One Deadly Sister

Chapter 31

Ray found it difficult to believe events could happen so fast. Sandy was with him in the visiting room, and he was talking to Kagan on her phone.

Kagan was saying, “Not a done deal but it looks good. They want you out so Sandy will shut up and leave town. For the first time they’re talking bail. Nevertheless, they’ve set it high—a half million. You'd need to put up ten-percent, cash, or collateral. Do you own any real estate? Can you pledge $50,000?”

“No way. I have some securities worth that much, my life savings. But if I borrowed against it, I wouldn’t get the full amount.”

“Part of the deal is you put a muzzle on your sister. She leaves town and they never hear about her again. That’s a big concession for them considering you’re still the only suspect they have. You’d be free.”

Ray was holding the phone so Sandy could hear. “Free from custody, but still under arrest,” she said, “and they want me to stop helping you. I’d love to have you out, Raymond, but I don’t like the offer.”

“Okay, I understand and I don’t have the $50,000 anyway.”

Into the phone she said, “Perhaps there’s room to negotiate. Moran’s shabby conference room get-together with me didn’t go well for him. He was shaking when I left. In fact, this might all be a bluff.”

“Don’t overplay your hand,” Kagan warned. “Don’t try and go for complete dismissal of all charges or something crazy. If you’ve got a state attorney talking bail you’d better grab it.”

“Sandy, I wasn’t going to tell you this, I’m not doing very well behind bars.”

“No kidding. I’ve watched you deteriorate, you look like a train wreck.”

“It’s more than that. Sometimes I sit on the edge of the bed for an hour like my brain switches off. Other times, I believe I’m starting to suffocate. Take any offer to get me out of custody, and so you can go home. I know you’re clever and he’s no match for you, but just get me into the open spaces.”

She looked at her pale brother rubbing his cuffed hands—her innocent brother. A nervous tic on his right eyelid was fluttering like a trapped bird. She could just accept Moran’s offer and her brother would be relieved of all of this. Was there anything more important?

“I don’t know how you handle stress as you do. You’re so bold and self-assured,” he said.

“I got that from you.”

“From me?”

“Yes, from watching my big brother as we were growing up.”

“If that was ever true, then I lost it along the way.”

Kagan was yelling into the phone, “They’re waiting for our answer!”

“I don’t like the deal if I have to leave town, Jerry. Let them sweat another minute,” she said into the phone. “Raymond, do you remember that day you said you were going to drive down to the shore? I was eleven. I asked if I could go along and your answer floated down to me from the sky. You said okay. I couldn’t believe it. Just the two of us, me and my big brother driving down the Atlantic City Expressway. I remember every mile.”

“Oh, yeah, I remember that day.”

Kagan yelled, “Hey, are you guys there?”

“You let me pick out the spot on the beach, Raymond. You told me not to go out too far and threw me a towel when I came back, stuff like that. Oh God, I loved that day. You gave me money and I walked over by myself to get sodas, I knew you liked Pepsi. We sat sipping our drinks as if on a date. I remember exactly where I was when you called me ‘Sis’ and said I was pretty. That was the happiest day of my life.”

“I’ve always thought you were pretty.”

“Well, isn’t that just grand. Now that makes a total of twice in my life you’ve told me.”

“Sandy, I guess I can handle county jail if it comes to that. I might need some medication, but I’ll handle it. Just go ahead and do this your way. I know you’re doing it for me. I trust you, Sandy.”

She realized that Moran’s offer was reasonable. He would permit bail and that was the number one consideration. However, she didn’t want to agree to leave town, and leave her brother in limbo trusting Moran to maybe find a better suspect. And she really didn’t like the fact that he was negotiating only because Linda had lied to him. Linda would soon be found out and was doomed whatever happened.

Or maybe not—Sandy had another thought—another angle. A possible solution to all of this had just occurred to her.

She took the phone and spoke, “Jerry, put Moran on the phone. I want to speak with him directly.”

“Don’t do that. He’s in no mood for you, Sandy. I can promise you that.”

“Put him on anyway.”

Moran came on. “This better be good.”

“We have something to talk about, Mr. Moran. In a few days, some fresh names and alleged incidents will start circulating. You need to avoid being asked a bunch of questions you’d rather not answer. You also need my brother under arrest to placate the public. Okay so far?”

“I’m listening.”

“If you give my brother bail, I’ll quiet down and you’ll regain control.”

“I want you out of town.”

“No, I won’t agree to leave, and as long as he’s locked up I’ll continue yelling and screaming. We’re not asking you to drop the charges at this time, just free him on bail. You’ll still have a suspect under arrest, and I can settle down and concentrate on helping Jerry Kagan prepare a defense. You won’t be running into me every time you turn around.”

“I’ve already offered bail at a half-million.”

“Too much, we want $250,000 and I don’t leave town.”

“I see what you’re getting at, but I’d still have the problem of the new information coming out in the paper.”

“I’ll make that go away.”

“You’ll do what!”

“I’ll contact Linda Call and tell her I’m not willing to stand behind everything I told her, and if the paper prints it, I’ll deny it. Now if you ask the editors, they’re going to deny that they ever intended to print anything, you understand that part?”

“So my only remaining problem is explaining why I’m letting my suspect out of jail.”

“I’m sure you can handle that. You’ve lost interest in him anyway. Just hint that more developments are on the way. I promise you, Linda will not make an issue of you giving your suspect bail.”

“How can you promise that?”

“Linda and I are very close.”

“I suspected that. Well, it’s interesting. Now if you don’t hold up your end, I’m going to announce it was all an administrative error and I’ll slap him back in jail fast.”

“Fair enough.”

“Give me a few minutes to think this over.”

Kagan came back on, “They went off into a big huddle here. It doesn’t look good to me. Moran always has to win. I’ll phone you back.”

Ray sat, put his elbows on the table, and held his head looking down. “My stomach can’t take much more of this.”

“While we’re waiting, Raymond, I must ask when did you develop your ‘Knight in Shining Armor’ syndrome? If they hadn’t arrested you, you’d still be out there running around trying to rescue fair maidens; assuming you could recognize who was fair and who was foul. That isn’t how you acted when you were younger. If you had I might have benefited when I needed you.”