The Last Alibi (A JASON KOLARICH NOVEL)

by David Ellis

  And he’s right. I’ve learned more about a major construction project than I ever wanted to know. I’ll never walk into a football stadium or concert hall or government building without thinking of tuck-pointing and change orders, soil samples and pre-bid drawings.

  “Hey, Shauna? Just out of curiosity—why the battlefield promotion? I’m not complaining, but Rory keeps asking about Jason, and now he’s getting me. What’s up with Jason?”

  I let out a sigh while I organize the depositions in the order I want them. “I was hoping you could tell me,” I say. Then I stop and look at him. “Actually, that’s a serious statement. Have you noticed anything unusual with Jason?”

  Bradley gives a Who knows? shrug. “I’ve been like you, boss. Buried in Mariel for the last two months and now into the fire with Arangold. I’ve barely talked to him.”

  “I know.”

  “But you know Jason,” he says, trying to appease me. “If he’s not on trial, he mopes around. He just had a tough stretch with the knee blowing out, he’s missing the summer marathon season, he hasn’t had a big trial lately—”

  “But this is a big trial.” I drive my finger into the table. “This is a bet-the-company case for the Arangolds.”

  “He doesn’t want to try this case? He turned it down? Oh.” Bradley pushes his lips out. “Yeah, now that’s unusual. Yeah, I don’t know then.”

  My eyes drift off in the direction of Jason’s office, though I’d need X-ray vision to see it from the conference room.

  “Be right back,” I say. I didn’t like how Jason and I left things yesterday. He bolted on me and then disappeared for the entire afternoon. The lad is out of sorts, methinks, and needs a friend.

  When I reach Jason’s office, I see something I’ve never seen. His door is closed.

  I knock weakly with the back of my hand. “Anyone home?”

  “Hey, Shauna, come in, come in.” Jason has a big enough office for a couch on the end opposite his desk, which is where I find him and his new lady friend.

  “Shauna Tasker, Alexa Himmel.”

  “Hi.” She gives me a quick once-over and waves at me from the couch. She could get up. It wouldn’t kill her.

  So I wave back. “Nice to meet you.”

  Yeah, she’s Jason’s type, all right. Exotic and mysterious, sexy.

  “I didn’t mean to intrude. Jason,” I say, feeling like a teacher or my mother, “when you get a second, nothing urgent.”

  “No problem. Alexa just stopped by for a minute. Shauna has a huge trial coming up,” Jason says. He’s got that spacey grin on his face again, like he did when I caught him mumbling song lyrics and lighting matches the other day. On his lap is a manila envelope, opened, contents unknown.

  “Oh? That’s exciting,” Alexa says, in that way you say something and mean the exact opposite. I mean, surely it can’t be as exciting as, say, spending your days transcribing what other people say. Seriously, trying a multimillion-dollar case with an entire family business on the line is exciting, but basically serving as a human tape recorder—that’s the coolest!

  She holds her stare on me, eyebrows raised, as if to say to me, Was there anything else, sweetheart? Or should you be running along?

  I clap my hands together, heat rising to my face. “Well, Alexa, nice meeting you,” I say, and for some reason I do a salute. I actually salute like I’m in the military. Why on earth did I do that?

  “Aye, aye, Cap’n,” Jason says, saluting me back. He laughs. Alexa laughs. I make a decision right there: It’s okay for Jason to laugh. Not okay for Alexa to laugh, not when she’s basically laughing at me. Not okay for a little Kewpie doll court reporter to wiggle her sweet ass and be more welcome in Jason’s office than his best friend and law partner. Not okay for a little low-rent typist who probably didn’t make it past high school to talk down to someone who graduated law school at the top of her class and then built up her own law firm from scratch when nobody thought she would succeed, nobody—

  Wow. Where did that come from?

  “Okay, bye then.” I close the door to their continued amusement.

  I return to the conference room and tell Bradley to shut up before he can even ask me. “We don’t need Jason,” I tell him. “We’ll win this case, just you and me.”

