No One Left to Tell (35 page)

‘Can I get you anything else, sir?’

‘No. Thank you.’

The woman nodded and backed out of the room in the old school way. She’d come recommended for her skills and her discretion. He was never sure what a servant might see, so he paid for their silence. It had been an important lesson, taught him by someone who’d learned through experience.

He’d taken a few sips of the martini when his business cell rang. It was a call forwarded from one of his older numbers. A six-year-old number, to be exact. ‘Hello?’

‘Hi. This is Brittany Jones.’

His brows lifted. ‘It’s been a while,’ he said. To his knowledge, she’d been a good girl, following the dictates of their arrangement to the letter. ‘What can I do for you?’

‘I have some information that you’ll find valuable.’

He had to smile. The girl possessed guts. And avarice. She’d been an easy target six years ago. She realized she was being paid more than a fair price for her silence and didn’t balk. Unlike Sandoval, who’d never been satisfied.

‘Tell me what you have and I’ll tell you what it’s worth.’

‘I got a visit this afternoon from Grayson Smith and the woman from those TV videos, Paige Holden. They’re convinced that Ramon Muñoz didn’t kill my sister.’

‘And this surprised you?’

‘Being contacted? Yes. That Ramon Muñoz wasn’t guilty? No. You wouldn’t have paid me so well to keep quiet if he’d been the one.’

‘So what do you have for me that I really need to know?’

‘You knew they’d come to see me, didn’t you?’

‘I’m not surprised. They now have a cold case. Re-interviewing the victim’s closest relative makes perfect sense. What else do you have?’

‘I know where they’ll be tonight at eleven o’clock.’

It was such a specific time, his curiosity was piqued. ‘Where?’

‘I’d like to be paid.’

‘Where are you calling from, Miss Jones?’

‘From a pay phone, which was damn hard to find.’

‘But smart.’ She’d called the number he’d given her five years ago in the event of an emergency. That she’d kept it all this time spoke volumes. ‘I could see my way clear to pay you. Tell me what you know and we can set a price.’

‘At eleven tonight they’ll be at the Carrollwood Nursing Home. They called earlier and asked the front desk about me. They pretended to be a doctor and wouldn’t tell the desk what it was about, but it was them. I’m sure. I gave them some things of Crystal’s that will make them ask a lot of questions.’

He frowned. ‘What did you give them?’

‘Evidence of one of Crystal’s old marks. She was blackmailing him at the time of her death. He didn’t kill her, but it’ll give them a rabbit to chase for a while.’

He was reluctantly impressed. She’d become very smart. ‘Who was this mark?’

‘His name is Aristotle Finch. He lives in Hagerstown, where Crystal was arrested for prostitution when she was eighteen. He was one of her regular customers.’

‘How long did he pay?’

‘Up until she died. So how much is this worth?’

‘Ten thousand.’

‘Twenty.’

He laughed. ‘You’ve already told me everything. You have no chips.’

‘I’ve got a son to raise,’ she said, her voice going from amiable to thin and bitter. ‘Ten thousand more means nothing to you. It means everything to me right now.’

‘I’ll go twenty, but I want you to do something else.’

‘What?’ she asked warily.

‘I want you to call your friend at the nursing home and tell her that when Smith and Holden get there, she needs to keep them inside as long as she can. Got it?’

‘What are you going to do?’ she asked, alarmed.

‘Exactly what you thought I’d do when you called me.’

‘If I tell my friend to keep them longer and then they die, she’ll know I was involved.’

‘You didn’t expect ten grand more for nothing, did you?’

‘Make it an even twenty-five to make up for the extra trouble and I’ll do it.’

Greedy bitch
. ‘Do you have the same account information?’

‘Yes.’

He heard the relief in her voice. ‘I’ll make the arrangements. And Miss Jones?’ he added mildly. ‘Greediness was very bad for your sister’s health. It would be a shame for that son you’re raising to become an orphan.’ He hung up, shaking his head.

Without the kid, she might have been a potential hire. But kids made people do stupid things. Silas was the perfect case in point. And without the kid, he doubted Brittany Jones would have pushed for the money. She worked at a nursing home. That wasn’t the behavior of someone who had grand schemes.

