The woman got up and offered her hand. “Miss Newton, my name is Indigo Fisher. I’ve been waiting to talk with you.”
“I don’t understand. Are you a Public Defender…?”
“No,” the woman said. “Not at all.”
Chapter 98
Angie couldn’t find a parking space anywhere near the Police Station. The place was packed with media trucks, which confirmed her immediate fear that Buck had been arrested for Gordon’s murder. She couldn’t figure out how that had happened, but the swarming reporters and cameras said otherwise.
Finally, she got a spot two blocks away. Her worn jeans and sneakers and baseball cap would help her slip into the back door of the station unnoticed, she hoped.
When Angie was almost there, a convoy of official sedans with red and blue dancing lights showed up. When they halted at the rear door, several officers popped out, then reached in for their prisoner.
Angie’s mouth dropped when she saw Hankie, in handcuffs, emerge from the back of the second car. His face was flush with his usual bravado, but he seemed a little frazzled. Scruffy beard, bloodshot eyes, a hesitation as he stood on old, stiff knees.
After all this, would he be the one giving them up? Angie wondered. But there were so many more powerful civic leaders to betray first if Hankie was looking for leverage to stay out of jail. She and Buck were little leaguers. Still, Angie did not trust the coincidence.
Reporters jostled for position. Hankie looked around confidently.. “This is the same ole, same ole, folks. I’ll be out of here—” He couldn’t finish before an officer tugged him along sharply. They disappeared inside, leaving the flashing cameras.
By the time Angie had worked her way inside the station’s rear entrance a few minutes later, she had half-convinced herself that Hankie’s arrest was just another in his long string. She walked through the metal detector then headed down the halls that eventually led her back to the front reception desk. But she didn’t get that far.
Right in front of her, one of the hall doors opened and Detective Douglas came out. He looked surprised, then pulled the door behind him, but not before Angie glanced inside and got the second shock she’d had in less than an hour.
Indigo Fisher was sitting at a table, huddled with the waitress with the burgundy-streaked hair from the O.K. Corral. Before Angie could grasp what their meeting might mean, Douglas said, “Mrs. Wesner. You’re here already.”
“I came in the back way,” Angie said. “There were so many reporters out front.”
“Of course,” he said, indicating she should follow him. “We’ll just need to find a room.”
He led her into an area with interview rooms all around it. Angie could see through the blinds into one of them, where Buck was seated with his lawyer.
When Douglas ushered her into the room opposite Buck’s, she felt a cold ripple up her back. Of course they would try to play them off one another. Except now, thanks to her risky visit to see him, she and Buck would be on the same page. It was critical to hold the story together.
Douglas offered coffee, which she accepted gratefully. The hours without sleep were wearing on her like pinpricks. Then the detective’s cell hummed. “Horse,” he answered simply. He listened for a moment, then, “I’m on my way.”
He clicked off the cell and turned to Angie. “I need to find my partner before we talk. It shouldn’t take but a few minutes.” As he left, she saw him say something to a uniformed cop outside the door.
Reality was taking on the feeling of a pinball machine. There were plenty of flashing lights pinging from side to side all around, but sooner or later the ball had to drop.
Chapter 99
Horse was already in the elevator headed up to Vice when Edgars finally answered his cell. “Where are you?” Horse asked, then continued right on. “Got a call from Monroe. I’m headed up to Vice.”
“Not without me.”
“I thought you were grilling Buck.”
“His lawyer wanted a break with him. I’m on my way.”
“Just stay put. I’ll be back down in five minutes.”
“Okay,” Edgars said, “but be quick about it. We gotta time this. They’re at that point.”
Horse clicked off and the elevator deposited him on the Vice floor. The entire place was pandemonium. He wondered what the chances were of finding anyone at their desk in the middle of their biggest arrest in years.
Then he saw a head of wild red hair moving over a desk at the back and threaded his way there. A minute later, he was standing in front of a plaque reading Janis Monroe, at the front of a desk saturated with color pictures and legal pads.
