Blanket Immunity
Page 22
“Okay. I’ll see if Owens can make it.”
Feeling the call was about to wrap up, Jo added, “Let’s schedule a dinner. Dzuy and I want to take you and Tina out to dinner to thank you for that call yesterday.”
“Tina’s got the calendar. I’ll ask her for dates that work and get something set soon. It’ll be nice to sit and talk, or not talk, about how this case is playing out.”
“Great. Bye.” Jo clicked the phone off and looked at Dzuy. “Are we almost done?”
“Recording is gone, your cameras are up and running. That’s the question for you. Are we done?”
“I think so. Aaron was telling me if Cassie wasn’t part of the plan with Brad, her case could be worth more. My referral fee could approach half a million.”
Dzuy leaned back in the oversized chair. “That’s a lot of money.”
“This whole thing is so surreal. I had that dumb plan yesterday, and I put you in harm’s way of a felony murder charge. Now Brad is dead and we’re free. A flip of a coin and I’d be in prison for twenty-five to life.”
“How are you handling it?”
Jo shrugged. “I feel guilty. I tried to do good yesterday but when things went south, I tried to cover my ass instead of taking Brad to the hospital. If we did, maybe he would have woken up there and not been so angry to go after Cassie. Maybe he’d be alive.”
Dzuy stood, moving to sit on the chair next to Jo. He took her hand. “I feel guilty too. Brad put himself in this situation with the whole fake rape thing or whatever happened. Brad brought Omar into this, who brought you into it. We didn’t cause any of this.”
Jo’s eyes glistened. “You know why I feel so guilty?”
“Why?”
“The worst feeling I had wasn’t when I feared for Brad dying from drugs. It wasn’t when I heard he was dead. It was yesterday when I thought you broke up with me. And I feel so stupid because we’re so new.”
“Every great romance needs at least one breakup,” Dzuy said softly.
Tears dripped down Jo’s face. “What made you change your mind?”
“Omar threatened to kill me if I did,” Dzuy said, with a pause before laughing.
Jo paused, then joined in a laugh. “How can I already be so in love with you?”
“Same way I can be with you.” Dzuy used his thumb to wipe Jo’s cheek.
“Two weeks,” Jo shook her head. “It’s only been two weeks. Now my first client is dead and my third client might kill me.”
“Heck of a story for our grandchildren.”
Jo put her hand on Dzuy’s face. He leaned in and kissed her.
After the comforting kiss, Jo asked, “We’re all done with the computer stuff?”
“Yeah.”
“I need to pee. Let’s go to lunch.”
Dzuy looked around the office. “Where is your bathroom?”
“There’s one on the side of the building, near the donut place. I saw it when I took the office but haven’t used it yet. Waiting as long as I can to use it.”
Dzuy chuckled. “So let’s eat somewhere with a good bathroom.”
Jo nodded. “You’ve been by my side non-stop. You have carte blanche.”
“Let’s do the Hilton at the bay, maybe stroll around after?”
“Perfect.” Jo went around the desk and grabbed a white envelope full of a quarter of the cash Omar left for her. She stuffed it in her purse, made sure the cameras were on, locked the office door and they headed for the water.
After a wonderful lunch on the terrace overlooking Mission Bay, having more typical early-date conversation about their families and growing up, Jo felt a bit like a normal person again. When the check came and she paid with Omar’s cash, it was a crude reminder how different things were.
An even crueler reminder was the missed call from Matt Terry and the text asking to call him immediately.
“What’s wrong?” Dzuy asked.
“I need to call Matt. Let’s walk around the bay for a while and I’ll call him back.”
“Okay.”
Once settled on the pathway, out of earshot from any other walkers going in their direction, Jo dialed Matt’s number.
“Jo. We’re set to talk to her again, in less than an hour, and we’re hitting dead end after dead end.”
“You check his phones?”
“Our tech guys have it, they are working on the password.”
