Woman With a Gun_A Novel

by Phillip Margolin

  If Kathy didn’t look so pathetic, Jack might have reacted differently.

  “Do you think it’s in your best interest to antagonize me, Kathy?”

  Jack could see how much Kathy hated him. “I want a lawyer,” she snapped.

  “That’s your right, but hear me out first. You could be looking at prison. Ron is going to testify that you hooked him on cocaine. That’s distribution. If I decide to ship your case across the street to the Feds you could do serious time.”

  Kathy suddenly looked panicky. She started to say something. Then she paused and smiled coquettishly at Jack.

  “I’m sorry if I insulted you. I’m just exhausted and scared.”

  Kathy looked into Jack’s eyes.

  “We don’t have to be enemies, Jack. Let me out and we can continue this talk later this evening in my apartment.”

  If she’d come on to him like this when they’d met for the first time, Jack would have been across his desk in a flash. Now he found her attempt at seduction desperate and pathetic.

  “Come on, Kathy. This isn’t going to get you anywhere.”

  The anger and hate he’d seen in her eyes moments before were back in a flash.

  “I want my phone call. I’m not going to talk anymore without a lawyer present.”

  “You don’t have to talk. Just listen. There’s a way out of this mess.”

  Kathy drew her lips into a defiant line, but Jack could tell that she was paying attention.

  “We want Gary Kilbride. If you help us get him we’ll help you stay out of jail.”

  Kathy’s features shifted from intense interest to real fear. “Are you crazy? You’ve seen Kilbride’s file. He’s not just a killer, he’s a sadist. Have you forgotten what happened to Bernie Chartres?”

  Jack leaned forward and looked Kathy in the eye. “This can go one of two ways. Cooperate and no embezzlement and drug charges will be filed. You’ll voluntarily resign from the bar, which will give you a chance to reapply without a criminal record at some point in the future. We’ll have to figure out when that will be. But no one will bring your past up if you help us. Your law partners have agreed to keep quiet if you make restitution for the funds you embezzled. You’re young, Kathy. You’re very bright. Cooperate and you can get out of this in one piece and have a chance at a future.

  “If you decide to fight the charges you will be reported to the bar and the chances are pretty good that you’ll be disbarred permanently. You’ll also go to prison. When you get out, there will be nothing waiting for you.

  “Right now, only I, Detective Llewellyn, and your partners know you’ve been arrested. Your reputation is still pristine. You can keep it that way or you can throw your life away. It’s your choice.”

  “What . . . what would I have to do?”

  “I talked this over with Detective Llewellyn. This would be a one-time deal. We want you to get Kilbride to sell you a kilo of cocaine. We’ll have you wired . . .”

  Kathy looked like she might throw up. She shook her head violently back and forth.

  “No, no! I can’t do that. You don’t understand.”

  Jack leaned forward. “Talk to me, Kathy.”

  Kathy’s eyes lost focus and she stared at the floor. Jack was certain she was seeing something that wasn’t there.

  “He . . . he debases me. He . . . I’m an animal to him. He . . .”

  Kathy paused and gagged.

  “Do you want some water? Are you okay?”

  Kathy started to cry. Jack wanted to comfort her, but he knew he could never touch her while she was under arrest and they were being taped.

  After a minute, Kathy got her emotions in check. When she looked up at Jack he saw the face of a woman who had lost all hope.

  “I can’t wear a wire.”

  “We’ll fix it so he won’t know you’re wired.”

  She looked down again, too embarrassed to look at Jack.

  “Whenever I go to his house he . . .” She licked her lips. “He makes me take off all of my clothes, everything. I . . . I have to beg him for my drugs. That’s when he . . . He does things to me.”

  She looked up again, pleading. “Please, Jack. Don’t make me do this.”

  Jack felt sick and he wasn’t sure that he could go along with Llewellyn’s plan anymore. He stood up.

  “I’m going to get you some water and give you a chance to pull yourself together.”

  Llewellyn was waiting in a small room near the holding cell where he was watching the video feed. Jack walked in and shook his head.

  “We can’t do it, Oscar. She’s terrified.”

