Splicer (12 page)

Jayne had never felt endangered by her work. She felt more threatened returning to the office parking garage at night than sitting in an interview room with a suspected serial killer. There was a certain professional immunity that criminal lawyers felt sheltered by. And in many cases, the defendants had little to gain by intimidating council. Besides, most crimes, even the most horrific, were small
c
. Abused kids who grow up to be sociopathic monsters aren't evil. They've just been screwed over by life. The key was to stay out of their way.

But this case, the Redfield homicide, had her rattled. The police should have recognized right away the kind of fallout that materializes following the murder of the president of one of the world's most controversial biotechnology companies. This was political. And that's why the warning she was getting from her peers kept reverberating around in her legal mind space like a scream from a half-forgotten nightmare.

Her first suspect would have been the competition. Then she would have gone after the shifty-eyed partner. Her feeling now was that it was neither. Whoever had killed Ludd fully intended to frame Rusty - the pattern of conveniently discovered evidence was unfolding like a pat little murder mystery.

She was concerned for her own safety now. And she was almost certain that Redfield was a target. She called him at his apartment. For the first time, he sounded drained, listless. She suggested they meet. She would pick him up in an hour in front of the apartment. When she hung up the phone a shiver ran through her frame.
Was the phone tapped?

She drove to his apartment in the rain and called him from her cell phone. She waited, her eyes on the empty street. He tumbled into the front seat in faded jeans and a sweatshirt wiping the rain off his forehead.

"These must be Criminal lawyers hours." When he saw her face he added. "And you look just like you sounded on the phone!"

She stared at him, the rain on the windshield casting shadows like tears across her face. "I don't believe in intuition, Rusty, but I'm getting this crazy feeling that we're missing something. I need you to be honest with me."

"Jayne, I've never lied to you. Anything you don't know about this case that I do is only because you haven't asked the question. Or I didn't think it was relevant."

"Shit. Everything is relevant." Her eyes darted to the street again, followed a passing car.

"What's going on here?" he asked. The rain was growing in intensity - a roar on the roof of the car. He leaned closer to her.

She kept her eyes on the street. "Look. I don't know how to start. How many movies have you seen with this scene in it -
I'm trying to tell you something I've just seen - and you’re not going to believe me.”

"Cary Grant in 'Bringing Up Baby'? Richard Dreyfuss in "Close Encounters?" asked Rusty.

Jayne shook her head. "Two of my favorite movies. How do you do that?"

"I read your bio."

She studied his face. "You've got this empathy thing where you can figure people out so fast. I could never do that."

"Probably not a professional asset in your business. Sometimes there are things about your clients you'd probably rather not know. I can tell you, the last thing I wanted to be when I was in jail was
empathetic
."

"Well, if you're so smart, how come you never figured out
GeneFab
then?"

"Not paranoid enough, I guess. Not my strong suit."

"Becoming mine," she mused. "Want to go for a drive?"

"In your Audi R8? My pleasure."

After they had driven for several blocks at a fair clip, Rusty noticed Jayne's interest in her rear view mirror. "Are we being followed?"

"I wish I knew."

"Want to make sure?" he asked.

She looked at him again, wondering why she liked his goofy innocence. "You do this often?"

"It's a game. Two blocks up there's a one-way street. Drive like you're going to pass. Then turn right and go up the street the wrong way."

"You're crazy."

"It works. Believe me, if we're being followed, they only have one choice."

She sped up, slowed slightly at the intersection, then turned sharply into the nearly deserted street. One car veered, it's horn shrieking.

"He was pissed off," said Rusty. He looked behind them. "No tail. You're safe."

"You're positive?"

"If they really wanted to trail you they could be using a helicopter, satellite surveillance, a hidden bug in the car …". Her eyes widened. She pulled off on a side street and stopped.

"How come you didn't know about
GeneFab
?" she asked.

"You mean the military deals?"

"That and the government grants."

"Everyone knew about the grants."

"How much was involved?"

"I wasn't paying that much attention at the time."

"Hundreds of millions?"

"You think so?" he asked, incredulous.

"That's the word."

"What the hell did they do with it?"

"You tell me." Her look was hard.

"Hold on a minute. You're expression says
You know what's going on and you're not telling
. I get that a lot. Believe me, for some reason everyone thinks I know more than I do. I must have that all-knowing look. I wish I could have it removed surgically."

"Fine. You don't know about the grants. How about the U.S. Military?"

He slid down in the seat, attempting to find a more comfortable position in the cramped confines of the sports car. "We spoke to buyers. I was in on one of the meetings. They wanted
the Splicer
. Jeff liked the military because they were willing to pay ten times more than private industry."

"And when you and Grieves left, didn't you think the military would be concerned?"

"Is that who's following us? The U.S. Army?" Rusty began to smile and then the joke lodged in his throat. "You think they were involved with Ludd? They're mad at me? Like spurned lovers?"

"If they were, you've got a bigger problem than we originally thought." He exhaled sharply. "Think about it, Rusty. This isn't just the courts. We're playing tug-of-war with
them
. And they figure you're going to be found guilty. And I've been threatened."

"What do you mean,
threatened
?"

