best served cold

by Sinclair, Rachel

  “I don’t know, that’s up to you. Try to figure out who that guy is, who might’ve been able to bury it, and who might’ve been able to use it. Good luck.”

  Regina got on the computer, and looked for some records on this Jerry Astin kid. She found out that he was the son of a guy by the name of Ronald Astin. At the time that the Becky Whitfield case was working its way through the court system, this Jerry Astin kid apparently was racking up the DWIs like they were going out of style. Every single one of them, however, got dismissed.

  When Regina started looking into his background, Ron Astin’s, she figured out why every one of Jerry’s charges got dismissed. Ron Astin was a state senator, and he was in charge of the committee that funded the Jackson County prosecutor’s office. That told Regina everything that she needed to know. She put two and two together and figured that every time his shady kid got arrested for yet another DWI, this Ron Astin guy probably threatened the prosecutor’s office with a choke of funding unless they declined to prosecute him.

  What Regina did not know was how it was that Ron Astin was associated with Becky Whitfield’s case. He evidently was. But how?

  Some additional digging led Regina to the answer. Apparently, in 1998, Carl Williams himself was one of the people who was in line to buy the Kansas City Star. The Star is the paper of record in Kansas City. When she went to the archives of the articles that did not make it to print, with the help of Christian, who hacked the Kansas City Star archives the same way that he hacked the KCPD arrest archives, she saw that there was a major article that was killed. This was an article that threatened to expose Jerry Astin for the kid that he was. It also threatened to expose all the coverups that Ron was responsible for, with regards to his kid. A major story was going to be published after Jerry Astin had confessed to having killed Allegra Chianti, but the story was killed right after Carl Williams apparently endowed the newspaper with a $1 million donation.

  Regina got the picture. The way she saw it, Jürgen Williams was probably being looked at for the murder of Becky Whitfield back in the fall of 1998. The case might’ve even been referred to the prosecutor’s office from the KCPD. Carl knew exactly how to make sure that the Jackson County prosecutor’s office did not prosecute his son. She could imagine that what happened was that Carl had a talk with Ron Astin and informed him that unless Ron Astin leaned on the prosecutors not to prosecute his son, he was going to buy the Kansas City Star and blare front-page headlines about Jerry Astin having confessed to killing a five-year-old girl, while he was drunk off his ass, and then leaving the scene. For good measure, he might’ve even threatened Ron by showing him a rough copy of the story that was going to print.

  And then, once the Jackson County prosecutor’s office stopped looking at Jurgen, and filed charges against Avery, Carl went ahead and gave millions of dollars to the paper not to run the story. Regina saw in the evidence an unholy alliance between Carl Williams, Ron Astin, and the prosecutor’s office. Ron made the prosecutor’s office dance to his tune, because he was a powerful state senator who had the power to cut off funding to the Jackson County’s prosecutor’s office if he wanted to.

  So, it was possible that Paul Sharpton was just a pawn in all of this game-playing, after all. She imagined that he might’ve been reinforced by Carl, in that Carl might’ve went ahead and promised him membership to his club, in exchange for doing all he could to hide the ball from the court in Avery’s case. But the corruption went much higher than Regina thought possible.

  Once she told Avery what she found out, Avery was not going to be happy. After all, Avery was responsible for that guy’s suicide. What if Paul was just a pawn, being forced into doing what he did by people higher up on the food chain than him?

  Then again, he was responsible for the San Diego prosecutor’s office not prosecuting Carl. So maybe he got his just desserts, after all. Not to mention the fact that he was a perv, doing pervy things. All Avery was doing was trying to force him into doing the right thing, and he decided that he was better off dead. That was his choice.

  At any rate, when she discovered that Ron Astin had ambitions for higher office, specifically that he was in the race for the United States Senate, she saw her opening.

  She was going to have to pay a visit to Ron. And she was going to have to call Ari, tell him what she needed, and hope that perhaps he would do her a little favor in this case.

