A Matter of Life and Death by Phillip Margolin (ereader with dictionary TXT) 📕

I had to hold a gun on him to protect myself. Then I told him to go to his office and get rid of the warrants. He got dressed and left, and I told Tony that Ian was really upset. He sounded pleased.

“I didn’t know why Tony wanted me to pressure Ian. Then I found out Mrs. Carasco had been murdered that night and Ian had been with Tony when they found the body. I put two and two together and decided that I’d helped Tony get an alibi.

“I was scared that I was somehow involved in the murder, so I called Karl to ask what he thought I should do. Karl said he was driving up to Portland and I should get the judge over to the Grandview and we’d blackmail him. When Tony showed up, Karl threatened him with the tapes and told him how much money he wanted. Karl thought we had it made. Then these guys showed up and beat Karl bad.”

“Can you identify any of these men?”

“No. They had masks. They were all big, but one of them was huge, like an NFL lineman.”

Roger was pretty sure she was describing Andre Rostov.

“What did the men want?”

“The tapes. The giant made me show him where I was hiding them.”

“Where were they?”

“The camera was hidden by two books. Karl had hollowed out the books, and the tapes were in the books. The big guy took them and told me to get out of Oregon. That’s all I know.”

“Where is the gun you used to threaten Ian?”

“I don’t know. It was in my nightstand, but I didn’t take it with me when I ran.”

“What caliber gun was it?” Carrie asked.

“A .38.”

The same caliber as the bullets that ended Anthony Carasco’s life, Carrie thought.

“Do you still have the key to your apartment?” Roger asked.

“No. I tossed it.”

The server appeared with their order. Stacey inhaled her food as soon as her plate hit the table. Roger guessed that she was low on funds and was not eating three squares a day.

“How much trouble am I in?” Stacey asked when she came up for air.

“If Ian wants to press charges, you could be in a lot of trouble, but I don’t think he will. It would be embarrassing and not the type of thing he’d want going public.”

“Are you still going to hold me as a material witness?”

“It would be easier if you rode back to Portland with us. Again, it’s your choice.”

“What if the guys who beat up Karl come after me? They said they would if I showed my face in Oregon.”

“You told us Tony sent them,” Roger said. “The judge is dead, and men like that don’t work for free. I think you’re safe. But just to be sure, I’ll see if we can put you in a safe house.”

Stacey took a sip of her coffee, and the detectives let her think.

“Okay,” she said. “I’ll go back.”

CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE

After suffering a rash of thefts, the company Luis Ortega rented from had installed trackers in their cars. Two hours after Anders and Dillon arrived back in Portland, the company manager told them the current location of Ortega’s car, and the detectives found it parked in the lot of a hotel near the airport.

Ortega’s room was on the first floor near a door that opened into the parking lot. Carrie knocked on the door. Ortega opened it, and Carrie displayed her badge.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Ortega.” Luis felt sick when he realized that Carrie had used his real name. “I’m Detective Carrie Anders, and this is my partner, Roger Dillon. I don’t know if you remember, but we met in the courthouse. We’d like to ask you some questions. Can we come in?”

Ortega hesitated. Then he stepped back and waved the detectives inside. Roger looked around the room. A suitcase lay open on the bed, and it looked like they’d caught Ortega in the act of packing.

“What’s this about?” Luis asked.

“It’s about you calling yourself Brent Macklin.”

“That’s not a crime.”

“It is if you’re concealing your identity as part of a plot to murder someone.”

“Whoa, hold on. I haven’t killed anyone.”

“Not even Anthony Carasco, the man who had your father murdered?”

“I didn’t know the judge did that,” Ortega said, but he didn’t sound convincing.

“You didn’t follow Carasco from a barn in the country to the Grandview apartments on Thursday night?”

“Where?”

“The Grandview apartments. They’re on the Columbia River.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“We think you do, Luis.”

“I’ve never been to those apartments.”

Carrie looked at Roger. Roger started to pull out his handcuffs, and Ortega punched him in the shoulder. The blow moved Roger aside. When Ortega started for the door, Carrie put all of her two-hundred-plus pounds behind a punch that sent Ortega to the floor. Roger snapped on the cuffs.

“Luis Ortega, I am placing you under arrest for the murder of Anthony Carasco,” Carrie said. Then she read Ortega his Miranda rights.

CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

Robin was experiencing post-death-case depression. While Joe Lattimore’s life hung in the balance, Robin didn’t have one restful night. She knew that Joe could die if she wasn’t perfect. Exhausted from lack of sleep and plagued by doubt, adrenaline had gotten her through each day.

Once Joe was free, the exhaustion she had fought for weeks swept over her like a tsunami. Now that she was no longer responsible for Joe’s life, Robin slept like a dead person. When she woke up, she wanted to stay in bed, but she knew it was important to get back into her routine, so she forced herself to grab her gym bag and run the five miles to McGill’s gym, where she battled weights for an hour.

Robin’s muscles ached, but she felt refreshed after taking a shower and making the leisurely walk to her office. She had a slow day and no desire to plunge back into her cases, so she sipped a latte and wasted an hour reading the Oregon State Bar Bulletin and a