“Did you just walk the things down to the morgue and use his fingerprint?”
“His body is with the ME, across town. The phone is here in evidence.”
“Wait. Do you only have one phone?” Jo stopped walking and put her hand on her forehead.
“Yeah. You think he has two?”
“Yeah. So there might be a video on his phone, maybe not. I’d bring a team to the examiner’s office to find out if you have the phone with the video. It’s your best lead.”
“I think it’s our only lead. Larson found links to an old Cassie Young Linkedin page, but they go to a dead link. We think she killed her account months ago.”
Jo watched an elderly couple holding hands pass by her and Dzuy. “Around the time they would have started working together.”
“I know. There’s these conflicting pieces I just don’t see coming together.”
“Like what?” Jo reached for Dzuy’s hand and they resumed walking.
“According to Cassie, Brad was rushing into her bedroom. The blood spatter makes it look like he was standing still.”
“Hmm.”
“And a small detail is bothering me.”
“What’s that?”
“We saw on Cassie’s phone that she texted Brad. Brad’s phone was found off, buried in a bag inside his truck.”
“Everyone carries a phone with them, like all the time these days. He didn’t have one on his body when found?” She looked at Dzuy and raised her eyebrows.
“Yeah, that bothered me a bit.”
“Is the crime scene still closed?”
“Yeah.”
“I’d send officers back to check every place Cassie was before the police showed up. She might have thrown the phone out a window. Hid it in a drawer. The garbage disposal. Toilet tank-”
“I get it,” Matt interrupted. “She may have hidden it anywhere a phone could fit. I’m going to have officers search for it. I’ll give the tech guys five more minutes or make Larson take them all on a field trip to the ME’s office.”
“Sounds good. Thanks for the update.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Hey, Matt.”
“Yeah.”
“Remember, I don’t work for the DA any more so I’m not sure how much you want to tell me.”
“Gotcha. This was all off the record. Just friends chatting. But I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Thanks. Bye.”
“Later.”
Chapter 34
Cassie looked small, sitting between the broad shouldered Aaron Baker and the thickly-built Michael Owens.
Detective Larson pressed ‘record’ on the same old device, resting now on a large metal table with two divots, and rods to secure handcuffs to. Past the large, two-way mirror behind him, Larson knew Matt Terry, his boss, and a few other people were watching.
He read Cassie her Miranda rights on the record, cleared his throat, and continued. “Ms. Young, you have the benefit of counsel with you. For the record, can you state your appearances?”
Aaron nodded towards Michael.
“Michael Owens for Cassie Young.”
“Aaron Baker for Cassie Young.”
“And Cassie Young is present,” Larson noted. He looked at Cassie. “We spoke this morning, and you agreed to plead guilty to perjury charges in exchange for no prosecution against you for fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud with Brad Gecina.”
Aaron Baker leaned forward. “Objection. Assumes facts not in evidence.”
All eyes in the room turned towards him. Michael Owens gently shook his head, indicati
ng this wasn’t the proper forum for objections like that.
Aaron saw Owens look and leaned back. “Sorry. I’m not used to this forum. I’ll let Mr. Owens take lead.”
Larson smiled at Aaron. “No problem.” He looked at Cassie. “Ms. Young, when did you first meet Brad Gecina?”
Michael Owens held his arm up to Cassie, blocking the question from hitting her. He whispered in her ear. She whispered back.
Owens said. “I understand Brad and Cassie met on or about Valentine’s Day of this year.”
Larson opened a folder on his desk and pushed over a color photograph printed on paper. “Do you know when this picture was taken and uploaded to Instagram?”
Owens held up his arm again, making sure Cassie didn’t speak. He studied the picture of Cassie and Brad holding each other close at a New Year’s Eve party, then handed it to Cassie, who kept a staunch poker face.
Owens said, “At this moment, my client invokes her Fifth Amendment rights. She desires to cooperate in this investigation and may offer a statement after hearing more.”
