Killer Ambition - [26]
“You can’t teach it. It’s a gift.”
Twenty minutes later, we were riding the escalator up to the shops at the Galleria. From the moment we stepped off, we were surrounded by clusters of teenagers-boys on one side, girls on the other, with occasional meetings between the two that generated squeals and hugs all around.
“You remember hugging that much when you were a kid?” I asked.
“Yeah, that’s me. I’m a hugger,” Bailey deadpanned. “Ask me, it’s just the guys looking for a way to cop a feel.”
“Perhaps today’s youth are simply more effusive in their displays of affection.”
“Or perhaps boys are always looking for ways to cop a feel.”
“Or that.”
But seeing the kids, their clothing, and maybe just the way they walked reminded me of an earlier hunch. I approached a cluster of girls. “Any of you go to Clarington?”
A girl with pink fringe for bangs looked me up and down before answering. “We all do.” The other girls nodded.
“What about those guys?” I asked, nodding toward a group of boys ten feet away.
“Yeah, them too. Why?”
“Just taking a survey.”
“What do I get?”
I looked at her quizzically.
“For answering your questions,” she added impatiently.
“My undying gratitude.” I walked back to Bailey, who was waiting in front of the jewelry store, and tried not to grumble about “kids today.”
“What’s got your knickers in a twist?” Bailey asked.
“Misspent youth. Theirs. And like we thought, the Clarington kids hang here.”
Bailey opened the door and we walked in.
“So maybe Brian took the job to get next to Hayley,” I said.
“Or he found a better job as a manager here and just got lucky when she floated by.” Bailey looked at me, her expression amused. “Sometimes a cigar really is just a-”
“Whatever.”
The security guard was chatting with the salesgirl, who was wiping down the glass counter.
“Is your manager here?” Bailey pulled out her badge.
The girl’s eyes widened momentarily. “Yeah, he’s in the back.”
She excused herself and went to the back room. The security guard held out his hand to Bailey. “Stephen Wareby.”
“Nice to meet you, Stephen.” They shook. “And this is Deputy District Attorney Rachel Knight.”
Stephen looked less impressed to meet me, but he reluctantly shook my hand as well. I decided it’d be smarter to sit this one out and let Bailey take the lead.
“Do you know Brian Shandling?” she asked.
“Yeah. He’s the manager who’s usually here.”
“What do you think of him?”
Steve shrugged. “He’s okay, I guess. He-”
At that moment, the stand-in manager came out, his hand extended. “Adam Meisner. What can I do for you officers?”
“We’re looking into a matter involving Brian Shandling. Do you know him?” Bailey asked.
“No. I usually work in our store at the Beverly Center. I’m subbing for him.”
“He took some time off?”
“Yeah. Said he was going to visit an aunt in New York, I think.”
“Did he mention her name? Or say when he’d be back?”
“He didn’t mention her name, but he said he’d be back next week.”
Bailey’s phone began to ring. She looked at the number. “I’ve got to take this. Sorry.” She stepped away and I asked Adam if Brian had a good reputation with the company.
“I guess so. I mean, he didn’t get fired or anything, but you’d have to ask Human Resources. I’m just a manager, like him, so…”
Bailey came back, looking like she was in a hurry. “Adam, thank you for your help. We’ll be in touch if we have any other questions.” She shook his hand and pushed me toward the door.
Bailey led the way through the mall and I trotted to keep up. She’s got a good three inches on me and a really long stride, so that wasn’t easy. Plus, I wasn’t all that anxious to leave the mall’s air-conditioned clime.
“What’d you get?” I asked.
“Turns out our boy Brian had credit cards in his real name. He bought two plane tickets to New York. I’m going to make some calls and get our airport division to check and see whether those tickets were used, and if they were, if the passengers fit the description of Hayley and Brian. And I’m going to have all the lots checked for Brian’s car.”
“Two tickets. So maybe-”
“Hayley’s alive. Exactly.”
“Okay, while you work the airport angle, I’ll see if we’ve got a line on the aunt or the mother.”
We ran down the escalator and all the way to the car. Bailey pulled out of the underground parking lot to a spot on the street where we could get a signal and work the phones.
I got a number for the aunt, Janice Maher-which meant she was either unmarried or not willing to change her name-but got no answer, so I left a message. A records check by one of our DA investigators revealed that Brian’s mother, Estelle, had died of a heart attack three years ago.
When Bailey ended her call, I told her what I’d learned.
“But if the aunt’s in pocket, we’ll catch up with her soon enough.”
It felt like we’d been running for the past two days straight, and I was a little high on adrenaline. I wanted to do something.
Bailey saw my agitation and gave me a firm look. “Now we wait, Knight. Not your strong suit. But we need some answers first and that may take a day or so.”
I nodded and sat back, letting my jets cool. “May as well make the best of it-”
First in a new series from bestselling author and famed O. J. Simpson trial prosecutor Marcia Clark, a "terrific writer and storyteller" (James Patterson).Samantha Brinkman, an ambitious, hard-charging Los Angeles criminal defense attorney, is struggling to make a name for herself and to drag her fledgling practice into the big leagues. Sam lands a high-profile double-murder case in which one of the victims is a beloved TV star – and the defendant is a decorated veteran LAPD detective. It promises to be exactly the kind of media sensation that would establish her as a heavy hitter in the world of criminal law.Though Sam has doubts about his innocence, she and her two associates (her closest childhood friend and a brilliant ex-con) take the case.