  Llewellyn’s stony expression didn’t change. “Of course she’s scared. She’s facing jail time and she’s gonna be disbarred. Anyone would be scared.”

  “I said terrified. There’s a difference. And she’s right to be terrified. You know what Kilbride is capable of doing.”

  Llewellyn flashed Jack a paternal smile. “You’re young, Jack, and she’s hot. She got to you. It’s understandable. She’s using her pussy to affect your judgment. Get over it. She got into bed with Kilbride. Now she regrets it. I feel for her, but we need her to take him down.”

  “What if he catches on?”

  “He won’t, believe me. I talked to the tech guys. He won’t make her.”

  “How is she going to pull it off in this state?”

  Llewellyn shrugged. “That’s her problem. She knows she’ll walk if she helps us set up Kilbride and she knows she’ll go to jail and lose her license if she doesn’t. That’s powerful motivation, Jack. She’ll keep her shit together when she has a little time to think.”

  “I don’t know.”

  Llewellyn put his hand on Jack’s shoulder. “This isn’t the first time I’ve done something like this. We’re gonna nail Kilbride and Miss Moran will be fine. Trust me.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Gary Kilbride’s parents were well off and they had tried to give their only child every opportunity for success. His test scores and early grades proved that he was bright and they anticipated a career as a doctor or lawyer or maybe something in finance. They had been shocked when he was arrested for assault in high school, but they accepted his explanation that the brutal beating he had administered to a gay student was a reaction to a sexual advance. An out-of-court settlement crafted by a high-priced attorney had kept Kilbride’s record clean.

  Kilbride had earned a football scholarship to Oregon State, where he planned to play linebacker. His father died shortly before he dropped out of college and his mother was so consumed by grief that she didn’t have the energy to question his decision. Kilbride told his mother that he was going to take a year off to deal with his dad’s death, but Kilbride did not have a choice about leaving school. His departure was part of a deal brokered with the administration by his football coach after the coach discovered that Kilbride was supplying steroids to some of the other players. Kilbride—ever resourceful—used his father’s death as his ace in the hole during negotiations. No one wanted to cause his mother more grief by saddling her only child with a criminal record.

  Kilbride never returned to school. Selling drugs was too profitable and time-consuming. And it provided ample opportunities to satisfy his need to inflict pain and humiliation. It also gave him enough money to purchase a conservative Tudor house in a respectable residential neighborhood near Reed College in southeast Portland. His home, like the others on his block, was well tended. A gardener cut the grass and trimmed the hedges. Beautiful flowers adorned the property. Kilbride didn’t have a lot of contact with his neighbors, but those who had spoken to him were under the impression that he was “in sales.”

  Kilbride laundered his profits through legitimate businesses and he insulated himself from the police by constructing numerous buffers between him and his customers. Some of those customers were students at the college. Others inhabited the shadier segments of society. All of them had a driving need that Kilbride could satisfy for a price. Kilbrid
e’s lieutenants ran street dealers who stored his cocaine in houses and apartments in which he had a well-concealed interest. The storehouses changed frequently. The police had raided a few of them but were never able to connect the dealers or the drugs to Kilbride.

  Kilbride was watching the Trail Blazers play the Lakers on his sixty-inch plasma TV when Kathy Moran called.

  “How’s my favorite lawyer?” Kilbride asked as soon as he picked up.

  “I need a, uh, a favor, Gary.”

  “Oh?”

  “I wondered if I could stop over. I’m not far.”

  Kathy provided an excellent outlet for Kilbride’s sadistic tendencies and just hearing her beg for an audience gave him a hard-on.

  “I don’t know,” he teased. “I’m watching a game. We’re playing the Lakers and the score is tight.”

  “I wouldn’t be long. I’m just . . . you know.”

  “How’s business?” Kilbride asked. “Lots of new cases with healthy retainers?”

  “That’s what I wanted to talk about.”

  “We should do this in person. I don’t want to tie up my phone line.”

  Kilbride suspected his phone might be tapped so he always kept his conversations vague and short.

  “Okay, I’ll come right over.”

