Fade Away

Chapter 32

Esperanza liked to make lists.

With the Raven Brigade file in front of her, she jotted down the three most important factors in chronological order:

1) The Raven Brigade robs a bank in Tucson.

2) Within days, at least one of the Ravens (Liz Gorman) was in Manhattan.

3) Soon after, Liz Gorman made contact with a high-profile professional basketball player.

It didn’t flow.

She opened the file and briefly scanned the “brigade’s” history. In 1975 the Ravens had kidnapped Hunt Flootworth, the twenty-two-year-old son of publishing giant Cooper Flootworth. Hunt had been a classmate at San Francisco State of several of the Ravens, including both Cole Whiteman and Liz Gorman. The famous Cooper Flootworth, never one to sit around idly and let others handle his affairs, hired mercenaries to rescue his son. During their raid, young Hunt was shot at point-blank range in the head by one of the Ravens. No one knew which one. Of all the brigade members at the scene, four managed to escape.

Big Cyndi skipped into the office. The vibrations rolled Esperanza’s pens off the desk.

“Sorry,” Cyndi said.

“It’s okay.”

“Timmy called me,” Cyndi said. “We’re going out Friday night.”

Esperanza made a face. “His name is Timmy?”

“Yeah,” Cyndi said. “Isn’t that sweet?”

“Adorable.”

“I’ll be in the conference room,” Cyndi said.

Esperanza turned back to the file. She flipped ahead to the Tucson bank heist—the group’s first in more than five years. The robbery took place as the bank was closing. The feds believed one of the security guards was in on it, but so far they had nothing more than the guard’s left-leaning background. About $15,000 in cash was taken, but the robbers took the time to blow the safe deposit boxes. Risky. The feds theorized that the Ravens had somehow found out that drug money was stored there. The bank cameras showed two people dressed head to toe in black with black ski masks. No fingerprints or hairs or fibers. Nada.

Esperanza read through the file again, but nothing new exploded from the pages. She tried to imagine what the past twenty years had been like for the surviving Ravens, constantly on the run, never sleeping in the same place very long, leaving and reentering the country, relying on old sympathizers you were never sure you could completely trust. She grabbed her piece of paper and made some more notes:

Liz Gorman——>Bank Robbery——>Blackmail

Okay, she thought, follow the arrows. Liz Gorman and the Ravens needed funds, so they robbed the bank. That worked out. It explained the first arrow. That was a gimme anyway. The real problem was that second connection:

Bank Robbery——>Blackmail.

Simply put, what about the bank robbery had led her to the East Coast and her scheme to blackmail Greg Downing? She tried to write down possibilities.

1) Downing was involved in the bank robbery.

She looked up. It was possible, she surmised. He needed the money for gambling debts. He might do something illegal. But this hypothesis still did not answer the biggest question in all this: how did they meet? How did Liz Gorman and Greg Downing hook up in the first place?

That, she felt, was the key.

She wrote a number two. And waited.

What other link could there be?

Nothing came to mind so she decided to try it from the opposite end. Start with the blackmail and go back. In order to blackmail Downing, Liz Gorman had to have stumbled across something incriminating. When? Esperanza drew another arrow:

Bank Robbery<——>Blackmail

Esperanza felt something like a tiny pinprick. The bank robbery. Something they found at the bank robbery led to the blackmail scheme.

She quickly shuffled through the file, but she already knew that it wasn’t there. She picked up the phone and dialed. When the man answered, she said, “Do you have a list of the people who were renting safe-deposit boxes?”

“Somewhere, I guess,” he replied. “Why, you need it?”

“Yes.”

Deep sigh. “All right, I’ll start looking. But tell Myron he owes me for this. Owes me big.”

When Emily opened the door, Myron said, “Are you alone?”

“Why, yes,” she replied with a coy smile. “What do you have in mind?”

He shoved past her. Emily stumbled back, her mouth an open circle of surprise. He headed straight for the foyer closet and opened it.

“What the hell are you doing?”

Myron did not bother answering. His hands pushed hangers left and right in a frenzy. It didn’t take long. He pulled the long overcoat with the frilly neck into view. “Next time you commit a murder,” he said, “dispose of the clothes you wore.”

She took two steps back, her hand fluttering toward her mouth. “Get out,” she hissed.

“I’m giving you one chance to tell the truth.”

“I don’t care what you’re giving. Get the fuck out of my house.”

He held up the coat. “You think I’m the only one who knows? The police have a videotape of you at the murder scene. You were wearing this coat.”

Her body slackened. Her face looked like she’d been on the receiving end of a palm strike to the solar plexus.

