Sedona Law 4 by Dave Daren (free ebook reader for ipad .txt) 📗

could explore my artistic side. So, I totally dug into the whole alt-culture of Sedona for my series, and I would drive to Phoenix, whatever. That’s how I got in my band.”

He gestured toward me, as he referred to our previous conversation about his band.

“So, one day,” he said. “I was in the studio by myself, and we didn’t use the old massage rooms, they were usually locked. But, I just decided to snoop around, and found one of them unlocked. The room was empty, but I saw enough to know what was going on. And everything made sense, then. I asked her about it, and she was super open, once I knew, and she offered to cut me in on the profits.”

He scoffed and rolled his eyes. “I couldn’t stomach it after that. I mean, you know, get your kicks and all, that’s cool, whatever gets you off. Consenting adults and all. And maybe if she’d been open with me in the beginning, I’d have been cool with it. Maybe, I don’t know. But, the whole thing felt so icky, and the way I was lied to, I didn’t trust her anymore. So, I left pretty much after that.”

“Did you ever meet any of her clients?” I asked.

“A few times,” he said. “She was always very discreet about it, it was done during our ‘off’ hours. So, I always kind of thought they were fellow investors, or some other business associates.”

“What about Senator John Malone?” I asked.

“What about him?” he replied.

“Did you ever meet him?” I asked.

“Yeah, dozens of times,” he said nonchalantly.

I stopped for a beat, and he realized what he had said and smiled sheepishly.

“Would you say he was a client of Judith Klein?” I asked.

He shifted uncomfortably. “I... look... I... I don’t want to get dragged into a big high profile court thing.”

“Let me lay this down for you, Jack,” I said. “Judith Klein, Senator Malone, and Marvin Iakova were all in the same building on the same night, and then there was a dead body found backstage. Now, there’s an innocent woman being charged for that murder. I need to know what you know about the relationships between those people. Someone’s life depends on it.”

He sighed and played with his fingers. “Judith and Senator Malone had a very twisted relationship. All I know is that he... fuck it. I know a lot, actually. He had a secret apartment in Tucson, where he had this girl live.”

“A mistress?” I asked.

“Uh,” he said. “I think that’s more like an affair. This, from what I gathered, was a business arrangement. Judith arranged the whole thing and got a regular ‘finder’s fee.’ But, then his wife found out and threatened to ruin his career.”

“Geez,” I said. “These people are scumbags.”

“Yeah,” he said. “Tell me about it. So, from what I have gathered from coded comments, is that he stopped seeing the girl and behaved himself for a while. But, Judith missed the extra cash. So, that’s when she decided to open her studio. But she needed an investor, so she called the richest guy she knew, and offered to cut him in. But, since his permanent address is in Flagstaff, she chose Sedona to be close to him, but far enough from his wife. She picked photography, because it seemed probable in Sedona, and she called me because she knew a young, naïve college student would jump at the chance.”

“Do you have any idea why Judith and Malone would want to conspire to kill a dancer from New York?”

“No clue,” he said.

“And what happened to the girl?” I asked.

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t know anything about her. Never met her, don’t even know her name.”

I nodded slowly and thoughtfully.

“If I were you,” Jack said. “I would find that girl.”

“Something tells me that I already have,” I said.

Chapter 12

I arrived back to our office to find it a boiler room of activity. Julianna and Gabriel were in the conference room, with Vicki prepping them for the arraignment tomorrow. AJ was bringing them up to speed on everything we had uncovered in the past couple of weeks.

“But,” Julianna was in mid-sentence. “If Judith confessed, doesn’t that mean we’re off the hook?”

“Not necessarily,” I said as I entered the room. I stood at the table and tapped my fingertips on the surface in thought. Everyone got silent and turned to me.

“Not if the prosecutor doesn’t accept the confession,” I said. “The police are convinced the confession is false, and they’re going to persuade him to throw it out. Now, we have a very good relationship with the prosecutor and with the police. They’ll listen to us if we can prove otherwise, and they’re going to want to settle this out of court if they can.”

“That’s what we want, right?” Julianna said. Her expression was haggard and worn.

“That’s the best scenario,” I said, “because it will be months at best before we can get in for a trial. And, if the jury comes back with a guilty verdict, you’ll get the book thrown at you after rejecting the plea deal.”

Gabriel sat sideways facing Julianna and rested his elbows on his knees and rubbed his palms together.

“So,” he said, “if we reject the plea deal tomorrow, we could get more time?”

“If the jury comes back with a guilty verdict, yes,” I said. “But in that case, we could appeal.”

His dark eyes looked troubled, and he looked at Julianna. “What if we just lie and say we did it?”

“Gabriel!” she said. “I’m not going to admit to a felony I didn’t commit. That will follow me for the rest of my life.”

He nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. I don’t know what I was thinking. It just seems easier somehow. So what happens when we