Killer Ambition - [75]

Declan looked at me with serious eyes. “Do you know how close Russell and Ian are?”

“Tell me while we walk.”

But when we got down to the street and I started to head for the Biltmore, Declan stopped me. “Wait, where are we going?”

“To my car.”

“And that’s parked…?”

“Where I live. At the Biltmore.”

Declan tilted his head, his expression puzzled, but didn’t ask me the usual questions about how or why I lived in a hotel. “Why don’t you let me drive? My car’s closer.” He pointed to the parking lot across Temple Street.

It was indeed closer, and it cost a fortune. “Okay, thanks.”

He drove a fairly new-looking silver BMW, of course. And though it wasn’t custom and it wasn’t a luxury model, I’d venture to say no other Grade Two deputy could afford the payments on this puppy. Declan backed out very slowly and carefully maneuvered around the island leading up to the pay window.

“This a new acquisition?” I asked.

“Yeah. I got a great deal on it because it was what they call ‘slightly used.’ But I’ll be paying it off for the next four years, and if I don’t get my Grade Three promotion, I’ll need to unload it. So I’ve got to keep it sharp for the resale. Make sure I can get what I paid for it.”

The kid wearing the five-thousand-dollar suit worried about this? I couldn’t help myself, I had to ask. “Wouldn’t your dad help you out if you got behind?”

Declan’s expression hardened. “I don’t know. I wouldn’t ask.”

Interesting. A rift? Or just an admirable assertion of independence? Maybe time would tell. Right now, I needed to get ready for what was coming, and it seemed Declan was the man who could help me do it. “Russell lives in Bel Air, but his wife told Melia that he’d be at the studio. It’s on-”

“I know where the studio is.” Declan turned right and headed for the on-ramp to the 101 freeway. “I was going to tell you about Russell and Ian. They’ve been super-tight for a lot of years.”

“How close?”

“Close enough to travel together, party together. They always do the awards scene together.”

Awards, as in Oscars, Directors Guild, and Golden Globes.

“Were the families close too?”

“Well, the wives have changed. Ian’s been through two divorces-”

“And the current girlfriend, how long’s she been around?”

“A year? Maybe two. Ian’s girlfriend, Sacha…she’s your typical Hollywood trophy, actress-wannabe material. You know the type.”

“Not personally, but I get the drift.” I smiled inwardly, finding Declan much more fun and interesting than I’d expected. “What about the early days, before their divorces? Did Ian and either of his wives socialize with Russell and Raynie?”

“Yeah. Definitely. And when Russell was shooting on location, Ian would always take Raynie and Hayley out to dinner, do stuff with them to keep them company. I’d see them at my dad’s house sometimes when he threw parties.”

“Is it possible that Ian and Raynie…?”

Declan shook his head firmly. “Uh-uh. Raynie was true blue. And she was never out alone with Ian. It was always Ian and his wife number one…I forget her name at the moment, and Raynie and Hayley. No, it was all on the up-and-up.”

Not so much anymore. But who’d want to believe that Ian, the substitute daddy, would kill little Hayley? Yet another obstacle in a case that already had more than its fair share. I braced myself as Declan pulled up to the studio guardhouse.

46

I’ve been yelled at by judges, serial killers, and defense attorneys, but there was no possible way I could’ve been prepared for the fury of the storm that was Russell Antonovich.

He’d been sitting behind his desk when I gave him the news. Now he jumped to his feet. “Have you absolutely lost your mind? Ian is like a second father to Hayley! How could you…how dare you charge him with her murder!”

“Russell, I know this is a shock, but if you’d let me explain-”

Declan had been standing just behind me. Now he stepped up next to me, and I saw he was about to speak, but then Russell pounded a fist on his desk. “I know why! It’s because you want to make a big name for yourself. You’re going to climb up on Ian’s back with this bullshit case so you can get famous! You probably think you’re going to be a big deal, don’t you? Well, it won’t work, I’ll tell you that right now-”

Not only the vehemence but the substance of the accusation took my breath away. “Russell, you can’t really believe that. You can’t honestly believe I’d file a case with no evidence, just to get my name in the papers.”

Russell jabbed his finger dangerously close to my chest, his eyes spitting fire. “You wouldn’t be the first! There’s no way Ian could’ve done this. No fucking way!”

Declan moved forward to put himself between us, and shot out a hand to stop Russell. “Hey-” he began.

But I stepped to the side and confronted Russell face-to-face. “And you have no interest at all in hearing what kind of evidence we’ve got? Evidence that proves he murdered your own daughter?”

Russell’s breath was coming in ragged gasps, and his arms shook with the effort to keep his clenched fists down at his sides. But my last salvo finally got his attention. He stopped his tirade with a visible effort and narrowed his eyes. “Let’s hear it.”