The Perk (50 page)

Chase coughed and stumbled over to his cart.
When he drove past, Beck touched his own lip and said, "Better have that
looked at—you might need stitches."

Beck had four days—to get the bloody towel to
the DPS crime lab, for the lab to complete the tests, and for the Gillespie County grand jury to indict Chase Connelly—all before midnight on New Year's Eve.

He drove the cart to his car in the parking
lot. He stowed his clubs and changed his shoes. He returned the cart to the
clubhouse and noticed a black limo parked in the fire lane. A large Latino man
was leaning against the limo and smoking a cigarette. He was bald, like the
limo driver Carlotta had seen that night in Fredericksburg. The Gillespie County grand jury could indict Chase on eyewitness testimony even without a DNA match. Beck walked over to the Latino man.

"Rudy?"

"I know you?"

"I know you."

Rudy flicked his cigarette aside. "How's
that?"

"I just played golf with Chase. He's a
piece of work."

Rudy smiled. "If he was twice the actor he
thinks he is, he wouldn't be worth a shit. But he's got the looks, and that's
all it takes in Hollywood."

"He gets a lot of girls?"

Rudy chuckled. "You'd need a calculator to
keep count." He shook his bald head. "He's got the world on a
leash."

"Bet you could write a book."

Rudy shook his head again.
"Confidentiality agreement."

"He pay you well for your
confidentiality?"

"You offering me a job?"

"A chance."

Rudy frowned. "For what?"

"To stay out of prison."

Rudy went pale. "What are you talking
about?"

"I'm talking about New Year's Eve five
years ago, right here in Austin, you were driving when he picked up a blonde
girl on Sixth Street. She died in your limo, Rudy."

"It was a rental."

"It was a hearse. You dumped her in that
ditch, Rudy. And then you threw her black high heels into the river."

Beck had Rudy now.

"I found one of those shoes, Rudy. Thing is, Texas has been in a drought for seven years. So that river never flowed fast enough to
wash those shoes downriver. I found one and the crime lab found your
fingerprints on it. You've been in the system."

Beck was bluffing, but Rudy was nodding.

"Two strikes?"

Another nod.

"Three strikes and you're out. Rudy, once
we match Chase's DNA to the sample from Heidi, we're going to indict him, try
him, and send him to prison. Only question is, are you going to share a cell
with him? Or are you going to play it smart, get immunity, and testify against
him? You didn't give her the cocaine and you didn't have sex with her, but
you're an accomplice. And I'm the judge of Gillespie County, where you dumped
her. I can give you immunity in exchange for your testimony."

"What would I have to do?"

"Testify before the grand jury. Tomorrow. Or Saturday."

"I'll think about it."

"You do that."

Beck handed his business card to Rudy. He walked
over to the Navigator, then turned back. Rudy was staring at him. Beck
pointed at Rudy then at himself and held his hand to his ear with his thumb and
pinky extended to fashion a telephone.

Beck dropped the bloody towel at the DPS crime lab and
begged for expedited tests. He then drove over to the medical examiner's
office. Dr. Janofsky met him at the front desk and led him back to the autopsy
room. Beck had never witnessed an autopsy. Seeing Slade's massive body
stretched out on the table and sliced open like a field-dressed deer, Beck got
nauseous.

Dr. Janofsky said, "You don't look so good,
Judge. Maybe we'd better step outside."

They did, and Beck splashed water from a
fountain on his face. He followed the doctor to his office. Dr. Janofsky sat
behind his desk and picked up two documents. He looked from one to the other.

"What is it, Doctor?"

"Test results."

"Slade's?"

He nodded. "And Heidi's."

"You ran more tests on her?"

"Just one. On the blood we saved from her.
Judge, you said yesterday that Slade was the father of the baby she aborted?"

"Yeah."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Pretty sure. Why?"

Dr. Janofsky frowned. He placed both documents
on the desk and pushed them across to Beck. He pointed.

It was after five when Beck drove through the black iron
gate at the Hardin homestead. He drove up the caliche road toward the house,
steering hard left then right then left. He hit the brakes. From that spot in
the road, he could see the baseball field. Luke was batting, J.B. was pitching,
and Libby and Jodie were shagging balls in the outfield. Meggie and the doll
and Frank the goat were sitting in the bleachers behind the batting cage. Annie's
dream had come true.