  34.

  Jason

  Wednesday, June 26

  The next several days are like a blur. I ducked out early on Friday and spent the whole weekend with Alexa, most of the time naked, trying out new options sexually, the bad-girl thing she’d whispered in my ear being a particular highlight. I’ve never been into role-playing; the nurse and patient, the cop, the chambermaid, the prison guard, the flight attendant, the college professor—none of that has ever floated my boat. Nor does the rough stuff do anything for me. Aggressive, sure, but not abusive, not hitting or choking.

  But every now and then, I like to talk. And so does Alexa. Most of it is merely suggestive, but when we get going, hot and sweaty, that old-fashioned girl gets pretty graphic.

  But here’s what we don’t talk about: Never once this weekend did she ask me about my knee, never once about the pills. I don’t like to see you in pain was the only thing she said, which worked for me.

  The weekend became Monday, but I liked the weekend better so I adopted Monday as an unofficial holiday. I didn’t have court, no meetings, no upcoming deadlines, and Alexa had the day off. Here’s a summary: more sex.

  I thought that worked pretty well, so Tuesday became a holiday, too, though I did have one meeting that I had to cancel.

  In between these sexual escapades and Altoid chewing, I’ve continually kept tabs on James Drinker. I’ve monitored the Herald online for any news of fresh murders by the North Side Slasher, but I didn’t expect any, because Joel Lightner’s team has kept Mr. Drinker on a short leash. Lightner said his surveillance team was about to die from boredom, as our man tended to go straight to work, straight home, then back to work, then back home. On Saturday night, he worked all day, went to a movie at night—Fast & Furious 6—by himself, and then went home. On Sunday, he went to church—Saint Hedwig in his neighborhood—and then picked up some gyros on his way home. Once the week started, it was work and home, work and home.

  At two o’clock on Wednesday, I’m reviewing the Brady material on a possession with intent that is up next week for a pretrial in federal court when Joel Lightner buzzes my cell phone. I received the morning report on James Drinker and didn’t expect another call until he leaves work at five-thirty or six. So if Joel’s calling, he must have news.

  “Thought you’d want to know,” he says, “that the police just paid our friend James a visit at his auto body shop. They took him to headquarters twenty minutes ago.”

  I release a week’s worth of breath. It’s about freakin’ time; I sent that note to the police last week.

  “Great,” I say. “That’s . . . great.”

  “So that dilemma of yours? You never had to cross that bridge. They must have connected the dots on his relationship with the first two victims.”

  Um, right. No reason to tell Joel that I already crossed that ethical bridge and found it wobbly and unsteady.

  “Keep me posted, will you? And thanks, Joel.”

  I keep my phone close by, cognizant of the fact that James Drinker might be calling any moment. That was the clear direction I gave him, what any lawyer would tell him: Don’t talk to the cops until you’ve called me. But an hour passes and I haven’t heard a thing. Maybe he got another lawyer. Maybe he’s winging it in there. Maybe he’s already given up the whole thing to them, one of those guys who can’t keep his composure once the pressure’s applied.

  My spirits now fully revived, I pick up Alexa on the way home from work. We order in Thai food, but I don’t feel like eating. My stomach has been reenacting the Civil War all day. I’ve barely touched any food. At seven o’clock, I get a text message from Joel:

  Cops dropped JD back at work 6:40 pm he picked up car drove str
aight home

  So the police let him go. Hmm. I wasn’t sure how that would play out. I didn’t put any details into the anonymous note about his connections to the first victims, Alicia Corey and Lauren Gibbs. I just said, he’s your guy. Maybe that was a mistake. What did I think would happen—they’d sweat him and he’d spill the beans right there? Maybe I did. Wishful thinking.

  But he’s on their radar screen now. I’ve been around law enforcement long enough, both as a prosecutor and defense counsel, to know what deters these guys and what doesn’t. And knowing that the police are watching you is usually enough to spook them.

