Guilt by Association

Author:Marcia Clark [Clark, Marcia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction
ISBN: 1444707485
Google: 5zhAFO3xGkYC
Amazon: B004DEQL2A
Publisher: Mulholland Books
Published: 2011-04-20T07:00:00+00:00

26

The soft light emanating from the small glass lamps that hung from the ceiling created a chic but intimate feeling. And it was comforting to see that there wasn’t one recognizable face in the crowd. We both ordered salads, but Graden followed his up with beef bourguignonne, while I boringly stuck to roast chicken. Not that it wasn’t good, but Graden’s dinner looked better. I strained to keep my eyes off his plate.

I didn’t really want to ask him for Kit’s photo, so I let openings slip by as the internal ethics battle waged inside me. Finally, when the waiter came to clear our dishes, I knew it was do-or-die time. I was just about to take the plunge when Graden put his napkin on the table and leaned forward.

“Okay, Knight. You’ve been fighting with yourself for the past half hour. Out with it.”

I didn’t know whether I was impressed or annoyed that he’d read me so easily. “I need that photo they found on Jake. The one of Kit Chalmers.”

Graden lifted an eyebrow and looked somewhat taken aback. I’d known it was a lot to ask. Now I realized it was probably too much, and I felt embarrassed and awkward.

Finally Graden spoke. “What for?” he asked.

I explained about my contact in the vigilante group. “If he can find this photograph on the Internet, or others that look similar, I might be able to figure out who took the picture and dig into other possibilities.”

“Such as?”

“Everyone’s been assuming that Kit was blackmailing Jake. I’ve been thinking—half of that isn’t such a bad hypothesis. But maybe the person Kit was blackmailing wasn’t Jake.” I knew the theory had holes, and Graden immediately went for the biggest one.

“Then why was Jake the person in the room with him? And why was the photo hidden on Jake’s body? And why would Kit bring the photograph if what he wanted was Jake’s protection?”

“Obviously I don’t have all the answers yet,” I said glumly.

“Or any,” he said.

I nodded.

Graden continued. “And I hate to keep shooting you down, but the motel clerk remembered that Jake asked for Kit’s room number just before the shooting.” He looked at me meaningfully.

I gazed down at the table. It wasn’t big news, but it didn’t help matters either. I wanted to argue that if Jake was up to no good, he wouldn’t have spoken so openly to the clerk. But obviously if he’d planned to be dead, that wouldn’t have mattered to him.

“There’s more.”

Graden’s tone of voice told me that this time “more” wasn’t going to be better.

“We checked Jake’s cell phone records. He got a call from Kit earlier that day.” Graden paused. “And that wasn’t the only one. We found calls between Jake and Kit going back for the past two years.”

“How many?”

“Not a lot, not a little. Seemed like every couple of months one or the other would call.”

I inhaled slowly, absorbing the news. It wasn’t exactly a signed confession, but it didn’t help any. I sat gloomily as the weight of it all settled over me.

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