Blanket Immunity

by Adam Van Susteren

  Thirty minutes later, Brad was in his own shower, racking his brain for what the hell happened. He smiled as he put on blue jeans, a nice victory to have pants on again. A white, long-sleeve tee shirt, white socks, and gym shoes and he was feeling ready to try to figure out what the hell was going on.

  Brad sat on his black leather recliner and turned on his still-charging phone. A new text from Cassie just arrived. [Just got home from meeting with the police and told them everything.]

  “Noooo,” Brad groaned. Maybe that’s why I was at the border. I need to see her.

  Brad raced across his small apartment and grabbed a suitcase, shoving clothes into it until it was full. He jogged to the hall closet for a duffle bag, then back to his bedroom closet, opening his safe. Brad grabbed two thousand dollars in cash, three handguns, six boxes of ammo, his passport, a second cell phone, and jammed them in the bag. He jerked the white Ikea dresser open and shoved underwear and socks on top of his valuables. He squeezed three pairs of shoes inside, deemed it full and zipped it.

  Back in the living room, he made sure his wallet, keys, phone, and the charging cord were in his pants pockets. He grabbed his two heavy pieces of luggage and moved as fast as he could to the parking lot, sighing in relief when he saw his truck was there. With the suitcase in the back of the truck and the duffle in the passenger seat, Brad drove across town to Cassie’s to find out what the hell was going on.

  Brad found a parking space just down the street and jogged to Cassie’s. The front gate code he knew still worked. He ran to Cassie’s and bounded up the three flights of stairs. A little winded, he walked fast to Cassie’s unit. He twisted the knob and found it unlocked.

  In response to twisting the door, a small dog barked loudly. He paused, Cassie doesn’t have a dog. Or didn’t. Brad knocked on the door, pushing it slightly ajar. “Cassie?” he called out quietly.

  The dog responded with more barking and a little growling. Brad pushed the door open and saw a small gray and white miniature schnauzer scurrying around. Brad shut the door behind him and looked around, definitely Cassie’s place.

  “Hello?” he called out, as he gingerly walked towards Cassie’s bedroom, with the dog advancing and retreating at his every step.

  Brad approached the open bedroom door while watching to make sure the little dog didn’t bite him.

  As he crossed the bedroom threshold, he heard a thunderous boom. Then another. Something felt strange. He heard a third boom and his legs lost strength. One more boom and he was on the ground, losing all sense of everything. He couldn’t feel the carpet on his face. He couldn’t see the white of the wall inches from his head. He couldn’t move. He wasn’t alive.

  Cassie calmly set the gun down on her nightstand, picked up her cell phone and dialed 911. As it rang, she took a breath to prepare.

  “911, what’s your emergency?”

  “Help! Help! Help! Please! My ex-boyfriend just tried to attack me! I shot him! I shot him! I think he’s dead!”

  The voice on the line asked, “Ma’am. Where are you?”

  “My house! My house!” Cassie wheezed out between forced breaths. “I mean my apartment.”

  “Is anyone coming towards you?”

  “No. No. No. He’s not moving. He’s on the ground.”

  “Okay. Try to remain calm. What’s your address?”

  Cassie gave her address.

  “The police will be there soon. Can you go to a bathroom and lock yourself in there?”

  “I think so. I’m scared,” Cassie said, while lying calmly in bed.

  “Go do that. Bring your gun with you and stay on the phone with me. Don’t hang up.”

  “Okay,” Cassie breathed heavily into the phone as she stopped at Brad’s body and dug through his pockets to snatch his cell phone. With phones in each hand, she scooped up her little dog, bringing it into the bathroom with her. She locked the door to the bathroom as instructed. “I got my dog with me in here, too. He saved my life. He barked at the door so I knew someone was inside and I saw him coming towards me…” She set her dog down.

  “Try to remain calm. Officers are responding to the call. They will be there shortly.”