Larson gave a knowing smile. “I was looking at a calendar and trying to figure out how, now in November, you claim to have met Brad in February, but you looked so close to him in December of last year. Can you explain that?
Owens held up his hand to Cassie. “My client invokes her Fifth Amendment rights. She desires to cooperate in this investigation and may offer a statement after hearing more.”
Larson pulled out the next photograph and passed it to Owens. “Earlier today, you told me that Brad rushed into your room. His blood doesn’t spray forward like he was rushing, it pools below him. Do you care to clarify if he was rushing towards you or standing still when you shot him?”
Owens looked closely at the photo of blood pooling around Brad for any sign of red dots that would indicate Brad was moving when he got shot. He reflexively said, in a flat voice, “My client invokes her Fifth Amendment rights.”
Larson pulled a queued-up iPad from the folder. He held it so Cassie and her lawyers could see the video clip of Brad discussing the fake rape.
Aaron’s eyes closed in disgust.
Cassie portrayed no emotion.
Owens calmly asked, “Did you have a question?”
Larson calmly scratched at his goatee. “Yeah. Did you lie to me two hours ago about the existence of this video?”
“My client invokes her Fifth Amendment rights,” Owens said, leaning forward.
Larson set the iPad down, letting the video finish as he pulled two last pieces of paper from his folder.
“This is a text message you sent to Brad a few hours ago. And this is a picture of where we found his cell phone fifteen minutes ago. Care to explain how it got in your toilet tank?”
“She invokes the Fifth.”
“Did you message Brad that you were at home, after turning on him to the police, lying in wait for him to walk into his death, so you could try to take eight million dollars from the San Diego taxpayers?”
Owens stood. “She invokes her Fifth Amendment rights, and we’re done here.”
Cassie and Aaron Baker stood, following Owen’s lead.
Larson stayed seated. “Counselors, you’re free to go. Ms. Young, on the other hand, is under arrest for the murder of Brad Gecina, fraud, perjury, and a litany of other crimes.”
“Can we have a minute with our client to talk confidentially?”
“Sure,” Larson said, turning off the tape recorder and gathering his things. “I’ll give you three some time.” He stepped into the quiet hallway, talking four steps and opening the door to the small room on the other side of the two-way mirror.
“Great job,” Matt Terry whispered.
Larson shrugged and whispered loud enough for the four other people in the room to hear. “Sorry I didn’t get a confession. Maybe after they’re done talking.”
The District Attorney softly said, “She’s admitted to killing Brad. She sent the text to get him to come. She threw his phone in the toilet and had motive. This should be enough to kill the civil payout and put her in jail for life.”
A short, rotund man in his sixties who Larson recognized as the California Attorney General spoke up. “Seems this is wrapping up nicely. Sacramento won’t need to get involved.”
“What about Jo Channing?” the District Attorney asked. “She had a lot to do with this mess.”
“She was helpful,” Matt Terry said forcefully. “We don’t have to do anything about Jo.”
“Matt, you’ve done a good job on this,” the Attorney General said, “so I’ll take your input on how to deal with Jo Channing. She was responsible for that,” he pointed to the window, “so something’s gotta happen with her.”
Larson could see Matt Terry was ready to say something, so he stepped forward and put a hand on Matt’s shoulder, looking to the last man in the room. “Chief. Do you mind taking the conversation up to your office? I don’t want to risk them overhearing any disagreements among us. As good as the soundproofing is, I don’t want to risk it.”
The Chief nodded and led the powerful attorneys out of the room. Larson squeezed Matt’s shoulder as Matt went to follow them out.
“What?” Matt whispered.
After the three left, Larson let go of Matt’s shoulder. “Jo will be fine. Focus here. I might need you if they want to cut a deal. I don’t want you to be stuck in some long meeting.”
Matt sighed. “Probably wouldn’t have listened to me anyway.”
