Ties That Bind aj-2

by Phillip Margolin

  On the screen, the rigged car drove up the road toward the meadow.

  "A guidance wire had been laid under the gravel road bed," Hunter explained. "It led from the stage to the meadow. A unit was installed under the front bumper, which allowed the car to be driven along the wire by remote control. The agents who operated it were in a camouflaged tree house that overlooked the meadow. The remote-control system is similar to a system that the Germans are experimenting with on the Autobahn."

  A maintenance truck suddenly appeared on the screen. Its high beams turned on.

  "That truck was driven by an FBI agent," Hunter said. "Stan met him the next morning. He pretended to be a maintenance worker who'd written down most of Tim Kerrigan's license number.

  "Anyway, the agent blinded Stan for a moment with the headlights to distract him. In the dark and momentarily blinded, he didn't see the substitution. When he saw a car with single taillight headed for the meadow, he assumed it was Miss Bennett's."

  Now the screen showed the meadow where Gregaros had thought he'd seen Tim Kerrigan murder Ally Bennett. The pictures on this section of the cassette had been taken from overhead.

  "By the time Stan reached the meadow, Tim Kerrigan was already at the window of the second car. You've probably guessed by now that he's been working with us all along."

  Grant felt light-headed. His stomach clenched.

  "A remote-controlled tape in the tape deck of the rigged car contained Ally's half of the conversation. Our agents turned it on and off using a remote control in the tree house. A shotgun mike recorded everything Stan said. I can play you the audio if you'd like. I'm sure your attorney will want to hear it."

  On the screen, Tim Kerrigan was emptying his revolver into the cadaver.

  "A small reel operated by an electric motor was installed below the front passenger seat. A thin, transparent multifilament that's impossible to see even in daylight was drawn out of the reel and attached to the corpse's left lower jaw from inside the mouth. When Tim shot the corpse, the blood packs were set off, spraying the car with blood. Then the magnetic catch was released and the reel was activated, snapping the head and torso of the cadaver to the right and pulling it face-down across the passenger seat so its face couldn't be seen. Ally's scream was played. Tim doused the interior of the car with gasoline and tossed in a match. The front seat had already been doctored to ignite with an intense heat to prevent Stan from looking inside the car for more than a second. In that second, he saw a corpse dressed like Ally. That, the shots, the blood, and the screams convinced him that Tim had killed Miss Bennett."

  Hunter nodded and the agent turned off the VCR.

  "I'm sorry you had to wait so long in here, but I was performing my little dog-and-pony show for Stan. I'm going to let you sit in here for a while longer, so you can think about life and death. It's useful to have complete quiet when you're contemplating such big subjects."

  Hunter started to leave when he remembered something.

  "Oh, I forgot to tell you that you have a right to remain silent. If you do decide to talk to me, anything you say can and will be used against you. You have a right to an attorney. If you can't afford an attorney, one will be provided for you free of charge."

  Hunter paused and silently ticked off the warnings on his fingers. Then he smiled.

  "Yeah, that's it. See you later."

  Chapter Fifty-five.

  Tim Kerrigan waited as J. D. Hunter rang his father's doorbell. Behind them, several agents dressed in windbreakers with FBI stitched across the back huddled against the elements, but Tim was oblivious to the cold wind and pelting rain. He felt empty inside and sadder than he'd ever been in his life.

  The door opened. William looked confused by the presence of his son and the agents. He'd dropped off Tim at home after their meeting with Harvey Grant and here he was again.

  "Why aren't you home?"

  "Tim is here to give you a chance, Mr. Kerrigan. It was part of our deal."

  "What are you talking about?"

  "Harvey and Stan are in custody, Dad. These men are here to arrest you, but Agent Hunter and I want to talk to you first. You don't have to. You can ask for a lawyer, but I think that would be a mistake."

  "We have the carton with the signed confessions," Hunter said. "The other members of your group will be in custody before dawn."

  Francine appeared at the top of the stairs.

  "Who's there, Bill?"

  Hunter walked past William and held up his identification. Tim and the other agents followed Hunter inside.

  "I'm with the FBI, Mrs. Kerrigan. I have a warrant to search your house. We'll try to be as neat as possible. An agent will have to stay with you during the search."

  "What is he talking about, Bill?"

  "Let them search," Kerrigan told his wife.

  "Can we talk someplace private?" Hunter asked.

  Several officers headed up the stairs. Francine called after her husband, but he ignored her and led Tim and Hunter down the hall to his office. Hunter closed the door, cutting off the sound of Francine's strident protests.

  "Ally Bennett is alive, Dad," Tim said as soon as they were seated.

  William looked bewildered. It was the first time Tim could remember when his father did not appear to be totally in charge. William turned to Hunter.

  "You told me that Tim murdered her."

