Suspicion (40 page)
Alison took her mother’s hand. "First, I want to tell you how sorry I am that I said those terrible things to you the other day. I really thought you weren’t going to help Daddy anymore."
"I know. I wish I could have told you the truth."
"You should have trusted me." There was a trace of reproach in Alison’s voice. "If I had known that you were only pretending not to be working on the case and that Detective Calhoon was helping you, I would have kept your secret. I’m not a kid, you know."
Kate smiled. "I do now. Next big secret, I promise I’ll share it with you."
‘"Kay." Alison was thoughtful for a moment. "How’s Detective Calhoon?"
"He’s fine. The bullet went through and there’s no permanent damage. He’ll have to wear a sling for a few days, but that’s all."
"Daddy said Detective Calhoon tried to save him and that’s how he got shot. He could have been killed."
"Fortunately for Detective Calhoon, and for your father," Kate said in an attempt to insert a little lightness into the conversation, "Bruno was a lousy shot." Kate was relieved to see her daughter smile. "Go to sleep, sweetie," she said, turning off the bedside lamp. "We’ll talk in the morning."
"I changed my mind about Detective Calhoon, Mom." The sleepy gray eyes filled with youthful mischief. "He’s okay. And it’s okay if you like him. You can even invite him to dinner if you want to."
Kate bent to kiss her daughter. "That’s a great idea, darling. I’ll ask him when I see him tomorrow."
She walked out of Alison’s room, certain that Mitch would never want to step into this house again. For any reason.
She had wanted so badly to go to the station and talk to him, but by the time Eric had come out of surgery, Alison was so exhausted that Kate had had only one thing in mind-to take her home.
Maybe it was just as well that she hadn’t seen him, she thought as she began to undress. Mitch needed time, time to understand how desperate she’d been, time to realize she hadn’t meant any of the things she’d said to him.
She slid between the sheets and thought about the night they’d spent in this bed together. It seemed like years ago. After a while, she took the pillow Mitch had used, held it against her chest and closed her eyes.
It had been a busy morning.
Only an hour ago, Tony had been released from jail, and he, Maria and half the Latino population were celebrating. Eric had been cleared of all charges, and Maddy Mays had somehow managed to become the woman of the hour. The press, quick to sensationalize the incident, had dubbed her "The East Coast Madam." There was even talk of a television movie.
Now, sitting at Mitch’s desk, next to Rose, Kate watched the detective as he returned from the cell area.
"I’m sorry, Rose," Mitch said, sitting on the edge of his desk, facing the two women. "Douglas doesn’t want to see you."
Rose raised stricken eyes toward him. "But why? I’m his wife. I want to be with him…" She opened her purse and pulled out a handkerchief. "He’s upset because I betrayed his confidence, isn’t he?" she asked, blotting her eyes. "He doesn’t think I should have told you that he was leaving the country."
"Don’t blame yourself, Rose." Mitch’s voice was gentle. "You did nothing wrong. You had a choice to make-to clear your son or to let your husband go free. You chose your son. Millions of mothers all over this planet would have done the same thing." Mitch turned to Kate. "However, he did ask to see you."
Kate wasn’t surprised. Although she hadn’t offered to talk to Douglas, she had suspected he would want to see her. The problem was, she wasn’t sure she wanted to see him.
"Please, Kate.’" Sensing her hesitation, Rose touched her hand. "Go. Do it for me."
After a few more seconds of indecision, Kate stood up and nodded to Mitch. As a guard unlocked the cell door, Mitch glanced at her. "You want me to stay?"
She shook her head. "No, I’ll be all right."
He nodded. "Call the guard when you’re ready."
Douglas, looking as if he had just returned from a business trip, sat on the cot in his shirtsleeves. Always the perfect gentleman, he rose as she walked in. "Thanks for coming, Kate. I wasn’t sure you would."
"I didn’t do it for you." She pulled a chair away from the dingy wall and sat down. Then, crossing her legs, she leaned back and just looked at him, waiting.
"I want to explain… But I’m not sure where to begin."