  Cassie set both phones down on the sink, lifted up the toilet tank lid and dropped Brad’s phone in it, replacing the lid. Seven minutes later, Cassie heard footsteps and radios buzzing inside her apartment. “The police should be inside your home,” the dispatch officer said. “Can you put your gun inside your shower?”

  “Okay.”

  “Now unlock the door, take a few steps back and put your hands high in the air. Okay?”

  “Okay.”

  An hour later Cassie was seated across from Detective Larson at his desk. He pressed record, then read Cassie her rights again on the record. “Cassie. Can you tell me what just happened?”

  “I sent Brad a text message saying that I told on him for trying to get money from me for the rape claim. Then he must have been really mad because he barged into my house. My dog started going crazy. I picked up that gun I just bought and when he rushed towards me I shot him.”

  “Was he running?”

  “I don’t think so. It happened so fast, he was coming right towards me.”

  Larson scratched at his chin, trying to puzzle out this development with her earlier testimony. “But he was rushing?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Was your door unlocked?”

  “Probably. Lil’ Clark has been rough to potty train at my place these past few days so my neighbor will come help walk him for me sometimes. So I’ve been leaving my door unlocked. I should’a locked it after I texted Brad. If I was in my living room, or the shower, I’d be dead.”

  “That was fortunate.” Larson’s mind raced through everything he’d read about the incident and everything Cassie had said this morning. “How are you doing?”

  “I think I’m in shock more than anything else. This morning I agreed to whatever you were talking about so that Brad couldn’t get me in prison for my entire life. Then he came after me because I told you everything. Now he’s dead.” She shook her head. “I thought I’d be a crying mess by now but it just doesn’t feel real yet. Ya know?”

  “I’m trying to understand something. When we were talking earlier, you seemed to be troubled when we told you that Brad had a tape of you two planning the thing as a fake rape. If my memory serves, your story isn’t quite consistent with charges being filed against you.”

  Cassie shrugged.

  “You admitted to me that Brad had a tape with you two on it. But we didn’t talk much about what was on the tape. What was on it?”

  “A naked tape. You know?”

  Larson rubbed at his forehead. “Brad told us it was one of you guys planning the whole fake rape. Why didn’t you clarify what was on it?”

  Cassie pointed at Larson. “I thought you had that tape and saw what it was. I thought I was in trouble because I agreed to give Brad some of my settlement money to stay away from me.”

  Larson’s jaw lowered in disbelief. “But we were accusing you of working together.”

  “You and that Matt guy made it seem like what I did was wrong. I’m scared of Brad. We did make a sex tape once. I didn’t want my parents to see that on the internet or read about it. I thought that’s what you were talking about. So I agreed to help get Brad. I didn’t understand.”

  Larson pressed stop on the recorder. “Sometimes, on these high profile cases we can move a little too fast. We were in such a rush to make sure Brad couldn’t get away that we might have pressured you a bit more to talk with us and get us what we wanted. I just don’t get it.”

  “Get what?”

  “Earlier you told me that he made a tape that said if he went down he’d take you down, too. That he was going to trick his lawyer into getting immunity. Were the video and that conversation at different times?”

  “Uh, yeah,” she said with condescending tone.

  Larson pressed record. “We went off the reco
rd briefly and I am having a hard time understanding if I misunderstood your testimony earlier or if your testimony has changed. I’m going to suggest we break for lunch, we’ll go to a bigger office and go over everything from the beginning so I can make sense of the timeline.”

  “Okay,” Cassie said with a little shrug.

  “It’s,” Larson looked at his watch, “just after noon. Let’s meet at two in the reception area.” Larson paused, afraid he was running roughshod over a true victim here, who was confused as to timelines and what was being asked. Feeling guilty, he added, “With your attorney, if you want to bring one.”

  Chapter 33

  “Law Office.” Jo answered her cellphone while Dzuy was resetting the cameras in her office.

  “Jo?”

  “Hey, Matt,” she responded at recognized Matt Terry’s voice.

  “Where the fuck are you?”

  Jo’s eyes widened with fear. “Getting ready to go to lunch. Why? What’s up?”

