Equivocal Death (57 page)

7

Justin’s hand stopped moving. “Come on, Kate. Think,” he said 8

impatiently. “Who told you about Ingrid and Michael?”

9

All air seemed to drain from the room.
No, it couldn’t be, it
10

couldn’t be.
But her mind was already traveling back, back to the 11

day Justin told her he’d seen Michael kissing Ingrid. She hadn’t be-12

lieved it at first. Michael and Ingrid were simply friends, colleagues 13

on
Law Review
. There had to be some mistake. But Justin knew 14

what he’d seen. When she’d confronted Michael, he’d denied it 15

outright. But she’d kept at him day after day. Until, finally, a week 16

or so later, he’d simply walked away. And that had been the end.

17

“It was all so easy,” Justin mused. “After I’d gotten rid of 18

Michael, I just had to get you to Samson & Mills. And that almost 19

took care of itself.”

20

w

21

Valencia had already checked the dining rooms, the second-floor 22

library and reading room. Overstuffed chairs and stuffed shirts. The 23

Harvard Club was just what she’d expected. Except for one thing: 24

no sign of Kate Paine. She returned to the registration desk.

25

“I’m sorry, but no one by that name is staying here.”

26

Valencia sighed. “Okay, then. Thanks anyway.”

27

She headed for the cloakroom to collect her coat. She told her-28

self that she’d done everything she could, gone well beyond the 29

call of duty. Anyway, there was probably some explanation. Kate 30

had only been gone a couple of hours. Hardly a lengthy absence.

31

But somehow, the thought didn’t reassure her.

32

w

33

The minutes flowed into hours; the words poured out endlessly.

34 sh

Now Justin was talking about his childhood: the foster parents who 35 re

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A M Y G U T M A N

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beat him, the years of addiction, the escalating petty thefts. And 2

then the new life he’d embarked on as Justin Daniels. The perfect 3

son of perfect parents.

4

“I was such an ideal candidate for the Ivy League,” he said, nos-5

talgically. “Just think of the obstacles I’d overcome!”

6

Kate gazed at him without speaking. She’d tried everything now.

7

Nothing had worked. A childhood prayer floated up from the past, 8

the prayer she’d said before sleep.
Keep me safe all through the night,
9

and wake me with the sunshine bright.

10

And then she had an idea. A long shot, but worth a try.

11

“Justin,” Kate said. “I really need to use the bathroom.” Her 12

heart was pounding so hard, she imagined that Justin must hear it.

13

“It’s been a long time,” she said. “And after all that water and 14

champagne . . .”

15

Frowning, Justin studied her face. She could read the suspicion 16

in his eyes. She’d almost given up hope when he abruptly stood up 17

from the bed. “All right, then,” he said. “But don’t try anything. I’ll 18

be right here waiting.” With the gun still pointing at her chest, 19

Justin cut through the bonds on her feet. Kate hoisted her legs over 20

the side of the bed and sat up. She slid awkwardly to the edge of 21

the mattress, her wrists still bound together. The blood coursed 22

down through her ankles and into her tingling feet. Just inches 23

away, she saw her glasses lying on the bedside table.

24

Well, at least this was a start. Standing on shaky legs, Kate 25

glanced toward a closed door across the room.

26

“Is that —”

27

“Yes,” said Justin. “It’s right through there.”

28

Kate took a couple more steps before turning back toward 29

Justin. “Uh, this is a little embarrassing.” She tried to sound girlish 30

and shy. “But do you think you could . . .” She raised her bound 31

hands a few inches. “I can’t . . . you know.”

32

Justin hesitated a moment, as if making up his mind. Then, with 33

a shrug, he stepped forward and cut through the tightly wound ort 34

bindings.

reg 35

She was free!

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It was all she could do not to rush for the door. But she managed to 1

control the impulse. Slowly she crossed the room. Turning to close 2

the door, she caught sight of Justin’s face.

3

A moment of frozen silence.

4

Then everything happened at once.

5

With a roar, Justin lunged forward. Kate slammed shut the door.

6

“Open up, Kate.” Justin’s voice shook with rage. The door shud-7

dered under his fists. But all of it came too late.

8

She’d already turned the lock.

9

w

10

As she emerged from the Harvard Club, Cathy Valencia almost 11

stumbled over the girl waiting on the sidewalk.

12

“Did you find her? Is she okay?”

13

The teenager from Kate Paine’s office. Josie, that was her name.

14

Valencia touched the girl’s shoulder. “She’s not in there. But I’m 15

sure she’s fine.”

16

Josie looked at her hard. “Something happened,” she said stub-17

bornly. “Otherwise, Kate would have been there today.”

18

Valencia was about to demur when she saw Josie’s fixed expres-19

sion. She decided to change her tactics. Maybe she could reassure 20

both Josie
and
herself. Intuition was one thing. Cops relied on it 21

all the time. But it had to have some basis in fact.

22

Reaching into her purse, Valencia pulled out her cell phone.

23

“For all we know, she’s already back at the office.”

24

By now, she knew the Samson number by heart. She dialed and 25

asked for Kate Paine’s office.
Hello, this is the phone mail system. The
26

party you have reached —
midway through the recording Valencia 27

ended the call.

28

Josie looked at her inquiringly. “Maybe she just went home,” Va-29

lencia said, trying to convey a calm she didn’t feel.

30

She had Kate’s home number on speed dial. But the answering 31

machine picked up.

32

Josie stared at the facade of the Harvard Club. “Maybe you 33

should check there again. Maybe you just didn’t see her.”