  * * *

  Ari was unable to fly out to Kansas City for a couple of days, so Regina had to make a decision. She knew that Avery needed her back in San Diego. Avery was apparently cooking up an idea about how to put Jonathan Augusto into check. She needed her input, and she needed her connections to make all of that happen.

  So she decided to just go ahead and fly back to San Diego for a couple of days, and then meet Ari back in Kansas City when he could make it. She had the perfect plan to make Ron Astin finally cut Carl Williams loose. Regina knew that circumstances with Carl had changed since 1998. He was no longer the powerful, wealthy guy that he was. He was still wealthy, but he was currently living in Sweden, and he was not being protected by organized crime anymore. Knowing all of that, Regina had a pretty good idea that if she threatened Ron with a major story in the New York Times about all the cover-up shenanigans that went on involving his son over the years, Ron was going to change his tune on the stranglehold he had with the prosecutor’s office. He was desperately trying to avoid publicity back in the day, and maybe he was still afraid that Carl was going to expose him.

  All she had to do was make him more afraid that she was going to expose him. She was going to put that guy into a box, and make him do the right thing.

  In the meantime, however, she had to help Avery.

  Chapter 27

  Avery

  Regina flew back to San Diego, and I finally was able to get my brainstorming session underway. I was starting to come up with a small kernel of an idea as to how I was going to hit back at Jonathan Augusto. This idea was just that at the moment. An idea.

  Regina, Christian, Aidan and I met at my condo that evening. I ordered Chinese takeout, I got some bottles of wine ready, and all of us gathered around my dining room table that evening to enjoy some Chinese food and wine, and talk about how it was that we were going to get Jonathan.

  “Now, Christian has hacked Jonathan’s financials, and he has found nothing amiss,” I said. “Also, apparently, Jonathan has not actually downloaded child porn onto his computer. And, even if he did, I don’t think that that would be the magic bullet to make him back off. Nobody’s gonna prosecute him for anything. Like Carl, he just knows too much dirt on everybody in town. As for any kind of bad publicity, I don’t think he cares. Nobody thinks that he’s an angel. In fact, his clients hire him because he’s not an angel. They expect him to be a bad boy.”

  “What if we catch him in bed with some dude?” Aidan wanted to know.

  “Who cares? Besides, the attorney that he has apparently modeled himself after, Roy Cohn, was a homosexual who died of AIDS. Who knows? Jonathan might see a picture of him with some guy to be a badge of honor. So, I don’t think that setting him up with a rent boy, and then trying to take pictures of him, will do it,” I said.

  “What if he’s involved with the mob?” Christian asked.

  “I don’t know. He probably is involved with the mob,” I said.

  Regina was nodding her head. “Well, there’s one thing I found out about this guy, this Jonathan guy, and it’s that he likes to gamble. In Vegas, he owes millions of dollars to a casino that’s owned by a Ukrainian gangster by the name of Dmytro Antonich. Dude’s got a marker there for $10 million. What if we could get Dmytro to call in that marker? We don’t know much about Jonathan, but I don’t think he’s that liquid. I think he would have a tough time trying to pay the $10 million in a short period of time.”

  “That’s a great idea, but how are we going to get Dmytro to call in the marker?” I asked. “Or, rather, threaten to call in the marker. Tha
t’s the most important thing. If he calls in the marker, then it’s not going to do any good. It’s the threat of doing that that would make Jonathan back the hell off.”

  “Okay. This is how you do it.”

  And Regina gave me a step-by-step instruction on how I was going to hopefully get Dmytro influenced enough that he would call in the marker, or threaten that.

  Chapter 28

  The next day, I found myself heading back to Bakersfield, California, to go to the medium security prison there. Regina told me I was to talk to a guy by the name of Harrison Baker. As she explained it, Harrison Baker was a guy who was part of the Armenian mob, and his clan, the Aslanian clan, worked with mobsters from Russia and the Ukraine. Harrison was serving time as a fall guy, but Regina said that, as the hacker for the Aslanian clan, he knew where the bodies were buried. Literally. He was the one who apparently got Yuri Ivanov to drop his partnership with Carl. And there was a good chance that he might be able to talk to Dmytro about threatening to call in the Vegas marker for Jonathan.

