Leverage in Death (In Death 47)

“You will address me,” Singa reminded her. “My client has invoked his rights.”

“Oh yeah, slipped my mind. I also meant to mention that fee of yours again. You got that up front, right? A good chunk? How much do you charge an hour?”

“That’s none of your concern.”

“You’re right. It’s yours. You might be somewhat concerned to learn your client’s broke. No money, no access to same. All accounts have been frozen—by the IRS pending further investigation.”

“They’re pretty excited,” Baxter added. “Even more since we broke through your filters and coding. You’ve been a very bad boy, Lucius. There are IRS agents having wet dreams right now, and you’re the star.”

“That freeze also pertains to any funds Mr. Iler may have advanced you, Singa, on his behalf, as all his moneys, properties, possessions are now in that freeze. The IRS will be in touch with you.”

“And you know, once they ‘get in touch,’ they just love to poke around.”

“Yeah, they do,” Eve added with a broad, toothy smile. “And in case either of you are thinking of a rich daddy? You can forget it. Reginald Iler and I had a long conversation.”

“You had no right.” Iler tried to push to his feet, rattling his restraints. “No right to involve my father.”

“You had no right to murder eighteen people, to destroy eighteen families. Which one of us do you think is going to pay?”

“You’re cut off, sonny boy,” Baxter added. “Daddy’s closed the family bank—and that includes any interests you may hold in various arms of the family business. You got zilch.”

“I want to talk to my father. Now.”

“Sorry, you don’t get it. You’re under arrest. Your wants aren’t of concern. Your attorney is, of course, free to contact the senior Mr. Iler. Though I believe senior Mr. Iler will be disinclined, at this time to communicate. At all. At least until I speak with him again.”

As she spoke to Singa, she hardened her look, her tone. “When I do, if I tell him your client has given a clear and full confession on all charges, given us clear information on all details of his crimes, and the crimes of Sergeant Oliver Silverman, Mr. Iler may be inclined to pay the legal fees and expenses incurred by his son to date. Though it sounded to me as if he’d negotiate same, and hard.”

She shifted to Iler. “You think Singa’s going to work pro bono on a case he has to know by now is locked? Eighteen consecutive sentences, off-planet.”

“I’m not going off-planet. I can’t go off-planet. I have a condition. Richard, you said—”

“Did he tell you he could work it? Have that part off the table? Not happening, you fuck. The PA’s holding firm there. If the psych exam finds you have a ‘condition,’ you’ll be properly sedated for the trip to Omega. You’ve got one shot, and one shot only. Full confession, every detail, and you serve your time on-planet. Hedge, bullshit, lie, evade, we’re done.”

She leaned closer. “You make me sick—and your lawyer just adds to it. But he’s doing his job, so I can swallow that down. You did what you did to make money, to gamble, to pay back your own father because your fucking inner child’s so needy. So lie to me, you piece of shit, and I’ll personally watch them strap your unconscious ass in the shuttle to Omega.”

“This isn’t right.” Iler’s eyes went damp as he turned to Singa. “You said you’d fix this. You said—”

“Quiet, Lucius. Lieutenant, I need to consult with my client.”

“I bet you do.” Eve rose, gestured to Baxter. “Oh, just one more thing, as it may play into your consult. We’ve got Silverman. We took him down after he broke into the home of the next target on your list. Like Baxter said, we cut through your filters. The Chenowitz family is fine. Silverman?”

She ran a hand over her own bruised face. “We had a little altercation. He looks a lot worse than I do. You take your time. I need to chat with him anyway.

“Lieutenant Dallas, Detective Baxter exiting interview. Record paused.”

When the door closed, Baxter gave Eve a light punch on the arm. She hissed in a breath.

“Shit, sorry. It’s just—that was righteous. I think I liked the look on Singa’s face even more than Iler’s. You could just see him watching all those juicy billable hours drain away.”

“Iler will fold. Singa will advise him to because billable hours and the fact we’ve got Silverman. He’ll use the on-planet deal as leverage. He’ll do part of our job for us on this.

“Take a break,” she told him as Trueheart came out of Observation. “Grab some coffee, stay close. Okay, Trueheart, let’s go kick some ass.”

“I checked on the kid, well the whole family, but I wanted to make sure August was doing okay. He got on the ’link to thank me for taking him to his mom. And he said—I thought you’d like to know—a ninja woman saved him.”

“Ninja woman.” Eve let out a snorting laugh. It hurt her bruised chest a little, but it was worth it.

She opened the door to Interview B. “Record on,” she said and recited the salient information into the record.