She remained silent, her eyes fixed on him. It was an unnerving tactic, one he had taught her himself. From the brief smile that curved his lips, she could see that he remembered that.
"I won’t bore you with the details regarding Sean’s alibi. I’m told that Maddy has been quite explicit about that, and other things."
He looked past her at the wall where former occupants had scrawled dirty messages and phone numbers. She wondered if he was thinking of all the times he had been in here counseling others, and how different it felt now that things were reversed.
"I’m sorry about Alison’s ordeal," he said, staring at his hands. "I take full blame for that. If I had found a better hiding place for that damn key, she wouldn’t have been kidnapped."
Curiosity got the best of her. "What exactly was that key?"
"It belonged to one of the penthouses Maddy had put at my disposal."
"Did it come complete with a hooker?"
The contempt in her voice was thick enough to cut, but he ignored it. "Occasionally, yes. It was a little perk some of my clients appreciated. But I never used the penthouse myself, Kate. You’ve got to believe that."
"Why should I ever believe you again?"
"Because I no longer have anything to lose by telling the truth."
She looked at him for a long, measuring second. "How could you do it, Douglas? How could you have had all those people killed?"
"They pushed me into a corner."
"You pushed yourself into a corner the night you fabricated that phony alibi for Sean McKackney."
He stared at a spot on the ceiling and didn’t answer.
"It was a high price to pay for friendship, wasn’t it?"
"I didn’t do it for friendship alone." He returned his gaze to her. "Sander offered me a lot of money. He told me that if I found a way to help Sean, he’d give me a million dollars-in cash. In cash, Kate," he repeated as if that justified everything. "Cash I could put in a Grand Cayman bank and watch grow, which is exactly what I did."
Money. He had done it all for money. "But you were a successful attorney. Why would you-"
"No, I wasn’t." He stood up, jammed his hands in his pockets and started to walk around the cell. "After my father was appointed to the Supreme Court and I was left in charge of the firm, things changed. A lot of his old clients didn’t like my methods. They said I wasn’t as good as the old man, that I didn’t have enough know-how,
enough clout. So they left, one by one." His tone turned bitter. "And my father never let me forget it."
Although Kate had never met Douglas’s father, she knew about his intolerance for human failures, including those made by his only son.
"When Sander came to me with that offer," Douglas continued, "I couldn’t turn it down. Not only did I stand to make a lot of money, but Sander had also promised to send me the kind of high-profile clients who would change the way others perceived me-as a lawyer lucky enough to have inherited his daddy’s firm. I could finally show my father that I was every bit as good as he was."
"And in the process, your values got blown to hell."
"I never meant for things to get that far."
She watched him as he stopped in front of the cell door, his back to her. "Maddy said you were responsible for what happened to me in the garage last week. She said that you ordered the attack. Is that true?"
He spun around. "Did that bitch also tell you she wanted to have you killed?" His eyes were so bright and hot, he looked as though he had suddenly come down with a fever. "Did she tell you that she wanted to send Bruno to your house and have him do to you what he did to Gina? I’m the one who stopped her, Kate. If it weren’t for me, you’d be dead."
"And that’s supposed to make me feel grateful?" she flung back, springing from her chair. "I’m supposed to turn my head the other way and not even flinch at the thought of all you’ve done? My daughter was kidnapped, Douglas. She could have been killed."
"I had nothing to do with that. I didn’t even know Bruno had her until the police took me off the plane in Miami."
"But you had a good idea, didn’t you? And what if you had known? What would you have done? Would you have come back and tried to save her? Or would you have boarded your plane to Buenos Aires?" After a few seconds of heavy silence, Kate laughed. "The answer is so damned obvious, you can’t even lie about it, can you, Douglas?"
"Mitch Calhoon was an expert in rescue operations. I couldn’t have done anything more for her."
"What about all the other people you betrayed? Maria, Rose, Tony. How do you explain the hell you put that young man through? You even had the gall to sit in my office the day of the verdict and question his innocence." Still bewildered at the thought, she shook her head. "My God, Douglas, when did you become that good an actor?"