  “Brad Gecina. Are you sitting down Jo?”

  Jo’s heart pounded with the fury of an angry ocean. “Yes.”

  “Brad’s dead. I was cutting a deal with Cassie today to flip on Brad. She agrees, then the ditz sends him a text message saying she told the cops on him. He races over to her house with three guns in a bag in his truck. And Cassie plugs him four times, center mass.”

  Jo pawed at the air to get Dzuy’s attention. “Are you sure it was Cassie who killed Brad?”

  “Cassie admits it. Brad’s body was found in her bedroom. Cassie was locked in her bathroom on the phone with the police, who felt the warm barrel of her revolver. I’d say there’s no reasonable way to doubt Cassie shot him. Looks like in self-defense.”

  For Dzuy’s benefit Jo recapped, “You’re certain that Cassie killed Brad this morning.”

  “Yeah. I mean I know it’s kind of crazy but you’re taking this even harder than I would have thought. Everything okay?”

  Jo looked at Dzuy with disbelief. “I think everything is fine.”

  “I just had a chat with Detective Larson. He’s wondering if we might have pushed Cassie too hard to get her to flip on Brad. She seemed pretty frazzled this morning. It seems she might have been confusing a sex tape they made early on with a conversation about him wanting immunity. Then Brad wanted part of the settlement money to keep from sharing the sex tape.”

  Jo half-heard Matt talk.

  “Jo?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Short of it. Any chance you were wrong about the timeline? Could Brad have been blackmailing her after the fact and confused her about what happened?”

  “I’m not so sure about anything anymore. I can check over my notes. Any idea who Brad’s personal representative will be?”

  “Nine-fifty-three?”

  “Yeah. Section C, I think.” Jo nodded at Dzuy’s confused look that she would explain in a minute.

  “Damn.”

  “Find out who it is. See if they’ll send me a waiver in writing and I’ll be happy to help. Without it, you’re on your own.”

  Matt chuckled. “Yeah, unless some anonymous tips fall from the sky again.”

  “That would be something.”

  “I’ll find Brad’s next of kin and be in touch.”

  “Bye,” Jo said, and hung up.

  Dzuy raised and waved his hands, imploring Jo to come on with the information.

  “Brad is dead. The attorney-client privilege still applies, but his representative can choose to waive it. If he does, then I can share files and testimony about Cassie.”

  “Can or have to?”

  “Can.”

  “So this can be over? Just don’t say anything. It’s all wrapped up?” Dzuy said, nearly falling out of his chair with relief.

  “Well…” Jo said in a contemplative tone as she rolled her head slightly.

  “Well what?”

  “Yesterday we were good people that did a stupid thing. Today I need to be a good person and do the right thing. If Cassie was in on it with Brad, and I’m allowed to, I need to speak up. I need to get to the bottom of it.”

  Dzuy covered his eyes. “We’re done with you being covert ops Jane Bond. And Omar, right?”

  “Yes. And I doubt it, but sure as hell hope so.”

  “So coverup op is off?” Dzuy darted his eyes to her computer.

  Jo nodded. “Well. We need to parse through yesterday’s audio to pull out some stuff from lunch, then completely erase everything else.”

  “Five minutes and your cameras will be back up. Then we’ll get started.”

  While Dzuy was hard at work, Jo considered the scariest possible scenario. Omar learned of the video from Brad, approached Cassie, cut a deal with her for less than Brad was demanding, then set Jo up to kill Brad or get Brad so charged up that Cassie could kill him. Jo shuddered at the thought.

  “What?”

  Jo relayed her thought and asked, “What do you think?”

  “You reached out to Omar for help, right? He didn’t offer?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Then I don’t think even the mighty Omar could have put that in motion. I mean, with how he handled business at the border, I wouldn’t put it too far past him. But I doubt it.”

  Jo nodded. “That was the scariest scenario I could think of. Not the most likely.”

  “What’s the most likely?”

