While on the force, Gregaros had made evidence and people disappear in cases that affected the club's interests. Pedro Aragon's muscle was used for everyday intimidation, but Stan was used in special cases, like the one tonight.
The club had orchestrated Harold Travis's climb up the ladder of national politics. Then, just as he was on the brink of realizing the organization's greatest dream, the senator's ego had turned him into a liability. First, there was the cocaine and his brutal sexual encounters, culminating in the murder of Lori Andrews. Then, Travis had put himself into a position to be blackmailed by Jon Dupre.
McCarthy had arrested Jon Dupre for Travis's murder before the club could get to him. Then Wendell Hayes had failed to kill Dupre in the jail. It looked like their luck had changed when Oscar Baron brought Dupre's tapes to the meet with Manuel Castillo, but Baron didn't have the tape that could destroy all of the hard work that had gone into killing the anti-cloning bill. Some of the club members had invested heavily in the biotech companies that the bill was aimed at, and they stood to lose billions if anything went wrong.
Pedro's men had not found the tape when they ransacked Ally Bennett's apartment, and Bennett had disappeared the evening that Baron died. All of the club's efforts to find her had gone for naught--until Bennett surfaced to demand fifty thousand dollars for the very tape the club wanted.
Several hours earlier, Tim Kerrigan had visited Harvey Grant in his chambers to tell him that he was going to kill Ally Bennett this evening; a fact that the judge had known for half an hour. Gregaros had installed taps on Kerrigan's home and office phones hours after Kerrigan told Harvey Grant that Ally Bennett had the tape. When Bennett called Kerrigan to tell him where to make the exchange, a trace had located Dupre's safe house. It would have been easy for Gregaros to kill Bennett at the safe house, but the club needed to bind Kerrigan to it. They had lost one chance to win the presidency. Kerrigan presented them with another viable candidate.
Gregaros would take out Bennett if Kerrigan lost his nerve. If Kerrigan came through, the detective would take the murder weapon to the judge, who would put it with the weapons and confessions that the founding members of the club used to secure the loyalty of new members. To make certain that Dupre had nothing else that could hurt them, Gregaros had dispatched a team to the safe house moments after Bennett left for her meeting with Tim Kerrigan. After tonight, everything would be back where it should be.
Gregaros had been following Bennett in a nondescript black Chevy since she'd left Dupre's riverfront house. Stan let a few cars get between them, then settled in behind his quarry. Everything was proceeding smoothly until Bennett left the freeway. Less than a mile later, a police car pulled in behind Gregaros. He checked his speedometer to make sure that he was driving under the speed limit. Bennett passed a car, then pulled back into the right lane. The patrol car's bubble light started flashing. Stan slowed down until he was certain that the cop was pulling over Bennett. There was a strip-mall entrance on his right. He drove in and switched off his lights.
The patrolman approached Bennett's car and began talking to her. Bennett handed over her license and registration. The patrolman walked back to his car to run the information through his computer. When he was through, he walked back to Bennett and returned the paperwork. Then he pointed to her left taillight. Of course. The light was out. Stan hadn't noticed. The cop talked to Bennett for a minute more before returning to his car. It looked like he'd only given her a warning.
Gregaros settled in behind Bennett as soon as she pulled away from the curb. He passed the cop car and saw that the officer was on his radio. A moment later, the patrol car made a U-turn and drove off in the opposite direction.
Traffic thinned as Bennett headed out of town. Gregaros lagged back. There was only a quarter moon and Bennett's car was dark blue, but her lone rear light was all he needed for his tail. When she turned onto a two-lane road that led into Forest Park, Stan turned off his lights and let the distance between them widen.
Bennett turned right, then left onto a narrow road. Stan knew that Bennett had insisted that the meeting be in a secluded meadow on the edge of a deep ravine near the boundary of the park. Gregaros knew the spot and didn't have to worry about staying close anymore. Bennett made a turn onto a dirt-and-grass road that led to the meadow. Suddenly the headlights of a park maintenance truck blinded Gregaros. It was hauling a small trailer loaded with gardening equipment, and had turned out of a side road. Stan figured that the driver had not spotted him because the Chevy's lights were off. The detective pulled to the side of the road to avoid the truck and hoped that the driver didn't honk his horn. The truck drove by silently. Gregaros looked up the road in time to see the red glow of the single rear light of Bennett's car moving like a firefly toward the meadow.
The dirt road was bounded by a row of neatly planted bushes, which Gregaros could barely see in the dark. When he drove past them, the road curved. He turned the car around so it was facing downhill, and parked. His gun was on the passenger seat, concealed under a magazine. He got it and walked up the road to the meadow, then moved into the cover of the trees. When he reached the edge of the copse, he stood behind a tree trunk and watched.
Bennett had stopped on the edge of the ravine. Kerrigan's car was beside her car, with the length of two parking spaces between them. Gregaros saw Kerrigan walk up to Bennett's open window. He was carrying a briefcase with the money that the judge had provided. Bennett said something. Stan could hear her but he couldn't make out her words. Kerrigan opened the briefcase, closed it, and placed it in the back seat of Bennett's car. When Kerrigan closed the rear door, he turned, so his back was blocking Gregaros's view of Bennett, but the detective heard Kerrigan demand the tape. Bennett spoke, and Kerrigan stuck out his left hand and then placed something in the left-side pocket of his coat. The DA's right hand went into his right-side pocket, and he shoved his arm in the driver's window. The muzzle flash from Kerrigan's gun illuminated the inside of Bennett's car for a second. Bennett screamed and blood sprayed across the window. Kerrigan pulled the trigger twice more. Bennett slumped sideways and disappeared from view.
Kerrigan grabbed the briefcase with the money, ran to his car, and returned with a gas can. After splashing the gasoline around the interior of Bennett's car, Kerrigan flipped in a match. He staggered back as the interior of the car lit up. Gregaros stepped out of the trees. Kerrigan was so intent on his task that he didn't hear him. Instead, he leaned forward, rested his hands on his knees, and dry-heaved several times.
'Good work.'
Kerrigan leaped back, startled.
'It's me, Stan.'
Kerrigan sagged from relief. Gregaros looked into the car. Blood had spattered across the inside of the windshield. Bennett's legs and lower body were still on the edge of the driver's seat, but her upper body was sprawled face-down across the passenger seat as if she'd been twisting away from Kerrigan when he shot her. Blood pooled under her head and torso, and flames raced through her hair and across her hands. Her clothes and the upholstery were on fire. Gregaros smelled flesh burning. He pulled back because of the heat.
'Give me the gun,' Gregaros said.