  So, I went to the pod where Harrison Baker was staying. He came out, about half an hour after I got there, and he smiled when he looked at me. “Let me guess. You are a friend of Regina’s, right?”

  I nodded my head. “Yes. My name is Avery Collins, and –”

  At that, Harrison embraced me in a spontaneous hug. “My daughter, Emma, she came to see me. She visited for two hours. And she told me everything about what she was doing with Carl Williams. She also told me that she was living in a group home with the other girls, in North Park. She said that the person who arranged for that group home was a gal by the name of Avery Collins. You. She said that you and Regina were like her guardian angels, or something. I’m not going to lie, she’s pretty messed up. She’s working with a therapist, and everything, over at that home. But she’s back in school, and my bitch wife is going to lose that La Jolla home. She don’t have my daughter no more working to pay that mortgage, so she’s going to be going bye-bye. Anyhow, Avery, I can’t tell you how glad I am to meet you.”

  I felt relieved. “I’m so glad. Listen, the reason why I’m here is not just to see you, and see how you’re doing. Although, I have to admit, I am curious about that. How are you?”

  “Good. I’m getting out of here in 10 months. There’s not much to do around here, but it’s not so bad. I mean, I would love to go to a minimum security place, places where there’s rock concerts and pool tables, but it is what it is. But what can I do for you?”

  “Regina tells me that you have a lot of information, on a lot of different mobsters around town, and that you might be able to help me with something. There is a mobster, a Ukrainian mobster, by the name of Dmytro Antonich. He operates out of San Diego, but he also owns a string of casinos in Vegas. Do you know any thing about him?”

  “Oh yeah. I know that guy, everybody knows that guy. At least anybody who is associated with the Eastern European clans know who he is. Why do you ask?”

  “And I understand that you have some pretty high up protection on your life, isn’t that right?”

  “Of course. Nobody’s going to hit me, not unless somebody wants to create a war. I’ve got hacking skills that are second to none. In fact, I’ve been in demand with a lot of pretty high politicians in the area. National politicians who want me to hack and find dirt on their opponents. Trust me, I’m safe. So what is it that you want me to do?”

  “I want you to use your influence with Dmytro to call in a marker for a guy by the name of Jonathan Augusto. Actually, I just want him to threaten it. I don’t want him to actually call it in, I just want him to threaten to do so. Tell him that the only way that he won’t to call in that marker is if Jonathan agrees to back off of me. Jonathan is making it impossible for me to properly try a civil case that I have against Carl. He’s already had me put in jail for something I did not do, namely he planted drugs in my car, and then got an informant to call the police. I was arrested and spent almost a whole day in jail. And then, just to show me that he could do it, he had the prosecutors dismiss the charges against me. All I want is a fair fight. The only way I’m going to get a fair fight is if Jonathan agrees to play fair. The only way he’s going to agree to play fair is if something is been held over his head, like the possibility of being killed because he can’t pay a $10 million marker. Could you do that for me?”

  “You got it. You’re suing Carl?”

  “Yeah. Because I think that that’s the only way I’m going to get him. The only way that anybody’s going to get him is in a civil court. Nobody’s willing to prosecute him, still.”

  “Then you got it. I’ll do anything to help that bastard come to justice. After what he did to my daughter, I’d like to kill him myself. But I know, he’s got some place in Sweden where he’s hiding out. And I still got my marching orders that no one is to lay a glove on him, criminally anyways, for reasons that I don’t understand. I do know that the guy’s got dirt on everybody in town. So I know what you’re saying, he probably can’t be prosecuted, but if you could bring him down in civil court, I’m all for it. How much money you talking?”

  “With punitives, I’m asking for $500 million. I’m representing 100 victims. I’m going to try to get them certified as a class. I went ahead and contacted all the girls who have been exploited by Carl over the years, going back 20 years. Not all of them are eligible to sue, though, because of statute of limitation issues, but I’m getting as many on board as I can. I figure that $5 million apiece won’t exactly make them whole, but maybe it will give them a sense of justice.”

