Ties That Bind

Chapter Fifty-Six.

Kate Ross found Amanda Jaffe idly stirring a cup of coffee in a booth in the hospital cafeteria. She looked solemn and exhausted, like everyone else in the restaurant.

"How's your dad?" Kate asked as she slid into the other side of the booth.

"He's in surgery. The doctors don't think there's any permanent damage. They'll be done soon and I'll find out for sure."

"Are you okay?"

"Physically, yeah. I was lucky. But I'm . . ." She shrugged.

"I know all about it, Amanda. One part of you is thrilled that you're alive and the other guy isn't, and another part feels guilty as hell, even though you know you didn't do a damn thing wrong."

Amanda nodded. "It's something like that. I'm trying not to think about what happened at the house. Mostly, I've been worrying about Frank."

"I've got something for you that will help take your mind off Frank for a little bit. Jack Stamm called the office. He's scheduled a hearing at two to dismiss all the charges against Dupre."

"What?"

"Daniel is going to handle it, so you don't have to worry. And there's more, and you're going to love it. Harvey Grant, Stan Gregaros, and Tim Kerrigan's father are in custody."

"The Vaughn Street Glee Club?"

"That's what I'm thinking. And there's something else. Did you hear what happened to Tim?" Kate asked.

"Someone had a newspaper in the intensive care waiting room, so I saw the headline. I can't believe that Maria Lopez tried to kill him. Does anyone know why she did it?"

"All I know is that she's under arrest. I've tried some of my sources, but either they don't know anything, or they're not talking. But whatever is going on, our client is in the clear. Daniel will call when the hearing is over. I asked him to try and find out why the charges are being dropped and if it has anything to do with these arrests.

"One more thing. A patrol car went out to Jon's safe house after I phoned in the shooting. The basement door was wide open and the police recovered some shells and found some blood, but no bodies."

"So your friends got away."

"It looks like it."

"I think that solves the problem of what to do with the duffel bag."

"Are you going to turn it over to Jon?"

Amanda stirred her coffee and stared into space. Kate let her think.

"An awful lot of people would be hurt if those tapes got out," she said. "And maybe they deserve to be. These men are supposed to be the pillars of our society--they're the ones who are always talking about getting tough on crime--and it's all a fraud."

"I can't disagree with anything you've said, but I don't know if I want to be the one who brings everyone down," Kate said. "Maybe the best thing for all concerned would be for the contents of that bag to disappear."