After a second, the hot undercover cop behind it acknowledged him by looking up and grunting, “Hey, Horse. That was fast.”
“You got something for me?”
She nodded. “Right. Sorry about the mess. It’s a shit storm up here.”
“I won’t keep you. They’re both downstairs right now.” Seeing her lean over her desk made him feel a little lightheaded.
“Okay,” Monroe said, “have I got something for you.”
“Congratulations, by the way,” Horse said. “How long were you under for this?”
“A couple of months.” She led him over to a large table where several people were sorting out pictures. “Actually, you’re lucky. We’ve got duplicates coming in right now.” She checked her legal pad then looked up at one of the sorters. “Can you get File 43 together for the detective here?”
The worker nodded and started pulling 8 x 10’s. While they waited, Horse smiled shyly at Monroe, searching for something to say so he wouldn’t stare at her chest. Finally he asked, “So how’d you manage to get the shots? They’re so closeup.”
Monroe walked back over to her desk and got what looked like a large, decorative button out of a drawer. “I wear it right on my dress.” She pointed out the tiny lens to him, then handed it to him to check out.
“They think they’re looking at my tits,” she grinned, “and all the while they’re smiling for mug shots.”
Chapter 100
A weariness had overtaken Buck, and try as he might, he could barely focus. He was grateful for Hackman, who had fended off the detectives like a skittish watchdog, but Buck’s own defenses just weren’t there anymore. He just wanted it to be over.
In contrast, when Edgars and Horse opened the interview room door, they looked pleasant, even fresh. Edgars looked as if he’d just mainlined a B-12 booster, and Horse’s craggy face had lost its sag. They looked way too happy for it to be anything good.
“Well, gentlemen, are we ready to give this another go?” Edgars began.
Hackman took over and Buck was grateful. “What is this about, Detectives? Mr. Dearmore here is spent. I need to get him home.”
Edgars’ eyes took on a sudden steely look. “We’ll see how that goes, Mr. Hackman. But now, getting back to that key to Wesner’s office. How did it come to be on your key ring?”
“I’ve instructed my client not to answer any questions about the key. Can we move on?” Hackman leaned back in his chair.
“It’s just it looks like a pro drilled out Wesner’s safe, but somehow got into his office easy. You got to admit, looks like someone used that key to get in. And your safe, Buck, shows no sign of forced entry.” Edgars looked at Horse, who nodded in agreement. “We just don’t know how to put all that together.”
“Did you open your safe for your kidnappers? Then let them into Wesner’s office with that key? Or maybe you staged the whole thing.” Horse left it there dangling.
Buck’s head was spinning. If only he wasn’t so bone weary.
Hackman saved him again. “Gentlemen, I said let’s move on, or we’re leaving right now.”
“Not so fast, Counselor,” Edgars said and stepped in, it looked like for the kill. “We’d like to show your client some fascinating photos.” He turned to his partner. “Horse, you want to do the honors?”
Horse slid out the half-do
zen 8 x 10’s from the Vice folder and splattered them around the table. “See anyone you know?”
Buck stiffened.
Hackman warned him, “Don’t say anything,” but Buck could not have spoken anyway.
There he and Angie were, at Hankie’s, her arms wrapped around him at the poker table, kissing him in the hall, his heady look of success as he raked in the pot with her behind him. Buck thought he might throw up.
Edgars added, “We have a witness who was in the room.”
Horse was talking to Edgars but glaring at Dearmore. “Looks like motive, doesn’t it?”
“The oldest kind. How about it, Buck?” Edgars asked.
Hackman again put his hand over Buck’s arm. “He has nothing to say.”
“Fine,” Edgars said. “You get the first shot, Buck. Angie’s in the next room, and she gets to see them next.”
“What do you bet she’ll say it was all Buck’s idea?” Horse asked his partner.