  So maybe I’ve stopped the bloodbath, at least. Maybe he’s done. And if he starts getting thirsty again for the blood of young women, Lightner’s team will be watching. The deal we struck was that if anything got to the point of looking imminent—if Drinker was sneaking around houses in the middle of the night, that kind of thing—Lightner’s people would call 911 and expose him, if nothing else to stop anything from happening, even if Drinker got away.

  So that’s comforting, I guess.

  At nine o’clock, I’m sitting on my bed, doing some online legal research for a suppression hearing I have next week. Alexa is arranging the clothes she’s brought over to wear for tomorrow morning. She’s been going back and forth, picking up items on a daily basis and bringing them to my place, which must be a pain in the ass for her. I’ve offered to stay at her house, but she prefers mine. It’s more centrally located, I guess.

  Alexa comes over to the bed, removes my laptop, and replaces it with herself, straddling me. Exploring the parameters of the Fourth Amendment case law on searches incident to arrest can be interesting, but exploring the parameters of Alexa’s sexual appetite has proven more enticing still.

  Life can be good. At least I can tell myself it’s good.

  Afterward, I’m lying on the bed while Alexa takes it upon herself to tidy up my room, which isn’t necessary, but she does it without asking and says she doesn’t mind. She cooks, she cleans, she satisfies my every sexual desire, she’s cool about that tin of Altoids—what next? Does she like football and poker, too?

  My phone buzzes on the nightstand. I pick it up and see an unknown caller. My heart skips a beat. Lately, that has only meant one person. I figured he would call.

  “This is Jason,” I say.

  “Well, well.” James Drinker breathes into the phone. “You . . . prick.”

  “Who is this?” I ask, because in all fairness, any number of people would like to say that to me.

  “This is your client,” he says.

  “Is this—James?”

  “That’s right, Jason. It’s James. James Drinker. The client you just stabbed in the back.”

  I won’t deny I’m enjoying this, but the even keel to his voice is unsettling.

  “I don’t know what you mean, James.”

  “No?”

  “No.”

  Silence. Alexa stops what she’s doing and looks over at me.

  “I just had a nice visit with the police,” he says. “Detectives. They yanked me down to the police station and questioned me for . . . I don’t know, two or three hours.”

  “Where are you?” I ask, playing dumb. “Are you at headquarters?”

  “Oh, no. They let me go, Jason.”

  Yes, I should have been more explicit with my note. I should have cut out enough words from the Sports Illustrated to say dated Alicia Corey and friends with Lauren Gibbs. But they’ll get there, eventually. He’s in their sights now.

  “Well, we knew they’d pay you a visit sooner or later,” I say. “How did it go? You were supposed to call me, James.”

  Dead air, save for his breathing, slow and steady.

  “Did you call the cops on me, Jason?”

  “No, I didn’t.” Which is technically true.

  “Are you sure, Jason? Because I think you did.” Still with that slow and steady tone, though I detect a slight tremble of anger.

  I clear my throat. “You have a connection to the first two victims. You dated Alicia and you were friends with Lauren. We always knew the police would talk to you.”

  Silence. He is stewing. What I’m saying is correct, though. I told him, all along, that the cops would get to him sooner or later, and probably sooner.

  “I never dated Alicia Corey,” he says. “I didn’t even know her or Lauren Gibbs.”

  A burn spreads across my chest. Didn’t see that one coming.

  “You know what that means, Jason?”

  It means the only reason the police would pay him a visit is because I tipped them off. He caught me. He got me. Was that his plan all along? Was he testing me?

  And if so, why?

  “It means you lied to me,” I say. “You shouldn’t do that.”

  “True,” he concedes. “But it also means that you told them about me. And you really shouldn’t do that.”

  “I wish I could help you, James. Even if you didn’t know any of the victims, there’s plenty of reasons why they might contact you. Who knows what evidence they followed that led to you.” Like the fact that you killed those women, you maggot.