He ran a search on the Carrollwood Nursing Home. It was located in a fairly rural area, with undeveloped acreage around it. Lots of hills. Hills were good for what he had in mind. And a rural location was more appetizing than the bustle of the Peabody Hotel. The Peabody had too many cameras. Too many staff and too many witnesses.

He sipped on his martini as he placed the next call. ‘It’s me.’

‘We still on?’ Kapansky asked gruffly. It was his natural voice after his larynx had been damaged in a prison fight. Kapansky claimed women found it a turn-on.

He thought Kapansky was a few bulbs short of a chandelier. But the man did have his skills. ‘Yes, but we’re changing the venue and adding a guest.’

‘Who?’

‘You remember a guy named Silas?’

Kapansky growled. ‘Yeah. Every goddamn day. He’s the one who put me in the joint. Stole fifteen goddamn years of my life.’

Which, of course, he’d known. Having cops on the payroll meant knowing how to deal with them if the need arose. He knew many of the cons Silas had put away. Kapansky was particularly bitter. Combined with his other skills, he was very well-suited for this job. ‘How would you like to take him out?’

Kapansky laughed, a scraping sound. ‘
I’d
pay
you
.’

He chuckled. He’d known that, too. ‘I hoped you’d be interested.’

‘Where?’ Kapansky demanded. ‘When?’

‘Hopefully tonight. I’ll call you when I know for sure.’

‘I can’t wait. Can I hurt him first?’

He chuckled again. ‘As long as you make it quick and get out. Plus you still have to do the first job. Silas is just gravy.’

‘You’ll get your first job. As for Silas, it’ll be quick and extremely painful.’

He drained his martini. ‘Excellent.’

Wednesday, April 6, 6.25
P.M
.

Grayson slid the car to a stop on the curb outside the McClouds’ building, ready to go to work. Damn ready to get the truth from Rex McCloud. He’d lost his mojo there for a while. Been a little rudderless. Having the rug ripped out from under him by Charlie Anderson had shaken him even more than he’d thought.

But I’m back
, he thought. Paige’s outburst had somehow knocked him back on course. Probably because she was damn right. She’d never lost her focus. This was all about Crystal Jones and Ramon Muñoz. They were the real victims here.

Everyone else . . . ‘They’re all going down,’ he murmured.

Paige looked up from her laptop. ‘Who? Who’s going down?’

The drive through rush-hour traffic had been quiet. She’d withdrawn after sharing yet another heartbreaking chapter in her life, taking her laptop from her backpack and muttering that she was going to look for MAC. He’d let her have her space.

He’d had plenty to think about. ‘Everyone who lied about, covered up, and in any way benefited from the murder of Crystal Jones and the framing of Ramon Muñoz.’

‘Even if they have family connections?’

He frowned. ‘Fuck their family connections.’

She nodded once. ‘That’s more like it.’

Her approval warmed him. ‘Any luck with the search?’

She blinked at him. ‘What do you mean?’

‘The search for “I’m a MAC, Loud and Proud”.’

‘No,’ she said. ‘There isn’t much here on Senator McCloud’s campaign. I searched eBay too. Sometimes they have political memorabilia for sale.’

‘Made of plastic?’

‘A local person might have had it in a box with a bunch of other stuff they cleaned out of their garage. It was worth a try. The slogan itself may not be important. What is important is how Crystal came to have it. Especially if she got it from Rex.’

‘We’ll just have to ask him, won’t we?’

‘I guess we will.’ She closed her laptop and slid it in her backpack. ‘I did locate Winston Heights High, the school that the class ring came from. It’s outside Hagerstown, where Crystal was arrested on the prostitution charge.’

‘The neighbor said she thought Brittany had family there.’

‘She also said the family wasn’t close. Given that it came with the checkbook, my gut says it’s connected to the prostitution. Have you heard from Barb at the bank about who owns the account on Crystal’s check register?’

Grayson looked at his phone. ‘No messages from her, but it’s only been two hours since I called.’ He’d asked Paige to find Barb’s phone number in his contact list on the way to Betsy’s rehab center. That Paige’s eyes had narrowed when she’d heard him decline Barb’s offer of a late-night drink hadn’t hurt his ego, he was forced to admit.

‘Think she’ll still help after you blew her off for drinks?’

‘I think so. She’s one of Joseph’s old girlfriends, actually. If she invited me out, it’s because she’s angling to get Joseph back.’