“Why not? She was smart enough to twist him around her little finger. Get stud duck here to do the dirty work.”
“Don’t talk about her like that.” Buck was surprised at the sound of his own voice.
Hackman warned, “Buck…”
But the detectives had found his button.
“She made you her bitch, buddy,” Edgars said. “I bet she told you how she wanted it and when. And now you’re fucked.”
Buck recognized some truth in what Edgars said. He grappled to hold down the emotions erupting in his body. His missing finger had begun to ache again and his hands were shaking so hard he could not look at them.
Hackman saw what was happening. “That’s enough.”
“Oh, we’re just getting started,” Edgars said.
“You know what’s going to happen now?” Horse jumped in. “We’re going to go in there and she’s going to deny she put you up to it. She’s going to say she had no idea you’d go that far. Love is going to go out the window, and you’ll go down for this alone.”
“She’s going to be looking out for herself, Buck,” Edgars added. “And you’d better be, too.”
“Yeah,” Horse said, “‘cause if it was just you, premeditated, that’s Murder One, the big one, the one they pull out the needles for, Buck.”
“But if she was whispering in your ear, if you can help us out with that…” Edgars leaned forward and steepled his fingers. “Ask your lawyer. Conspiracy is different. You help us out, and maybe the state won’t have to execute its football legend.”
Hackman covered Buck’s forearm with a firm gesture. “Don’t say anything, Mr. Dearmore. They’re fishing.”
“Actually, I think we got a bite,” Edgars said, grimly smiling down at Buck. “We’ll give you a minute, see what Mrs. Wesner has to say.”
Chapter 101
Angie’s legs bounced up and down nervously as she sat waiting for either detective to show up. She had decided if she got one whiff of problems from either one of them, she’d stop talking and get a lawyer. But, until then, she couldn’t help but think she’d look more innocent cooperating without one.
Angie was sure they would do something to throw them both off. She had to remember that they lie. That’s what the authorities do.
She couldn’t be sure Buck would be that strong, however. Not after what she’d seen just an hour earlier. His beaten up body, the guilt that had come to the surface so quickly, his emotional vulnerability.
Angie had learned early on, when she’d tried to rat out her stepfather’s incest to DHS, that the authorities were prone to sidestep messy truths, especially those that required risky efforts from them. They would relentlessly try to steer you to a version of the truth that fit their needs better. And right now, those detectives would lean on their only real suspect with everything they had. Angie had warned him how it went. Hopefully, he’d heard her.
When Edgars and Douglas entered her interview room, a new predatory energy came with them. No more deference to the grieving widow, but a businesslike coolness that immediately put her on guard. Her first thought was that the pictures Buck mentioned that Gordon’s private investigator took must have come to the surface somehow.
Angie thought if it came to it, that she would be able to claim an affair had happened but was over. Both she and Buck had agreed to that when they talked in his apartment. But if they’d just talked to Buck, and he’d followed the plan, why did the detectives look so confident?
“Sorry to keep you waiting, Mrs. Wesner,” Edgars began.
“What’s this all about?” Angie asked. “I have a million things I’m supposed to be doing.”
“Then we won’t waste your time,” Edgars said and nodded at Horse, who lifted the manila envelope and let the pictures spill out.
Angie tried to look away from the color photographs haphazardly strewn across the table, but found it impossible. She was watching her life explode in front of her. The pinball was circling the board in its last hurrah. She heard the detectives talking to her, but it wasn’t real.
How quickly it was over. She couldn’t even remember anybody at Hankie’s who could have taken the photographs. But there they were. All the lies in the world could not make this go away.
The lights seemed to brighten a little as she came back to reality. Edgars was saying, “Do you understand that I’m reading you your rights?”
Numbly, she nodded her head. The pictures were so bright, she noted, her halter dress such a saturated blue, Buck’s hair such a rich silver. They were a beautiful couple and she would never touch his skin again.