  “They didn’t follow any evidence,” he says. “They just asked me if I knew those women. They asked me twelve different ways, but in the end, that’s all they asked me. They were fishing. They didn’t have anything on me. Why would they pluck me out of the blue and bring me in? There’s only one reason. That reason is you, Jason. You told them about me.”

  “We’re going in circles, James. Should I assume you no longer want to retain my services?”

  “Do you think I killed those women, Jason? Do you think I’m a . . . psychopath?”

  Sociopath, actually, but why split hairs?

  “Do you?” A taunt to his voice, a dare. “Do you think I like to cut women up with a knife? Do you think I like to torture them? Watch them suffer? Listen to them beg for their lives, smell their blood as the life drains from their eyes? Do you?”

  The shadows framing my vision seem to darken and thicken, narrowing my sight line. My hand begins to itch. I’m not going to give this asshole the satisfaction of thinking he’s getting inside my head—which, of course, is the first step in letting him do that very thing.

  Silence, save for his labored breathing. Alexa is pretending not to listen, picking up clothes off the floor, but keeping one ear to my conversation.

  “Because if that’s what you think about me, Jason, I have one more question for you.”

  “I’m all ears.”

  “Am I really someone you want to piss off?”

  I bounce off the bed, adrenaline surging through me. I may not be a hundred percent these days, but there are still a few things that can light my fire.

  “You know where I work, James. Stop by anytime. I’ll even give you my home address if you like.”

  “Oh, I already have it, Jason, but thanks. It’s a nice town house, by the way.”

  “Are you threatening me, James? Because that’s a bad idea.”

  He clucks his tongue, tsk-tsk-ing me, scolding me.

  “Relax, my friend,” he says. “I didn’t kill anybody and I’m not going to kill anybody. You believe me, don’t you, Jason?”

  “Whether you did or not,” I respond, “you better watch yourself now. You’re now officially on the cops’ radar.”

  “Boyyy, it sure didn’t seem that way,” he hums. “I have to tell you, by the end of the interview, they sure seemed like they felt this was a waste of their time. They even apologized to me for the trouble. No, I think I’ve been crossed off their list.”

  “Oh, go ahead and believe that, James. You think the cops are going to tell you what they really think? They lie to suspects all the time. As easily as taking a breath.”

  “Oh, now you tell me.”

  I don’t know what that means, but I do know this: He’s probably right. If James Drinker has no obvious connection to these women, which apparently is the case, then my anonymous note
will go into the loony-tune bin at Area Three headquarters. Now that a serial killer has been acknowledged, and even branded with a catchy name like the North Side Slasher, the crazies will be out in full force. The tip hotline is probably overflowing with calls identifying the real killer as Osama bin Laden, Donald Trump, Martha Stewart, or one of the Kardashian sisters, the one without talent.

  So my note was enough to send some junior detectives over to Drinker’s apartment, enough to haul him to headquarters for a brief inquiry, but then quickly dismissed as yet another frivolous tip.

  Which means James Drinker is probably as free and clear as he says.

  “I’m done with you,” I say, trying to regain the upper hand.

  He laughs. Now he’s the one enjoying this call. Needless to say, this conversation did not go the way I planned.

  “I decide when you’re done,” he says, and then the line goes dead.

  35.

  Jason

  Friday, June 28

  I’m groggy and moody on Friday morning. I slept alone last night, after spending the last six nights with Alexa. It was her idea that we take a break—“We wouldn’t want to see each other seven whole days in a row, now would we? I mean, that’s practically marriage!”—and I didn’t disagree. That’s become a pattern with her, making a serious point—giving me space, not rushing things—but delivering it with feather-soft sarcasm.

  I couldn’t sleep, the remnants of the conversation with James Drinker in my head, texting Lightner at all hours to confirm with his surveillance team that Drinker was still in his apartment. This guy has officially invaded my brain. I don’t have a lot of options or recourse, but I have to figure out something. The problem is that my brain isn’t working at one hundred percent speed lately. The world is moving in slow motion these days, my legs heavy, white noise drowning out the cries around me.