The next morning Grady said, "You
really think the limo driver will call?"

"Yes, I do," Beck said.

"I'll convene the grand jury Saturday,"
the D.A. said.

Mavis stuck her head in the door. "Judge,
there's a call for you on line one. Someone named Rudy."

Beck said, "Bingo," then hit the
speakerphone. "Rudy."

"Judge, I'm coming to see you. Tomorrow, while Chase is in the tournament. I'll be there about noon. I'll testify, but I want
complete immunity. You get that done today and fax it to my lawyer in L.A."

Grady shook his head and whispered, "A goddamn
limo driver's got a lawyer."

"And I've got evidence."

"What kind of evidence?"

"The girl's cell phone. With a photo of her and Chase in the
limo that night."

"Bring it. And give me your cell phone
number and your lawyer's number."

He did, and they hung up. "We got
him," Beck said. "Chase Connelly killed Heidi. And now we can prove
it."

The D.A. was all smiles.

Noon came and went on Saturday, December
29th, but Rudy Jaramillo didn't show.

"He stood you up, Beck," Grady said.

"I've had the grand jury upstairs for three
hours," the D.A. said. "I've got to let them go."

"Let me try his number again."

Beck engaged the speakerphone and dialed Rudy's
cell phone number. He answered.

"Rudy?"

"No, Judge, it's Chase. Rudy's
unavailable."

"You killed him."

Chase laughed.
"
Killed him?
Judge, you've been watching too many of my movies. I
gave him a paid vacation to Acapulco. He took my jet. It was a retirement
gift. He won't be testifying before your grand jury."

"He has evidence, Chase."

"You mean the photo on the girl's cell
phone that I bought from him for a million dollars?" Chase laughed.
"Sorry, Judge, you lose."

"I haven't lost yet, Chase. I've still got
your blood."

"Yeah, but you don't have the results yet
or we wouldn't be talking. And my lawyer says you've got no shot at murder or
manslaughter, or even delivery of drugs to a minor. Like you said, your only
shot is stat rape, and for that to work, you've got to get the DNA results, they've got to match, and the grand jury's got to indict me by midnight on New
Year's Eve or you can't touch me. You've got two days, Judge, and tomorrow's
Sunday."

"You're rolling the dice, Chase."

"I'm a betting man, I told you that."

"I hope your luck is better than your golf
game."

"I shot an eighty-four today. See you at
the movies, Judge."

Chase coughed and hung up.

Grady said, "That boy is one country-sized
prick."

"Beck," the D.A. said, "if you
don't get those test results in the next, what? … fifty-seven hours? …
then I don't get to try a movie star for stat rape, I don't get national
publicity, and I don't get into the Governor's Mansion. And you don't get to
be judge after next election. I do."

He walked out. Grady shook his head and turned
to Beck.

"Course, Chase has got stiff competition
for prick of the year."

Beck went home and spent the day with the children. At ten
that night, after everyone else was asleep, he walked down to the winery. He turned
on the computer and read Annie's words again. The tears came again, and he
closed his eyes. He opened them when he heard a noise. Rudy Jaramillo was standing
in the door. He was holding a gun. Beck's adrenaline kicked in and his
heartbeat kicked up, but he tried to act calm.

"Rudy, you're not going to get immunity if
you kill the judge."

"I'd rather have the money."

"I thought Chase sent you to Mexico?"

"He thinks so, too."

"You're freelancing?"

"I make my own career decisions."

"Well, Rudy, this is not a smart career
move."

"Way I figure, if you're out of the way, I
can go forward with my retirement plan."

"What retirement plan?"

"That photo's gonna pay me a million a year
for life."

"Blackmailing Chase?"

Rudy nodded his bald head.

"He said he bought that photo."

"I kept a copy. Chase, he ain't so
bright."

"So you kill me and extort Chase?"

"That has a nice ring to it, don't
it?"

