Ties That Bind (23 page)

“Come in, Tim.”

Kerrigan ran a hand through his hair as he pushed past the judge and headed for the den. He looked wild and on the brink of doing something desperate.

“I take it that you’ve made a decision,” Grant said when Kerrigan was seated with a glass of scotch in his trembling hand. The prosecutor stared at the floor.

“She hasn’t left me a choice. She says that she’s going to the police next week if Dupre’s case hasn’t been dismissed. I kept trying to explain the problems with a dismissal but she wouldn’t listen. She’s . . . she’s irrational. So . . .”

Kerrigan could not finish. He took another stiff drink.

“You’ve made the right decision, Tim.”

Kerrigan put his head in his hands. “What have I gotten myself into?”

Grant laid a hand on Tim’s shoulder. “Nothing you won’t survive as a much stronger person. Right now your emotions are dominated by fear and doubt. Once Bennett is dead you’ll realize how grand your future is going to be.”

“I’ll go to Hell.”

“There is no Hell, Tim, and there is no eternal punishment. For you there will only be freedom when Ally Bennett is dead. Your family will be safe. You will become a United States senator and be in a position to do good for a great number of people.”

“What do I do now?”

“Nothing rash. You have to detach yourself from what you’re going to do. It’s the only way you’ll be able to handle the pressure. You must be calm. You must always remember that you’re doing this for your family.”

Tim took a deep breath. He closed his eyes.

“Have you thought about how you’re going to accomplish your task?” Grant asked.

“I’ve thought about some of my cases, what went wrong. I don’t want to make a stupid mistake.”

“Good.”

“My big problem is that I don’t know where Bennett lives. I had her address from the police reports in Dupre’s case. I called the manager. She’s gone. She moved out in the middle of the night and stiffed him for the rent.”

“She’ll contact you, Tim. She wants her money. You’ll have to kill her when you meet.”

“Yes. I’ll . . . I’ll do it then.”

“There’s one thing we haven’t talked about,” Grant said. Tim focused on the judge. “Bennett mentioned some tapes.”

“She wants to sell them for fifty thousand dollars.”

Grant smiled. “Remember I told you that there are people who care about you, friends who want to protect you and see you succeed?”

Tim nodded.

“The money will be no problem. It will be provided in any form that Miss Bennett demands.”

“Judge, I . . .”

Grant held up a hand. “The money means nothing compared to the welfare of you and your family. But you can’t give it to her unless she gives you these tapes. Do you understand?”

“Of course.”

“They’re very important.”

“I’ll get them.”

“I know you will. I have great confidence in you. When you hear from Miss Bennett, call me immediately.”

“I will.”

“And relax, Tim. You’re not alone. You’re with your friends. No one can touch you now.”

“I wish I could believe that.”

Grant touched him on the shoulder. “You can, Tim. Alone, you’re just a man, but with us to protect you, you will be invincible. Now go home to Megan and Cindy.”

“Do you think he’ll follow through?”

“He really has no other choice. But there’s backup if he falters.”

“Good.”

“We have another problem that I wanted to run by you,” Grant said. “Amanda Jaffe made a motion for discovery in the Dupre case.”

“So?”

“She wants the police reports for the nineteen-seventy shootings at Pedro’s drug house and the reports about Jesus Delgado’s murder.”

“Do you think she’s onto the club?” Grant’s friend sounded concerned.

“I don’t know but I don’t think we should take any chances.”

“You want to kill her?”

“No. The next lawyer who was appointed would see the motion and want to know what was in the reports, and we don’t know who in her firm knows about the request.” Grant laughed ruefully. “We can’t kill everyone.”

“So what do you suggest?”

“We need to control Jaffe,” Grant said. “I’ve had a tail on her since she started representing Dupre. She’s seeing a psychiatrist because of what happened while she was representing Vincent Cardoni. I’ve got a copy of her psychiatrist’s file. I think she can be frightened into backing off on the reports and laying down on Dupre’s cases.”

