Killer Ambition - [83]

“Yeah, but the fools who believe what these airhead actors say are not going to make it onto your jury. You’ll see to that.” She saw my skeptical look and held up her hand. “No, you can’t weed them all out, but you’re going to have a chance to push back very, very soon, thanks to Terry’s demand for a speedy prelim. When you start putting on evidence, it’s gonna be a brand-new day.”

I had to hope that Toni was right, that getting the evidence out there would balance the picture. In any case, it was better to hang on to that hope than to dwell on the way my jury pool was being poisoned by all this bad press.

“Speaking of a decent case,” I said. “What do you think of giving Averly a deal to testify?”

“Right now? Before the prelim?” Bailey asked.

“Yep. I’d like to get him on the record as soon as possible, while his memory’s still fresh.”

“You think Averly did either of the murders?” Toni asked.

“I can’t say for sure right now. But Ian’s the only one whose blood is anywhere to be found.”

Toni nodded and sipped her drink. “And you don’t know how Ian heard about the kidnapping, or how they all wound up on that mountain?”

“No. Averly could fill in the gaps for us. Maybe flesh out the motive too.”

“The only downside I see is that it’ll look like you’re piling up on Powers when Averly might be just as culpable,” Toni said. “Just because you didn’t find his blood anywhere doesn’t mean he didn’t kill Brian-or Hayley, for that matter.”

“But Powers has got to be the mastermind,” Bailey said. “No way this two-bit-dealer PA had any part in a plan this big until Ian dragged him in.”

“I agree with you there,” Toni said. “I’d say it’s at least worth an exploratory meeting to find out if he can give you something to make it worth your while.” Toni gave a wry smile. “Cutting a deal with Terry Fisk. What fun.”

I looked at my empty glass. “I think I need another drink.” We all got one, and then I broached the suspicion I’d been dreading, and needing, to air. “Remember that giant screaming match I got into with Russell when I told him about Ian’s arrest?”

“Like we could forget,” Bailey said.

“I got this bad feeling,” I said. “Like he knew Ian did it-”

“And was covering for him?” Bailey looked incredulous.

“You gotta be kidding, Rache,” Toni said. “Denial’s one thing, but deliberate cover-up-about the murder of his only child? Uh-uh. You know I’m always down with believing the worst, but that’s just…”

“A bridge too far,” Bailey filled in. “Even for me, I think. What gave you that idea?”

“We know Russell called Ian right after he got that first text from Hayley’s phone saying that Hayley’d been kidnapped. So when I went out there to tell him about Ian’s arrest, I’d planned to get Russell to confirm that he told Ian about the kidnapping during that call. No big deal, really. Ian’s his best friend; it made sense he’d have thought it was safe to tell Ian, right?”

Bailey nodded.

“Except that the minute I got the words out of my mouth, Russell denied it-”

“So?” Toni challenged. “Maybe it’s true. Maybe Russell didn’t tell him.”

“But he didn’t just deny it. He said, hollered actually, that I could never prove it. Why, of all things, would he say that?”

They both shook their heads. The table was silent for several long beats.

“Could just be guilt,” Bailey said. “Russell didn’t want to believe he’d set the wheels in motion…”

But there was a note of doubt in her voice. Toni stared down at her drink.

“Right,” I said. “See what I mean?”

50

It was a soul-shaking thought: that a father might cover for the murderer of his child. If it was true, Russell Antonovich deserved a far worse fate than the legal system could deliver. But at this point there was nothing we could do. We needed proof, not just suspicion, that Russell knew what Ian had done. That we did not have. I could only promise that if the evidence existed, we’d find it. And use it to put Russell away for as long as possible.

Right now, I had a more immediate lion to beard. Literally. I had to play “Let’s Make a Deal” with Terry Fisk. I placed the call bright and early Monday morning, so I’d be sure to catch Terry before she went to court. “I’d like a meeting with you and your client. I want to talk about a deal.”

“You don’t talk to my client until we have a deal.”

“Terry, your client is looking at life without the possibility of parole. I’m prepared to offer him a substantially lesser sentence that’ll let him parole out in a few years. But I’m not going to do it unless I can make this offer to him personally. I need to get a feel for whether he’ll give us something worthwhile-”

“No way. No one talks to my client but me until everyone’s signed on the dotted line.”

“You want to stand in the way of a sweetheart deal just because I want to look him in the eye when I make the offer? Because if you do, I’ll want to put that on the record in open court.”

There was a beat of silence as Terry considered the ramifications of what I’d just said. If I took the deal off the table because of her refusal to let me make the offer in person, and he got convicted, she’d never live it down. There was no valid tactical reason for her to refuse my request. It wasn’t as though I were asking to take a statement so I could use it against him later. And if Averly was convicted of murder, even if an appellate court didn’t find her incompetent, she’d be the jerk who tanked her client’s chance to beat a life sentence.