Killer Ambition - [73]

“Yeah, so I’m with you that Ian probably did them both. Then Averly drives Brian’s car to the airport and takes off to New York.”

“And Ian drives back down the mountain and shows up at Russell’s house,” I said. “So here’s my question: Is it at all plausible that Averly didn’t know about the plan, and just thought he was giving Powers a ride up to Boney Mountain, then got roped into putting a body into a trunk and driving it away? If so, he’s an accessory after the fact, not an accomplice. On the other hand, if he did know that the plan was to kill someone, he’s an accomplice-at the very least to the killing of Brian if not both Brian and Hayley.”

“Do we have to choose now?”

“We have to file something now. And if we file just the accessory charge, and he pleads to it, we could be shut out of ever getting him for murder.”

“But if we file murder charges and later have to reduce or dismiss them, we look pretty raggedy, don’t we?”

“Yep.”

Bailey folded her arms and stared at the floor.

“I’m going to vote we take the risk of looking raggedy,” I said. “Overcharging Jack Averly won’t take any options off the table, but undercharging will. Besides, it’ll give us more bargaining power. If he’s facing a life sentence for murder, he’ll be a lot more interested in taking a deal in return for testimony.”

“So two murder counts each for Averly and Powers. What about a kidnapping charge?”

“Well, the texts on Hayley’s phone seem to show they got to the mountain under their own steam.”

“Not for Hayley,” Bailey said. “I meant for Brian. We found his body in such a remote spot. Either Averly or Powers had to have made him go out there.”

“That’s logical. Problem is, there’s no way to prove any kind of force was used to move Brian around. But it’s the difference between what I believe and what I can prove. Besides, if we do luck into some evidence, I can always add a count of kidnapping.”

Bailey nodded.

“So just to play it all the way out,” I said, “Averly drops the car at the airport, then hops a plane to New York-”

“Where he buys the ticket to Paris in Brian’s name to throw us off-”

“Using Hayley’s iPad, right. And then, when the iPad got stolen, he had to get out of Dodge. Fortunately, I made my brilliant move of calling Averly-”

“Let it go, Sherlock.” Bailey tapped the desk. “So who bought those first two tickets to New York? Brian? Or Averly, using Brian’s credit card?”

“My bet would be Brian. He and Hayley were about to come into a million bucks. May as well live it up.” They’d deal with Russell’s wrath later. “We’ll need to get into Powers’s and Averly’s backgrounds, build up the history between them. Show they had a connection before the kidnapping.”

“Already did the background checks. Averly’s you know about. Ian Powers had no time to get busted. Daddy was a drunk, and by the time he was eight, he was a child star who was supporting his whole family.”

“Great. Now we’re prosecuting a charity sponsor, child star, and a kid who pulled the freight for the family. Anything else? Maybe he flies in care packages to the starving in Nigeria?”

“Don’t think he has a pilot’s license, but I’ll look into it,” Bailey said. “As for his connection to Averly, I’ll go back into Averly’s phone bill and check out the pattern of calls between them. They had to have known each other for a while for Ian to feel safe enough to pull Averly in-even if he didn’t let Averly in on the plan to kill Brian.” Bailey pulled Jack Averly’s rap sheet out of her file folder and laid it on my desk. “Here’s your copy. I highlighted the drug busts in yellow. So far, I’m still on board with our theory that he was Ian’s dealer.”

“We should interview everyone at the studio. See if we can find anyone who’ll say Averly was dealing.”

“You really think anyone’ll talk to us now?”

I shook my head. “But we have to try.” I turned back to my computer and started to type. “So two counts of murder for each of them, plus use of the knife, arming with a deadly weapon. And it’s a special circumstance of multiple murder, so it’s a mandatory sentence of life without parole.” I hit “Print” and the pages began to roll out.

“Meant to tell you. Just before I left the station I got word that Averly’s on a plane. Should be landing late tonight.”

“Great. I’ll get this paperwork downstairs. With a little luck, we’ll get these guys arraigned tomorrow morning.” I stood up to go.

But at that moment someone knocked on my door. I opened it to find a slender young man in a black Hugo Boss suit and silk tie flashing me a thousand-watt smile. His dark brown eyes with thick, curly lashes, rosy cheeks, and fine features gave him an almost delicate handsomeness. “Rachel Knight?”

“Yeah, can I help you with something?”

He put out his hand. “I’m Declan Shackner, your second chair.”

45

We learn the maxim at an early age that we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover-and then we proceed to ignore it every single day. I took in Declan’s three-hundred-dollar haircut and his five-thousand-dollar suit and immediately sized him up as a rich, spoiled Hollywood brat who had only to point and his doting daddy would spare no expense or power play to get it. Unfair as hell, no question. But there it is. I’d decided that since he was brought on to be Vanderhorn’s spy/bun boy, I’d use it to my advantage and assign him the duty of making the daily reports. The knowledge that I’d already found a way to avoid the noxious chore brought a genuine smile to my face.