CUTTING ROOM -THE- (24 page)

‘The Florida Supreme Court judge?' Daria asked.

‘He likes to watch.'

‘What?' she asked.

Bantling smiled again.

She slung her briefcase over her shoulder. ‘Convenient. Judge Lepidus is dead. Maybe you should pick another name. Someone who can defend himself.'

Bantling shrugged. ‘That's tough luck. I bet poor Pat Graber would've liked to hear that.'

Manny looked at Daria.

‘I don't know that name,' she said softly.

‘Remember how smart you just insisted you were?' Bantling leaned his body into the table again. His muscular forearms tensed. On his left wrist was an ugly, raised, jagged scar, about an inch and a half long. ‘Or should I say, how stupid you weren't? Well, I'm sure that feisty brain of yours will figure it all out. Detective Alvarez here can help with any missing details — if he wants to, that is. Then you'll come back to me and we'll talk again. A nice long chat. But remember to bring that checkbook, or we won't have much to say.'

He sniffed at the air as he relaxed in his chair. ‘Love your perfume, by the way. Channel No. 5. So very … haunting. Just like the woman who wears it.'

‘The lightning bolt is a symbol in satanic worship,' Daria said, reading from her iPhone as they drove down University Avenue in Gainesville, past college bar after college bar, in between which was jammed every fast-food restaurant imaginable. The staples of an American college kid's diet all within a short, neon-lit, twenty-yard walk: beer, Big Macs, Whoppers, chalupas, and more beer. ‘Apparently it's worn so as to have power over another person or object. It's called a “Satanic S”. Zeus used a lightning bolt as his weapon of choice, the SS wore it on their jackets in Nazi Germany. And it's supposed satanic meaning comes from the Bible. Luke 10:18: “And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.”'

‘What if it's enclosed in a circle?' Manny asked.

‘If used within a pentagram, it symbolizes Satan's life force going into matter. But I don't see anything about a plain circle. I don't think it's the same thing.'

Manny shook his head. ‘You saw his wrist in there, right? I forgot he had that.'

‘I don't know, Manny,' Daria replied skeptically. ‘That scar could have come from a mishap with a serrated knife or jagged can. Not sure I see a lightning bolt.'

‘Ain't no such thing as coincidence, Counselor. Remember I said that? Every victim has this lightning bolt/zigzag either burned on their skin or tattooed on their body, as do both our bad guys, and what you just read to me is that it symbolizes power. I see a connection, is what I see.'

‘Okay, Miss Cleo. Listen, I wouldn't put too much faith into my impromptu Google search. According to this, Lady Gaga is a Satan worshipper because she face-painted a lightning bolt over her eye. Wait … same goes for Kiss, AC/DC, the Rolling Stones, and Harry Potter … wow. I never knew.' She scrolled down. ‘Hold on — the Power Rangers and the US seal are also evil symbols.'

‘All that's on your phone? Damn …'

‘You really need to come into the twenty-first century, Detective. I bet you don't TiVo, either.'

‘What's that?'

She sighed. ‘Are we there, yet? I need a drink.'

‘Mother's Pub,' he said, pulling into a parking lot. ‘Looks good to me. Pub means food
and
drink; I still gotta get us back to Miami tonight. This place your old stomping grounds?'

‘Those three years were a blur, Manny. I was either locked inside a building somewhere studying or I was out drinking with wild abandon. Can't remember where. Can't remember much.'

He pulled into a spot and raised an eyebrow. ‘I can't imagine you doing anything with wild abandon. You're way too calculated.'

‘Thanks a lot. You'd be surprised. Cut me off after two.'

‘Hell, no!' he replied with a laugh as they headed across the lot. He studied the menu posted outside the door and rubbed his stomach. ‘Check out these burgers, Counselor. I don't know about you, but I'm starved. I just remembered we didn't have no lunch.'

‘I saw what they were serving the inmates; we didn't miss anything.' She looked at her watch. ‘Damn. It's almost seven. Where'd the day go?' At this rate, she probably wouldn't be home till four in the morning. Ugh. She had court at nine.

