria had slipped on gloves and had taken the gun out of the bag.

“What . . . What are you . . .?”

“I’m getting ready to help you kill yourself. The drug should kick in completely in a moment or two.”

Kerrigan shook his head. “I don’ unerstand.”

“Of course you don’t. You still think that I’m a dumpy, enthusiastic deputy DA.” She laughed. “I’ll admit, the dumpy part has been a little tough to carry off, but the enthusiasm has been genuine. I enjoy my work.”

Kerrigan stared at Maria.

“Let me introduce myself, Tim. I’m Pedro Aragon’s daughter.”

Tim shook his head again, trying to clear it. He was fading fast, but he was still fighting.

“You might as well give in to the drug, Tim. I dosed the coffee like you wouldn’t believe.”

Kerrigan tried to stand and toppled sideways. Maria shrugged.

“Suit yourself.”

Tim was almost under. When he was out, Maria would press the gun into his hand, twist the muzzle into his temple, and pull the trigger. Kerrigan’s eyes closed. Maria picked up the gun and walked around the table. She checked Kerrigan’s pulse and sighed. She did like Tim. He was such a hunk. If everything had gone as planned, she might have even bedded him at some point. With her weight off, she was pretty sexy, and she knew that Timmy was having problems at home.

Ah well. Maria pressed the muzzle of the gun against Kerrigan’s temple.

“Sweet dreams,” she said.

Grant took pride in the control he had over his emotions. He exercised it now and willed away his doubts and fears while reviewing his assets and liabilities. Maria Lopez was in custody and looking at some serious time. Attempted murder if Kerrigan wasn’t dead; murder if he was. But Maria wouldn’t cooperate. She was Pedro’s daughter and completely loyal to her father and the club. What if she did crack? It wouldn’t be for a while. Besides, her word alone wouldn’t be enough to support charges against him, Grant reasoned. Then he realized that it wouldn’t be just her word. The FBI had the gun Kerrigan used to murder Ally Bennett, and Kerrigan’s suicide note. This gave them an ironclad case against Kerrigan and the leverage they needed to force him to cooperate, and Kerrigan would cooperate once he figured out that the judge gave Maria the order to kill him.

“Tim knows that we’ll kill Cindy and Megan if he talks,” Grant said out loud. “But the Bureau’s had him since early yesterday evening. Cindy and Megan could be in protective custody by now.”

Grant grabbed the phone and dialed Kerrigan’s home.

“Yes?” Cindy answered hesitantly. She sounded scared.

“It’s Harvey.”

“Thank God. I thought you might be another reporter.” Grant could hear the relief in her voice. “They haven’t stopped since early morning. There’s a camera crew camped outside our driveway.”

“I just read about Tim in the morning paper. Is he okay?”

“He’s alive, but no one will tell me anything else. Tim’s father is going to meet with Katherine Hickox this morning,” she said, naming the United States attorney for Oregon.

“If anyone can find out what’s going on, Bill can.”

“I’m so worried about Tim. The story in the paper said that woman tried to murder him. They work together. Why would she do that?”

“I don’t know any more than you do but I’ll talk to Jack Stamm and see what I can find out. Meanwhile, you take care of Megan. This could be tough on her.”

“Please call me if you find out anything. I don’t even know if Tim is hurt or . . .”

“Don’t let your imagination get the best of you, Cindy. The paper said that Lopez was being charged with attempted murder, so Tim must be alive.”

“Oh, God. I hope so.”

“You have to be strong. Whenever you’re tempted to panic think of your daughter.”

“I will, Harvey. Thank you so much. You mean a lot to us.”

Grant hung up. Cindy and Megan were home, which meant that Kerrigan wasn’t cooperating yet. How much longer would that last?