"It's me," Reggie said.
There was a strange air of familiarity in the way she said those two words. There was both a hesitancy to the greeting and a definite intimacy. It was the way an ex-wife would just say hi when calling after the split. It threw Justin a little bit. There was no question that intimacy was hanging over the two of them. He wanted it to go away. But at the same time he liked it. It evoked a certain warmth and, he had to admit, lust. He wondered if it was the same on Reggie's end and decided it had to be. He shook his head-he did not need such distractions at the moment. But he couldn't help picturing her on the other end of the phone, shoes off, sitting on the motel bed, wearing jeans and a T-shirt, one foot planted with her knee up, the other leg tucked under her. He knew that's the way she sat. And he also couldn't help wondering if this was a personal call or business and he realized he wasn't sure he wanted it to be all business.
But it was.
"I got a hit on your Rhode Island shooter."
"Let's have it."
"His name's Pietro Lambrasco, just as Billy said it was. And he's not mobbed up-"
"So what the hell is he?!"
"Let me finish. What I was saying is that he's not mobbed up here."
"Back in Italy?"
"Sicily, to be precise. The only reason we have it on record is that two of the guys in the Bureau were over there a couple of years ago to help with the murder of that judge who got blown up on the highway, the one from Rome. They exchanged a lot of info and computer files. This guy Lambrasco was in one of their files."
"What's his story?"
"A stone-cold hit man."
Justin stayed silent.
"You still there, Jay?"
"Still here." Another brief pause. Then, "Reggie, what the hell is a Sicilian hit man doing in Providence, Rhode Island, going after Bruno Pecozzi?"
"I was hoping you'd have the answer to that one."
Again, nothing from Justin.
"So what now?" Reggie asked finally.
"I'm going back to work on the dots," Justin said.
"Did you make your date for tomorrow night?"
"Yup," Justin said.
"You going to tell me what that's all about?"
"Nope."
"Then I guess I'll see you at eight-thirty."
"Yup," Justin said again.
24
David Kelley was not the brightest guy Justin had ever met. But the contractor was nowhere near the dim-witted lout as portrayed by the tabloids and the local news stations. It didn't take long for Justin to realize that he was talking to a competent blue-collar contractor who'd gotten in over his head-both professionally and personally. He had moved up to deal with the moneyed class and gotten caught up between the two worlds. He'd been exposed to a lifestyle so grand that he could never again look back at his own life and be totally content. But the people he serviced lived at a level he could never attain. Justin realized it was that very fact that made Dave Kelley such an appealing suspect for Larry Silverbush and his crew. Greed was usually a pretty safe motive. As was lust. Kelley was also a guy with a temper and a cruel streak. That was immediately apparent from the sneer on his lips and the anger in his voice. It was not a combination that added up to a very appealing personality. But Justin was convinced it also didn't add up to someone who had murdered Evan Harmon.
Staring at Kelley in his prison grays, Justin wondered what it was about him that had appealed to Abby. Maybe it was his crudeness. Maybe it was the fact that this was a guy who had never in his life dreamed of having a shot with someone like Abby, so maybe she liked the idolatry that came along with this relationship. It made Justin wonder what she had seen in him, what had made her search him out at Duffy's that night. He wondered if there was any link between him and Dave Kelley.
Then he thought maybe there was.
Cruelty.
He shook the thought away as best he could, because he realized that Reggie Bokkenheuser was staring at him. He had a sneaking suspicion she knew exactly what he was thinking.
"Dave," Reggie said to Kelley, continuing the line of questioning she'd been pursuing, "what can you tell us about the stun gun?"
"What the fuck is there to tell?" Kelley said.
"Quite a bit," Reggie said. "It was used to torture a murder victim and certainly contributed to his death. And it was found in your possession after the murder."
"Yeah, I know where the fuck it was found. There's nothin' you're tellin' me or askin' me that's even the tiniest fuckin' bit new. I told everything to the lawyers and the cops and nobody fuckin' believes one fuckin' thing I say."
