Obstruction of Justice (35 page)

"That was twenty years ago," Leo told her. "You were a child yourself."

"I signed the papers he put in front of me twice, once when Kenny was born and six months later when he was adopted. After they took Kenny away, I was sick for several months. When I recovered, I tried to look for him on my own but I couldn’t find him. Then I found out I was going to have twins. Ray was thrilled when they were born."

"What about Kenny?" Paul said.

Sarah said, "I found out years later that Kenny was raised in the Bay Area. His adoptive parents divorced. The mother went on welfare. He had a hard time growing up. I kept looking for him over the years."

"Kenny’s adoptive mother sat him down the day he turned eighteen and told him he was on his own," Leo said. "She told him that his biological parents were a rich couple up in Tahoe who wouldn’t lift a finger to help him. Oh, yeah, she knew. She had even contacted Ray several times over the years about getting financial help to correct Kenny’s medical conditions, but Ray refused. He never told Sarah."

"How do you know all this?" said Nina.

"Kenny told me," said Sarah. "He moved up here to finish school, I think with the intention of finding out more about us. Kenny’s a very intelligent boy, but due to some physical complications that delayed him in school, he ended up in the same class as Jason and Molly. One day, he told them who he was. Jason thought it was a crock, but Molly came to me.

"I went to see him right away. Kenny said he would never forgive me, and to stay away from him. He needed money, that was all. So I sent him money."

"It’s been three years since she found this out," Leo said. "She didn’t feel like she had anyone she could talk to. She told me all of it one day. I had been staying away from the house before that because Ray and I didn’t get along, but after that Sarah and I became friends."

"Three years," Paul said in a musing tone.

"Yeah. That was a very rough time, the roughest yet until this year. Not long after she found out about Kenny, Sarah had the accident."

"Jason and Molly—they were very angry at Ray," Sarah said. "But he was their father, and they still loved him too. They were in so much conflict—Molly especially started acting out. They were still very young— they had just turned sixteen, though they looked older because of their heights."

Paul asked, "Where was Kenny in all this?"

"Right in the middle. The twins started hanging around with him. Kenny hated Ray. He’s suffered so much."

"Tell him about Molly," Leo encouraged her.

"Molly provoked him. At the dinner table, she might say, ’Kenny’s working on a bomb. Maybe he’s gonna blow you up for what you did to him, Dad.’ "

"Ray couldn’t get rid of Kenny," Leo added. "He tried to bribe him to get lost, but Sarah was sending him money. He felt like Kenny was haunting him. Ray called him the Toad."

"I played my part," Sarah said sorrowfully. "I couldn’t pretend he wasn’t my son. It was Quentin who kept us going. Ray thought everyone was against him except his father. He knew Quentin would do anything for him, and so Quentin could influence him. Quentin kept Ray calm and he talked to the kids and tried to help them understand that Ray was going through a very hard time himself. He persuaded me"— she wiped her eyes—"that Ray would get better and I should hang on."

"And he kept Ray and me apart, but kept me in the company," Leo said. "It wasn’t easy. Ray had started accusing me of having designs on Sarah and the company."

"It’s called projection," Nina said. "He projected his guilt and self-hatred onto everyone else. It sounds like it all came back at him twice over."

"Anyway, we got past that awful time," Sarah went on. "I recovered more or less from the accident and Ray calmed down to a slow simmer. I’m one of those—you know, Nina? Peace at any price. I kept my fingers crossed and thought, Soon Jason and Molly will go off to college, and Leo and I—everything would come to its natural conclusion. I was so wrong."

Leo said, "The twins graduated in June, and Ray saw what was coming, and he didn’t like it at all. He started throwing his weight around again, said the twins should go to school here so Jason could work part-time at the company. He started making life hell for me at the company again. He was getting out of control again, we could all see it, and Sarah was afraid to make a move. Even Quentin had thrown up his hands."

"That’s how he controlled you," Nina said. "By going out of control himself Why did you all agree to go on that hike with him?"

Sarah said simply, "He made me. The night before, I told Leo."

"I was afraid for her," Leo said. "It didn’t smell right to me. But Sarah insisted she had to go, so I decided the twins and I would go up there too. When we showed up and I saw Ray’s reaction, I knew I was right, that Sarah was in some kind of danger from him. The twins felt it too."

"I just can’t believe he intended to harm me."

"We’ll never know now," Leo told her grimly.

Nina’s cell phone rang in her purse. She ignored the ringing. She had been taking all this in, nodding as, piece by piece, she found the understanding that had eluded her until now about the de Beers family. "And then ... Ray was gone, but it wasn’t over," she said.