"Getting rid of me won't fix the problem,
Rudy. That DNA sample over in Austin at the DPS lab, that's the problem. And
that doesn't go away with me."

"I think it will."

"Thinking can be a dangerous thing for a
man like you."

"We'll see."

"Aubrey, don't hit him too hard. That bung
hammer weighs five pounds."

Rudy laughed. "What, I'm supposed to look
behind me, so you can jump me, like in the movies?"

"No, you're supposed to stand real still
while Aubrey whacks you in the head."

Which is exactly what Aubrey did. The five-pound
cast-iron head of the bung hammer impacted Rudy just above his right ear and
produced a sickening thud. Rudy's big body crumpled to the floor. Beck stood
and kicked the gun away. Aubrey was holding the bung hammer in one hand and a
beer in the other.

"Dang near spilled my beer." He stepped
over Rudy. "Heard you talking. Saw this hammer hanging on the wall.
Figured it'd do. I hit him pretty hard, Beck."

"Yeah."

Rudy's body lay motionless. Blood was flowing
from his right ear. Beck squatted over Rudy and checked his pulse; he found none.
He called Grady at home and told him that Rudy had shown up after all and that
he was dead. Grady said he was on his way. Beck and Aubrey sat on the couch.

"Am I in trouble?" Aubrey asked.

"Not for this. Defense of a third-party.
But you've got to quit."

"Hitting people in the head with a bung
hammer?"

"Coaching."

Aubrey stared at his beer. "Coaching's all
I know, Beck." He gestured with the bung hammer at Rudy. "Don't
this count for something?"

"Yes, it does. Thanks for saving my life, Aubrey."

It was after midnight by the time Grady had come and gone
with Rudy's body. Beck sat at the desk and dialed the number of Rudy's cell
phone. Chase answered.

"Hello, Judge."

"Rudy's dead."

"In Mexico?"

"In my father's office."

"He knew your father?"

"No. He tracked me to my father's
winery."

"Your father's got a winery?"

"Yes. He tried to kill me."

"Your father tried to kill you?"

"No. Rudy. Rudy tried to kill me."

"Why?"

"So he could use the photo to blackmail
you."

"But I bought the photo from him."

"He kept a copy."

A sigh on the phone. "You can't trust
anyone these days."

"Chase?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm gonna get you."

Chase Connelly hung up.

"I've got to have those test results by midnight!"

Beck had called the DPS crime lab every hour on
the hour all day and night Sunday, December 30th. No one answered. He made
his first call on Monday, New Year's Eve, at 8:00
A.M.
He left a message. He left another message at nine, ten, and eleven. It was
now noon. He had exactly twelve hours to indict Chase Connelly.

Sitting across his desk were Grady and the D.A.

"I have the grand jury on standby,"
the D.A. said, "but I'm not calling them in until those test results come
in. They're going to fax them over?"

Beck nodded. "They said expedited was four
weeks. I gave them four days."

"So we don't know if they'll have results
today or a month from today?"

"They're working on it. Last time I talked
to them, they said they were having problems testing Chase's sample, said they
had to use more sophisticated testing."

"That don't sound good," Grady said.

The D.A.: "Why?"

Beck shook his head. "They said they can
run DNA tests only on white blood cells."

"So?"

"So I don't know. That's all they
said."

"That don't sound good," Grady said
again.

The cleaning lady arrived at 6:00
P.M.
She was a sturdy white woman named Gertie. Carlotta had
been deported in the ICE raid.

Aubrey arrived at 7:00
P.M.
He just
walked in and sat in the chair in the corner. For the next four and half hours,
they waited for the fax machine to ring. Ten times Aubrey walked over to the
fax to check that it was plugged in and operational. But the fax never rang. At
11:35
P.M.
, Beck called the lab again.
There was no answer. Beck looked at Aubrey in the corner.

"It's not going to happen, Aubrey. I'm
sorry."

"We've still got twenty-five minutes."

"We've got twenty-five minutes to get the
results and indict."

"The grand jury still upstairs?"

Beck nodded. The D.A. had convened the grand
jury at nine on New Year's Eve. The twelve citizens were growing restless, but
they had come in because Heidi had been the coach's daughter.