  Kilbride hadn’t thought of Kathy Moran as his lawyer since he’d gotten her hooked. Now he thought of her as his sex slave and he enjoyed humiliating her whenever she came around begging for product. The sexual aspects of their deals had developed slowly as Kathy’s need increased and her financial resources began to tank. Usually Kilbride only accepted cash, but he got a kick out of dominating Kathy. He loved to hear her beg and it made his day when he forced her to degrade herself.

  Ten minutes after their phone call ended, Kilbride’s doorbell rang. He let Kathy wait while Kobe Bryant sank two free throws. Then he opened the door. Kathy flashed an anxious smile. Kilbride studied her. She looked sexy as hell in tight jeans and a T-shirt with no bra. Kilbride could see a hint of nipple where it pressed against the fabric.

  Kilbride stood aside and Kathy walked by him. He could tell she was nervous.

  “You look good,” Kilbride said.

  “Thank you.”

  “You’d look better without those clothes.”

  Kathy lost some color. “Please, Gary, can’t we just . . . ?”

  Kilbride held up a hand. “No talking. You know the drill. Obey or leave. If we’re going to have the conversation I think we’re going to have, I need to be sure that you’re not wearing a wire. So what do you want to do? It’s your choice.”

  Kathy looked at the floor. Kilbride enjoyed her discomfort and the view as she stripped off everything but her thong.

  “Everything off, Kathy. I’m going to have to do a search. There’s no telling where a mike can be hidden nowadays, what with modern technology.”

  Kathy kept her eyes down as she stripped. She had been through this before, but she still felt sick to her stomach. Kilbride stroked her thighs before inserting a finger. Kathy bit her lip and tried not to react. Kilbride fondled her breasts as he probed. After a minute, he let her go. Then he pointed to a corner of the room.

  “Why don’t you wait over there until the game is over? Then we’ll talk. Eyes to the wall.”

  Kathy did as she was told, standing in the corner like a chastened schoolgirl. There were five minutes left in regulation, which meant twenty minutes or more in basketball time. Kilbride made her wait until the buzzer. Then he turned off the set and called over his shoulder.

  “Come.”

  Kathy was near tears but she bit them back and walked in front of Kilbride.

  “Kneel down,” he said, pointing to a spot on the hardwood floor that he knew would hurt Kathy’s knees.

  When she was on the floor in front of him, Kilbride let his eyes run over her. She wobbled a little as the wood cut into the bone. Kilbride smiled.

  “So, Kathy, what did you want to talk about?”

  “I need some coke but I’m a little short.”

  “Kathy, Kathy, you still owe me from the last time.”

  “I know but I . . . I really need it, and I have an idea I know you’ll like.”

  Kilbride gave her an understanding nod and her words came out in a rush.

  “Once, a while back, you said I could help you by selling a little. So I thought about that. There are these lawyers I know. One guy I slept with and his buddies. Most of them are recreational users. I think I could make a connection with them. I mean, I know I could because one of the guys I used with at a party, his connection was busted and he asked me who I used.”

  Kilbride’s face clouded over and Kathy saw rage building.

  “I didn’t give him your name, Gary,” she said quickly to avoid a beating. “I would never do that.”

  Kilbride’s rage subsided as quickly as it had risen.

  “He’s in a bad way,” Kathy babbled. “I told him I could fix him up. So, if you could front me a kilo, I could sell him some and sell the rest to these other lawyers and work off my debt.”

  Kilbride considered Kathy’s proposition. He liked it. Lawyers had money and they couldn’t risk exposure. If he could cultivate a group of attorneys . . .

  “When would you need this kilo?” Kilbride asked.

  “Right away. Like tonight. This guy is hurting. The one whose dealer was busted. He’ll pay top dollar, but it’s got to be tonight. I think he may have a lead on another dealer, but I said I’d try to get him some stuff right away.”

  “I don’t have a kilo here,” Kilbride said.

  Kathy got on all fours and crawled over to Kilbride. She put her hands on his knees and leaned in.

  “Can’t you get it for me, Gary? I’d do anything if you helped me.”