"Jason and Molly haven’t had a chance to get their balance," Leo said. "But now it should be close to over. We should all be sitting here, happy, relieved, talking about the future. And now Jason is the one losing it."

"He can’t run now," Nina said. "You’re right, Leo. We are too close to the end."

"Why is he doing this now, at this point?" Sarah moaned, hitting her hand against the arm of the couch. "He’s always been the responsible one, the mature one! Except for that one time—when things were at their worst, just after I got out of the hospital, right after you had that fight with Ray, Leo."

"Yeah, I remember you telling me about it." Leo explained to Paul and Nina, "Jason signed Ray’s name to a business check and the next day took off in a stolen car. He totaled the car near Carson City and Ray brought him back home. Jason told Sarah and Ray he planned to run away, but when he ran off the road and wrecked the car he gave up."

"It was so out of character for him," Sarah said. "To take that money. To take a car. I could hardly believe it, but he sat right there in that chair you’re sitting in, Nina, and told me. Ray was there too. For once, Ray did the right thing. He just told Jason he’d made a mistake, and not to do anything like that again."

Paul had jerked to attention. He said, "When was this?"

"Oh, it would have been in August. Three years ago. "

"Did you ever see the car?" Paul said, his voice tense.

"Not afterward," Sarah said. "Actually, it was Joe’s old car. It was parked on the street behind the house. Joe never did find out who had taken it. Ray and Jason just left the car in Carson City. Ray mentioned later that he called somebody to haul it away."

"What about the money?" Paul said, leaning forward. Nina was thinking, Please, don’t let it be for ten thousand dollars....

She waited for the answer, a painful pressure in her heart.

And Sarah said, "Jason left it in the car, he was so upset, and it was stolen out of the car while it was sitting by the side of the road."

"How much was it, Sarah?" Nina whispered. Sarah turned to her.

"Ten thousand dollars," she said. "Why?"

Paul said, "I’m very sorry. But I’m afraid Nina here is all tired out." He stood up and pulled Nina to her feet. "Let me get this lady home."

Sarah and Leo stood up, too, surprised. "But will you go see them? Aren’t you going to try?" asked Sarah.

"I’m sorry," Nina said. "I’m sick. I have to go now." Without having to act much, she tottered to the door, leaning on Paul.

While they were in the house, a squall had come up over the lake. They could see the rain under the moon, scudding toward them. A moist breeze pushed Nina’s hair back and revived her a little. When they were safely out of earshot of the house, she said in a low voice, "Could it be? Could Jason have killed Collier’s wife?"

"Is there any doubt?" Paul said. "Get in."

"An accident?"

"I’m thinking about that."

They rolled out the driveway, Nina also thinking furiously.

"He must have decided to kill Ray after his mother’s accident," Nina said. "That has to be it. He must have tried to hire Ruben Lauria to do it, Paul! Joe had brought Ruben out to the house once and had told the twins how he was this big criminal."

"Maybe all of them were in on it," Paul said. "Kenny and Molly as well as Jason."

"Maybe. I don’t know. He was just a kid, Paul! Ruben took the money, then decided not to go through with it. He told Jason...."

"And Jason was trapped. He couldn’t trust Ruben not to tell the police, or, worse, Ray. Jason would have to be terrified of that possibility."

"Jesus, Paul, do you realize what we’re saying! Ruben didn’t hang himself." She was staggered. "I—I just can’t believe Jason could..."

"He told his mother a cock-and-bull story about the car and the money, didn’t he?" Paul said. "He had to account to them somehow for the ten grand...."

"He must not have realized it was Joe’s car...."

"Then Ruben had some drinks and went down to the probation office and spilled his guts to Anna—he probably told the kid that was what he was going to do—and Anna had to be shut up as soon as possible."

"But that makes Jason a monster, Paul! He’s not like that!"

"Stupid kid," Paul said. "Throwing away two lives besides his own." He seemed almost as stunned as she was. He turned up Matt’s street.

"Hey, what’s this?" Nina asked.

"I’m going to take you home. You’re exhausted."

"But what about Jason?"

"I’m going over there. But I’m going to tell Collier about this first. He has to know."

"But he’s a DA!" Nina said in horror. "Wait, Paul, we don’t know anything for sure yet!"

They had pulled into the driveway. Matt’s house was dark.

"Get out," Paul said.

"Oh, no, you don’t," Nina said. "I’m going along. Whatever happens, it has to be fair to Jason. I’m going to see to it."

"I said get out." He reached past her and opened the door of the van, then pushed her toward the door.