"Maybe it's because you're too eloquent and sophisticated for them," Justin said.
"Fuck you," Kelley spat back.
"Case in point," Justin said.
"Look, my own damn lawyers want me to plead guilty to somethin' I didn't do. You know how fuckin' insane that is?"
"Dave," Reggie said, "we believe you. Or at least we'd like to believe you. But you're not making this easy."
"Yeah," Kelley said and jerked his head at Justin. "I'm gonna trust this guy 'cause I know he's really rootin' for me since we're both bangin' the same bimbo."
"Dave," Justin said quietly and calmly, "let me try to explain it to you in a way even you might understand. I don't think you're an idiot, even though you're doing a really good impersonation of one. I think you're getting screwed-by the cops, by the DA, by your lawyers, and probably by the Harmon family. They all want to nail somebody-and they want to nail him quickly-and you're the prime candidate. But we know things they don't. And those things make us think that even though you're clearly a total asshole, you're an innocent asshole, at least as far as this murder's concerned. And as far as the bimbo's concerned, I don't think she's involved in this either. So the best way I can help her is to also help you. Even though I personally couldn't care less if you spend the rest of your life in jail or even if they stick a needle in your veins and put you out of your misery. But I don't want to see the wrong man-or woman-go down for this. So the way I see it, we're kind of your last hope. We're the only thing standing between you and twenty to life. Or worse. So what do you have to lose by talking to us without all the bluster and the swagger and the pretense?"
Kelley stared at Justin, his mouth slightly agape, and said nothing.
"Okay," Justin said to Reggie. "Let's go. This guy actually is as stupid as everybody thinks."
They both started to stand, but Kelley said, "Wait." And when they shifted back to him, he said, "What do you want to know?"
Justin and Reggie settled back into their seats across the small table from the imprisoned contractor.
"Tell us about the stun gun," Reggie said.
"It's mine," Kelley said.
"According to the arrest transcripts, you denied that at first."
"Well, what the fuck do you…" He glanced over at Justin and immediately he lowered his voice and softened his tone. "Yeah. I know. It was stupid. I was scared out of my freakin' mind and they were tellin' me it was the murder weapon, so I did the first thing I could think of and said it wasn't mine."
"Why'd you have one in the first place?" Justin asked.
"Animals. That's all, I swear to God. You know I don't just work out here-I do some work in the city and you start breakin' down walls and diggin' there and you got no idea what's gonna come out at you. Rats, bats… I hate fuckin' rats. So I got myself one of those things so I could torture the little bastards."
"You ever use it out here?"
"Yeah, sometimes. On raccoons and shit."
"You ever use it at the Harmons'?"
Kelley nodded. "Hey, you got a piece of gum or somethin'?"
Justin shook his head, but Reggie reached into her pocket and flipped a piece of sugarless Juicy Fruit across the table.
Kelley popped it in his mouth and chewed vigorously for a few seconds, then he said, "Yeah. I used it at the Harmons'."
"Keep going."
"Look, I kep
t it there sometimes. I kept all my tools there, so I just stuck it in with them. This was a big job for me, I mean the biggest I ever had. And I had a crew and everything, it was a lotta work, but sometimes I worked by myself. I figured why pay to get stuff done I could do, you know? So I was up there alone a decent amount of the time. Or alone with the two of them…"
"Abby and Evan?" Justin asked.
"Yeah. Or just one of 'em. Or with the greaseballs."
"You're referring to the housekeeper and butler?"
"Yeah. Great fuckin' butler-the guy could barely speak a word of English. You'd say, 'Hey, Pepe, can I get some ice water or somethin'?' and he'd stare at you like what the fuck are you talkin' about?"
"Did Pepe or his wife ever see you use the stun gun?"
"No."
"How can you be sure?"
"'Cause I only used it once up there and they weren't around."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, I'm sure. They don't drive and I gave 'em a lift to that taco place in East Hampton, you know, that little stand. They were meetin' some friends there for their night off. Try ordering dinner in less than half an hour. Nobody in that fuckin' place speaks English either."