Amanda heard footsteps. The man from the elevator was walking a few paces behind her. Amanda fought to keep her panic at bay. She told herself that he was just looking for his car, but she still slid her keys between her fingers, points out, after using the remote on her key chain to unlock her car.

Amanda quickened her pace. To her relief, the footsteps behind her stayed steady. The distance between them widened and she started to relax. Then two men stepped out of the shadows, cutting her off from her car. One of the men stared past Amanda to the man who was following her, and the other man smiled. Amanda spun, sick with fear, and drove her keys into the face of the man behind her. He screamed as Amanda raced by him toward the exit stairs. If she made the street, she could shout for help, but her attackers were coming fast. She’d never have time to open the steel exit door. Amanda veered right and raced down the ramp seconds before a shoulder crashed into her, knocking her off her feet. She threw out her hands to break her fall. The keys went flying as her knees smashed into the concrete. She ignored the pain and struck out, but the man who had tackled her buried his head in her back and she had no place to land a punch. Then the other two men were looming over her. The man she’d punched with the keys was bleeding. He knelt down, said “Bitch,” and slammed a fist into Amanda’s face. Her head bounced off the concrete, stunning her.

The wounded man drew back his arm again. Before he could strike, the third man grabbed his coat and yanked him back. Amanda stared at the third man’s flat, pockmarked face. Their eyes met. Amanda screamed. A hand clamped over her mouth. The man with the pockmarked face took a rag and a bottle of liquid out of his pocket. Amanda felt a surge of adrenaline and almost broke free. The hand over her mouth released, and the rag took its place. She tried to hold her breath but the fumes worked their way into her nostrils. A moment later, she passed out.

Amanda turned toward the voice. A sharp pain in her head made her grimace. Raindrops bounced off her face.

“Do we get to fuck her now?” the wounded man asked.

“Patience,” answered the man with the pockmarked face, who was obviously the leader.

“I want to make this bitch scream. Look at my face.”

The leader nudged Amanda with the toe of his boot.

“What do you say,
señorita
? You want us to make sweet love to you? It would be something you’d never forget. We are very good lovers.”

A wave of nausea swept through Amanda. She rolled to her side and fought the urge to throw up, afraid to show any weakness.

The leader turned to the man who’d tackled Amanda. “I don’t think she likes us.” He looked down at her. “But that doesn’t make any difference, does it, Amanda.”

It took a second to register that they knew her name. She looked up at the leader.

“What you want to do, what you don’t want to do, doesn’t matter one bit. We own you. We can fuck you, beat you, cut up your face and make you look real ugly so no one would ever want to fuck you again. It’s all up to us.”

Fear heightened Amanda’s senses. She looked around. They’d driven her into the woods. The black silhouettes of trees towered over her. She pushed herself into a sitting position. It hurt to move.

“If you’re thinking of running, don’t. Running will only earn you a beating. Do you want a beating?”

Amanda stared at her tormentor but did not answer. He reached down, grabbed a handful of hair, and jerked her head up. Amanda gritted her teeth.

“Let’s get one thing straight. You don’t have free will anymore. Understand? If we tell you to do something, you do it. If we ask you a question, you answer. Now, do you want a beating?”

“No,” Amanda gasped. He released her hair and she fell back on the ground. As she lay on the wet dirt, terror overwhelmed her. She had escaped the surgeon only to find herself trapped and helpless again, and this time she was alone, without hope of rescue.

“What are these?”

Amanda tried to focus on the object that dangled from the leader’s hand.

“My keys,” she answered.

“That’s right. We have the keys to your condo, the keys to your father’s house, the keys to your office. You can’t keep us out. We could go to your condo right now and destroy everything you own. We could go to your father’s house and slit his throat. We can do whatever we want. You understand?”

Amanda nodded.

“Stand up.”

Amanda struggled to her feet. She was still woozy from being drugged, and her limbs felt like spaghetti.

“Take off your clothes.”

Amanda’s eyes began to tear, and she bit her lip but could not move any other part of her body. The leader hit her hard in the solar plexus. She doubled over and sank to her knees. This time she did throw up. The men watched her without speaking. She fell on all fours and vomited some more. When she stopped, a hand reached down. It was holding a handkerchief. She recognized it as one she had in her purse.