"Hey!" Nina said. "Don’t you dare touch me!" She balled up her fist, not thinking at all anymore, and punched him in the ear.

"Ow!" Paul said, recoiling. His foot slipped off the brake, and the van rolled backward. The passenger side door was still open. "Watch out, you little—!" He got the van back under control just before they rolled into the street.

"I’m coming, do you hear, Paul?" Nina said in a low voice.

Paul’s right hand covered his ear. She thought, Oh, God, he’s going to punch me back, hold on— He gripped her shoulders and twisted her toward him, held her tight against him so she could hardly breathe, and put his mouth against hers. The kiss was hard and hurt her so that she tried to move away, but he wouldn’t let her go, his hands like vises. After a long moment, he released her suddenly and she fell against the seat.

"You son of a bitch," she said, panting.

"Now get out," Paul said.

She didn’t move. Paul made an exclamation of disgust and threw the car into gear. They didn’t speak to each other all the way to Collier’s apartment.

30

A GRAY EYE THROUGH THE KEYHOLE. A DISGRUNTLED noise.

"What the hell?" Collier opened the door and waved them in. He wore nothing but a pair of knit gym shorts, revealing a thick mat of brown hair on his chest. Although it was only a few minutes past nine P.M., his eyes were puffy from sleep. "Come on in," he said. "Join the party." They entered the kitchen, piled with dirty dishes and clumps of fast-food wrappers. He cleared a place for them at the table by pushing things onto the floor, put his head on his hands, coughed, and said, "This completes my total humiliation, I suppose. What more could you possibly want from me now, Nina?"

"We have to talk."

"Talk." He got up went to the sink, poured himself a glass of water, took a drink, and turned to them. "Do I need to be awake? I see I do. Hang on." He turned the cold water on, stuck a finger in to sample it, and dunked his entire head under the faucet, coming up sputtering and dripping. Reaching for the dry cloth hanging on a hook beside the sink, he said, "Go ahead. I’m ready."

"Sit down," Paul said.

Collier took up his position at the table again, yawning and rubbing his hair.

While Paul was considering his words, Nina said, "I made that 911 call from Wright’s Lake."

"Yep," said Collier.

"You knew?"

"I know your voice."

"Why didn’t you say something in court?"

"It’s not a big priority in my life to bring you down," Collier said. "Although perhaps it should be." He gave his head a final rub, then tossed the towel toward a pile on the counter. The towel knocked a plate onto the floor, shattering it.

They all looked at it. Collier said, "Did you come here to tell me that?"

"I went inside and saw Quentin’s body. And Ray’s body. The flames were just starting to shoot up around the living room."

"I’m amazed you didn’t leave fingerprints. Maybe you did. Did you see who set the fire?" Collier asked casually, as though they were talking about the weather. "Or Quentin’s car?"

"No. Whoever did it was gone by the time I arrived."

"I assume you came here to tell me the truth," Collier said. "You wouldn’t be covering up for young Jason, would you?"

"I never saw him. He wasn’t there. But ... when I went inside, I saw a pair of sunglasses—"

Paul groaned. "I knew it," he said. "I knew if you came, you would do this...."

"I picked them up and ran out. I wasn’t thinking. Smoke was billowing everywhere, and I was afraid I would be trapped."

"Hand them over," Collier ordered.

"I can’t. No, I didn’t throw them away. I put them between my mattress and the springs until I could figure out what to do with them. They were stolen from my room. I don’t know by who."

"Describe the sunglasses."

"They were expensive Vuarnets with green shades."

"Know anybody who wears glasses like that?" Collier said, even more casually.

"I can’t answer that."

"Attorney-client privilege?"

"I can’t answer that either."

"God, I hate lawyers," Collier said. "As soon as the prelim is over you come bearing this confession to assuage your guilt. Looks like you were right anyway on the murder charge. If Clauson had been straight with me from the start, I doubt the case would have made it to the prelim stage. Oh, well, we can still use them on the arson charge."

"I—I’m sorry," Nina said. "I realize it’s a crime. What are you going to do?"

"Nina’s confused," Paul said, his eyes holding Collier’s. "She’s made up all that sunglasses stuff. Shut up, Nina. It’s my turn to talk. Listen, Collier. Jason is thinking hard about leaving town ahead of the warrants that you will no doubt be preparing tomorrow."

"He won’t get far. It’ll only hurt him."

"Wait. There’s more. Three years ago, in August, Jason took Joe Marquez’s Catalina out for a ride without permission. He got in some kind of accident. Joe never saw the car again, which he didn’t mind because it was about to self-destruct anyway."

