Page 97 of Witness 8

‘So why did you drive around the block and park outside my client’s house?’

‘It’s a free country.’

‘No, it isn’t. I don’t know if it has ever been that. But it sure as shit isn’t free for you. Not today. So tell me what you’re doing here. Or would you rather talk about Margaret Blakemore?’

His face registered the name. He tried hard to keep his expression neutral, confident. But his pupils dilated and his lips parted when that name came out of my mouth.

‘I don’t want anything to do with your client or his family. I don’t want to talk to them. I have no intention of harming them,’ he said.

My father was an Irish conman. My mother was Italian, from a long line of strong women that hailed from Palermo. There was nobody on this planet that my father couldn’t fool – except one. My mom. She could spot a lie on a fly’s ass at five hundred yards, or, more accurately, she could read the lie in my father’s face before he even opened his mouth. You can’t grow up in a household like that without picking up some of those skills.

When Brett Bale said he wasn’t there for my client, he was telling the truth.

‘So what the hell are you doing here, then?’

He said nothing.

‘It’s just . . . someone parked outside my client’s house with a gun makes me nervous. Especially someone like you. It’s not a good idea to make me nervous, Mr. Bale.’

‘Someone like me? What have I ever done to you?’

‘Nothing yet. Wasn’t your last wife a swim champion? And yet she drowned swimming off your boat, in a calm sea with perfect weather. It seems accidents happen around you, Mr. Bale. Did Margaret Blakemore have one of your accidents?’

His teeth began gnawing at his lip, then grinding together, his jaw muscle working back and forth. He had a strange, detached look in his blue eyes.

‘You’ve got enormous financial resources,’ I said. ‘You’re ruthless, determined, possibly sociopathic. For many people,you are the worst enemy they could possibly have. But I’ve had worse. And I’m still here. So don’t get any bright ideas. Here’s what’s going to happen now – I’m going to get out of this car and you’re going to drive away. My people will be here all night, keeping watch. You won’t see them. But they will see you.’

He checked the rearview mirror again. The sight of Bloch with a Magnum that could punch a hole in an armored Humvee is not a pleasant one. Bale was a psychopath, but he wasn’t stupid.

‘Get out.’

‘Keep that gun in its holster. Until next time, Mr. Bale.’

I opened the passenger door, but gave Bale a parting gift before I left.

‘Actually, there won’t be a next time. I don’t think we’ll meet again. If I come for you, you won’t even know about it until it’s all over.’

I stepped onto the sidewalk and slammed the door shut. The engine came to life, and Bale pulled out of the space and hit the gas. Bloch drove the Jeep forward, level with me, and then stopped and opened her window.

‘What do you think?’

‘He’s not after the Jacksons. He said as much, and I believe him.’

‘Then what is he doing here?’ asked Lake.

‘I don’t know, but he’s dangerous. I’ll need you two to take it in shifts tonight. Keep an eye on our people. Bale is the immediate threat, but I need to know if Ellis makes any moves.’

‘You think he killed Margaret Blakemore?’ asked Bloch.

‘I’m not sure yet. And for God’s sake, Gabriel – go buy a car.’

42

Ruby

The red priest was screaming at Ruby when the front door opened and Alison and John walked into the house. He shut up as soon as the Jacksons came inside, but Ruby’s head still hurt. At times it felt like his pale hands were in her skull, pushing down on her brain, squeezing it.

Court was finished for the day.