Larson nodded. “Probably not.” He let a moment pass then pointed to Cassie, Aaron, and Owens. “You ever been on that side before? Any guess what they’re saying?”
Matt shook his head. “Nope. But probably, ‘Oh fuck.’”
Chapter 35
“You cold?” Dzuy asked.
“I guess pulling the sweater over my hands was a giveaway,” Jo responded with a slight shiver.
Dzuy put his arm around her. “Should we go?”
Jo snuggled closer to Dzuy, looking at the pink and orange hues above the water. “In a minute.”
They sat in silence, enjoying the moment. A gust of cool air whipped through Jo’s hair. “Okay, we can go.”
As they stood, Dzuy said, “Almost had our first sunset together.”
Jo smiled. “How refreshing to have normal firsts.”
Dzuy took her hand as they walked to the car. “What’s next?”
“I gotta do something about the money Omar left in my office.”
“What are you thinking?”
Jo sighed. “I wanted to deposit this in my parents’ account. But maybe it’s best I just leave it all in cash. If I see Omar again, I can just give it all back to him.”
“He doesn’t want money from you,” Dzuy said, solemnly.
“I think you’re right.”
Dzuy opened the car door for Jo. “I know I am.”
Jo hopped in and closed the door behind her, chewing over what Dzuy just said, as he walked around the car to climb into the driver’s seat. She leaned over to push his door open. “How do you know?” she asked before he was even inside.
Dzuy closed the door behind him. “I offered to pay him whatever you owed him for his help. He said he didn’t want money.”
Jo covered her mouth. “Thank you. I mean, I would have paid you back. But to even offer for me.”
“You’re welcome.” Dzuy buckled his seatbelt.
Jo clicked in as well. “He wants help with his business,” Jo said, sadly.
“Yeah.”
“Maybe I’ll do something to lose my law license, then I can’t help him anymore.”
Dzuy started the car. “What would you do?”
“I don’t know. Maybe work at my dad’s office, see if I can help out there. Teach bar prep. Anything but this.”
“I don’t know either.” Dzuy checked both ways then pulled onto the street. “Seems to me that this worked out well enough.” He glanced at Jo. “To your office to deal with the cash?”
“And he had your back when you needed help with Brad.”
Jo thought back to how she almost killed Brad with the pills and everything they went through.
“What’s wrong?”
She shook her head and held up her hands. “You know, just when I think I could work with Omar, I remember how he was ready to let Brad die. I don’t want to be that person.”
“You’re not.”
Jo sighed. “Thanks.” She held up her phone. “You know, I’m kind of hoping that Matt’s message about the DA and AG talking about how to deal with me means they somehow plan to disbar me. That would make it easy. I wouldn’t have any choice in practicing law for Omar because I wouldn’t have a license.”
“You think that’s what Matt meant?”
“Yeah. If it was for a criminal prosecution about me, he wouldn’t have said anything. It’s gotta be about my ethical conduct and a bar violation.” Jo picked up her phone and stared at it. “It’s gotta be about that.”
They discussed what else it could be as Dzuy pulled into the parking lot of Jo’s office.
She unlocked the door, they went inside, and Dzuy locked it after them. Jo reached under the desk to gather all the money. Dzuy sat in Omar’s usual chair. “You ever think about going to a less scary office? One with people all around so you don’t meet criminals alone?”
“All the time.” She put all the money on her desk next to her purse. “But I’m broke. And for times like this, it’s kind of nice to not have people looking in through windows.”
“I guess.”
Jo’s office line rang. She shrugged at Dzuy and answered, “Law Office.”
“Joanna P. Channing, please.”
“Speaking.”
“Please hold.”
“Some woman called and put me on hold,” Jo said to Dzuy, and sat down.
A somewhat familiar-sounding man’s voice asked, “Joanna? Are you there?”
“Yes. With whom am I speaking?”