  “Okay then, consider it done. And thank you for saving my daughter. I didn’t know what she was up to. She never told me anything about that, I guess because she was afraid to. But, when she got out of Carl’s house, she did come and see me. I’ll do anything for her. But her mother, that’s another story. She could burn in hell for all I care.”

  * * *

  Five days later, I got a call from Jonathan. “Well played, counselor. Well played. I guess I’ll be seeing you in court, and, don’t worry, you’re not going to see any more dirty tricks for me. For the first time in my life, I guess I’m going to have to play it straight.”

  “I guess so,” I said. “Now, shall we exchange discovery deadlines, or do we need to go to court to do so? I also need you to make your client available for a deposition prior to trial. I know that you can make that happen. I don’t even care that he’s lazing around in Sweden, hiding out from all the people here who hate him, which encompasses just about everyone. You will make him available on a date certain. I’ll issue the subpoena. You will keep to the calendar that the judge will set for us in our case management conference. You got that?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Jonathan said.

  “I thought so.”

  Just as I told Jonathan, I subpoenaed Carl for a deposition. Jonathan was behaving himself, and acting as a true opposing counsel and not as a thug.

  Funny how the threat of death changes a person’s attitude.

  We went through our first case management conference with the judge who was assigned to this case. The judge’s name was Judge Richard Foster, a 20 year veteran. I was excited to have drawn him. Ordinarily, I didn’t necessarily want him as a judge, because he was no-nonsense and was known to be a prosecutor’s judge. But, in this case, I wanted him, because he was also considered to be a plaintiff’s judge. That seemed to be a contradiction, until I found out that he started his legal career working for a personal injury firm, and his parents were killed in a robbery gone wrong. When I learned his background, his predilictions made much more sense.

  Our case management conference took place in the judge’s chambers. Judge Foster took one look at Jonathan and I could tell, just by looking at Judge Foster’s face when he saw him, that his reputation preceded him.

  “Mr. Augusto,” Judge Foster said, a look of disgust on his face. “I must say that I’m surprised to see you on a case here. I thought that you just threatened eve
rybody not to file a case, and that’s how you got things done.”

  I had to suppress a smile. This was getting off to a good start. I liked the fact that this judge held Jonathan in such disdain. It probably would help me, in the end.

  Jonathan just laughed it off. “Well, I don’t always use the intimidation method. I’ll be on this case legitimately, you can be guaranteed about that.”

  “I’ll take you at your word. Anyhow, Ms. Collins, Mr. Augusto, let’s set this case for trial, although I would like the parties to go to mediation sometime between now and then. Let’s get a calendar set for discovery to be completed as well. I assume that, at this moment, there’s not a possibility of a settlement?”

  “No, your honor,” I said. “As you can see from my pleadings, I’m asking for substantial punitive damages in this case. $500 million. Therefore, I don’t see any possibility that this case is going to settle before trial.”

  Judge Foster looked right at Jonathan. “Mr. Augusto, what say you? Ms. Collins makes a good point. She’s asking for punitive damages, which is probably going to be the bulk of what a jury will award her and her clients, and, by the way, are you going to try to certify your clients as a class? I have to assume that you will be with so many clients.”

  “Yes. I don’t think that I want to try 100 cases,” I said with a laugh.

  “Well, then, let’s set a hearing for the class certification.”

  The judge set deadlines for exchanging discovery, and set a hearing for the class certification issue. He set us up for a possible mediation, and then set the case for trial.

  After the case management conference, Jonathan and I walked out of the courthouse, and Jonathan looked at me. I could tell that he was so tempted to just go back to his usual bullying playbook. He was itching to plant some more drugs on my person, or hack into my computer and plant a virus in there. He wanted to throw a dead hooker in my bed, take pictures, and call the cops. I had the feeling that he didn’t really know how to be an actual, above-board attorney.