The Veiled Cage (Lady Lawyer Series Romantic Suspense Novels Book 1) (37 page)

“
Wha
t’
s your mother like
?
”

“
Imagine the opposite of Gabi
.
”

“
Sounds dreadful
.
”

“
She kept me clothed, fed, and sent me to good schools. Others have it much worse
.”
She looked up and saw that her description pained him
.“
Gab
i’
s wonderful. What does
Mijo
mean
?
”

“
It means son.
Mi hijo.
My son
.
”

“
Tha
t’
s sweet
.”
She turned and grinned
.“
Yes, Milo was a good nickname for you. More apt than
I’
d realized
.
”

“
Is it
?
”

“
Mi Emilio
. Milo
.”
She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him.

“
Yes, i
t’
s a good one
.”
He clasped her hand
.“
Yet another endearing quirk
.”
He said.

“
What
?
”

“
Your proclivity to nickname
.
”

Chapter 18

“
Audio
?”
Ruby asked.

“
Check
,”
Justin said.

“
Visual
?
”

“
Crystal
,”
Emilio said.

“
All right. Send me in
.
”

They watched on-screen as Ruby appeared, walking toward the waiting area. Another screen showed Stuart Johnston leaving the elevator.

“
That bag is too big for case files
,”
Emilio said.

“
A travel-sized kill kit. Handy. H
e’
s turned pro
,”
Justin said.

“
Focus
,”
Ruby said
.“
We have one crack at this
.
”

The suite door opened as Johnston approached
.“
Ms. Miller
.
”

“
Le
t’
s not waste time
.”
She motioned him into the conference room
.“
Please, take the head. I
t’
s not every day I receive such an important visitor
.
”

“
You have a reputation for flouting authority
.
”

“
I can acknowledge when
I’
ve overstepped. Your commitment in this case has been admirable
.
”

“
I
t’
s in service to my community, and my dear friend
.
”

“
Yes, and out of respect to you, I wanted to show you the results of my investigation. Your cooperation and speedy delivery of discovery did
n’
t go unappreciated
.”
Ruby signaled the screen
.“
We found tire tracks consistent with the vehicles of Susan and Jerald Combes at the cabin
.
”

“
Of course. I
t’
s as I said. She followed him
.
”

“
And tracks for your vehicle
.
”

“
Obviously, I found Jerry
.”
He walked to the window and bowed his head.

“
And the fourth vehicl
e
—
”
Ruby broke off as Stuart whirled.

“
Fourth vehicle
?
”

“
Yes. This one
.”
Ruby brought up a photo of the rattletrap parked near Susa
n’
s barn
.“
We had a hard time locating it
.”
She waited. When he said nothing, she went on
,“
Do
n’
t you want to know where i
t’
s parked
?
”

“
Yes, yes. Where
?
”

“
On an old farm property about twenty miles from here
.
”

“
It must belong to an accomplice
.
”

“
An accomplice
?
”

“
Jerry suspected Susan was sleeping around. When he confronted her, she admitted she had a lover. She rubbed his face in it
.
”

“
A lover
,”
Ruby repeated
.“
This is news
.
”

“
Yes, I should have realized before that Susan had an accomplice. Yo
u’
ve done good work, Ms. Miller. Who else have you presented this evidence to
?
”

“
Nobody else. Le
t’
s work together, Stu. Le
t’
s follow the evidence. You and I, together, will get justice for Jerry. W
e’
ll know what really happened
.
”

“
Yes, I believe we would. I
t’
s only a matter of time, and yo
u’
ll have it all figured out. Yo
u’
re smarter than I expected
.
”

“
Thank you, but ther
e’
s more. Why do you think Susan would cheat on Jerald
?
”

“
She said he was a disappointment in the sack
.
”

“
Tha
t’
s interesting. I talked to Deanna Connell
y—
his neighbor. She seemed pretty pleased with Jerr
y’
s sexual performance
.
”

Stuar
t’
s brow lowered.

“
I hope you do
n’
t mind, while w
e’
re here, if I bring up another client charged by your office. I know you allow leniency for helpful information. Yo
u’
re determined to find the head of the new coke ring tha
t’
s been the bane of your existence. Yo
u’
ve adamantly told the media so on countless occasions
.
”

“
Why yes, i
t’
s a special interest. You know any information is welcome. Please, do tell me what you uncovered. I have officers primed to act on any credible information
.
”

“
The ringleader is . . . Stuart Johnston, Kaye County Attorney
.
”

He kept his back to her and his face blank.