‘Ah, my babysitter. Brother Joseph. I don’t see him as the type to bend to angling.’

He lifted his brows. ‘What
do
you see him as the type to do?’

‘I don’t know exactly and I think he likes it that way. He’s got that broody, this-tape-will-self-destruct-Jim thing going on. A little dangerous.’

His lips twitched. ‘He’d like hearing that.’

‘I kind of thought so. I also don’t think he’s as mean and bad as he wants everyone to think he is. If this Barb chick doesn’t want to help us, maybe he’ll sweet-talk her.’

‘Oh, he can be every bit as mean and bad as he looks. But I think she’ll come through. She’s not as astute as you. She thinks she can still get him back.’

‘What did she do to lose him?’

‘She was uncomfortable around Holly. Ignored her and made her cry. Nobody disses Holly and gets welcomed to the family.’

‘I would hope not,’ she said quietly.

‘You passed with flying colors. Lisa and Holly are singing your praises.’

‘I didn’t do anything special.’

‘You treated Holly like she was . . . not different.’

‘Like I said, nothing special.’ She shouldered her backpack. ‘Ready, Counselor?’

‘Absolutely.’ Grayson felt a hum of anticipation as he walked into the building’s lobby, Paige at his side. After five years, Grayson was going to get some answers out of the spoiled rich boy.

He gave their names to the security guard manning the front desk who copied their IDs and waved them through to a bank of elevators. Rex McCloud’s condo was on the twenty-fifth floor. Grayson pressed the ‘up’ button while Paige scanned the directory of businesses with offices on the lower floors.

‘Ninety per cent of these aren’t McCloud family businesses,’ she noted.

‘The McClouds own a lot of real estate here in the city,’ he said. ‘Most of it they lease. The top three floors are condos. My interview with Rex regarding the party was here, in his condo. Six years ago they were only using the estate on weekends. The family lived here during the week. I don’t know if they still do that or not.’

‘I knew about the condos,’ Paige said. ‘The senator and his wife and youngest daughter Reba live here full time now. I found an article about Reba in the society page archives. She was throwing an intimate soirée for one of her charities. They still use the estate for the really big functions. Seems wasteful though, maintaining that big house when no one lives there.’

The elevator took them to Rex’s floor and they stepped into a lushly decorated hall.

‘House arrest,’ Paige muttered. ‘Such hardship. Money certainly talks.’

‘I know.’ The earlier hum of anticipation he’d felt had leveled out, becoming grim determination. This was it. His chance to set things right, to bring the real killer to justice. He lifted his fist to knock on Rex’s door, but was surprised when Paige stayed his hand. ‘What?’ he asked.

‘You can say “fuck family connections”, and I can cheer you on, but you realize that this will get out. If we start asking questions about that night, Rex will almost certainly contact his attorney.’

‘Who will contact my boss,’ he said evenly.
Who might follow through on his threat to expose . . . everything
. He’d let every possible scenario play out as he’d driven. With the exception of Anderson keeping his mouth shut, none of the scenarios were good.

But he knew that he stood at one of those crossroads that defined a life.
I will not look back with regret
. And he would
not
be blackmailed. ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘I know.’

Worry flickered in her eyes. ‘Be sure. This could mean your career.’

He wasn’t sure whether to be touched by her concern or angry that she thought he’d put his career ahead of justice. ‘My career would mean nothing if I let this slide.’

She frowned. ‘I never thought you’d let it slide. But there may be ways to manage this through more . . . diplomatic channels.’

‘Which could take months if not years, if they work at all. While Ramon sits rotting in jail and a killer walks free, smug in the knowledge that he got away with it.’ He saw the worry disappear, the approval return. ‘I know what I’m doing, Paige.’
At least, I hope to God I do
. ‘But thank you.’

She smiled and gestured to the door. ‘Then have at it. I’ve got your back.’

His knock was answered by Rex himself, wearing nothing but a skimpy pair of gym shorts, his ankle bracelet, and a cocky smile. ‘Well, well. I thought the doorman had made a mistake. I don’t often get visitors.’ He raked Paige with an openly suggestive leer. ‘Especially ones that look like you.’

Years of drug use had not been kind to Rex’s face. Despite the smile, he looked hollowed out. Gaunt. He’d been a handsome young man. Now, he looked pathetic.