Collier rubbed his hand on his bare chest. His hair stood up wildly. He would have looked a little comical except for the brutal expression on his face.

"He drove the Catalina? Jason de Beers killed Anna?"

"I’m afraid it looks that way."

"He was riding around, what? Sixteen years old in a stolen car, and he mowed down my wife? He did that? And I was in court with him for the last two days?" Collier got up, knocking over the chair, and seized Nina by the chin, forcing her to look at him. "I don’t give a fuck about attorney-client privilege," he yelled. "I want to know, and I want to know now. How long have you known this?"

"I just found out! Honestly!"

"Hey hey hey," Paul said. "Take it easy, big fella."

Collier held her eyes for one more soul-searching instant, then dropped his hand, saying, "Don’t move." He went to the phone hanging on the wall and punched in some numbers. "This is Hallowell." He put his hand over the receiver. "Where is he?"

"Stop," Nina said, gently taking the phone from his hand. "You can’t prove anything. Ray’s dead, and from what Paul told me the trail backward hits a dead end."

"I want him arrested. Where is he?" The phone rang. He answered it. His office had called back. Reluctantly, his eyes still locked on Nina’s, he told them he would call later.

"Come on, sit down. I’m going to tell you a story," Paul said.

Collier sat down, shaking. The news had finally hit him physically. He kept shivering as if he would never stop. "Do something," Paul told Nina.

While searching for a blanket in the bedroom, Nina let her eyes roam around the private domain she had never before entered. She looked for a clue to Collier, and found a bare lightbulb, a bed with no sheets, and a pile of laundry in the corner. There were no pictures on the walls, but she could see tack holes from when there had been pictures, probably dating back to his wife. His room had all the personality of a white wall.

Someday, Collier might be someone again. Right now, he was a husk.

When she returned, Collier and Paul were deep in talk, Collier still shivering. She put the blanket over his shoulders and sat back down.

"We go over there and get him to admit it," Paul was saying. "We tape him. Nina, he’ll talk to you."

"For Christ’s sake, he’s my client! Yours too! Forget it!"

"You finished the job. There are no charges pending against him. He’s not your client anymore," Collier said. "Technically. And you use technicalities when they suit your purposes, don’t you?"

"I can’t take advantage of him that way. It would be unethical."

"This is another crime entirely."

"I don’t care!"

Collier said, "Will you defend me at my trial, then? ’Cause if the law can’t get him, I’m afraid I’ll have to kill him myself."

"Hang on, you two," Paul said. "Don’t get your undies in a twist. I’ll go in."

"I have to know, Nina," Collier said. "You understand that, don’t you? If he wants to talk to Paul, do you really want to stop him?"

"Let’s tape it. I’ve got a pocket recorder," Paul said.

"No tape," Nina said. "I won’t let him be entrapped that way. It’s illegal, anyway. And no intimidation. I don’t like this. He’s a suspect. You should read him his Miranda rights."

"You know what, Nina?" Collier said slowly. "Right now, I feel like gagging you and tying you to this chair until we’re done. This is my wife we’re talking about. My wife."

"It’s always been your wife we were talking about, Collier," said Nina, shooting off her big mouth.

Paul said, "You could call over a couple of cops— and believe me, it would take a couple—and arrest her, Collier, get her off our backs."

Nina realized he meant it. Collier was thinking this over. "All right," she said. "Collier and I will wait outside. The door’s thin. I could hear everything in the hall when I was over there. We’ll listen. But don’t trick him, Paul. Be fair."

Collier went into the bedroom and came out dressed, carrying a standard-issue .45. "In case he tries to run," he said. "Are you armed, Paul?"

"Always," Paul said, patting his shoulder holster.

"He would never try to hurt one of us," Nina protested, but they paid no attention to her. The three of them went back out and got into the van, Nina in the middle.

On the way to Kenny’s apartment, Paul said, "A flash of green. Kim saw it on the driver. Just the color. She put it in her painting."

"His green sunglasses," Collier said. The way he said it, in an ugly voice that didn’t sound like him, was spooky. Nina turned to look at him. His eyes were blind.

"Hold on." Paul swerved into the driveway of the funky apartment building, clicked off the ignition, and doused the lights.

"Nina, you’ve got your cell phone?"

She stopped to check her pocket. "Right here."

"Get a move on," Collier commanded, striding urgently ahead into the building. Quietly, Collier and Nina took up positions out of sight in the hallway, around the corner from the apartment.

Paul rapped on the door.

The pungent odor of marijuana wafted from under the door, and a heavy bass vibrated the deck through the hall. Kenny opened the door a few inches so Paul could see the chain.