34 sh

Someone tapped Valencia’s shoulder. A worried middle-aged 35 re

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man. Then she realized who he was, the registration clerk from in-2

side. “I just got a call from upstairs,” he said. “Someone walking by 3

Room 512 — they just heard a woman scream. The guest’s name is 4

Robert Bernini. I think there’s a young lady with him.”

5

But Valencia was already gone, bounding toward the stairs in-6

side.

7

w

8

“Help! Help!” Kate screamed as loud as she could. But the walls 9

were thick. There were no windows. Her voice seemed to bounce 10

off the tiles.

11

A crashing thud and then a grunt.

12

The entire room seemed to shake. She realized that it must be 13

Justin, hurling his weight against the door. A short silence and 14

then another crash. But this time, Kate also heard a splintering of 15

wood, as if the door had started to give way. Trembling, she shrank 16

back toward the shower stall. But there was really nowhere to go.

17

Wildly, Kate searched for some way out, for something to pro-18

tect herself. Without her glasses she had to squint. But in the 19

blurry confines of the bathroom, she saw nothing that would serve 20

as a weapon. A sink. A mirror. A wastebasket imprinted with the 21

Harvard Club crest. Reaching over the sink, Kate took hold of the 22

mirror, strained to hoist it off the wall, But the frame wouldn’t 23

budge. It was firmly affixed on all sides.

24

Another immense blow to the door.

25

Kate renewed her cries. “Help!”
Why wasn’t anyone coming?

26

At the top of the door, it seemed as if the hinges had started to 27

pull loose. But the door was solid, how could this be? Adrenaline 28

flooded Kate’s body.

29

Then her eyes lit on a small glass shelf, suspended over the sink.

30

In an instant, she’d swept off its contents. With both hands, she 31

grabbed and yanked.

32

With the next blow, Kate heard a cracking sound, and then frag-33

ments of wood flew by. Through a jagged break in the door, Kate ort 34

saw Justin’s hand, reaching, grasping the lock. Raising the glass reg 35

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charged through the open door, Kate smashed the shelf down on 1

his head.

2

Blood gushed down Justin’s face; he let out a piercing cry. He 3

briefly staggered back before lunging toward her again. Then his 4

hands were around Kate’s neck, and he was squeezing tighter and 5

tighter. Kate made a futile jab at Justin with the glass fragment still 6

in her hand.
He must have put down the gun. If she could only
. . .

7

But her thoughts were growing dimmer. The glass fell to the floor.

8

As if from a very great distance, she heard it shatter below. Colors 9

exploded behind Kate’s eyes. Then everything started to fade.

10

A banging sound. Very close by. The pressure around her neck 11

slackened. Gasping for breath, Kate collapsed toward the sink, des-12

perately clawing for support. But before she could regain her bal-13

ance, Justin was on her again. As he wrestled her into a headlock, 14

cold metal bored into her scalp.

15

“Put down the gun. Now.” Through her own harsh breathing, 16

Kate heard the woman’s voice, just yards from where they stood.

17

Pleadingly, Kate looked at Justin. His pupils were twin black holes.

18

For a long moment, his eyes bored into hers. Kate felt as if she were 19

falling. Then something flickered in Justin’s eyes, some brief spark 20

of recognition. Wrenching his gaze from Kate, he took an unsteady 21

step back. Before Kate knew what was happening, he’d jammed 22

the gun in his mouth. An instant of total stillness.

23

Then the whole world seemed to explode.

24

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29

30

31

32

33

34 sh

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1

Friday, January 29

2

3

The phone message light was blinking as Kate walked into her of-4

fice. One week ago, in another lifetime, she would have immedi-5

ately responded to its call. Today, she let it go. It was a little before 6

one. She’d come by to pack up, to collect what she needed of her 7

personal effects. The rest would be sent home later. Tara had urged 8

her to put it off. After all, she was still reeling from the shock of last 9

night. Her arms and face were bruised, her body sore. She hadn’t 10

slept at all. Still, she had to come in today. She wanted to get it 11

over.

12

Expertly, Kate folded together a cardboard box, a task she’d 13

done hundreds of times before while preparing for hearings and 14

depositions. This time, however, she was packing up her own be-15

longings. She started in with books. Farnsworth on
Contracts.

16

Tribe on
Constitutional Law.
Miller on
Civil Procedure.
These were ort 17

volumes from her personal library, acquired during her years in law reg 18

school. As she began to fill the box, Kate felt a wrenching nostal-9858_02_153-356_r6jm.qxd 9/28/00 3:59 PM Page 341

E Q U I V O C A L D E A T H

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gia. How hopeful she’d been when she bought these texts. They’d 1

seemed to hold the keys to a new life. She’d made it through Har-2

vard Law School. Made it to Samson & Mills. She’d fought so hard 3

every step of the way. Was this part of her life really over? It still 4

just wouldn’t sink in.

5

There was a sound at the door. Turning to look behind her, Kate 6

met Andrea’s eyes. For a moment they looked at each other. Then 7

Andrea broke the silence.

8

“I’m so sorry,” she said. “If I’d had any idea . . .”

9

Kate didn’t say anything. She was vaguely surprised to see An-10

drea, but that was all. Her emotions had been used up.

11

Andrea lingered in the doorway. “Can I come in?” she said. “I 12

really need to explain.”

13

Kate stood up and brushed off the legs of her blue jeans. “Yeah, 14

sure.” she said. “Have a seat if you can find one.”

15

Andrea moved a stack of dusty papers from a chair to the book-16