  “Brad was telling the truth, but Cassie isn’t the meek and ditzy young woman she purports to be. Brad feared she was backing out of paying him so he went to see Omar. That seems to be the only possible way Omar could have been involved. Which means Cassie had to be in on it.” Jo stopped herself and shook her head. “One issue at a time. When can we pull up the audio? I want to hear exactly how Brad responded to my accusation of the tape.”

  “One minute. Almost back up.”

  Jo texted Matt. [Even if I can testify, I don’t know I have access to anything conclusive. Curious. What’s Cassie’s background?]

  A few minutes later, Dzuy’s laptop was playing the audio from yesterday. “I can’t believe he’s dead,” Dzuy said when they heard Brad’s voice on the recording.

  Jo sat upright when she heard her mention Omar and the tape, then deflated when Brad failed to admit its existence. Jo remembered his reaction, but she didn’t have video, so his response was hardly worth anything. As great as the recording sounded to her at the time, it sounded like she was putting the squeeze on Brad to give her money. The conversation pre-supposed Brad would come into some from Cassie, but evidence of that actual agreement was missing.

  Dzuy shrugged at Jo when the tape got to the point where they were leaving the restaurant.

  “Yeah. There’s nothing helpful there. Can we delete it all? Permanently erase it?”

  “Yep. You sure?”

  “Yeah. He doesn’t admit anything.”

  “Okay.” Dzuy worked his computer.

  Jo’s cell phone rang. “Hi, Aaron.”

  “After yesterday, everything okay with you?”

  “Yes. Thanks. Sorry about that,” Jo said as her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

  “I’m headed down to San Diego now. Cassie called me this morning. I’m driving down to meet with her now. Have you heard anything about her by chance?”

  Jo recognized Aaron wanted to talk freely but feared saying something that could be privileged. “I heard she killed my former client, Brad Gecina, this morning.”

  “It’s my understanding there is a good chance Brad was manipulating her. That my client may not have actually been involved with a conspiracy to defraud the City. You got anything new on that?”

  “Attorney-client still attaches to Brad unless his representative waives it, so I can’t get into any specifics. But my general understanding, I’m ninety-plus percent sure that Cassie was in on the whole thing with Brad.”

  “Based on what?” Aaron snapped with frustration.

  “Sorry, but I can’t say.”

  “Ugh. So I’m d
riving down to meet my client and either she is the victim of a rape, who then got bullied by the police into a false confession.” His cadence quickened. “Then this big cop who raped her before, charges into her home and she shoots him. Or, she’s a manipulative genius that lay in wait to kill Brad to wrap up loose ends in hopes of rekindling the fraudulent settlement.”

  “Sounds about right,” Jo said, watching Dzuy working the computer.

  “Ready for the really strange part?”

  Jo laughed. “Stranger? Sure.”

  “She wants to hire you as her criminal defense lawyer because of how good you did for Brad.”

  “You’re not serious?”

  “I am. And I can’t tell if that’s because she doesn’t imagine the conflict from when you represented Brad or if it’s because she knows that if you’re her attorney you can’t testify against her.”

  “Who is Cassie Young?” Jo whispered.

  “I’m damn curious and looking forward to finding out.”

  “Me, too.”

  “You intrigued? Want to come to the station as Cassie’s lawyer?”

  “Intrigued, yes. Ready to sign on to represent Cassie, No,” Jo said as much into the phone as across the desk to Dzuy, who stopped working to hear her half of the conversation. “Did Cassie really think I’d represent her?”

  “She thinks you were looking out for her when you gave her my name. She also thinks you were the one that sent her the video of Brad confessing on tape about the rape.”

  Jo sat in silence.

  “You know. If she was the victim and evidence suggests Brad went to kill her, the City and system failed her by keeping Brad on the streets. Cassie’s claim against the City could have just doubled. Your referral might approach a half million.”

  “If. If she was in on it with Brad, we’ll be burning more time for someone who’s lying to us and doesn’t deserve the help. I’m sorry, Aaron, as much as I’d like the chance at that amount of money, the truth of her involvement needs to come out.”