  "Miss Bennett's murder was staged. She's alive and well and prepared to testify. You should know that we have Detective Gregaros on audiotape and videotape at the scene of the staged murder, making very incriminating statements. We also obtained a warrant before you met with Harvey Grant at the Westmont, and we have a recording of your call to the judge telling him that the carton is not in the trunk of your car."

  Hunter paused. William held his tongue.

  "Aren't you going to ask us what carton we're talking about?" Hunter asked.

  "I don't know anything about a carton."

  "No?" Hunter said. "So this is the first time you've heard about the carton of confessions that Victor Reis took from the judge's trunk, the carton he was supposed to put in your trunk? Doesn't ring any bells?"

  William Kerrigan said nothing.

  "We had to trick the judge into moving the confessions, because we had no idea where they were," Tim said. "I told you that I knew about them and was going to tell the police. We knew you'd tell Harvey and he'd figure out that we'd get a search warrant. That forced him to move them immediately. He couldn't give them to anyone who had signed a confession. That eliminated everyone but the original members of your group. Wendell Hayes was dead and Pedro Aragon is in Mexico. That left you."

  "We had Tim insist on meeting at the Westmont to bring you and Grant together," Hunter said. "We thought you'd take advantage of the chance to switch the evidence there and we assumed it would be moved from Grant's car to yours. Since neither of you could afford to have Tim see the transfer, we were certain that Victor Reis would do it while the three of you were talking.

  "We studied your car while you were with Tim at the hospital, and got a duplicate with matching plates and a lock that would take any Mercedes key in case you gave your key to Reis. The parking valet was an FBI agent. All we had to do after that was have the valet give Reis the number of the slot where the duplicate car was parked. He put the carton in the trunk, we drove the FBI car away, and put your car in the slot we'd just vacated."

  "We've been through the confessions once," Tim said. "Some of the names came as a real shock. It made me sick to think that I trusted these people."

  "You're going to be charged with conspiracy in the murder of Harold Travis and the attempted murder of the Jaffes, Jon Dupre, and your son," Hunter said. "The murder of Senator Travis can put you on death row.

  "We'd like you to work with us. It would be helpful to have one of the original members of The Vaughn Street Glee Club as a government witness. It would mean a life sentence for you. But you have to act now. We haven't started to interrog
ate Harvey Grant and Detective Gregaros, but they know that Ally is alive and that Tim set them up. I promised Tim we'd talk to you before we spoke to them."

  "What's it going to be, Dad?"

  Kerrigan glared at Tim. "I should have known you'd never have the guts to kill someone."

  Tim hung his head. Even now his father could hurt him.

  "Your son was very brave, Mr. Kerrigan," Hunter said, "and very insistent that we give you the first opportunity to cut a deal."

  Kerrigan stared at the agent. "I have no reason to cut a deal. I don't know what you think Harvey Grant and this detective have done, but I'm not part of it."

  J. D. Hunter ordered one agent to drive Tim Kerrigan home and another agent to drive Tim's father to jail. Cindy saw the car drive up and opened the door for him.

  "Are you all right?" she asked warily. Tim had not told her what was going on, but she knew something terrible was happening.

  "Is Megan asleep?"

  "For hours."

  "We need to talk."

  Tim led his wife into the living room. "I'm going to tell you everything. I want you to know that I love you." Tim looked down. "I haven't always loved you but I know I do now. You might not love me when you hear what I have to say."

  "Just tell me what happened tonight," Cindy said. Her tone was neutral and Tim could see how hard it was for her to hold in her emotions.

  "My father has been arrested for conspiracy to commit murder and the attempted murder of several people, including me."

  Cindy stared as if she did not understand.

  "Harvey Grant and several other people--some of whom we know very well--are also in custody."

  "My God. That's impossible."

  "They are guilty, Cindy. They are ruthless. You have no idea."

  "Did you . . .? Were you a part of this?"

  "No! I've been working with the FBI."

  Tim dropped his head again. He felt like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.

  "Then what have you done?" Cindy asked.

  Tim took a deep breath. He was going to confess everything, absolutely everything. Then he would accept whatever Cindy chose to do.

  "I am not the person you think I am. I am a bad person."

  He choked and could not go on for a moment. Then he inhaled, he looked Cindy in the eye, and he began by telling her how he had deserted Melissa Stebbins a week and a half before the Rose Bowl.

  Chapter Fifty-Six.

  Kate Ross found Amanda Jaffe idly stirring a cup of coffee in a booth in the hospital cafeteria. She looked solemn and exhausted, like everyone else in the restaurant.

  "How's your dad?" Kate asked as she slid into the other side of the booth.

  "He's in surgery. The doctors don't think there's any permanent damage. They'll be done soon and I'll find out for sure."

  "Are you okay?"

  "Physically, yeah. I was lucky. But I'm . . ." She shrugged.