“I’
m sorry, Stu. Do you prefer a different title? Kingpin, perhaps? Drug Lord? King Cokehead?
I’
m unfamiliar with the terminology. I predict yo
u’
ll lose your legal title, so le
t’
s make sure they address you properly
.
”

“
What gave me away
?
”

“
You told the citizenry yo
u’
d take drugs off the streets, ramp up punishments, and crack down on crime. But your conviction rate is atrocious. At first, I thought you were ineffectiv
e—
another overpromising and under-delivering politician. Do you fuel addictions and direct the shadow dwellers? Who would miss the
m—
these purveyors of illicit substances? It turns out the
y’
re sons, daughters, friends. People are more complicated than you realized, and have relationships you cannot understand. And the
y’
re smarter. A low-level dealer, dispensable in your eyes, helped to bring your entire organization crumbling down around you. A federal task force is tracking down your cokehead buddies because of the records she kept
.
”

Ruby cued the next image as Stuart spun and trained a handgun on her. The silencer at the end hung menacingly between them.

Raising her hands, she asked
,“
Do you recognize that man
?
”

“
No,
I’
ve never seen him before
.
”

“
Do you have a twin, Stu
?
”

“
No
.
”

“
Then who is this guy patting the stranger on the back? He looks a lot like you, right down to the mega-grin. Why did you do it, Stu? Why did you kill your best friend
?
”

He laughed, deep and long
.“
Yo
u’
re looking right at my best friend
.
”

“
Of course I am. It turned out your new best friend was your old best friend. What if I told you the plastic surgeon figured out a way to get you from the grave? He concealed data within the hairline of your buddy Jerry
.
”

“
Yo
u’
re bluffing
.
”

“
Am I? I
t’
s quite clever. You told him it would be his last job for you. The truth, as it turned out. You and Jerry had everything planned so well, down to the last minute. You executed your plan perfectly. But you made one grave mistake. You did
n’
t factor in the human element. Dr. Abrams did
n’
t play along. Neither did I
.
”

“
Sit down. I
t’
s my turn to have the floor
.
”

Ruby sat and splayed her hands in front of her.

He scrubbed his face
.“
So yo
u’
ve figured it out, have you? I should have eliminated you when I had the chance. I underestimated you. You did good work. I
t’
s a shame no one will see it
.
”

“
And no one will know about your greedy, corrupt little hobby. Why, Stu? I
t’
s the one part I could
n’
t figure out. Why did you do it? Were you always after capitalizing on cokeheads? Did you find your calling when you made your first kill
?
”

Stuart rushed toward her.

On instinct, she covered her head to defend against the anticipated blow. When it did
n’
t fall, she looked up.

Stuart stood staring at the screen
.“
I was idealistic once, like you. Fresh from law school and assigned to the Community Prosecution Division. I thought
I’
d make a difference. Help clean up the streets. Make the community safer. All that crap they force-feed you in law school to make you think yo
u’
ll stand for something. That your work will matter
.
”

“
What happened
?
”

“
The years went by. I worked harder than anyone.
I’
d come in first, leave last. Like yo
u—
you were a joke. The intern who lived at the office. You took your work so seriously. So did I. But I woke up
.
”

“
How so
?
”

“
I sat in my pathetic excuse for an office. I took out my stash, needing a hit to deal with the miserable affair of being a cog in a wheel. Drug cases stacked in front of me. All that money flowing in an industry we demonize that has no victim
s—
only those self-medicating by choice. Like me. You see? What about the others like me? Like Jerald? How would we get our medication? That fucking federal bust. I called my supplier. He was lying low. What was I supposed to do
?
”

“
Ever heard of cold turkey? Narcotics anonymous? Yo
u’
re nothing special. Just another cokehead. Just another corrupt politician
.
”

“
No, do
n’
t you see? I got smart. I stopped being a pauper for a meaningless cause to become rich. Have
n’
t you yearned to be somebody, to make something of yourself? You have a fine mind. I could put it to use and make you richer than your wildest dreams. Yo
u’
d be an asset to my organization. What you do now means nothing. Your case files today will close and new faces will replace the old. Friendship? This is friendship
!”
He lifted his hand to the picture, and laid his palm on Jeral
d’
s new face
.“
I went to great lengths for my frien
d—
to help him, to protect him. Are we so different, Ruby
?
”