‘Well, I'm buying, Counselor. And get anything you want on that burger of yours: cheddar, bacon, jalapenos — the works. For you, sky's the limit.'

‘You sure know how to treat a girl. I'm glad we're just friends.'

‘If you want something more than that, I'm up for steak and lobster.'

She laughed. ‘You're funny.'

‘They even have a burger soaked in Guinness, in case you got some mick mixed in with that guinea blood of yours. That would account for that red hair. Oh, and just so you know,' he said as he held the door open for her and she started inside, ‘we're not negotiating with him.'

Daria stopped. ‘That sounds final.'

‘It is. He's a rapist and a murderer. A serial murderer.'

She pushed the door closed with her hand. ‘Not according to him. I was gonna ask you — what's with the railroading argument? And who's Chloe? He said C.J. was her other name. Did he mean the prosecutor on his case, C.J. Townsend? Is that who he's talking about? Did she really marry the lead detective? I never heard that. Were they involved during the trial? Wouldn't that be considered a conflict of interest?'

‘Slow down, Lois Lane,' Manny warned. ‘He's a condemned man. Like you reminded me only a few days ago, he's desperate. And what happened to our agreement that you would be wallpaper back there?'

‘Well, you didn't tell me that he was gonna start screaming he'd been railroaded on to death row by the lead detective and his prosecutor bride. That changes things up a bit. What kind of felonies was he talking about that they'd be guilty of? Don't you want to know?'

They moved aside to let another couple enter the restaurant.

‘You're surprised that a convicted killer might make shit like that up?' he said when they were alone again.

‘No, it doesn't surprise me. He did sound pretty upset, though. Like he knew things. Like
you
knew things. Or, as he put it, there were things maybe you didn't
want
to know.'

‘Don't get me mad. Desperate people say desperate things. We're not cutting him loose, Counselor, no matter what names he purports to know. I'm telling you that right now, so don't start thinking you're Monty Hall and this is
Let's Make a Deal
. Because the truth is, you've no idea who you're dealing with.'

‘
Let's Make a Deal
? Monty Hall? How old are you anyway?'

‘How young are you? It's in syndication. I think.'

‘Judge Lepidus, huh? You think Bantling's BS-ing about him? Maybe he's the twist that Bantling was talking about.'

‘That'll be easy enough to find out. We gotta see what the connection is between the judge and that other name he gave us. I already got a call in, before you start making noise. But we gotta be real quiet, 'cause that's something that will get the media calling — linking a Supreme Court judge to a snuff club.'

‘Lepidus only sat on the Supremes for a couple of years, if I remember right. Less than a full term. I think he filled the spot after Justice Kramer suddenly retired.' Unlike US Supreme Court justices, who were appointed for life, justices on the Florida Supreme Court were appointed by the governor for six-year terms. At the end of each term, the public voted in a general election to retain them on the bench or not. She couldn't remember whether Lepidus had stepped down or was not asked back. ‘If Bantling knows names like Supreme Court justices, we have to listen to him, Manny,' she said as she reached to open the door again.

He placed his hand on hers, pushing it closed once more. ‘We are not letting this guy out, Counselor. I repeat. I don't care if he tells me Barack Obama is a player in this. A new cell, maybe. A new prison, maybe. A room with a view. Maybe we consider commuting his death sentence to life as a reward if he coughs up really important info, but he ain't ever getting out. The man is a human monster. Trust me on this. I've seen what he is capable of.'

She shrugged, moved her body under his arm, so that it dropped to his side and she opened the door. ‘I get it. But he said be prepared to deal. So if he is being honest I think we need to have something better to offer him than ESPN and a view of the trees.'

‘You're new at this, so I'm gonna cut you slack. I'm telling ya, he won't show you his till you show him yours, and by then it'll be too late to see you've been BS'd,' he answered, following her inside. ‘It was probably a mistake to bring you up here …'

‘You're gonna need to be straight up with me, Manny.' She turned to him, her blue eyes narrowed to slits. ‘I know you're holding back. I don't know what and I can't figure out why. But I will.'

‘Don't get all Matlock on me, now, Counselor,' he returned, signaling to the approaching waitress they needed a two-top.

