Final Call, page 25
He shook his head. ‘No. I’m fine. But’ – he took a deep breath – ‘on the plane I learned something. Something important.’
‘OK?’
‘You remember that Jill made a false confession? To stop the pilot?’
‘Right.’
‘What if it wasn’t false?’
‘You said it was.’
‘What if it wasn’t?’
‘I don’t understand. Jill didn’t do it. She wouldn’t. There’s no reason to think she did. It’s a tragic accident.’ She put her hand on his shoulder. ‘I know it’s hard to accept, but accidents happen. And she said it was a false confession.’
‘If it wasn’t, though? What then?’
‘Why would it not be? There’s no evidence otherwise.’
‘Maybe there is.’
Susheela stepped back from him.
‘What do you mean, exactly?’ she said.
This was the moment. ‘I found something. Before she confessed. I was going to tell the pilot, but then there was no need.’
‘What did you find?’
‘A message.’ He picked up his iPad. ‘Here. Take a look.’
He called up the message, and showed it to her.
There’s been an incident. Some kids got sick.
What happened?
I don’t know. Only that four kids were taken to the hospital with some kind of organ failure. Maybe liver.
What’s this got to do with us?
My son got hold of some product. He gave it to them.
What product?
Not yet on the market. We were testing it and the results weren’t great.
OK. Say nothing to anyone. Understood?
Susheela stared at him. ‘Who’s Bill Standish?’
‘The guy who ran the research center in Barrow.’
‘And the other person? There’s no name. Just an ID.’
‘I checked it out. That’s Jill.’
Susheela didn’t reply. Her jaw clenched and unclenched and she rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet.
‘I see,’ she said. ‘That complicates things.’
‘I know.’
‘And you said nothing?’
He shook his head. ‘I was going to, on the plane, but then she confessed.’
‘And if she did that, then’ – Susheela stared at him. ‘She did the fire too.’
‘I know,’ Varun said quietly. ‘I know.’
Susheela gave a small shake of her head. ‘This can’t be happening.’
‘I know. But if it is? What do you think I should do?’
She folded her arms. ‘I don’t think you need me to give you an answer. I think you know, which is why you told me this in the first place.’
‘I look at Ari,’ he said. ‘And I think that if it was him and you in that fire, I’d never get over it. I’d want justice to be done.’ He held her gaze. ‘So what now?’
She smiled. ‘You know. There’s only one option, Varun.’
3
He needed to discuss this with someone, and someone he could trust. Someone who had been around for a while and who had a spotless record. A man of honor. A veteran.
Ramos picked up on the second ring.
‘Jeff,’ he said. ‘Hope I’m not bothering you. And Merry Christmas, by the way.’
‘No bother at all. Same to you. Just another day to me. How’s the family?’
‘Great. It’s wonderful to be back together. I wasn’t sure we would be.’
‘No. It was a close-run thing in the end.’
‘I’ll be processing it for a while,’ Varun said. ‘It’ll stay with me, for sure.’
‘No doubt. So. What’s up? You don’t call me on Christmas Day for no reason.’
‘Right. Well, something came to light, on the plane.’
‘You sound on edge, Varun.’
‘I am.’
‘Why?’
This was it. ‘I think she did it, Jeff.’
Ramos paused. ‘You’ll have to be more specific. Who are we talking about, and what did she do?’
‘Jill. We’re talking about Jill.’
Ramos laughed, loud and long. ‘Have you been drinking already? Jill made all that up. She said so.’
‘I have reason to believe she didn’t,’ Varun said. ‘Are you at your computer?’
‘I can be.’
‘Then I’ll send it. Call me back when it arrives.’
It was twenty minutes before Ramos called. His tone was grim.
‘Sorry it took so long,’ he said. ‘I had to log in and then I had to read it a few times before it sunk in. You realize that this is fucking dynamite?’
‘I know.’
‘At the very least it will trigger an investigation, which will leak, and that alone will be bad news for the company.’
‘We still have to bring it forward.’
‘No doubt about that,’ Jeff said. ‘But we have to be careful.’
‘What do you mean? It seems clear to me. We have to tell the proper authorities.’
‘I know we do. I’m not suggesting otherwise. What I’m saying is we have to be careful how we do that. If we get it wrong, Jill will find a way out, and we’ll have missed the opportunity.’
‘I still don’t get it.’
‘The problem is we don’t have enough evidence. She can simply say that the message was about something else, or spin another story. Or maybe there’s a procedural problem with how it came into your possession, and her lawyers squash it. Or she says it wasn’t her at all? This is a start, but it won’t cut it. We need more. We need a smoking gun. It needs to be irrefutable.’
‘I think it’s enough.’
‘It’s nowhere near enough. It’s enough for you, but not a court, not against her team of lawyers. All she needs is reasonable doubt. We need to take that away. And remember, she’s ruthless. If she finds out we’re poking around, we’ll be next to have an accident. This has to be cut and dried.’
‘You’re saying we?’ Varun said.
‘Yes,’ Jeff replied. ‘We. If she truly did this, she needs to pay the price. I can’t stand by and let an injustice of this magnitude pass. So yes, we. It’ll cause chaos, but that’s how it has to be. We get more evidence.’
