Tidal Rage by David Evans (best big ereader .TXT) 📗

to join in and I kicked him once,” Mick Hilton said quietly, the shame rising up in his voice.

“Bernie told me to get the cigarettes, and as I bent down to get them, the guy’s eyes were wide open. I knew he was dead, and I told Bernie,” Hilton indicated.

“Had you boys been drinking or doing drugs?” Colton asked.

“Couple of beers. Bernie was always on the coke, so I’m pretty sure he had a line or two that night,” Mick Hilton acknowledged.

“How did Bernie lose the ring?”

“He didn’t miss it until the next day. He thought it must have come off when he hit the dead guy with the ashtray. Said it was a bit loose on his finger. We did not go looking for it in case anyone was watching the area.

“My boss has given me the name of a state attorney he knows in the Palm Springs area. We are going to see her, and you are going to tell her exactly what you just said. It’s your only chance,” Tuck told him. “We’ll get in touch with your mother and have her meet us there.”

Once Tuck had contacted Carly Bryce, they were in her plush offices in an hour. She had known Cutler for many years and had hidden away her feelings for him for as long as she could remember. They had had a drunken one-night stand several years earlier; Cutler had unknowingly taken her virginity. It was one night of passion and a lasting memory. She would always secretly wish for a second encounter.

Cutler had told her several months earlier about the Don Ross situation, she had laid out the minimum standards required to put forward a case. When he hit that standard, she would be more than happy to assist them.

Well, the Hilton boy’s evidence more than met the minimum requirements. Cutler was right; Don Ross had been murdered, and as both boys lived in the Palm Springs area, it was up to her to follow the case up.

Carly had to settle some egos in the police department who wanted to arrest Tuck and Colton for fleeing a crime scene but were persuaded that they had no choice but to go. Several of the officers knew Colton and admired and respected the African American for his work several years earlier on a DEA case in the area.

Two hours after Mick Hilton gave his statement to Carly Bryce; Rothhelm Senior, Bernard Rothhelm, and two attorneys from the most prestigious firm in the city turned up at the district attorney’s office wanting to give a statement.

Predictably, they blamed the Hilton boy and went on to describe how Bernard had been terrified of him, and that was why he had not come forward. The attorneys wanted a plea bargain, with no prison time for Bernard, just community service. And Rothhelm foolishly said he would donate a large sum to the local police foundation.

Rothhelm Senior would not get his wish. The interview was stopped inside thirty minutes as two police officers arrived at Carly’s office and arrested Rothhelm Senior on conspiracy to murder. Evidently the driver of the Buick came around in the hospital under armed guard. He had decided that twenty-five years in a high-security prison was not for him, and quickly did a deal to turn state’s evidence and receive only twelve years for his participation.

Rothhelm Senior liked to act as the big gangster but did not have the organization or respect that the likes of the Werner's of this world attract. Money was not enough to sort this out; MIDAS had seen to that.

It would probably be years of court cases and appeals before Rothhelm Senior was finally sentenced; however, Bernard Rothhelm was not in the same situation.

Carly Bryce restarted the interview with Bernard Rothhelm and only one attorney as the other scuttled off, following the shackled Rothhelm Senior.

“Young man, we don’t believe a word you’re saying. We have a full statement from Mick Hilton as to your involvement. We also have the DNA of Don Ross on a ring owned by you and found on the ship, not to mention statements from the Yacoubs, who saw you. We are now contacting them to bring them back to the States to formally identify you. In short, we have you; all the evidence points to you. Hilton will be going to prison, but not nearly as long as you are. I’m afraid you’ll not be going anywhere for a very long time,” avowed Carly.

Bernard Rothhelm was completely dumbstruck for the first time in his life.

“Do something!” he commanded his attorney.

“We need some time, Miss Bryce, if you would,” requested his attorney.

Carly Bryce returned to the interview room after a ten-minute break.

“Given his tender age, Miss Bryce, what is your best offer?” requested the attorney.

“Full confession, manslaughter, fifteen to twenty years, first five in a youth offender’s correctional facility,” Carly stated.

“I can’t do fifteen years in prison!” Bernard Rothhelm spoke several octaves higher than normal.

“You’ll be doing forty years to life if we go to court. You’ll be retired before you see daylight if you don’t agree to this in the next five minutes,” asserted Carly.

The attorney nodded his agreement.

“What are you doing?” young Rothhelm screeched.

“We were taken on to give you the best advice. My best advice is to make the deal. Your father may not like it, but he has his own problems now, and they have a rock-solid case that even I can’t get you out of,” the attorney declared.

Carly eventually got through to Tuck Walters, who had returned to the office in Everglade City.

“Hi, Tuck, Carly Bryce from the DA’s office. I’ve been trying to get in touch with Cutler but can’t seem to reach him with the news.”

“He’s over in the UK doing some business at the moment, Miss Bryce.”

“Well,