No Way Out

notwithstanding the fact that he had the upper hand, much of what he was doing was still an act and not an expression of any real belief in his own invincibility. She decided to put her strategy back on track and tried to sound nonchalant, without being contemptuous.

“Oh come on, you don’t have to impress me with that macho performance. You’ve got me right where you want me. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t talk.”

He was so taken aback by her response that he actually smiled for a second.

“You’re right there.”

She breathed a sigh of relief. The tacit acknowledgement of his power — “you’ve got me right where you want me” — had assuaged his anger. But she waited for him to speak again, not wanting to sound too eager.

“So what is it you don’t understand?”

“Well… you raped Bethel Newton… then you tried to rape me when I was covering the case. So I was just wondering if that was a coincidence?”

“Not really. I mean raping Bethel Newton was something I did on the spur of the moment. God knows why, she’d probably have slept with me anyway. Or maybe that is why.”

“Oh… you mean power.”

“What else. Life is just one big power game, from the submissive wife who walks four paces behind her husband to the man with his finger on the nuclear trigger.”

“Yeah okay… but what about…”

“What about you? That’s easy. I knew all about you and Sedaka.”

“How?”

“I was paying close attention to the Bethel Newton rape… for obvious reasons. After Claymore was arrested the first time, I saw a story on the news about it. They said Sedaka was his lawyer as well as his friend and that he was supposed to be a good lawyer. Anyway, I was a bit curious, so one time when he left the jail, I followed him around and I saw him pick you up and take you to a restaurant.”

“You were playing a dangerous game… it’s like going back to the scene of the crime.”

“Maybe. I have this thing about finding it hard to let go. It’s like, I have this urge to go back to where things started… you know… retracing my roots… like that fish that swims upstream to where it was born.”

She looked surprised.

“Salmon.”

“Yeh.”

She was looking at him, unsure of what to say.

“And you thought I was just an ignorant nigger.”

“I never said that.”

“Oh I know you never said that. That’s ‘cause you’re a cultured, educated Chinese-American. Now if you were an Alabama redneck, you would have said it. But then again, if you were an Alabama redneck you wouldn’t know about the mating habits of fish.”

A gleaming smile came to his face and he put on a high-pitched southern “yassir” accent to taunt her.

“But I saw that flicker of surprise in your eyes when I said that about swimmin’ upstream. And I gahts to tell you ma’am, thaz the fahst time in mah life ahhhz ever bin compared to a salmon!”

He held the smile a while longer, before his face hardened.

“I think I’d better gag you too,” he continued, his voice deepening. It’s not like you’re gonna say anything that I can’t already figure out.” The parody accent came back. “Nothin’ personal ma’am, but you is kind of pre-dictable.”

Wednesday, 2 September 2009 — 19:05

Claymore was sitting at the end of Washington Street in the his rented car, desperately trying to figure a way out of this logjam. But at the back of his mind he was replaying his conversation with Gene over and over again.

“Alex is a bastard figuratively speaking. He’s a bit of rapist himself. At least he knows how to use coercion of one kind or another to force other people who conform to his will.”

This was remarkably similar to what Andi had said after the trial.

“I was raped again — this time by a colleague. Not literally raped, but figuratively speaking. My hands were tied and I was forced to conform to his will. Only this is the last time it’s going to happen”

There were signs of something happening ahead and Claymore breathed again. But it wasn’t clear what. Then he remembered the text message that he had received. He had tried the number but got no answer. So he called the one person who might be able to help him.

“Alex Sedaka.”

“Hi Alex. It’s Elias.”

“Elias Hi, listen don’t take this personally, but I’m kind of busy right now. Something’s come up.”

“Something to do with Andi by any chance?”

“No. With Mart- look you’re not still worried about her are you? I’m sure she’s all right.”

“Okay, but just tell me one thing, does the name Lannosea mean anything to you?”

There were a few seconds of silence on the other of the line.

“Why do you ask?”

“I had a text message from a number I didn’t recognize. It said it was from Lannosea. I presume you do recognize the name.”

“Okay, look save that message. It might help us later.”

“Help you how?”

“Lannosea is the name of the person who’s been sending threatening messages and insulting messages to Andi. We think that it was the same person who tampered with the jury selection software and hacked into the database — and who tried to frame Andi for hacking into the database. We think it may be another woman that you…”

Neither of them spoke for a few seconds. In the end it was up to Claymore to break the silence.

“But you don’t know who it is.”

It had the finality of a statement.

“No. Although my son and Andi were going to pool their expertise to try and find out. Why, do you have any idea?”

Now it was Claymore’s turn to hesitate. Alex had said that something had come up. And he sounded like he was driving. He wasn’t in any position to handle more pressure.

“No… not really,” said Claymore, as the traffic ahead of him finally started to move.

Wednesday, 2 September 2009 — 19:10

Gene hadn’t lied about getting to the Waterfront Hotel quickly — and she hadn’t lied about getting a motorbike either. Starting the bike had been easier than finding it. The irony that Oakland was the birthplace of the Hell’s Angels was not lost on her either, as she stole the bike and raced across the Bay Bridge, dodging stationery vehicles along the way.

By the time she rode into the Hotel parking lot, her heart rate was as fast as the rev counter on the engine. She got quite a few stares as she dismounted the bike. But she was too pre-occupied to notice. Instead, she merely raced into the hotel lobby and up to the front desk. There were several people ahead of her, but she used her intimidating height and build to face them down as she pushed her way up to the desk.