‘And how do we do that?’
‘The fire is the key. Get proof she ordered that and it’s over.’
‘Sounds good. But now can I point out a problem?’
‘Shoot.’
‘How? How do I do that?’
‘I don’t know. But it starts with the pilot, Evanston. She was there. She knows what happened. We need her.’
‘She’s in a cell.’
‘Then get her out. Get her a bail hearing and get her out. Then bring her to me and we’ll decide what the hell we do.’
‘Bail?’ Varun said. ‘There’s no chance she’ll get bail.’
‘We’ll need another solution, then.’
‘Like what?’
‘I don’t know. But it won’t be easy.’
December 27th, 2022
Stacy Evanston
The cop stood in the doorway.
‘Your lawyers are here to see you.’
She frowned. She had not been expecting this.
‘I didn’t ask for lawyers,’ she said.
‘That’s what he said you’d say. They said to give their names and see if that changed your mind.’
‘Oh? What are they?’
‘Miller. Varun Miller. And Jeff Ramos.’
Miller? He was the last person she would have expected, and Ramos wasn’t even a lawyer.
So what the hell were they doing here?
‘Send them in,’ she said.
A few minutes later, Miller and Ramos came into the interview room. Miller was wearing a smart suit; Ramos was in a leather jacket.
‘Ms. Evanston,’ Miller said. ‘Thank you for seeing me.’ He gestured to the officer in the door to leave. ‘I’d like to be alone with my client, please.’
‘I’m not your client. And I don’t want a lawyer,’ she said. ‘Least of all you.’
He ran his hands through his hair. ‘I understand why you feel like that. But this is not what it seems. I have something that will help you.’ He looked around the interview room. ‘I don’t want to talk about it here. But appoint me as your attorney, I can explain, and then, if you don’t like what I have to say you’ll never hear from me again.’
‘Why should I trust you?’
Varun held his hands out, palms up. ‘I’m not asking you to. I’m just asking you to give me a chance. And at least you’ll be out.’
She studied him. He worked for the woman who had killed her husband and daughter, who had covered up three other deaths and faked a suicide. There was no way she was going to do what he said, none.
And he knew that. Which raised a question: why were they here? If this wasn’t in some way genuine, why were they bothering?
‘OK,’ she said. ‘Tell me more.’
He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. He opened his notebook and began to write.
I don’t want to talk aloud. I know Stearns did it. I have proof, but not enough. I need your help.
She read the message, her skin crawling, and wrote a reply.
Really? What kind of proof?
Messages she thought were deleted.
‘So,’ Ramos said in a loud voice. ‘Here’s the plan.’
She nodded and looked at Ramos. ‘Tell me.’
‘We get a bail hearing,’ Ramos said. ‘They grant it, we post it, and we’re out of here. Then we work on your defense.’
‘Will I get bail? How does it work?’
‘Well,’ Varun said. ‘Bail is a constitutional right for anyone accused of a criminal offense.’
‘Does everyone get it?’ Stacy said. She shrugged on the jacket.
‘Not in all cases,’ Varun said. ‘But I think you have a reasonable case. And it’ll be set at a high level. Very high.’
‘How high?’
‘Half a million?’ Varun said. ‘A million?’
‘And who pays? I don’t have that kind of money.’
‘Me and Ramos. If you abscond, it’ll cost us a lot of cash.’
He wrote a note and passed it to her.
This is how we get Stearns. You have to trust us. So?
She hesitated. Why should she trust them? There was every chance that once she was out of here they’d take her to some remote location, kill her and dump her body. Nobody would miss her. Nobody would come looking.
She didn’t have to take that chance, though. Once she was outside she could disappear. They knew that, too. But they were prepared to take that chance.
But then this would be over, and Stearns would be free. If they did have evidence, she wanted to see it.
So whether she trusted them or not, this was her only chance.
‘OK,’ she said. ‘I agree.’
Varun stood up. ‘Well, Ms. Evanston,’ he said. ‘We have what we need. You can let the officers know you’ve appointed me to be your lawyer.’
2
Miller – or Ramos – must have pulled some strings. Not long afterwards they were in front of a judge.
Bail was set right in the middle of the range Varun had estimated. Seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
Varun smiled and shook her hand.
‘Jeff has gone to post the bail. Wait here.’
‘I want to leave now.’
He hesitated. ‘It’s better if you wait for us.’
‘No. I’ll meet you.’
She could see him wondering whether she would simply vanish. His name would be part of the record. If she disappeared, he would be caught up in any fallout.
‘OK,’ he said finally. ‘We’ll meet you on the top floor of the Casco Bay parking garage, east corner.’
She nodded, and walked away, wondering whether she could trust them, after all.
She waited on the top floor of the garage. There was a brand-new Audi parked in the bay by the east corner; she assumed it belonged to Miller or Ramos. It was certainly the kind of thing they would drive.
She was not waiting there. She was concealed behind a Chevy Suburban on the other side. She had no guarantees it would be them who turned up and not some hired thugs, or even the cops, although why they would spring her from the police just to hand her back, she had no idea.