"So how'd you happen to use the gun at the Harmons' that day?"
"I dropped off the beaners, came back to do some work. I was puttin' in the pond, which is a hell of a lot of work, and I wanted to check some dimensions 'cause if you don't get that right, it's a disaster. Anyway, I was actually measuring some of the land that needed to get filled in and there were, like, rabbits all over the place. I kept the gun there for raccoons 'cause those guys can be mean as hell. But I thought, well, I'll have some fun with the little bunnies."
"The good times, huh?" Justin said.
"Hey, to each his own. But I got one of the little guys."
"What did it do to them?" Reggie asked.
"Well, with the raccoons, it really did just stun 'em, you know? They're big. But with the rabbits, they don't got a lot of fat on 'em. So it fried this little fucker, I gotta say. And I look up and Evan and Abby are there watchin'."
"What did they do?"
"Evan was pretty interested. He'd never seen one, I guess a lotta people haven't. He wanted to see if I'd do it again."
"Did you?"
"Sure. Got another little Thumper in about five or ten minutes."
"What was Evan's reaction?"
"I think he kinda liked it. Thought it was cool."
"How about Mrs. Harmon?" Reggie asked. "Did she like it, too?"
"Abby? Hard to know. She's not one to, like, show her emotions, you know?"
"Was she squeamish about it?"
"She ain't the squeamish type. I don't know what the hell she thought; she didn't say much."
"And nobody else saw you?"
"Nobody."
"You're absolutely sure."
"I'm tellin' you, there wasn't nobody else around. And that was the only time I ever used it up there."
"You know that the DA is saying he's got a witness that saw you use the gun there. Somebody called in the tip. That's how they found it in your house."
"I know. And I swear to God, the only two people who saw me were Abby and Evan. And I don't think Evan's gonna call nobody to report on the thing that fuckin' killed him."
"Actually, the stun gun didn't kill him," Justin said. "It didn't help him much, but his skull was crushed by a bat or some kind of blunt object."
"Well, they didn't find that at my house, did they?"
"No. They haven't found it at all yet."
There was a brief silence. Then Kelley said, "So what else do you want me to say?"
"Who called Silverbush and gave him the tip?"
"Either somebody's lyin' or it's Abby."
"Why would Abby implicate you if it weren't true?"
"Who knows? I'm not kiddin' myself I could ever understand anything she does."
"You think it's possible?" Reggie asked.
"I think anythin's possible with her."
"You know there's also a witness that says you told him that Abby talked to you about killing Evan."
"Yeah, I know."
"So? Did she?" Justin asked.
"You wanna know the truth? We hardly ever talked at all. And when we did, it was mostly me tellin' her about my other rich clients. She liked that. Liked to hear how impossible they were, the weird shit they used to do."
"The witness who said you talked to him about killing Evan, do you know who that is?"
"It's nobody. 'Cause I never said nothin' like that!"
"Dave," Reggie said, "how do you think your stun gun wound up being used on Evan Harmon?"
"You think I ain't been tryin' to figure this out? I don't know. The only thing I come up with is that somebody stole it, used it, and put it back. But I know how that sounds."
"It sounds ridiculous," Justin said. "But do you have any ideas of who could possibly have done it?"
"Look, I have plenty of friends who know I got one of those things. And some of 'em even know where I keep it. But why the hell would any of 'em use it to go and kill Evan? It don't make no sense. The guy was the money train. Why'd you want to stop it from comin' down the tracks?"
"It comes right back to you then. You're the only one with a motive."
"Which is what?"
"Mrs. Harmon."
Kelley turned away from Reggie to look at Justin. "I'm really not stupid. At least I'm not that stupid. Even if she told me she wanted to run away with me and spend the rest of our damn lives together, you think I'd believe that? Come on."
"Did she tell you that?" Reggie asked.
"No."