“Mrs. Wesner, do you understand what I’m asking?” Horse was looking at her strangely.
“What?” Angie asked.
“We know the key on Buck’s key ring was the one from your home safe. We found out that your husband had them all specifically notched when they were made. And the only logical explanation is that you gave it to Buck.”
“No,” Angie said. “I didn’t.”
“You know what I think, Horse?” Edgars asked. “I mean, look at her. Miserable. Lost. I get it. She’s not just fucking Buck. She’s got it bad. That’s what I got this morning, the real love thing. Is that what this is, Mrs. Wesner?” His fingers touched the photographs.
Angie looked up at him. She was letting it all show, but it didn’t matter anymore.
Horse leaned in close. “And then there was this deal about a cameo.”
Angie choked back a cry.
“Tony Bonner, who stole Buck’s car, lifted it from the glove box and gave it to his girlfriend,” Horse continued. “She told us you recognized it this morning in the restaurant.”
Edgars’ voice softened. “She said it looked like an heirloom, Mrs. Wesner, and you insisted on getting it back. But how else could it have gotten into Buck’s glove box unless you gave it to him?”
Angie could only stare at him.
“So we know you were lovers,” Horse added, “and even before the rest of the lab evidence comes in, we’ve got Buck at the scene, using a key that you had to have given him. That means premeditation, and motive. Murder one.”
“No,” Angie cried.
Now Edgars sounded like a counselor, sympathetic, trying to be helpful. “I know you were prepared to lie for him, ready to do anything to get him off, but know what? It’s too late for that.” He looked up at his partner. “Horse and I were ready to play you two off each other, but that won’t work now, will it? He’s stubborn as a mule. Won’t give you up yet, Mrs. Wesner. Which means he’ll go down for this alone. And that means the death penalty.”
Angie moaned.
Horse took up the thread. “It’s too late to lie for him. The only way you can save him now is to tell the truth. That you did it together. If it’s a conspiracy, they may not look at the needle so much. Heavy prison time for both of you, sure, but if you cooperate, I’m guessing no death penalty.”
“You strike me as a smart lady,” Edgars said. “If you tell us now that it was both of you, we’ll se
e what we can do for you. Otherwise, what have you got to look forward to? Seeing Buck die by lethal injection? Or having him finally admit to your involvement somewhere down the line?”
“But if you come clean now,” Horse said, “you might both be out in time to still have a few years together.”
Everything logical in her said don’t do it. She had access to the best lawyers, could tie things up legally for years. They were probably lying about the death penalty, too. But suddenly, she didn’t want to fight anymore. She knew she would be making it too easy for them.
But maybe this was something she could finally give Buck. Something that would be all of herself. Angie wiped her eyes and looked up at the detectives. “We’d better get started then. It’ll take a while.”
Chapter 102
Indigo Fisher smiled at her new, young client. “I can’t even imagine how stunning all this must be to you, Miss Newton.”
“But he never responded at all,” Erika said, shaking her head. “And now…it’s too late.”
“Mr. Wesner was nothing if not thorough,” Indigo was assuring her. “He wanted to believe your claim, but he had to check you out from every angle first. He didn’t want to find out later somebody was scamming him for his money.”
“I just wanted to meet him. I never knew either of my parents.” Erika closed her eyes in resignation. “And now I never will.”
“He wanted to tell you about him and your mother. He was looking forward to it. Gordon didn’t tell me everything, but I do know a little. If you’d like…”
Erika sat forward, eager. “Oh, yes.”
“Your mother was from a upper class family, but you probably know that.”
Erika nodded. The family had turned their back on her when she turned up pregnant with no husband.
“Mr. Wesner was cleaning buildings and dorms to work his way through college, and developed a mad crush on your mom in a history class they had together. But he didn’t have two nickels to rub together, so he couldn’t even ask her out to buy her a Coke. Besides, she had quite a few boys after her, he said.”
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