Myron lowered the coat to his side. “You planted the murder weapon at your old house,” he said. “You smeared blood in the basement.” He turned and half-pounced into the living room. The pile of tabloids was still there. He pointed at it. “You kept searching the papers for the story. When you read about the body being found, you made an anonymous call to the police.”

He glanced back at Emily. Her eyes were unfocused and glazed.

“I kept wondering about the playroom,” Myron said. “Why, I kept asking myself, would Greg go down there of all places after the murder? But of course that was the point. He wouldn’t. The blood could remain undetected for weeks if need be.”

Emily made two fists at her sides. She shook her head, finally finding her voice. “You don’t understand.”

“Then tell me.”

“He wanted my kids.”

“So you framed him for murder.”

“No.”

“This isn’t the time to lie, Emily.”

“I’m not lying, Myron. I didn’t frame him.”

“You planted the weapon—”

“Yes,” she interrupted, “you’re right about all that. But I didn’t frame him.” Her eyes closed and reopened, almost like she was doing a minimeditation. “You can’t frame somebody for something they did.”

Myron stiffened. Emily stared at him stone faced. Her hands were still tightened into small balls. “Are you saying Greg killed her?”

“Of course.” She moved toward him, taking her time, using the seconds the way a boxer uses an eight count after a surprise left hook. She took the coat from his hands. “Should I really destroy it, or can I trust you?”

“I think you better explain first.”

“How about some coffee?”

“No,” Myron said.

“I need some. Come on. We’ll talk in the kitchen.”

She kept her head high and walked the same walk Myron had watched on the tape. He followed her into a bright white kitchen. The kitchen gleamed in tiled splendor. Most people probably thought the decor was to die for; Myron thought it resembled a urinal at a fancy restaurant.

Emily took out one of those new coffee presses people were using. “You sure you won’t have some? It’s Starbucks. Kona Hawaiian blend.”

Myron shook his head. Emily had regained her senses now. She was back in control; he’d let her stay there. A person in control talks more and thinks less.

“I’m trying to figure out where to begin,” she said, adding hot water to the press. The rich aroma immediately filled the air. If this was a coffee commercial, one of them would be saying “Ahhhh” right about now. “And don’t tell me to begin at the beginning or I’ll scream.”

Myron held up his hands to show he would do no such thing.

Emily pushed a little on the plunger, met resistance, pushed again. “She came up to me one day in the supermarket, of all places,” she said. “Out of the blue. I’m reaching for some frozen bagels, and this woman tells me she has uncovered something that could destroy my husband. She tells me that if I don’t pay up, she’s going to call the papers.”

“What did you say?”

“I asked her if she’d need a quarter for the phone.” Emily chuckled, stopped pressing, stood upright. “I figured it was a joke. I told her to go ahead and destroy the bastard. She just nodded and said she’d be in touch.”

“That was it?”

“Yep.”

“When was this?”

“I don’t know. Two, three weeks ago.”

“So when did you hear from her next?”

Emily opened a cabinet and took out a coffee mug. The mug had a picture of some cartoon character. The words WORLD’S GREATEST MOM were emblazoned on the side. “I’m making enough for two,” she said.

“No thank you.”

“You sure?”

“Yes,” Myron said. “What happened next?”

She bent down and peered into the coffee press like it was a crystal ball. “A few days after this, Greg did something to me….” She stopped. Her tone was different now, the words coming slower and with more care. “It’s like I told you last time you were here. He did something awful. The details aren’t important.”

Myron nodded but said nothing. No reason to raise the videotape now and knock her off stride. Facilitate her—that was the key.

“So when she came back and told me Greg was willing to pay big for her silence, I told her I’d pay more to make her talk. She told me it would cost a lot. I told her I didn’t care how much. I tried to appeal to her as a woman. I went so far as to tell her about my situation, how Greg was trying to take my kids away from me. She seemed to sympathize, but she also made it clear that she couldn’t afford to be philanthropic. If I wanted the information, I’d have to pay up.”

“Did she tell you how much?”

“One hundred thousand dollars.”

Myron held back a whistle. Serious double dipping. Liz Gorman’s strategy was probably to keep collecting from both of them, bleeding them both for as long as she thought it was safe. Or maybe she was hitting hard and fast because she knew she would have to go underground again. Either way, it made sense from Liz Gorman’s perspective to collect from all interested parties—Greg, Clip, and Emily. Take money for silence. Take money to sing. Blackmailers have the loyalty of election-year politicians.

“Do you know what she had on Greg?” he asked.

Emily shook her head. “She wouldn’t tell me.”