Reggie sighed. "Why don't you give us the names of the people who knew about the gun and we'll check them out anyway."
"Okay," Kelley said. "No problem. But I'm tellin' you, the only person who makes any sense for this is"-and now he looked directly into Justin's eyes-"that bitch. We both know what she is and what she can do."
"And what is it you think Abby Harmon can do?" Regina Bokkenheuser asked.
"Anything she wants to do," Dave Kelley said. "Which is why I'm fucked seven ways from Sunday."
Justin sighed, too, now. "What about the security system in the Harmon house?"
"It cost a fortune. And it's about the best there is."
"You install it?"
"Yeah. I started out as just an electrician. That's my real specialty."
"Sorry to hear that."
"Yeah, no shit."
"How does it work?" Justin asked.
"It's simple really. A thing of beauty. Everything's connected to a central computerized system. Evan wanted it wired to his computer in his office-"
"At Ascension?" Reggie asked.
"No. His home office. He had a room upstairs that he used, you know, when he had to work out there. The guy was always at his computer; he worked all the time."
Justin and Reggie both turned at the sound of a door opening. Justin made a noticeable sound of disgust and when Reggie looked at him quizzically, he said, "This is the esteemed DA Larry Silverbush." And to Silverbush he said, "Regina Bokkenheuser, FBI."
"Yes," Silverbush said, "I know all about Ms. Bokkenheuser. Seems like you two make an ideal team." He turned to Kelley and said, "Morning, Dave. Got a good story for these two?"
"We're just trying to be as thorough as we can," Reggie said to Silverbush. "Mr. Kelley is being very cooperative."
"I bet he is." Silverbush smiled. "Mind if I sit in the rest of the way?"
Justin turned to Kelley. "It's your call, Dave. Our conversation is unconnected to Mr. Silverbush and his investigation."
"But we're all on the same side, aren't we?" the DA asked. "Truth, justice-all of that."
"I don't mind," Kelley said. "I'm not sayin' nothin' he hasn't heard before."
"Excellent," Silverbush said. "Go right ahead, as if I'm not here."
"We were talking about the security system," Reggie said to Kelley.
&n
bsp; "Right. It was wired to his home computer. That's where the system could be operated from."
"What if the computer went down?"
"No problem. It didn't change the system, I mean, if the computer lost power, it's not as if the security system did, too. You'd just lose the ability to control it from that computer while it was outta commission. But there were backups for the control. For one thing, it could all be done by hand at each control point. As long as you had that password."
"Different passwords for hand controlled and computer controlled?"
"Yeah. Different passwords for every computer terminal, too."
"How many hand control points were there?"
"There was one by the gate at the end of the driveway. One by the front door, one by the back door, one by the stereo in the living room that operated the inside cameras. And there was one by the pool house that operated the outdoor cameras."
"That's it?"
"Well, there were remote hookups, too. You could operate the whole thing from a laptop. Each laptop had to be specially designated as authorized to handle the controls and each user was given a password, you know, so anyone who was workin' away at the computer couldn't just access the Harmons' security system."
"Who had laptop access?"
"Evan. On the laptop he used to travel with."
"Abby?"
Kelley nodded. "But I don't think she really knew how to use it. She didn't have much interest in it."
"Anyone else?"
Kelley hesitated, then nodded again, this time with one deep, long movement of his head back and forth. "Me."
"Your laptop could access the Harmon security system?"
"Yeah. Evan wanted it that way. I knew the house, I knew the system; if anything went wrong, he said he wanted me to be able to, you know, see what the problem was."
"So you could get into the system anytime you wanted?"
"Yeah."
"To change the settings or disable it-whatever you wanted."
"Yeah."
"Let me ask you something," Reggie said. "When you log on to the system, does the system register who the user is and what changes are made?"
"Yup. It logs it in the main computer and on the individual computer that's used."
"Should I ask?" Justin said. And when Kelley frowned glumly, Justin said, "Who was logged on when the system was disabled the night of the murder?"
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