Survivor: 1 (30 page)

And what to do? That was a question that deserved
much pondering, which he did downstairs in one of the
restaurants over a hasty breakfast of scrambled eggs,
sausage, and lots of coffee.

William Grecko was in his office putting the finishing
touches on a case file so he could turn his attention back
to the Miller matter, when his secretary forwarded a call
to his personal line.

He picked up on the first ring. "Yeah, Becki?"

"George Brooks is on the line," Becki said. "He says he's
the senior partner of Peterson and Dunn, and that he's
Lisa Miller's employer."

"I'll take it." Billy knew George well.

Becki put the call through and George's voice came
over the speaker. "Mr. Grecko?"

"What can I do for you?"

"Well, I was wondering if you could help me" William
leaned forward as he listened. He had dealt with George
a few times in the past, mainly in assisting with various court cases. George knew that he and Brad were friends,
and William guessed that the reason the man was calling
him now had to do with Lisa. He was right. "I need to get
ahold of Lisa, and I understand she's in kind of a sticky
situation."

"Yes, that's right, George. I'm afraid I really can't go into
it any more than that, though!

'"Rut's quite all right. I surely understand the attorneyclient relationship." Billy smiled to himself as he listened
to the man on the other end ruffle through some papers
on his desk. It sounded like George was talking on speaker
as well. "1 do need to get in touch with her, though. It's
rather important."

William opened the bottom drawer of his desk and
extracted a flask; he unscrewed the lid. "I can give her a
message. He took a sip; the rum burned straight
through to his gut.

A short pause from George. "It's that serious, then?"

'I'm afraid so."

"Forgive me for my ignorance, Billy." George picked up
the phone and William picked up the receiver of his own
phone, giving them a secure line. George's voice was
clear, tinged with concern. But what in God's name is
going on?"

"You don't know?"

"I know that Lisa was kidnapped by what sounds like
gang members and was sexually assaulted, but that's all I
know"

1M." George Brooks wouldn't have found out what
had really happened, not so soon. He had no idea what
was going on. "Well, I'm afraid it's a little more delicate
than that, George" Despite the stress he was going
through, Billy relaxed a little. He had known George for
twenty years, and he was one of the most reputable
lawyers he had worked with. Although he knew George on a somewhat casual basis, he liked the man. Still ...
"Again, I'm sorry, but-"

.No, no, no, don't apologize," George said, sounding
worried and frustrated. "It's just that .. " He sighed. "Lisa
was working on the Henderson vs. Colby case and was
finalizing the deposition for an appearance in court this
morning. She finished it shortly before she went on her
leave, and there's another file that goes with it and we
can't seem to find it."

"I see." William could detect the urgency in George's
voice. Lisa's workload had probably been handed off to
an associate and a clerk, and knowing from experience,
anything could have happened to the file George was
looking for.

"Danielle's looked all over for it and we've called Lisa
at home twice," George continued. "In fact, Danielle went
by there last night and Lisa wasn't in. We really need this
file, Bill. If we could just.. "

The second line on Billy's phone console lit up. The
LED readout on the screen flashed: WESLEY cowNS.
Speaking of cases that needed closing, he'd been expecting this call from Wesley all morning, and the
sooner he could talk to him, the sooner he could close
his own affairs and get back to the Millers' personal
safety issues. "Listen, George," William said, replacing
the lid on the flask. "You can get ahold of Lisa at the
Luxor Hotel in Vegas. They're in room 2727. And
George?"

"Yes "

"Don't give that number out to anybody. Not even to
Danielle." William knew that Lisa and Danielle Kwong
were close friends, but he couldn't risk anything right
now. He trusted George, though, and knew that the
lawyer's intentions were honest.

"You have my word," George said. "I'll call you later. If there's anything I can do to help, you know where to
reach me."
"

"Thank you," Billy said, hanging up on George and
picking up the second extension to speak to Wesley. The
sooner he could finish his business for the day, the
sooner he could get to the bottom of this snuff-film business. And the first order of that was the court-ordered
search on the Golgotha cabin in Big Bear Lake, scheduled to take place this afternoon barring any unforeseen
last-minute legal maneuvering.

