They stood there. The final bell had sounded. They were now waiting for a decision that would be unsatisfactory no matter how the judges leaned.
“If that’s all,” Hoyt said.
Carlson nodded and took a step back. Parker reached for the doorknob.
“Hoyt?”
Hoyt turned back around.
“So there’s no misunderstanding,” Carlson said. “I don’t believe a word you just said. We clear?”
“Crystal,” Hoyt said.
37
When Shauna arrived at the apartment, she collapsed onto her favorite spot on the couch. Linda sat next to her and patted her lap. Shauna laid her head down. She closed her eyes as Linda caressed her hair.
“Is Mark okay?” Shauna asked.
“Yes,” Linda said. “Do you mind telling me where you were?”
“Long story.”
“I’m only sitting here waiting to hear about my brother.”
“He called me,” Shauna said.
“What?”
“He’s safe.”
“Thank God.”
“And he didn’t kill Rebecca.”
“I know that.”
Shauna turned her head to look up. Linda was blinking her eyes. “He’s going to be okay,” Shauna said.
Linda nodded, turned away.
“What is it?”
“I took those pictures,” Linda said.
Shauna sat up.
“Elizabeth came to my office. She was hurt pretty badly. I wanted her to go to a hospital. She said no. She just wanted to make a record of it.”
“It wasn’t a car accident?”
Linda shook her head.
“Who hurt her?”
“She made me promise not to tell.”
“Eight years ago,” Shauna said. “Tell me.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Like hell it’s not.” Shauna hesitated. “Why would she go to you anyway? And how can you think of protecting …” Her voice faded away. She looked at Linda hard. Linda didn’t flinch, but Shauna thought about what Carlson had told her downstairs.
“Brandon Scope,” Shauna said softly.
Linda didn’t reply.
“He’s the one who beat her up. Oh Christ, no wonder she came to you. She wanted to keep it a secret. Me or Rebecca, we would have made her go to the police. But not you.”
“She made me promise,” Linda said.
“And you just accepted that?”
“What was I supposed to do?”
“Drag her ass down to the police station.”
“Well, we can’t all be as brave and strong as you, Shauna.”
“Don’t give me that crap.”
“She didn’t want to go,” Linda insisted. “She said that she needed more time. That she didn’t have enough proof yet.”
“Proof of what?”
“That he assaulted her, I guess. I don’t know. She wouldn’t listen to me. I couldn’t just force her.”
“Oh right—and that was likely.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“You were involved in a charity financed by his family with his face at the helm,” Shauna said. “What would happen if it got out that he beat up a woman?”
“Elizabeth made me promise.”
“And you were only too happy to keep your mouth shut, right? You wanted to protect your damn charity.”
“That’s not fair—”
“You put it over her well-being.”
“Do you know how much good we do?” Linda shouted. “Do you know how many people we help?”
“On the blood of Elizabeth Beck,” Shauna said.
Linda slapped her across the face. The slap stung. They stared at each other, breathing hard. “I wanted to tell,” Linda said. “She wouldn’t let me. Maybe I was weak, I don’t know. But don’t you dare say something like that.”
“And when Elizabeth was kidnapped at the lake—what did you think, for crying out loud?”
“I thought it might be connected. I went to Elizabeth’s father. I told him what I knew.”
“What did he say?”
“He thanked me and said he knew about it. He also told me not to say anything because the situation was delicate. And then when it became clear that KillRoy was the murderer—”
“You decided to keep silent.”
“Brandon Scope was dead. What good would dragging his name through the mud do?”
The phone rang. Linda reached for it. She said hello, paused, and then she handed the phone to Shauna. “For you.”
Shauna didn’t look at her as she took the receiver. “Hello?”
“Meet me down at my office,” Hester Crimstein told her.
“Why the hell should I?”
“I’m not big on apologies, Shauna. So let’s just agree that I’m a big fat idiot and move on. Grab a taxi and come down here. We’ve got an innocent man to rescue.”
Assistant District Attorney Lance Fein stormed into Crimstein’s conference room looking like a sleep-deprived weasel on too many amphetamines. The two homicide detectives Dimonte and Krinsky followed in his wake. All three had faces taut as piano wire.
Hester and Shauna stood on the other side of the table. “Gentlemen,” Hester said with a sweep of her hand, “please have a seat.”
Fein eyed her, then shot a look of pure disgust at Shauna. “I’m not here for you to jerk me around.”
“No, I’m sure you do enough of that in the privacy of your own home,” Hester said. “Sit.”
“If you know where he is—”
“Sit, Lance. You’re giving me a headache.”
Everyone sat. Dimonte put his snakeskin boots up on the table. Hester took both hands and knocked them off, never letting her smile falter. “We are here, gentlemen, with one aim: saving your careers. So let’s get to it, shall we?”
“I want to know—”
“Shh, Lance. I’m talking here. Your job is to listen and maybe nod and say things like ‘Yes, ma’am’ and ‘Thank you, ma’am.’ Otherwise, well, you’re toast.”
Lance Fein gave her the eye. “You’re the one helping a fugitive escape justice, Hester.”
“You’re sexy when you talk tough, Lance. Actually, you’re not. Listen up, okay, because I don’t want to have to repeat myself. I’m going to do you a favor, Lance. I’m not going to let you look like a total idiot on this. An idiot, okay, nothing to be done about that, but maybe, if you listen carefully, not a total idiot. You with me? Good. First off, I understand you have a definitive time of death on Rebecca Schayes now. Midnight, give or take a half hour. We pretty clear on that?”