"I’m not proud of what I did."
"It’s too late for regrets."
"But it’s not too late to start making it up to all those I’ve hurt, including that prostitute Bruno beat up so badly. I understand she’s in the hospital."
"That’s right. She, too, could have died."
"I want to pay her bills, Kate. You just tell me what to do and I’ll do it, no matter how much it costs." For a moment, the old Douglas was back, full of spunk and authority. "And I want to take care of Tony’s college tuition, as well."
"I’m taking care of LuAnn’s bills." Kate’s voice was harsh, causing Douglas’s eyebrows to arch. "And I doubt Tony will accept your offer."
"I’m only trying to help."
"You’re in no position to help anyone. You’re going to prison. Douglas. Or hasn’t that sunk in yet?"
"I’m not going anywhere. Not if I pick the right attorney." He held her hard gaze. "That attorney is you, Kate. I want you to represent me."
Thirty- Five
If he hadn’t spoken so clearly, Kate would have thought she’d heard him wrong. "Represent you?" She stared at him in total disbelief.
"I’ll pay you whatever you want. I have close to five million dollars in Grand Cayman. And if that’s not enough, I’ll sell the Potomac house and the one in Bermuda. Whatever it takes to get me off, I’ll pay it. All we have to do is find one or two jurors we can buy-"
"Are you talking about jury tampering now?"
He gave a small snort of laughter. "It’s done all the time. You know that."
She took a step back. "Have you ever done it?"
He waved her question aside and started to pace again. "I can show you how to pick them. They have to be hungry, but strong, the kind of jurors the others will listen to. Of course, we’ll have to be careful. An error in judgment could be disastrous…"
He was so absorbed in his planning that he never heard Kate call the guard.
He was still talking and pacing when she walked out.
Rose looked up as Kate returned to Mitch’s desk, her expression hopeful. "How is he?" she asked. "What did he say?"
Kate sat back down. "He’s fine. Planning his defense."
"Defense?" Rose’s eyes widened. "Isn’t he going to plead guilty?"
"It doesn’t look like it. But whatever he decides to do, that’s not my problem. Rose."
Kate could tell from the look in Rose’s eyes that she had already guessed what Kate was about to tell her. "You’re not going to represent him. are you?"
Kate shook her head. "No, I’m not. I hope you understand, Rose. And I hope it won’t change anything between us."
"Never," Rose said earnestly. "I despise him for what he did, but at the same time…" She closed her eyes. "I still love him, Kate. Does that make me a terrible woman?"
"No. It only proves that you’re human." She patted Rose’s hand. "But don’t worry too much about Douglas. I’m sure that before the day is over, he’ll have hired a very competent attorney-one that will be only too glad to take his money." She glanced around the busy squad room. "Where’s Mitch?"
"I don’t know. He was here a minute ago."
"I have to find him." She stood up. "You don’t mind taking a cab home, do you?"
"Of course not."
As soon as Rose had left, Kate walked over to the next desk where a young detective was busy typing a report. "Do you know where I can find Mitch Calhoon?" she asked. "He was here a moment ago."
"He just left." The detective looked apologetic. "He didn’t say where he was going. I’m sorry, Mrs. Logan."
"What about Detective Spivak? Is he in?"
"His shift doesn’t begin until noon."
"Thank you."
Moments later, she was behind the wheel of Frankie’s red Camaro, heading for the Spivaks’ home on Fulton Street.
"Kate." Mary Beth embraced her the moment she opened the door. "Tom told me what happened. I was going to call you, but Sandy came down with an awful cold." She pulled her inside. "Come in, please. Is your daughter all right?"
"She’s fine, thank you. And back in school like a real trouper." She followed Mary Beth into a cheery yellow kitchen, catching a glimpse of a huge Christmas tree as she passed the family room. "I was hoping to talk to Tom."
"He came in very late last night, so I don’t think he’ll get up until he has to." Mary Beth glanced at her watch. "Which won’t be for another hour." She untied her apron and tossed it on the counter. "Can I do anything for you?"
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