"Brad?"

*Yeah?" At first Brad didn't recognize the voice on the
other end of the line.

"It's George Brooks. Can I talk to Lisa?"

Recognition flooded in, and Brad turned to the bed in
the center of the room. He had been in the bathroom
when the phone rang, and it had rung at least five times
before he managed to pick it up. Lisa had been asleep,
but stirred when he picked up the phone. Now she
turned over and looked at him, sleepy-eyed. "Who is it?"
she murmured.

"Hold on," Brad said, placing his palm over the mouthpiece. "It's George ... from work..."

"George?" Lisa looked confused, but then she recognized the name. She held out her hand for the receiver
and Brad passed it to her. "Yeah?"

Brad listened in on Lisa's end of the conversation. He
had been surprised at the phone call and a little scared.
How the hell did George find out we were here?

"Oh, that," Lisa said, her voice heavy with sleep. "Its in
the center file along the wall, under the label 'D.* A
pause. "Yeah" A longer pause. "You found it! Good ...
okay ... Um ... yeah ... okay ... bye" Lisa handed the
receiver back to Brad.

"What was that all about?" Brad asked.

"chat Henderson case," Lisa said, lying back down. "Id
forgotten all about it."
" -

"What about it?"

-Me hearing is this morning and they couldn't find my
file on the addendums and amendments to the deposition," Lisa said. Her eyes were closed. "I forgot to tell
Danielle where I had filed it"

"Oh " As likely as that prospect sounded, Brad was still
uneasy. He liked George Brooks just fine, but if there was
some way that their security was breached, Billy had to
know about it.

Brad picked up the phone and carried it with him to
the bathroom. He looked back at Lisa, who appeared to
be falling asleep again. Then, he dialed Billy's number at
the office.

Billy picked up on the second ring. "Brad?"

"Yeah. I just got a call from George Brooks. Did you-"

"He called here and I gave him your number," Billy
said; he sounded busy, under pressure. "It's okay."

"Are you sure?"

"He wanted to talk to Lisa about a file, a legal case,
right?"

"Yeah."

"Listen, I know how you feel." Brad could hear Billy
rummaging on his desk. "I know you're nervous about
this, but I guarantee you that George is okay. I mean, shit,
I've known the man for over twenty years!"

"I'm sorry," Brad said, feeling his heart pound. "It's just
that .. "

"I didn't tell him what was going on," Billy said. "He
knows not to let anybody at the office know where you
are. He's a professional, Brad. Trust me on this, okay?"

Brad sighed and nodded. Much as he hated it, he had
to put all his faith and trust in Billy right now. George Brooks was one of the first people Brad had wanted to go
to for legal advice when Lisa had originally turned up
safe. No doubt George already knew the original story.
Besides, the man had a wife and two children; he was involved in the community, in local charities. He wouldn't
jeopardize his career, his life, for violating attorney-client
privileges. Surely he'd recognize and respect that Billy
was representing them.

"I'm sorry, Billy. I guess I just got a little carried away."

"S'okay," Billy said. 'Paranoia is healthy in this case.
You have nothing to worry about. George and I are the
only ones who know where you are!

"And our parents."

"And your parents."

'And your security team."

'"Them too. You see them this morning?"

"Yeah" Brad related the episode this morning when he
had to send the room-service food away. He briefly
thought about mentioning Danielle Kwong to Billy, but
then decided he didn't need to. He'd only told Danielle
they were going to Las Vegas; he didn't tell her where
they were staying. "John and his guys are parked right
across from us, and we have a hotline straight to them via
the cell phone he gave us. We're fine."

"Good. John's one of the best. Plus, you're in one of the
biggest, busiest hotels in Las Vegas. Nothing's going to
happen to you there. You're in, like, a fort in the middle of
the desert."

Brad felt a little better. He sat down on the toilet,
cradling the phone. Hearing that made him feel more
secure. Billy was right. John was a big man, easily over
six feet, and his partner, Titan, was even bigger. Both
men came from public and private law-enforcement
backgrounds, held black belts in various martial arts.
Plus, they were in charge of the entire security force at the Luxor. Nobody was going to fuck with them. "What's
the latest?"