  "I know all about it, Amanda. One part of you is thrilled that you're alive and the other guy isn't, and another part feels guilty as hell, even though you know you didn't do a damn thing wrong."

  Amanda nodded. "It's something like that. I'm trying not to think about what happened at the house. Mostly, I've been worrying about Frank."

  "I've got something for you that will help take your mind off Frank for a little bit. Jack Stamm called the office. He's scheduled a hearing at two to dismiss all the charges against Dupre."

  "What?"

  "Daniel is going to handle it, so you don't have to worry. And there's more, and you're going to love it. Harvey Grant, Stan Gregaros, and Tim Kerrigan's father are in custody."

  "The Vaughn Street Glee Club?"

  "That's what I'm thinking. And there's something else. Did you hear what happened to Tim?" Kate asked.

  "Someone had a newspaper in the intensive care waiting room, so I saw the headline. I can't believe that Maria Lopez tried to kill him. Does anyone know why she did it?"

  "All I know is that she's under arrest. I've tried some of my sources, but either they don't know anything, or they're not talking. But whatever is going on, our client is in the clear. Daniel will call when the hearing is over. I asked him to try and find out why the charges are being dropped and if it has anything to do with these arrests.

  "One more thing. A patrol car went out to Jon's safe house after I phoned in the shooting. The basement door was wide open and the police recovered some shells and found some blood, but no bodies."

  "So your friends got away."

  "It looks like it."

  "I think that solves the problem of what to do with the duffel bag."

  "Are you going to turn it over to Jon?"

  Amanda stirred her coffee and stared into space. Kate let her think.

  "An awful lot of people would be hurt if those tapes got out," she said. "And maybe they deserve to be. These men are supposed to be the pillars of our society--they're the ones who are always talking about getting tough on crime--and it's all a fraud."

  "I can't disagree with anything you've said, but I don't know if I want to be the one who brings everyone down," Kate said. "Maybe the best thing for all concerned would be for the contents of that bag to disappear."

  Part Seven

  PEDRO'S FORTUNE

  Chapter Fifty-Seven.

  Tim Kerrigan slipped his arm around Cindy's shoulders and watched Megan scamper along the beach in search of seashells. Hugh Curtin had a friend--an ex-Cardinal linebacker--who owned a condo on Maui. They'd been seaside for a week and had one week left before Tim had to return to Portland for the hearings in The Vaughn Street Glee Club case, in which he was the star witness for the government. The only thing that kept the scene from being perfect were the armed guards who accompanied the Kerrigan family everywhere they went.

  Tim was on leave from the district attorney's office. There was no way that his sexual escapade with Ally Bennett could be kept secret. He would have to testify about it in open court. Tim was certain that Harvey Grant would make sure that everyone learned of his other meetings with prostitutes. Jack wouldn't be able to keep him on. He wasn't sure he wanted to stay, anyway.

  Huge had been right. He had been hiding in the DA's office. Where he would go from there was another question. With his sordid past, politics was no longer an option. Burton Rommel had made that clear during a hastily called meeting a few days after the case had exploded. He wouldn't be able to do anything much for a while, anyway. Testifying for, and debriefings by, the state and federal prosecutors would keep him busy. He was actually grateful for the time off. It was helping him heal the wounds he'd inflicted on his family.

  Tim had always longed for his father's approval and never received it. William had made him feel small his whole life. Now he knew that his father was a fraud, and he had finally accepted that his worth was not tied to his father's approval.

  Tim's confession to Cindy had been the most difficult thing he'd ever done. He could see the disbelief and pain etched on her face as she sat in shocked silence during his recitation of his deceits. Then he'd told her about the turning point--the day he'd spent with her and Megan at the zoo.

  "I had convinced myself that I could kill Ally and get away with it, but I knew it would be like committing suicide. Deserting Melissa Stebbins had almost killed me. Murdering Ally Bennett would have finished me off.

  "But that's not what stopped me. It was Megan." He had choked up and had to wait before going on. "I'd betrayed you in every way possible but I was still a hero to her. When I met with Hunter I felt like I was making my ninety-yard run again, but this time on my own, with no blockers. I knew that every sin I'd committed would become public knowledge but I hoped, when she was old enough to understand, that she would think of me as . . ." He'd paused again. "Not a hero. I'll never be that. But as someone who tried to do what was right."

  He and Cindy had slept apart that night, and Tim was convinced that his marriage was over. Cindy was civil but distant for t
he next few days. He didn't see much of her anyway, because he was at FBI headquarters, the Multnomah County district attorney's office, and the U.S. attorney's office, night and day. One evening, he'd come home late and walked past the open door to their bedroom toward the guest room where he'd been sleeping. Cindy was still awake and she'd told him to come to bed. Neither of them said much while they made love, but Tim knew that she'd taken him back and was going to give him a chance to start over.