  Kilbride’s blood ran into his groin and he stroked Kathy’s hair.

  “Please, Gary. Make a call. I can keep you entertained until it gets here.”

  Kilbride hesitated. He never liked to do business at his house but . . . He picked up an untraceable phone.

  “Richard, my shirts are dirty and I need a new shirt right away.”

  Kathy pulled down his zipper.

  “At my house, right now,” Kilbride said as he elevated his hips. Kathy slid his pants and underwear down to his ankles. Then she lowered her lips toward his crotch. She felt sick, she felt lower than an animal. Only one thing kept her going.

  Kilbride had been right about the technology. The micro-transmitter that had been sewn into the hem of her jeans had picked up everything she and Kilbride had said and sent it to a van that was parked down the block from Kilbride’s house.

  “Police, open up!” Oscar Llewellyn shouted a moment before the SWAT team smashed open Gary Kilbride’s front door.

  Kilbride jumped up from the couch, his eyes wide with panic. A plastic-wrapped kilo of cocaine rested on a coffee table between him and Kathy.

  “Hands in the air! Hands in the air!” Llewellyn shouted. Kilbride looked at the guns pointed his way and raised his hands above his head. Kathy did the same. Thankfully, Kilbride had let her get dressed, but her face was still a portrait of shame.

  “What have we here?” Llewellyn said as he motioned one of the officers toward the cocaine. Kilbride didn’t answer.

  Llewellyn read Kilbride and Kathy their rights while they were being handcuffed. Then Jack stepped over to Kilbride.

  “This is a warrant to search your house, Mr. Kilbride. You’ll be escorted downtown while we execute it.”

  Kilbride glared at Jack. Then he turned toward Kathy.

  “You did this, you bitch.”

  Kathy was too frightened to answer or look Kilbride in the eye. A vein throbbed in Kilbride’s temple.

  “I won’t forget this,” he said. “Ever.”

  As soon as Kilbride was led out, Kathy’s knees sagged. “I’m going to be sick,” she said.

  Jack grabbed her elbow. He led her to the couch and eased her down. “You’ll be okay,�
� he assured her. “We’ll protect you.”

  Kathy was terrified. “You don’t know him like I do,” she sobbed. “He’s evil. He doesn’t understand mercy or forgiveness.”

  Jack put his hands on Kathy’s shoulders. “Gary Kilbride is going to prison for a long time and you are going to put all this behind you and start your life over. You’re tough and you’re smart and you’re going to be okay.”

  Kathy looked deep into Jack’s eyes, searching for reassurance, searching for hope. Then she took a deep breath and squared her shoulders.

  “Thank you, Jack. Thank you for believing in me.”

  “I do believe in you. You’re a survivor. You’re going to get through this.”

  Oscar Llewellyn drove Kathy back to the police station and Jack drove home. When he got back to his sterile apartment he had trouble sleeping. Would Kathy really be okay? Had they sacrificed her in order to get Gary Kilbride? Jack didn’t think Kilbride would escape punishment this time. He had checked and double-checked the legality of the wire and the search and he was convinced that there were no legal loopholes through which Kilbride could squeeze. Kilbride was going to prison. But he would get out someday. Kathy was right. Kilbride was not like other men. He didn’t know the meaning of mercy, and Jack was worried that he would not forget that Kathy Moran was the reason he was in prison.

  Part Four

  THE CAHILL CASE

  2005

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  The Seafarer was at the far south end of Ocean Avenue, a block from the divide between commercial and residential real estate. The exterior was wood that had been weathered by the salt spray and ferocious winter rains that had swept in from the Pacific since the day the bar opened. But it was summer now, the tourists were in town, the sky was clear, and it was still light at seven.

  Jack had changed into a short-sleeve, sky-blue shirt that hung out over tan chinos. When he walked into the Seafarer’s dark interior he was welcomed by a din that was a mix of raucous laughter, the music of a local band, and the hum of conversation. A hostess in tight jeans and a black T-shirt flashed a smile and asked him how many were in his party. When he told her that he was meeting Kathy Moran, the hostess pointed to a booth near the far wall.