"I'm leaving in ten minutes for an appearance at the
San Bernardino Sheriff's Station," Billy said. The DAs in
court now on the search warrant issue, and I expect to
hear something on my way up. I'm hoping we get the
search warrant so I won't have to drive all the way the
fuck back."

"Do you think they'll overturn it?"

"No doubt of that. DAs got probable cause, which is all
they need. The Golgotha people don't have a leg to stand
on, legally."

"So what happens next?"

"We search the place and take it from there," Billy said.
"If we find anything-and I mean anything-that points
to foul play in that place, arrest warrants are going out to
all the guys on Golgotha's board of directors. If they want
to avoid going to prison, they'll talk."

Brad's mind was racing, tracking back to the story Lisa
had told him. "Do you think these guys had anything to
do with this?"

"I don't know. They might, but I just don't know. There's
always the possibility they could have been renting it out
to this Tim Murray guy and they had no idea what Tim
was using it for. On the other hand, if they know something, we're going to make them talk."

"Call me first thing you find out," Brad said.

"You bet."

They hung up and Brad walked back into the room
and put the phone back on the nightstand. Lisa was
asleep again, curled up on her left side.

Brad watched her sleep for a moment, noting the
drawn look on her sleeping countenance, the way the
skin on her forehead was furrowed in worry lines. The
room was dark, slivers of light escaping through the blinds that were dosed against the heat of the day. Brad
checked his watch. It was only ten-thirty, with the rest of
the day to follow.

Brad climbed onto the bed, sat up against the headboard. He turned the television on and thumbed the volume down. He spent the rest of the morning and early
afternoon channel surfing, his mind on autopilot, most
of his energy going toward taking care of his wife as she
slept and tried to keep the demons at bay.

William Grecko was present at the Golgotha cabin as the
search commenced.

He had received the news halfway up the mountain.
One of the DAs, Bruce Davis, had made the call. Billy had
given a small shout of victory at the news. The court order is being sent to San Bernardino now, so meet me at
the cabin," Bruce had said.

William drove straight to the cabin, where he met four
deputies and a homicide unit search team. A Golgotha
representative was also present, and he didn't look too
happy. He'd remained sullen as he followed the search
team through the cabin; making it well-known that he
wasn't pleased. Billy smirked as he caught the man
glancing at him. Fucking weasel, he thought. These
church people are all a bunch of fucking weasels.

There were four homicide detectives present. They
made a quick inspection of the interior of the cabin.
William had waited outside with one of the deputies,
making small talk as the search went on. The forensics
team showed up a few minutes into the search, and a trio
of white haz-mat-suited figures entered the cabin. Billy
turned to the deputy. 'They surely didn't waste time in
bringing these guys in, did they?"

"Don't get your hopes up," the deputy replied, staring
at the cabin. The deputy was in his mid-thirties, with dark hair and eyes and a slim build. "We don't have much to
go on in there. One of the rooms has just been repainted.
If there's anything to be found, it'll be in that room, and
these guys'll be the ones that find it."

Billy nodded; he had figured that the minute he saw
the techs walk in with their equipment. Lisa had said the
place had been barren of furniture, that Tim and that Al
guy had covered the floors and walls with plastic sheets
before they started torturing Debbie Martinez. They
would be lucky if they found a single drop of blood in
the place. And they surely weren't going to waste immediate time in digging up the grounds around the house.
No telling where the bodies might have been taken. They
were looking for the smallest amount of evidence they
could find. Anything would do. A drop of blood, a smudge
of a fingerprint, a hair. They would find it.

William was sure of it.

Six-thirty PM.

Lisa had been up for the last two hours, staring morosely at the TV as talk shows rolled on. Oprah was conversing with the author of a new political thriller. Brad
had brought Lisa a glass of water and had encouraged
her to eat a couple of crackers, which she'd nibbled on.
She had to get some nutrition in her, but he knew that
she couldn't handle food right now She was still in that
state of nausea, and he didn't want to induce another
round of vomiting. Slow and easy was the ticket.