Ties That Bind

Chapter Fifty-five.

Tim Kerrigan waited as J. D. Hunter rang his father's doorbell. Behind them, several agents dressed in windbreakers with FBI stitched across the back huddled against the elements, but Tim was oblivious to the cold wind and pelting rain. He felt empty inside and sadder than he'd ever been in his life.

The door opened. William looked confused by the presence of his son and the agents. He'd dropped off Tim at home after their meeting with Harvey Grant and here he was again.

"Why aren't you home?"

"Tim is here to give you a chance, Mr. Kerrigan. It was part of our deal."

"What are you talking about?"

"Harvey and Stan are in custody, Dad. These men are here to arrest you, but Agent Hunter and I want to talk to you first. You don't have to. You can ask for a lawyer, but I think that would be a mistake."

"We have the carton with the signed confessions," Hunter said. "The other members of your group will be in custody before dawn."

Francine appeared at the top of the stairs.

"Who's there, Bill?"

Hunter walked past William and held up his identification. Tim and the other agents followed Hunter inside.

"I'm with the FBI, Mrs. Kerrigan. I have a warrant to search your house. We'll try to be as neat as possible. An agent will have to stay with you during the search."

"What is he talking about, Bill?"

"Let them search," Kerrigan told his wife.

"Can we talk someplace private?" Hunter asked.

Several officers headed up the stairs. Francine called after her husband, but he ignored her and led Tim and Hunter down the hall to his office. Hunter closed the door, cutting off the sound of Francine's strident protests.

"Ally Bennett is alive, Dad," Tim said as soon as they were seated.

William looked bewildered. It was the first time Tim could remember when his father did not appear to be totally in charge. William turned to Hunter.

"You told me that Tim murdered her."

"Miss Bennett's murder was staged. She's alive and well and prepared to testify. You should know that we have Detective Gregaros on audiotape and videotape at the scene of the staged murder, making very incriminating statements. We also obtained a warrant before you met with Harvey Grant at the Westmont, and we have a recording of your call to the judge telling him that the carton is not in the trunk of your car."

Hunter paused. William held his tongue.

"Aren't you going to ask us what carton we're talking about?" Hunter asked.

"I don't know anything about a carton."

"No?" Hunter said. "So this is the first time you've heard about the carton of confessions that Victor Reis took from the judge's trunk, the carton he was supposed to put in your trunk? Doesn't ring any bells?"

William Kerrigan said nothing.

"We had to trick the judge into moving the confessions, because we had no idea where they were," Tim said. "I told you that I knew about them and was going to tell the police. We knew you'd tell Harvey and he'd figure out that we'd get a search warrant. That forced him to move them immediately. He couldn't give them to anyone who had signed a confession. That eliminated everyone but the original members of your group. Wendell Hayes was dead and Pedro Aragon is in Mexico. That left you."

"We had Tim insist on meeting at the Westmont to bring you and Grant together," Hunter said. "We thought you'd take advantage of the chance to switch the evidence there and we assumed it would be moved from Grant's car to yours. Since neither of you could afford to have Tim see the transfer, we were certain that Victor Reis would do it while the three of you were talking.

"We studied your car while you were with Tim at the hospital, and got a duplicate with matching plates and a lock that would take any Mercedes key in case you gave your key to Reis. The parking valet was an FBI agent. All we had to do after that was have the valet give Reis the number of the slot where the duplicate car was parked. He put the carton in the trunk, we drove the FBI car away, and put your car in the slot we'd just vacated."

"We've been through the confessions once," Tim said. "Some of the names came as a real shock. It made me sick to think that I trusted these people."

"You're going to be charged with conspiracy in the murder of Harold Travis and the attempted murder of the Jaffes, Jon Dupre, and your son," Hunter said. "The murder of Senator Travis can put you on death row.

"We'd like you to work with us. It would be helpful to have one of the original members of The Vaughn Street Glee Club as a government witness. It would mean a life sentence for you. But you have to act now. We haven't started to interrogate Harvey Grant and Detective Gregaros, but they know that Ally is alive and that Tim set them up. I promised Tim we'd talk to you before we spoke to them."

"What's it going to be, Dad?"

Kerrigan glared at Tim. "I should have known you'd never have the guts to kill someone."

Tim hung his head. Even now his father could hurt him.

"Your son was very brave, Mr. Kerrigan," Hunter said, "and very insistent that we give you the first opportunity to cut a deal."

Kerrigan stared at the agent. "I have no reason to cut a deal. I don't know what you think Harvey Grant and this detective have done, but I'm not part of it."

J. D. Hunter ordered one agent to drive Tim Kerrigan home and another agent to drive Tim's father to jail. Cindy saw the car drive up and opened the door for him.

"Are you all right?" she asked warily. Tim had not told her what was going on, but she knew something terrible was happening.

"Is Megan asleep?"

"For hours."

"We need to talk."

Tim led his wife into the living room. "I'm going to tell you everything. I want you to know that I love you." Tim looked down. "I haven't always loved you but I know I do now. You might not love me when you hear what I have to say."

"Just tell me what happened tonight," Cindy said. Her tone was neutral and Tim could see how hard it was for her to hold in her emotions.

"My father has been arrested for conspiracy to commit murder and the attempted murder of several people, including me."

Cindy stared as if she did not understand.

"Harvey Grant and several other people--some of whom we know very well--are also in custody."

"My God. That's impossible."

"They are guilty, Cindy. They are ruthless. You have no idea."

"Did you . . .? Were you a part of this?"

"No! I've been working with the FBI."

Tim dropped his head again. He felt like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.

"Then what have you done?" Cindy asked.

Tim took a deep breath. He was going to confess everything, absolutely everything. Then he would accept whatever Cindy chose to do.

"I am not the person you think I am. I am a bad person."

He choked and could not go on for a moment. Then he inhaled, he looked Cindy in the eye, and he began by telling her how he had deserted Melissa Stebbins a week and a half before the Rose Bowl.