Marcia Clark - Guilt By Degrees

“According to Audrey’s records, Lilah never went back to work after the arrest.” I stared out the window. “She might’ve been able to find a doctor who’d abort it-”

“Wouldn’t be easy, though.”

“No.”

“So what happened to that baby?”

I leaned back in my chair, and we fell silent. But in the next moment, Bailey and I simultaneously stopped and stared at each other. Like a blast of cold wind that blows away the fog, the revelation left a view that was crystal clear. Finally, the last piece of the puzzle clicked into place.

“If she’d had that baby with Zack still around-,” Bailey began.

“She’d never be free of him,” I finished.

Bailey nodded.

“She did it. Lilah killed Zack.”

My cell phone buzzed in my hand. It was a text message.

Did anyone ever tell you that one month after Romy disappeared, a parking citation was issued to a red pickup truck just twenty miles away from your home? And that a black dog was in the cab?

Or that six months after that, a man in a red pickup truck was given a speeding ticket up in Eureka? And that his “daughter” was asleep in the backseat?

You didn’t know any of that, did you? And there’s more, so much more that I could tell you…

I stared at the message with such intensity, it got blurry. I could barely breathe.

“Rachel? What’s wrong?” Bailey asked.

But my heart was pounding so hard, I couldn’t speak. I handed her the phone.

If the kidnapper hadn’t killed Romy within the first forty-eight hours, there was a chance he hadn’t killed her at all. I had hope-real hope-for the first time in decades that my sister might be alive.

The sudden adrenaline rush left me trembling. I wanted to jump on this possible lead with all fours. But I couldn’t afford to dwell on it right now. I looked down at my shaking hands and willed them to stop. Because I had a message for Lilah.

I set my phone to camera mode, held it up to the hospital bed in front of me, and clicked. And sent Lilah the photograph of Chase Erling. Who had miraculously survived.

Then I typed: Don’t you wonder what else I know?

I feltfairly certain that when Chase woke up and learned that Lilah had put out a hit on him-and I’d make sure he did-we’d have an important source of information on her. Not only where to find her but also her involvement as the mastermind of the murders of Simon and Gary. I’d find her eventually. And when I did, I’d make sure she was locked up for life.

For now, Bailey and I found some consolation in the fact that we’d caught the actual killer responsible for Gary’s and Simon’s murder, and thanks to the efforts of the fine doctors at Harbor General, Chase Erling would get to live for quite some time. Long enough to serve at least one of his multiple life sentences.

I’d asked the Bayers if they’d mind donating the bowl and serving tray Simon left behind in his studio to Johnnie Jasper. They’d been happy to do it, and they’d enclosed a beautiful, loving note to Johnnie, thanking him for the kindness he’d shown to Simon. We braved Johnnie’s wrath and delivered the items, including his vase, personally. I called out to him, and when he emerged, I placed everything just outside the fence. He waited until I got back in the car, but I saw him open the gate before we pulled away.

Toni told us we owed her dinner-why, she didn’t say. But we’d been meaning to check out Rivera, a Nueva Mexicana restaurant downtown that was supposed to be the bomb, so I got us reservations. Whatever Toni thought we owed her, I figured that would settle the score.

She was resplendent in a leopard-print dress, and Bailey looked hot as usual, in her Calvin Klein sweater and slacks. We ordered our Ketel One martinis and toasted to “Girls’ night.”

“So give it up, Tone,” I said. “Why do we owe you?”

Toni gave us a sly smile. “Remember I told you if we wanted to shut Hemet down, we needed to get dirt on him?”

“Yeah.”

“I got to thinking,” she said. “Who has the eyes and ears closest to management?”

“The secretaries,” I said.

“And Hemet’s secretary, Rosa, has been a friend of mine since I was a baby DA,” Toni said. “She’s about fifteen months pregnant, and she’s not real interested in coming back after her maternity leave-”

“So she was willing to talk,” Bailey surmised.

“You are good, Detective,” Toni said. “We were looking over a Ross-Simons catalog when Hemet called in and told her to sign him out at five p.m.”

“So?” I asked, puzzled.

“It was one thirty p.m.,” Toni said. “And he was not in the office.”

“He has her fake his time cards?” I said with disbelief.

She nodded emphatically. “Like crazy. When I see this go down, I ask her, does he do it all the time? She says, this was nothing. Last month, he went to Maui and called in to tell her to sign him in and out every day for a whole friggin’ week! ”

The man who was dogging me about playing hooky on company time was falsifying his own time cards.

“But how would you ever prove it?” I asked.

“Well, we have Rosa’s word for it,” Toni said. “But girlfriend did a smart thing. She told him she was thinking of going to Maui and asked him to send her pictures. Hemet, the dumb shit, never dreamed his little secretary would dump him out, so he sent ’em to her-”

“On her cell phone, which shows time and date,” I said.

Toni nodded and chuckled.

“Is he in any of them?” Bailey asked.

“Huh, try all of them!” she replied. “The man should not wear shorts!”

We covered our mouths and tried to laugh without snorting.

Toni continued, “I told her what Hemet was doing to you and that I wanted to confront him with the dirt myself, but Rosa wouldn’t let me. Said she’d been waiting for years to get the chance to mess him up. So when she heard about you, she wanted to do it for you too. And, like I said, she doesn’t care about keeping the job anymore-”

“So she went out with a bang,” I said. “And I assume that’s what made Hemet pull out of the news story?”

“Unless he wanted to be the featured player,” Toni said. “He’s got connects, so he won’t get fired. But I’d guess he’ll be put out to pasture in a land far, far away, where the only career he can ruin is his own.”

“It’s better this way,” I reflected. “If he’s fired, he has to find a new life. This way, he stays, but he’s invisible-”

“And powerless,” Toni added. “But here’s the kicker: with Hemet gone, Averill’s days downtown are numbered. He can kiss his dreams of the big time good-bye. Ten bucks says he’s out in Newhall by Easter.”

“No bet, Tone,” I said. “But I’ll drink to that.” I started to lift my glass, but it was empty.

“Mine too,” she said.

Bailey nodded. I raised my hand to get our waiter’s attention.

He spotted it from across the room and made a circling gesture, asking if we wanted another round. I gave him a thumbs-up. When he returned with a tray of drinks, he pointed to a table at the other end of the dining room. “The gentleman over there is buying this round.”

Detective Stoner lifted his glass and smiled. We joined him and mouthed, Thank you.

It was a great night. And as I got into bed, I remembered a saying I’d heard: If you wait long enough, all your enemies will be vanquished. Hemet’s-and Averill’s impending-demise might just be proof that it’s true.

Sometimes, I can be very patient.

The next day, Bailey moved back to her apartment.

She looked around the hotel room one last time and sighed. “I guess all good things have to come to an end eventually.”