But it was always better to take nothing for granted.
She glanced at her watch. It had been five minutes. They should be here by now. Her pulse quickened. She would give them five more, and then she was leaving.
She would deal with Jill Stearns in her own way, if necessary.
She shifted into a more comfortable position, and then she heard voices echoing around the garage.
Footsteps. Clicks, like someone wearing brogues.
They were coming from the stairs. She turned to see who it was.
The voices grew louder, and then there they were.
Miller and Ramos.
They walked to the Audi. Miller took some keys from his pocket and pressed a button to unlock it. He looked around.
‘Stacy?’ he called.
She stayed hidden. What if this was a trap?
If it was a trap, it was a very public way to do it, if that was their plan. They were on the court records.
And what did she have to lose? She’d been prepared to die to get justice for Dan and Cherry, a prospect which – until Varun had shown up – was further away than ever. This was, whether she trusted him or not, the only chance she had.
So yes, she could walk away now, but then so would Stearns.
She stood up.
‘I’m here,’ she said.
They stood by the Audi.
‘What’s the proof?’ she said.
‘A message. But we need more,’ Miller said.
She pointed at Ramos. ‘Why’s he here?’
‘I told him what’s happening. You can trust him. It was his idea to get you out.’
‘Why would he want more evidence?’
‘He wants to help. I promise. So. Are you in?’
She ran through it all again, and arrived at the same conclusion. What options did she have? But she would not share everything with them. She would find a way to keep control, somehow. She nodded. ‘OK.’
‘Thank you, Ms. Evanston,’ Ramos said. ‘I have to say I wasn’t hoping our paths would cross again, but it seems they will.’
‘Me too,’ Stacy said. ‘I’d say I’m sorry, but I don’t want to start off with a lie.’
‘I’m sorry for what happened to you,’ Ramos said. ‘That’s not a lie. And if it was Jill Stearns – or anyone associated with the company – I want to see them brought to justice. If you need a token of my sincerity, how about this: when this gets out, the company’s stock price will plummet, and that will cost me tens of millions of dollars. But that’s a price I’m prepared to pay.’
‘Me too,’ Varun said. ‘I couldn’t live with myself otherwise.’
Varun seemed sincere; with Ramos she couldn’t be sure.
‘What do we do?’ she said.
‘Find more evidence,’ Ramos said. ‘We need to hear everything from you – exactly what happened, when, who was involved, everything you remember, and then we decide where to dig.’
That would not be a problem. It was burned into her memory. ‘I remember it all,’ she said.
‘So tell us. All of it. Then we can find the loose ends and start to unravel it. And – for your safety – I suggest you find someone independent, a lawyer, or journalist, who you can share this with.’
‘We can follow the money,’ Varun said. ‘The new boat, if it exists. Then there are nurses and doctors. Someone knows something. And we need to find out what that is.’
‘And when we have enough,’ Ramos said. ‘We go to the right people.’
‘Who are?’ Stacy said.
‘Not sure. Maybe the press. I know some journalists. We need to get it out there.’ He paused. ‘But let me warn you: this is dangerous. Since the moment you stepped out of the courthouse you’ve been on borrowed time. The police will have figured out you’re not there by now. And you can bet Jill Stearns knows.’
She glanced at Varun. ‘Why?’
‘Because if someone was keeping an eye on you, they’ll know you’re out.’
‘So what do we do?’
‘Hide,’ Ramos said. ‘And right away.’
Stacy almost laughed. ‘Where do we hide?’ she said. ‘I don’t have a place to go.’
‘No,’ Ramos said. ‘But I do. We can meet there.’
‘Where is it?’ Stacy said.
‘In Western Maine. A couple of hours from here, in the Carrabassett Valley. It’s way up on the side of a hill, on the east side. The other side has the ski resort, but my place is very remote. Very quiet. And no one will think I’m involved.’
‘I know it well. I used to ski there.’ Stacy glanced at Varun’s wedding ring. ‘Your wife OK with this?’
‘She’s safe,’ Varun said. ‘My son, too.’
‘What next?’ Stacy said.
‘You two get a rental car,’ Ramos replied. ‘Send the details to me, and no one else. That way I’ll know what car to expect.’
‘What do you think’s going to happen?’ Varun said. His hands were shaking.
‘I don’t know,’ Jeff said. ‘I only know that if someone is watching, and they find out you’re with Ms. Evanston, then who knows what they’ll do? They’ll know something is going on, and they’ll want to stop it.’
Stacy looked at Varun. He was staring out of the garage, his jaw clenched.
‘What’s the address?’ she said.
Ramos told them. ‘After you give me the details of the rental car, no more phone calls or messages,’ he said. ‘Get there as soon as you can.’
He pressed a button and a car a few bays down beeped. ‘I’ll go right away. I’ll be waiting.’ He walked down to the car. As he climbed in, he turned to them.
‘Good luck,’ he said.
Stacy watched the car pull away.
‘Go home,’ she said. ‘Maybe see your wife and son, then meet me at the car rental place. There’s one downtown. That’s better than the airport. Then we put an end to this, once and for all.’
