Last to Die (12 page)

Did you ask her to quit?

We talked about it. But tips are pretty good at a place like Hooters. Tourists get a little drunk, you know how it is. Anyway, four hours a night there was like eight hours someplace else. So it left her some time for Katherine.

So she kept the job?

Yeah. Big mistake.

How so?

Miguel tore open a pack of oyster crackers. She ended up getting stalked by some loser.

Stalked?

That's the sort of thing I was most afraid of. Some of these creeps who go to these bars think all the waitresses want it, that they're easy. You know what I'm saying?

What happened? Somebody started calling her on the phone, following her home - what?

I don't know all the details. She didn't even tell me about it till after our daughter was killed.

Why not?

She knew I'd make her quit if I thought some guy was hassling her at work. And she also knew I'd break his neck if we found out who he was.

Did you ever find out who he was?

No. Chickenshit son of a bitch. Sally said he just kept taunting her with anonymous calls from pay phones, hang-ups, that sort of thing. Never got a look at him. Maybe the cops could have helped, if she'd reported it, but she said she didn't want to antagonize him. She thought if she ignored him, he'd go away.

Did he go away?

No way. Miguel lowered his eyes and said sadly, And it was our daughter who paid.

Jack paused in mid-sip, putting down his tea. Are you saying this stalker killed your daughter?

Can't prove it. Especially since Sally never told anyone about him stalking her until after our daughter was killed. If she had reported him, we would have had something to go on. As it was, the guy just vanished after the murder. Cops had no trail to follow.

So he was never charged?

No one was ever charged.

Did they ever name any suspects?

No. But they did give me a polygraph. Schmucks. Can't find the guy who did it, so they go hassle the daddy.

Jack paused, trying to be delicate. How did that turn out?

Exactly the way Sally and me knew it would. They asked me three different ways: Did you kill your daughter, did you stab your daughter, did you harm your daughter in any way? I passed with flying colors.

You still think it was the stalker who did it?

No doubt in my mind. I mean, who else? How many enemies does an innocent little girl have?

Do you blame Sally for the fact that he got away with it?

No way. I'm a cop. I'm not the kind of guy who blames the victim.

I'm glad to hear that.

But somehow Sally got it fixed in her head that I thought it was all her fault. Once that happened, our marriage was over. I'm sure that's why I'm in her little game now. I was probably the first one on her list.

But you're not the only one on her list.

No. Obviously not.

Why are the others on there? Any idea?

The waitress brought their food. Here we go, she said, setting their plates before them. Anything else I can get you?

No, thanks, they said in unison.

The waitress left. Miguel was pouring cocktail sauce on his conch fritters. Jack was still waiting for an answer, but with the waitress's interruption, Miguel had apparently lost track of the question. Jack asked again, Do you know why the others are on Sally's list?

Miguel had a mouthful of fritters. He shrugged and said, You'll have to ask them.

Jack nodded, then looked at his plate of food. But he'd suddenly lost interest in eating. I intend to, he said.

Chapter
Thirteen Jack was back in his office by three o'clock. He had a deposition after lunch, and he'd expected it to last the rest of the day, but the opposition had stormed out early when Jack refused to stop asking the witness to explain how he'd completely singed off his eyebrows if, as alleged, it was Jack's client who'd torched his own business.

Mr. Valentes, I'm going to keep asking this question until you tell me exactly what happened to those eyebrows.

What eyebrows?

That's my point.

That's it, Swyteck. We're outta here!

Miami was a living and breathing anthology of the History of Stupid Criminals.

The strong smell of Cuban coffee hit him as soon as he entered the office. Maria had his afternoon jolt of caffeine ready. She'd been his secretary for almost seven years, starting with his second day on the job as a federal prosecutor and following him into private practice. With the dust barely clear from his divorce, it was comforting to know that he was actually capable of a stable, long-term relationship of any sort with the opposite sex. He didn't consider himself picky in the romance department, but after his marriage to Cindy Paige, he did have certain minimum requirements - sanity being chief among them. Of course, his maternal grandmother, Abuela, as he called her, would even waive the sanity test if Jack would just bring home a nice Cuban girl. Too bad Maria was married.

How'd the depo go, Jack? she asked as she handed him his taza of espresso.

Same old, same old.

She smiled and shook her head, as if all too aware that a quip like that could mean anything from utter boredom to an all-out fistfight.

Jack headed down the hall to his office, past the conference room that doubled as his library. He noticed Kelsey was busy at the table, doing a Westlaw search on the computer. She was wearing running shoes and black spandex exercise leggings that revealed just enough of the former ballerina to confirm that somewhere under that big, baggy aerobics T-shirt was one amazing body.

Expecting clients today? he said as he stuck his head into the room.

She checked her attire. Sorry. I just stopped by on my way to Body and Soul.

He assumed she wasn't talking about some kind of new-wave religion. Have a good workout.

Thanks.

He started out the door, then stopped and came back into the room. Actually, I have a favor to ask of you.

Sure. What?

It's on the Sally Fenning matter. I met with her ex-husband for lunch.

How'd that go?

He took a minute to bring her up to speed, telling her all about the stalker that Miguel thought was responsible for the death of their daughter. He also told her how Sally had apparently come to think that he blamed her for the whole tragedy.

What's your take? asked Kelsey. He the kind of guy who blames the victim?

He says he's not. And he didn't come across that way.

A good guy, or just talks a good game?