“But you were prepared to pay her a hundred grand?”

“Yes.”

“Even though you didn’t know what it was for?”

“Yes.”

Myron gestured with both hands. “How did you know she wasn’t just a crackpot?”

“The truth? I didn’t know. But I was going to lose my kids, for chrissake. I was desperate.”

And, Myron thought, Emily had shown that desperation to Liz Gorman who, in turn, took full advantage of it. “So you still have no idea what she had on him?”

Emily shook her head. “None.”

“Could it have been Greg’s gambling?”

Her eyes narrowed in confusion. “What about it?”

“Did you know Greg gambled?”

“Sure. But so what?”

“Do you know how much he gambled?” Myron asked.

“Just a little,” she said. “A trip to Atlantic City once in a while. Maybe fifty dollars on a football game.”

“Is that what you thought?”

Her eyes moved over his face, trying to read it. “What are you saying?”

Myron looked out the back window. The pool was still covered, but some of the robins had returned from the yearly aliya to the south. A dozen or so crowded a bird feeder, heads down, wings flapping happily like dog tails. “Greg is a compulsive gambler,” Myron said. “He’s lost away millions over the years. Felder didn’t embezzle money—Greg lost it gambling.”

Emily gave him a little head shake. “That can’t be,” she said. “I lived with him for almost ten years. I would have seen something.”

“Gamblers learn how to hide it,” Myron said. “They lie and cheat and steal—anything to keep on betting. It’s an addiction.”

Something in her eyes seemed to spark up. “And that’s what this woman had on Greg? The fact that he gambled?”

“I think so,” Myron said. “But I can’t say for sure.”

“But Greg definitely gambled, right? To the point where he lost all his money?”

“Yes.”

The answer kindled Emily’s face with hope. “Then no judge in the world would award him custody,” she said. “I’ll win.”

“A judge is more likely to give the kids to a gambler than a murderer,” Myron said. “Or someone who plants false evidence.”

“I told you already. It’s not false.”

“So you say,” Myron said. “But let’s get back to what happened with the blackmailer. You were saying she wanted a hundred grand.”

Emily moved back to her coffee press. “That’s right.”

“How were you to pay her?”

“She told me to wait by a pay phone outside a Grand Union supermarket on Saturday night. I was supposed to get there at midnight and have the money ready. She called at midnight on the dot and gave me an address on One Hundred Eleventh Street. I was supposed to get there at two in the morning.”

“So you drove to One Hundred Eleventh Street at two in the morning with one hundred thousand dollars?” He tried not to sound too incredulous.

“I could only raise sixty thousand,” she corrected.

“Did she know that?”

“No. Look, I know this all sounds crazy, but you don’t understand how desperate I was. I would have done anything at this point.”

Myron understood. He had seen up-close how far mothers would go. Love twists; maternal love twists absolutely. “Go on,” he said.

“When I turned the corner, I saw Greg come out of the building,” Emily said. “I was stunned. He had his collar up, but I could still see his face.” She looked up at Myron. “I was married to him a long time, but I’ve never seen his face like this.”

“Like what?”

“So filled with terror,” she replied. “He practically sprinted toward Amsterdam Avenue. I waited until he turned the corner. Then I approached the door and pressed her apartment button. Nobody answered. I started pressing other buttons. Somebody finally buzzed me in. I went upstairs and knocked on her door for a while. Then I tried the knob. It was unlocked. So I opened the door.”

Emily stopped. A trembling hand brought the cup up to her lips. She took a sip.

“This is going to sound awful,” she went on, “but I didn’t see a dead human being lying there. I only saw my last hope of keeping my kids.”

“So you decided to plant evidence.”

Emily put down the cup and looked at him. Her eyes were clear. “Yes. And you were right about everything else too. I chose the playroom because I knew he’d never go down there. I figured that when Greg got back home—I didn’t know he’d run—the blood would be safe. Look, I know I went too far, but it’s not like I was lying. He killed her.”

“You don’t know that.”

“What?”

“He might have stumbled across the body the same way you did.”

“Are you serious?” Her tone was sharp now. “Of course Greg killed her. The blood on the floor was still fresh. He was the one who had everything to lose. He had motive, opportunity.”

“Just as you do,” Myron said.

“What motive?”

“You wanted to set him up for murder. You wanted to keep your children.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“Do you have any proof your story is true?” Myron asked.

“Do I have what?”

“Proof. I don’t think the police are going to buy it.”

“Do you buy it?” she asked him.

“I’d like to see proof.”

“What do you mean, proof?” she snapped. “Like what? It’s not like I took pictures.”

“Any facts that back up your story?”