In Marcia Clark's most electrifying thriller yet, Los Angeles District Attorney Rachel Knight investigates a horrifying high school massacre.A Columbine-style shooting at a high school in the San Fernando Valley has left a community shaken to its core. Two students are identified as the killers. Both are dead, believed to have committed a mutual suicide.In the aftermath of the shooting, LA Special Trials prosecutor Rachel Knight teams up with her best girlfriend, LAPD detective Bailey Keller. As Rachel and Bailey interview students at the high school, they realize that the facts don't add up.
Without a Doubt is not just a book about a trial. It's a book about a woman. Marcia Clark takes us inside her head and her heart. Her voice is raw, incisive, disarming, unmistakable. Her story is both sweeping and deeply personal. It is the story of a woman who, when caught up in an event that galvanized an entire country, rose to that occasion with singular integrity, drive, honesty and grace.In a case that tore America apart, and that continues to haunt us as few events of history have, Marcia Clark emerged as the only true heroine, because she stood for justice, fought the good fight, and fought it well.
TROUBLE IN PARADISE is an all-new short story featuring Rachel Knight, star of thrillers GUILT BY ASSOCIATION and GUILT BY DEGREES.Rachel Knight and her friends Toni and Bailey are taking a break from their busy, crime-focussed lives with a trip to tropical island paradise Aruba. But trouble is never far away from these three, and on their first day their investigative skills are called on when a reality TV child star goes missing…
Someone has been watching D.A. Rachel Knight-someone who's Rachel's equal in brains, but with more malicious intentions. It began when a near-impossible case fell into Rachel's lap, the suspectless homicide of a homeless man. In the face of courthouse backbiting and a gauzy web of clues, Rachel is determined to deliver justice. She's got back-up: tough-as-nails Detective Bailey Keller. As Rachel and Bailey stir things up, they're shocked to uncover a connection with the vicious murder of an LAPD cop a year earlier.
Археолог Вера Буковская при раскопках монастыря в Армении обнаруживает кусок льняной ткани с непонятными надписями и чертежом. Странная находка погружает «везучую Верочку» в кольцо динамично развивающихся событий, предсказать которые не может никто. Командор Тайного ордена хранителей Священного Копья и римский кардинал, магистр Мальтийского ордена и отставной полковник Котов, петербургский академик-востоковед Пиоровский и безжалостный итальянский специалист по «щекотливым делам» охвачены азартом охоты за утерянным тысячелетия назад артефактом.
Профессор археологии Парусников обнаруживает в Израиле захоронение Лилит – первой женщины, созданной Творцом вместе с Адамом еще до появления Евы. Согласно легенде, Лилит пыталась подчинить мир с помощью женских чар и за это была уничтожена. У еще не вскрытого учеными саркофага Лилит случайно оказывается Арина, бежавшая в Израиль от невзгод, которые обрушились на нее в Москве. Что произойдет с женщиной, которой достанется энергия Лилит? Не возникнет ли у нее желания подчинить мир своим прихотям? А если возникнет, то кто сможет остановить ее?
Эрна, молодая девушка, недавно попавшая в аварию, приходит в себя в больнице, рядом с незнакомым человеком, утверждающим, что он ее муж. Девушка не помнит, как оказалась в другом городе и когда успела выйти замуж. Что она делала последние два года? Муж пытается ей помочь вспомнить, однако о многом не рассказывает. А когда на пороге дома появляется полиция, Эрна узнает, что была последней, с кем разговаривала пропавшая без вести девушка, которая исчезла как раз в вечер аварии. Эрна должна восстановить события и понять, что ее связывает с пропавшей, о чем недоговаривает муж и какая истинная причина потери памяти. Перенесись в суровый Берлин и погрузись в мрачную историю Эрны Кайсер.
Журналистка Ия одержима своей работой. Она трудится в лучшем издании города и пишет разгромные статьи под псевдонимом Великан. Девушка настолько поглощена своим делом, что иногда даже слышит и видит дотошного старца Великана внутри себя. Нормально ли слышать голоса? Ие некогда думать об этом, ведь у неё столько дел: есть своя колонка в журнале, любящий парень, сложные отношения с родителями, строгий главный редактор и новая «великанская» статья каждый месяц. Так могло бы продолжаться бесконечно, если бы не человек, который каждую минуту наблюдает за Ией, знает её привычки и слабости, одновременно завидует, ненавидит и страстно желает девушку.
Первый день на работе всегда полон волнений. Амбициозный следователь Ольга Градова приступает к новому делу. И надо же такому случиться, что жертва — ее знакомый. Коллеги девушки считают, парень покончил с собой под воздействием наркотиков. Но она уверена: речь идет об убийстве. Окунувшись с головой в расследование, Ольга выходит на след бандитов. Но вопросов больше, чем ответов. Подозреваемых несколько, и у каждого есть мотив. Кто-то хочет получить выгоду от торговли наркотиками, кто-то — отомстить за давнее убийство криминального авторитета.
Однажды Борис Павлович Бeлкин, 42-лeтний прeподаватeль философского факультета, возвращается в Санкт-Пeтeрбург из очередной выматывающей поездки за границу. И сразу после приземления самолета получает странный тeлeфонный звонок. Звонок этот нe только окунет Белкина в чужое прошлое, но сделает его на время детективом, от которого вечно ускользает разгадка. Тонкая, философская и метафоричная проза о врeмeни, памяти, любви и о том, как все это замысловато пeрeплeтаeтся, нe оставляя никаких следов, кроме днeвниковых записей, которые никто нe можeт прочесть.