Not sure. I did pull his divorce file, just to see if there might be any insights.

And?

It played out just the way he said. Even though this shark Gerry Colletti was his lawyer, Miguel kept him on a pretty short leash. Sally got all the assets, Miguel took the debt. Not much of a fight there.

Which makes you wonder: Why is the divorce lawyer on her list of enemies?

Exactly, he said. And that's exactly where you come in.

Kelsey grabbed her pen and paper, as if eager for the assignment.

Okay.

Put the pen down. This isn't research.

She smiled. You mean I'm actually going to get to do something outside the library?

Maybe. Here's the deal. I can accept the fact that Sally structured her estate in a way that would torture her ex-husband into thinking that he might someday come into big money. I don't have children, but just from my relationship with Nate, I know that if someone blamed me for the brutal murder of my child, there would be no limit to the anger I would feel.

Ditto.

But like you said, that doesn't explain the divorce lawyer. In fact, absolutely nothing came out during my talk with Miguel Rios that shed any light on why Sally felt the same anger toward any of the other beneficiaries.

You think there's something Mr. Rios is not telling you?

Something he's not telling me, or something he just doesn't know.

How do we plug the hole?

I talked to Tatum right after lunch. The way he met Sally was through a referral from her bodyguard. Tatum says the bodyguard is willing to talk with me tonight. He moonlights as a bouncer at a club on South Beach and said he'd give me a few minutes on his break. He could be a real window into Sally's head.

No doubt about it. How can I help?

I'd like you to come with me.

Wow. Real sleuthing. The kind of work any third-year law student would die for.

I have to confess. I feel a little guilty about asking you.

Why? Because you need to interview a knuckle-dragging Neanderthal, and you think he's more likely to talk to a good-looking woman than to Jack Swyteck?

Jack took a half-step back, surprised. How did you know that?

For one, on a certain level you're as much a Neanderthal as he is, which gives us women a distinct advantage in figuring out what you men are really up to.

I see.

Plus, Tatum called the office about a half hour ago. We talked. He said it would be a much more productive meeting if I went along and flashed a little cleavage.

I didn't ask you to flash cleavage, said Jack.

Do you want me to or not?

He didn't answer.

Jack?

I'm thinking, he said. I'm not sure there's a right answer to that question.

If you're uncomfortable with this, we can forget the whole thing. I won't go.

No, I want you to go. If nothing else, it will be good practical experience for you.

If all I wanted was experience, I'd happily put on a pinstripe suit and go as a Jack Swyteck clone. But as a woman, I bring things to the team that you can't. And there's nothing wrong with that.

There isn't?

No, she said, exasperated. I'm so tired of this politically correct dogma we try to live under. Let's all celebrate diversity, but God forbid that anyone should point out we're all different. Doesn't that drive you crazy?

I just don't want you to think you have to do anything that makes you feel compromised.

For Pete's sake, we're interviewing a man in a South Beach nightclub. I don't feel compromised by dressing the way a woman would dress. You're much too old school, Jack.

Old school?

It's like the old brains versus beauty debate. Why should a woman be put down for using her sexuality?

Because it's demeaning? he suggested.

Is it? When you think about it, how is showing off your looks any different from showing off how smart you are? You were born with your brain, the same way you were born with your looks. It's ninety-eight percent genetics. You can't take any more personal credit for your IQ than for the size of your pores. If you ask me, the only people who have a legitimate right to claim they're better than anyone else are people who choose to be nice. That's the one defining characteristic about ourselves that we have total control over. But, of course, if you're truly a nice person, you don't go around bragging that you're better than everyone else.

Jack thought for a moment, silent.

Did you hear anything I just said? asked Kelsey.

Yeah. I was just wondering.

Wondering what?

Does this mean you will or won't be flashing cleavage tonight?

She wadded up a piece of paper and threw it at him. Neanderthal.

Jack smiled and said, I'll pick you up at ten.

Hopefully not by my hair.

Only if you're dressed in leopard skin, he said, then headed for his office.

Chapter
Fourteen Headquarters for Miami's leading newspaper was at the north end of downtown, right on sparkling Biscayne Bay, with daytime vistas of the cruise ships docked at the Port of Miami and the Art Deco skyline of Miami Beach in the distance. Nightfall, however, made mirrors out of the tinted plate-glass windows, and without the breathtaking views, the fifth-floor newsroom of the Miami Tribune had a stark, factory-like feel to it. Sandwiched between beige-carpeted floors and suspended fluorescent lighting was a twisted network of shoulder-high dividers that compartmentalized the gaping room into open workstations for a hundred-fifty reporters and staff writers, each with a video display terminal, gray metal desk, and chirping telephone.

Deirdre Meadows stared at her reflection in her monitor, thinking.

Since learning that Sally Fenning had made her one of six beneficiaries in her forty-six-million-dollar estate, Deirdre had been brainstorming, trying to find the best angle for a story. This one had all the elements. Sally was a beautiful young woman with a tragic past, a multimillionaire second husband, and an intriguing flair for creative estate planning that seemed driven by mysterious motives that Deirdre was itching to unravel. Deirdre had finally settled on a three part investigative piece: Sally and her daughter as victims, Sally's marriage to a millionaire and her violent death, and Sally as a hand from the grave manipulating the lives of six seemingly disconnected heirs, only one of which would ultimately inherit her entire estate. She'd pitched the idea to the managing editor late that afternoon, only to be shot down immediately.