“Why would I kill her, Myron? What possible motive could I have? I needed her alive. She was my best chance of keeping my kids.”

“But let’s assume for a moment that this woman did indeed have something on Greg,” Myron said. “Something concrete. Like a letter he wrote or a videotape”—he watched for a reaction—“or something like that.”

“All right,” she said with a nod. “Go ahead.”

“And suppose she double-crossed you. Suppose she sold the incriminating evidence to Greg. You admit Greg was there before you. Maybe he paid her enough so that she’d back out of your agreement. Then you go into her apartment. You find out what she’s done. You realize your one chance at keeping your kids is gone. So you kill her and pin it on the man who had seemed to have the most to gain from her death: Greg.”

Emily shook her head. “That’s nuts.”

“You hated Greg enough,” Myron continued. “He played dirty with you; you’d play dirty back.”

“I didn’t kill her.”

Myron took another look at the robins, but they were gone. The yard looked barren now, stripped of any life. He waited a few seconds before he turned back toward her. “I know about the videotape of you and Thumper.”

A quick bolt of anger hit Emily’s eyes. Her fingers clutched the coffee mug. Myron half-expected her to throw it at him. “How the hell…?” Then her grip suddenly slackened. She backed away. She sort of shrugged into a slouch. “It doesn’t matter.”

“It must have made you furious,” he said.

She shook her head. A small sound like a chuckle escaped from her lips. “You just don’t get it, do you, Myron?”

“Don’t get what?”

“I wasn’t looking for revenge. The only thing that mattered was that the tape could take away my kids.”

“No, I do get it,” Myron countered. “You’d do anything to keep your kids.”

“I didn’t kill her.”

Myron shifted gears. “Tell me about you and Thumper,” he said.

Emily snorted a derisive laugh. “I didn’t think you were that type, Myron.”

“I’m not.”

She picked up her coffee mug and took a deep sip. “Did you watch the whole tape from beginning to end?” she asked in a tone somewhere between flirtatious and furious. “Did you hit the slow motion button a few times, Myron? Rewind and replay certain parts over and over? Drop your pants to your knees?”

“No to all of the above.”

“How much did you see?”

“Just enough to know what was going on.”

“Then you stopped?”

“Then I stopped.”

She regarded him from behind the mug. “You know something? I actually believe you. You’re that kind of Goody Two-shoes.”

“Emily, I’m trying to help.”

“Help me or Greg?”

“Help get to the truth. I assume you want that too.”

She shrugged noncommittally.

“So when did you and Thumper…?” He made vague coming-together motions with his hand.

She laughed at his discomfort. “It was the first time,” she replied. “In all respects.”

“I’m not judging—”

“I don’t care if you are or not. You want to know what happened, right? It was my first time. That little whore set me up.”

“How?”

“What do you mean, how?” she countered. “You want me to go into details—how many drinks I had, how I was feeling lonely, how her hand started up my leg?”

“I guess not.”

“Then let me give you the quick capsule: she seduced me. We’d flirted innocently a few times in the past. She invited me to the Glenpointe for drinks. It was like a dare on myself—I was drawn and repelled, but I knew I wouldn’t go through with it. One thing led to another. We went upstairs. End of capsule.”

“So you’re saying Thumper knew you were being filmed?”

“Yes.”

“How do you know? Did she say anything?”

“She didn’t say anything. But I know.”

“How?”

“Myron, please stop asking so many goddamn questions. I just know, okay? How else would anyone know to set up a camera in that room? She set me up.”

That made sense, Myron thought. “But why would she do it?”

Her face registered her exasperation. “Christ, Myron, she’s the team whore. Didn’t she fuck you yet? Or no, let me guess. You refused, right?”

Emily stormed away into the living room and collapsed on a couch. “Get me the aspirin,” she said. “They’re in the bathroom. In the medicine chest.”

Myron shook out two tablets and filled a cup with water. When he came back, he said, “I have to ask you about one more thing.”

She sighed. “What?”

“I understand you made allegations against Greg,” he said.

“My attorney made allegations.”

“Were they true?”

She put the pills on her tongue, took some water, swallowed. “Some of them.”

“How about the ones about him abusing the children?”

“I’m tired, Myron. Can we talk more later?”

“Were they true?”

Emily looked into Myron’s eyes, and a cold gust of air blew across his heart. “Greg wanted to take my kids away from me,” she said slowly. “He had money, power, prestige on his side. We needed something.”

Myron broke the eye contact. He walked toward the door. “Don’t destroy that coat.”

“You have no right to judge me.”

“Right now,” he said, “I don’t want to be near you.”