'Kate Ross was at her apartment. Someone trashed it.'
Dupre looked alarmed. 'You don't think . . .?'
'I don't know what to think. If she ran, where would she go?'
'I don't know, Amanda. Honestly, I don't.'
'If she contacts you, make certain that she calls me. So far, she's your best chance of beating the Travis charge.'
'What do you mean?'
'Kate talked to Joyce Hamada. She said she and another woman were at your house on the night that Senator Travis was murdered but Ally chased them out when you had some trouble with a drug you took. If Ally was with you when Travis was murdered she can testify about that. If the jurors believe her they'll have to acquit you. We need to get in touch with her.'
'They don't give me many calls,' Dupre said. 'The one time I tried to call after Oscar was killed there was no answer at her apartment and she didn't answer her cell phone.'
Amanda got both phone numbers from Dupre.
'Do you think that Hayes tried to kill you to protect Aragon?' Amanda asked.
'No one knew about those tapes when Hayes came after me.'
Something about the sound of Jon's voice made Amanda pause. She cocked her head and studied him. He couldn't meet her eye.
'Then why did Hayes do it?' she asked. 'Why did he feel that he had to act so quickly?'
'Maybe he was worried that I'd try to make a deal with the cops.'
'And tell them what?'
'About Senator Travis and these people who protected him. Travis liked rough sex. When he finally went too far with one of my girls he used one of Pedro's men to clean up his mess.'
'This was Lori Andrews, right?'
Dupre nodded. 'He really had a thing for Lori and he thought I'd keep him from seeing her, so he tried to get on my good side. He hinted that he could protect my operation so I'd never have to worry about the cops. I didn't believe him, so he told me about these people.'
'Did he tell you who they were?'
'No. He didn't mention any names, but he hinted that there were judges and cops in it, even DAs. It sounded far-fetched until Hayes tried to fillet me.'
Something was still troubling Amanda, something that didn't make sense. It took her a moment to figure out what it was.
'You didn't tell Travis about the tapes, did you?'
'No.'
'And you couldn't prove that Travis was in this club?'
Dupre nodded.
'And you didn't know anyone else in the club, right?'
'Only Travis, and I wasn't sure that he wasn't bluffing to keep me from hurting him.'
'It doesn't sound like these people would be worried about you hurting anyone. They didn't know about the tapes and they wouldn't know that you knew about the group unless Travis told them. Even if he did, he'd also tell them that you didn't know anyone's identity but his, and Travis was dead by the time Hayes tried to murder you. So why did he do it? It doesn't make any sense, something's missing. What aren't you telling me?'
Dupre averted his eyes and licked his lips nervously.
'This isn't twenty questions, Jon. If you want to have any chance of walking out of here you have to tell me everything. I told you I'll hold it in confidence, and it's not going to do you any good if you're dead.'
Dupre took a deep breath. 'Okay, I'll tell you. There are some other tapes. I only held out because they're all I've got left. I was counting on them to bargain with if things got really bad.'
'I've got news for you, things are really bad right now, and they are going to get worse if we don't get some breaks. Now, what is on those tapes?'
Amanda had a hearing in another case at three. She called Kate on her cell phone as she walked across the street from the Justice Center to the courthouse. Kate was out, and Amanda left a message saying that it was urgent she call her. As Amanda went through the security checkpoint, her eyes darted around the main floor, lingering for a moment on a tall man in a leather trench coat before shifting to a slender man in a windbreaker and a Mariners' baseball cap, lounging on a bench, and finally passing over a muscular woman in a navy-blue pea coat who was staring at her. Everyone looked dangerous.
Amanda walked up to the fifth-floor courtroom. Inside, she saw a few lawyers and court personnel she knew. There were also some court watchers; unemployed or retired men and women who preferred watching court cases to viewing the daytime soaps. None of the men who had kidnapped her were in the room.
Frank was waiting for Amanda outside the courthouse to take her home when she was finished with her hearing. He slipped her the .38. When they got to the parking garage, Frank pressed the button for their floor. Just as the elevator doors closed, Amanda thought she saw someone start up the stairs. Was he the slender man in the windbreaker and baseball cap she'd seen in the courthouse? Amanda tightened her hold on her gun.
They got to their car and drove home without incident. Frank parked in the garage. Amanda hefted her briefcase and waited for Frank to open the door and punch in the alarm code. They walked through the kitchen and