"What do you want?" Kenny’s eye peered up at Paul.

"I need to see Jason."

"He’s not here."

"C’mon, Kenny. I just have to talk to him before he leaves."

"Did the lawyer send you?"

"No. His mother. This is personal."

"Jason!"

Jason came to the door.

"Your mother was afraid you needed money," Paul said. He patted his wallet pocket. "She sent me over."

A pause. "Hand it through."

"No way. I hand it to you personally along with a message from your mother."

"How much is it?"

"That would be telling." Paul heard a commotion, then the door swung open, and Paul entered Kenny’s living room, reminding himself about what it was like to be nineteen and too naive to know the oldest come-on in the book when it walked up and slapped you silly.

Only the lava lamp was lit, the waxen red droplets dribbling and re-forming endlessly in the hot solution. Molly stood behind Kenny, who leaned over to the stereo and lowered the music. Suitcases stood against the bedroom door, which was slightly ajar. Molly looked stoned and frightened.

"Hi, Molly. Hi, Kenny," said Paul.

"Hi," said Molly. Kenny sat her down on the couch.

Nobody spoke for a minute. Paul was feeling out the atmosphere, choosing his approach.

"There’s no check, is there?" Jason said. He looked as if he were on his last legs. "What did my mom tell you?"

Paul sat down at the counter where he’d eaten his pastrami sandwiches with Kenny, making himself comfortable. "So you’re leaving," he said. "Is that going to help your mother and sister? I thought you were a brave kid. Boy, was I wrong. The minute you get your chance, you run again."

"It’s not like that."

Molly said, "Our mom’ll be all right. She’s got Leo. We have to get away from all this. We can’t stay."

"I told you, Moll, you can’t come," Jason said.

Paul said, "Nina cares about what happens to you, Jason. And what about your mother? She loves you. If your sister goes along, I don’t think your mother will be all right at all."

"I’m telling you for the last time, Moll, we have to split up," Jason said. "We have to, Moll!"

"I won’t!" Molly said. "Not in this town full of death! I don’t care if we have to go to Timbuktu! I don’t want to live without you!"

"You promised, Moll, never to try that again!"

"Why not just stay and pay the price, Jason?" Paul said mildly. "Going into exile can be a worse torture than jail. It’s so very lonely out there. And you’d always be afraid."

"Because I can’t. It’s worse than Nina knows. She can’t do anything. No one can. I have to go away."

"Because you’re a murderer after all, right, Jason?"

Molly inhaled sharply. Kenny said, "Uh-oh."

"You did very well. You almost got away with it."

"You’re bright to figure it out," said Kenny. "We’re all bright."

"Why did you do it?" Paul asked, keeping his eyes on Jason. "You’re going away, you might as well tell me. You have to tell somebody, sometime."

"You really want to know?" Kenny said.

"Kenny, don’t!" Molly cried.

"Because of Ray," Kenny said. "He was killing them inch by inch. Molly, Jason, and Sarah. And me. He was going to put me away in some funnyhouse, just for sticking my ugly face into his life. He was going to kill Sarah. Everything came together at once and Jason knew it was the only chance."

"I still don’t get it."

"Don’t let Kenny say anything else, please, Jason," Molly said, but Jason didn’t move. He had the abstracted look Paul had seen him wear in court, as if he were listening to a voice inside himself, an accusing, hateful voice. Molly got up and went to him, put her hand on his arm tenderly.

"Good, Kenny, good," Paul said. "Go on."

"That’s enough!" Molly said. "Look what he’s doing! We can’t talk to him. Let’s just go, Jason!"

"No," Jason said, pushing her away. "I pay. Not you. Not Kenny."

"How did it go down, Jason?" Paul said, his voice steady.

"Oh, Jason," Molly said tearfully. "Please don’t say anything!"

"No one can hate me worse than I hate myself," Jason said slowly. "I hate myself, you know. I can’t stand myself.’’

"Say it!" Paul demanded. "Say it!"

"I can’t say it!" Jason said. "I’m too ashamed. I’m so sorry. I know I did what nobody could ever forgive." He hung his head. The lamp cast his shadow against the wall, the head bowed as if awaiting a guillotine.

Molly said in a tiny voice, "You did it to save us." There was another pause. Then Jason went to the two suitcases and picked them up. "Wait," Paul said. "You haven’t told me about your grandfather."

"He followed me to the cemetery. We argued. He clutched his head and he said, ’Jason, I have the most awful headache.’ Then he fell. I ran over to him, but he was unconscious. I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t call anyone. So I put him in the back seat...."

"And Ray in the trunk."