‘
Matlock
? Is that in syndication too?'

Then the waitress was upon them with menus, escorting them through the busy restaurant to a table, and the uncomfortable subject of Bill Bantling was lost somewhere in the noisy crowd.

Three hours later, they were still at Mother's, although they'd moved to the bar. After the burgers, they'd had a couple more beers, then the band had taken the stage and they'd decided to stick around and listen, and since they — Briggs Ditch Revolution — were actually pretty good, Manny suggested they stay for a few songs. One more beer had led to two had led to a hell of a lot more. The crowd had gotten thicker, the air hotter, the distance between their bar stools and bodies narrower. The music had gotten so loud, that talking into each other's ears was the only way to hear anything. Daria couldn't remember who'd leaned in first. Who'd said that first seriously flirty thing that had led not to a rebuke but to the first seriously flirty response. She remembered his hand on her knee, and then her hand on his. She remembered looking at biceps the size of her thighs that she could make out even through the rolled-up sleeves of his dress shirt, and thinking something stupid like how she was really happy he'd been so big and strong back in that creepy prison, and how she knew he would have protected her in a worst-case scenario event and how incredibly sexy that was. And then his lips were on hers. Or maybe hers were on his, but that was how it all began. That was why she always stopped at two.

But not tonight. Tonight she drank with wild abandon, and left tomorrow to deal with all the regrets that were sure to follow.

‘Anything on your car, Christina?'

C.J. glanced up from the mess of paperwork on her desk. Santa Barbara Chief Deputy DA Jason Mucci was standing in the doorway of her office. She shook her head. ‘Nope. Special Investigations is working it, but I'm not expecting much. The insurance company's gonna write me a check.'

‘It sucks, having your car stolen, especially at work. What kind was it?'

‘A forest-green 2007 Ford Explorer,' she replied with a sigh. ‘Affectionately known as the Green Giant.'

He laughed. ‘You named your car?'

‘Green Giant was the first brand-new car I ever bought. Don't ask me why I picked green, it just called to me from across the lot. I thought I'd have it forever.'

‘May the Jolly Green Giant rest in peace, then,' Jason proclaimed. ‘Or, as is more likely, in pieces. You do realize your first brand-new car has probably been chopped into a few dozen small parts and scattered about the county by now.'

‘Sounds like a few victims I've known.'

He laughed again. ‘Well, now you can relate to what your victims go through. You're officially a victim yourself.'

C.J. already had him there, but said nothing. She just nodded.

‘What're you driving now?'

‘A rental. A red Saturn something.'

‘Not so affectionately called the Red Ass?'

It was her turn to laugh.

‘Time to move up in the world. How about a Bentley?'

‘How about a raise?'

He smiled. ‘The forfeitures are going to auction next month in Ventura. You should pick yourself up a Ferrari. Something zippy. I think you'd look real cute in a convertible. Shades on, long brown hair blowing in the breeze.'

‘No, thanks, Jason. I don't need some convicted criminal, pissed off their car was seized by the government, coming to reclaim it from my garage in the middle of the night. I have enough troubles. I'm thinking maybe a Jeep Rubicon. Something rugged.'

‘Very California. Is that where you're from?'

‘Originally,' she replied softly. ‘I guess I'll have to go car shopping this weekend, although I think I prefer root canal to dealing with car salesmen.'

He glanced around and then stepped into her office. ‘Want some company?' he asked quietly. ‘We could grab some dinner afterwards, maybe hit a wine bar.'

‘I'm married, Jason,' she replied quickly. ‘Separated, actually.' She fiddled with the ring finger on her left hand. It was bare. ‘But still married,' she said softly.

‘Oh. Didn't know that.' There was a long and awkward silence as everything changed. He backed into the doorway again, red-faced. ‘How's your trial going?' he tried.

‘We're in a holding pattern. One of the jurors has a medical issue, so the judge has given everyone a couple of days off.'

‘I saw your defendant, Kassner, with his attorney, down at Brophy's having lunch today.'

‘Lucky you.'

He scratched his head. ‘I can't believe that guy's out.'