Breach of Trust
Table of Contents
ALSO BY DAVID ELLIS
The Hidden Man*
Eye of the Beholder
In the Company of Liars
Jury of One
Life Sentence
Line of Vision
*A Jason Kolarich Novel
G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS
Publishers Since 1838
Published by the Penguin Group
Publishers Since 1838
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd) Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd) Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi-110 017, India Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd) Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa
Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions. Published simultaneously in Canada
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ellis, David, date.
Breach of trust / David Ellis.
p. cm.
Ellis, David, date.
Breach of trust / David Ellis.
p. cm.
eISBN : 978-1-101-48635-1
PS3555.L59485B74
2011
2010036875
813’.6—dc22
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
While the author has made every effort to provide accurate telephone numbers and Internet addresses at the time of publication, neither the publisher nor the author assumes any responsibility for errors, or for changes that occur after publication. Further, the publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
To Julia Grace Ellis, my little treasure
Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
—SUN-TZU, CHINESE GENERAL AND MILITARY STRATEGIST (ATTRIBUTED), FIFTH CENTURY B.C.
Unless your enemy’s wearing a wire.
—CIRIACO “CHARLIE” CIMINO, POLITICAL FUNDRAISER, 2007
OPENING STATEMENT
I AM RECOUNTING THIS STORY IN CASE I AM NOT AROUND WHEN THE
dust settles. If some unfortunate accident should befall me, as they say, and I am unable to testify, I want to have some account of what I did and why. I will not try to justify my actions. I could tell you that they made me do it, but that’s hardly the point, and it may not be entirely accurate.
dust settles. If some unfortunate accident should befall me, as they say, and I am unable to testify, I want to have some account of what I did and why. I will not try to justify my actions. I could tell you that they made me do it, but that’s hardly the point, and it may not be entirely accurate.
I won’t lie to you, which is to say I will not deliberately mislead you. I will give you the most accurate account of events I can muster, but I can’t promise it will be the truth. Truth is a matter of perspective, and if you don’t believe me, then just watch how this whole thing plays out. Everyone who is a part of this story will tell a different version, when their time comes. In most of those versions, the hero will be whoever is telling the story.
In many of those versions, no doubt, the villain will be me.
TRIALS
March-June 2007
1
IF ERNESTO RAMIREZ HAD BEEN A BETTER LIAR, HE’D
still be alive.
still be alive.
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