“Here. Clean up,” the leader said.

She wiped her mouth.

“We’ll try again.” His voice was calm and patient. “Stand up and take off your clothes.”

Amanda struggled to her feet and removed her raincoat. She was wearing a skirt and blouse and her fingers tripped on the buttons. The leader showed no emotion as Amanda stripped, but the other two looked excited. As soon as she stepped out of her skirt and took off her blouse, goose bumps rose on her skin. The rain and the wind chilled her to the bone and she began to shiver. Her hair hung limp and heavy with water.

“Lose the bra and the panties.”

Amanda did as she was told. Her tears mixed with the rain that coursed down her cheeks. She stared past the men into the dark forest.

“That was good. You did what you were told. Now I have a question for you. You ready to answer?”

Amanda nodded, too afraid to speak.

“What can we do to you?”

“What?”

The leader nodded, and the man she’d punched with her keys grabbed her right nipple and twisted. Amanda screamed. The man twisted again. When she reached for his hand, he hit her in the ribs. Amanda fell to the ground, gasping for air. The men waited. She started to struggle to her knees, but the leader put a toe in her side, and Amanda toppled back into the mud.

“Stay there,” he commanded. “It’ll make it easier for us to fuck you if you miss this question again. Now, listen up. What can we do to you?”

“What . . . whatever you want.”

“Good answer, but be more specific.”

“Ra . . . rape me.”

“Correct. What else?”

“Beat me.”

“Anything else?”

Amanda’s body was shaking from cold and fright.

“Kill me.”

“Good. But you forgot one thing that’s worse than anything you mentioned.”

Something else occurred to Amanda, but she couldn’t say the word.

“No,” she gasped between sobs.

“I think you figured it out, haven’t you? We can take you to someplace cold and dark, where no one will ever find you, and conduct experiments in pain.”

Suddenly, Amanda was back in the tunnel. She was naked then, too, and the surgeon was priming her fear by telling her how he would subject her to experiments in pain. Amanda curled in a ball.

“You get it now, bitch? You understand?”

Amanda was too terrified to answer. She braced for punishment, but no one hit her.

“Now listen to me. I’m going to tell you how you can save yourself.” Amanda stared into space.

“I’m going to tell you to do something. If you do it, you’ll be safe. If you don’t, those you love will die and you will be taken away to spend the rest of your life in agony. And it will be a long life, very long. Now ask me how you can save yourself.”

“How . . . how can I save myself?”

Amanda’s teeth chattered and she barely got the words out.

“You will stop investigating Jon Dupre’s case and you will make certain that Dupre is convicted of murder and sentenced to death. Do that and you will survive. Keep poking your nose into the case and you know the consequences. Now get dressed.”

Amanda wasn’t sure she’d heard the man correctly until her panties fell across her face. They were sopping wet and covered with mud, but she scrambled into them. She rolled over and found the rest of her clothes. As she dressed, her keys landed next to her feet.

“Walk straight ahead for a quarter mile and you’ll find a logging road and your car.”

The men turned their backs to her and faded into the darkness. Amanda struggled into her shoes and stood up. Her body was trembling uncontrollably. She wanted to get to her car and the heater, but she was afraid that the men were waiting for her in the woods, that they had built up her hopes so that they could capture her again and crush them. When the shaking began to rattle her teeth, she forced her feet forward. Then she ran. Normally, Amanda could run a quarter mile in a little over a minute, but tonight her feet tripped over themselves. When she broke out of the woods onto the logging road, she sobbed with relief. The men were gone and her car was at the side of the road. Amanda got in and locked the doors. Her hand shook so badly that it took forever to fit the car key in the ignition. Then the car started and the heater, cranked to maximum, began pumping out hot air. She started driving, sobbing quietly. What was she going to do? She couldn’t bear being alone. She wanted to run to her father, but what if she was followed? They could kill Frank to demonstrate their power. They were right. They could do anything they wanted to do.