"It's hard to explain. These things aren't always written in bold script. I have been told to
be careful
. But the person who said it, the way it was said …"

"And does this change anything?"

"Does this change anything? Listen to you, Rusty. Of course it changes things. It changes everything."

Rusty sat up. "Like what? Like the idea of getting a fair trial? Like the idea of believing that innocent people don't get sent to jail?"

"These people don't care. And they have the keys to the boardrooms."

"Don't beat me up with clichés. You're giving up on me."

"I am not giving up on you. It changes our strategy, that's all."

"Lawyer-speak. You plea bargain me now, right?"

"If all they want is a quick trial, they should be willing to listen to us."

"Screw you."

"What?" barked Jayne, looking indignant.

"Don't play your lawyer games on me. No deal. I didn't do it -period. There is no way I'm going to lie and say I did or even give those bastards the satisfaction of thinking that I'm frightened by their nonsense. So this little joy ride was designed to soften me up for the big pitch?"

"No. When I called you I was concerned."

"For who?"

She laid her head back against the headrest. "For the both of us."

"Somebody sure put the fear of God into you."

"I wish it was the fear of God. This is a different kind of fear."

"Sorry. I'm not crumbling. Get me a new lawyer."

"What if I said getting you another lawyer might endanger your life?"

"I'd say you've read too many murder mystery novels. What makes you so special? Besides the obvious. "

Jayne closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "They expect me to do the right thing. A different lawyer would alert them. They might decide the hell with it, and just take care of you the way they did Ludd." They both listened to the rain drum on the car top.

"What's obvious?" she asked.

"Pardon?"

"You said
besides the obvious
."

"You never let me get away with anything, do you?" He thought for a moment. "You're different."

"Different as compared to what?"

"Just different. You're unique. And I have a maternal interest in you."

"Right."

"Cynic," said Rusty.

"I think Grieves had something to do with Ludd's death."

"What have I been saying for the last two weeks?"

"Why would he be hiding? The police aren't after him."

Rusty pondered that for a moment. "Let's say that for whatever reason Grieves' has gone off the deep end. Grieves was different - always a little different. I don't know if he deserved that jail sentence." He stopped. They both watched the rain pool on the black pavement.

"
Bringing Up Baby
. That’s another movie. You know you have a certain Kate Hepburn about you. She played a lot of lawyers in the movies." Jayne offered no reply so Rusty continued. "So Grieves is here. But he's gone into hiding?"

"What if he did it? What if he killed Ludd, left your card at the scene - and all the while, the police were sure he was out of the jurisdiction."

"Then why wouldn't he take off – disappear?"

"Because he's not done yet. What does Grieves know that might be of serious interest to these military types? What do you know?"

"I told you I wouldn't lie to you. Now you're asking questions that make me uncomfortable. The answers have nothing to do with this murder trial, Jayne."

"But they have to do with this
Splicer
business. And if that's the case, then there may be something to all this innuendo about you being targeted. And me as well." Rusty didn't respond. He simply swallowed hard and waited. She pulled back into the street and accelerated, as if making her escape from reality.

"I think we should let Kozak know about this. I think we should try and track down Grieves. And I think you should lay low," she finally said, picking up speed as they hit the freeway.

"That sounds expensive."

"It might be. But without Grieves to use as bait, you're chances don't look that good."

"Before we go any further - there's more."

"There always is," she said, gloomily.

"Avril Ludd. She came up to me at the pre-trial yesterday, just before the afternoon break ended. "

"That's interesting."

"She started screaming at me about a Kim Soo?"

"Rewind that one for me."

"I think Ludd was having an affair with her. I'm not sure what it has to do with anything, but it goes towards your theory about how screwed up this has become."

"Where did this come from, Rusty?"

"You know, Jayne - do all lawyers drive like this? Are you trying out some new tires or something?"

"Are you worried? You didn't answer my question about Avril."

"Bar room talk, that's all. A little bragging about sexual prowess from Ludd."

"Stay away from Avril. The prosecution could use it."

"So we're still fighting the good fight?"

She smiled for the first time that evening. She felt good behind the wheel of the racing German two-door coupe, like she could outrace the villains anytime she wanted. "We're still the good guys, as far as I can tell."

"Can I ask a personal question?"

"Hey, I bill by the hour no matter what you ask me! If I'm still you're lawyer, that is."

"You're a successful lawyer, attractive in that decadent Hollywood sort of way. Good sense of humor most of the time - although that's probably a liability in your line of work. And you drive too fast. But, no significant other as far as I can tell."

"That wasn't a question - yet."

"It was buried in my soliloquy. You just didn't catch it. My point is, it was love at first sight for
me
so I can only guess that the same must be true of others you meet."

"What do you mean by that?" she asked, surprised.

"It means how come you don't have to beat all those men off with sticks?"

She tossed her head as if to clear her thoughts. "I do a little beating now and then. It's just that most of them are lawyers. I don't happen to like lawyers."

"I'm not a lawyer."

She pushed the accelerator down further and beamed. "I know. That's why I keep you around." She flicked her eyes to her rearview mirror and made a quick lane change, failing to notice a black Tundra pacing her from behind.