Elena Estes - Dark Horse Part 46

Shapiro was up now, hovering behind his client. He leaned forward and said, "Mr. Jade has nothing tosay to you on this subject or any other. We're through here." Landry gave the lawyer a look. "Your client can still help himself out here, Mr. Shapiro. Don't get me wrong. He's in deep s.h.i.t, but maybe he can still climb out of it and take a shower. His partner is still out there, running around loose. Maybe Don here wasn't the one with the whip. Maybe the whole scheme was the partner's idea. Maybe Don can help himself out giving us a name."

Jade closed his eyes for a moment, inhaled and exhaled, composing himself. "I'm trying to be cooperative, Detective Landry," he said, still struggling to be calm. "I don't know anything about a kidnapping. Why would I risk doing something so insane?"

"For money."

"I have a very good career. I have a very good situation with Trey Hughes at his new facility. I'm hardlydesperate for money." Landry shrugged. "So maybe you're just a psycho. I once knew a guy killed a woman and cut her tongue out just to see how far back it went in her throat."

"That's disgusting."

"Yes, it is, but I see that kind of thing all the time," Landry said reasonably. "Now I see this deal: one girl

dead, one girl missing, and a horse killed for the insurance money; and it all revolves around you, Mr.

Jade."

"But it doesn't make sense," Jade insisted. "I would have made good money on Stellar as a sales horse -".

"Provided you could get him sold. I understand he had some problems." "He would have sold eventually. In the meantime, I collected my training fee every month." "And you'll collect your training fee for his replacement, too. Right?" "Trey Hughes doesn't have to wait to sell one horse to buy another." "That's true. But I've learned over the years there are few people greedier and less patient than the rich.

And you stand to make a big commission on the replacement horse. Isn't that right?" Jade sighed and closed his eyes for a moment, trying to gather himself. "I intend to have a long and happyworking relationship with Trey Hughes. He's going to buy and sell a lot of horses in that time. I'll profit on all of them. That's how the business works. So, why would I risk that by kidnapping someone? Therisk would far outweigh any possible gain. "If, on the other hand, I live a law-abiding life," he went on. "I'm set to move into a beautiful new facility to train horses for people who will pay me a great deal of money. So you see, Detective Landry, yousimply don't have a case against me." "That's not quite true, Don," Landry said, pretending sadness. Jade looked at Shapiro.

"What do you think you have, Landry?" Shapiro asked.

"I have ransom calls placed to the Seabright home on a prepaid cell phone purchased by Don Jade two weeks ago."

Jade stared at him. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"And do you have a witness who can positively identify Mr. Jade purchasing this phone?" Shapiro asked.

"I never purchased any phone," Jade said, peeved with his attorney for making it sound like he had.

Landry kept his gaze on Jade. "I've got Erin Seabright, beaten and b.l.o.o.d.y and scared to death, telling

me you're responsible. It doesn't get any more real than that, Don."

Jade turned away and shook his head. "I had nothing to do with it."

"You got greedy," Landry said. "If you wanted her out of the way because she knew something about

Stellar, you should have just killed her and dumped her body in a ca.n.a.l. You hold a hostage, things go wrong. People are unpredictable. You maybe wrote the script, but not everybody takes direction as well as a girl chained to a bed."

Jade said nothing.

"Do you own property in the Wellington area, Mr. Jade?"

"That would be a matter of public record," Shapiro said.

"Unless he put it in a partnership or a blind trust," Landry pointed out. "Will you share that information

with us or make us dig for it? Or should I ask Ms. Montgomery, who keeps track of all your little details?"

"I fail to see what this has to do with anything," Shapiro said.

Again, Landry ignored him, his focus on Jade, watching every nuance of his expression. "Have you ever had any dealings with Bruce Seabright or Gryphon Development?"

"I know Gryphon Development is in charge of Fairfields, where Trey Hughes' barn is going up."

"Have you personally had any dealings with them?"

"I may have spoken with someone from their office once or twice."

"Bruce Seabright?"

"I don't recall."

"How did Erin Seabright come to work for you?" Landry asked.

"Trey knew I was in need of a groom and told me about Erin."

"How long have you been a.s.sociated with Mr. Hughes?"

"I've known Trey for years. He brought his horses to me last year."

"Shortly after the death of his mother?"

"That's it," Shapiro announced. "If you want to go on a fishing expedition, Detective Landry, I suggest

you hire a boat. Come on, Don."

Landry let them move for the door to the interview room, speaking only as Shapiro reached for the doork.n.o.b.

"I own a boat, Counselor," he said. "And once I get a trophy on the line, I reel him in, fillet him, and fry

him. I don't care who he is or who his friends are or how long it takes." "Good for you," Shapiro said, pulling open the door. Dugan was standing on the other side with Armedgian and an a.s.sistant district attorney. "You're free to go, Mr. Shapiro," Dugan said. "Your client, however, will be enjoying the county's hospitality for what's left of the night. Bail hearing tomorrow."

He told me to meet him at the back gate," she said quietly, her eyes downcast.

Landry had slept on a bunk at the station and come back to the hospital at the crack of dawn to wait impatiently for Erin Seabright to wake up. Jade would be arraigned later that morning. Landry wanted the state's attorney to have every sc.r.a.p of ammunition possible to keep Jade in the tank.

"People gossip-especially about Don," Erin said. "He said he didn't want them talking about us. I totally understood that. I thought it was kind of exciting, really. Our secret affair. Pathetic."

"Had you had s.e.x with him prior to that?" Landry asked. He kept his voice matter-of-fact. No accusation, no excitement.

She shook her head. "We flirted. We were friends, I thought. I mean, he was my boss, but . . . But I wanted it to be more, and he did too. At least, that's what he told me." "So he asked you to meet him at the back gate. You knew no one would see you there?" "There weren't any horses in those last two barns that weekend. That's where the dressage horses are stabled when they come to Wellington for a show, but there wasn't a show for them. Plus it was Sundaynight. No one hangs around." "You hadn't told Mr. Jade you were quitting your job, moving to Ocala?" "No. Why would I? I wanted to work for him. I was in love with him."

"What happened then, Erin? You went to the back gate to meet him . . ."

"He was late. I was afraid he had changed his mind. Then this van pulled up and a guy in a mask jumped out and-and-he grabbed me."

Her voice died out as another bout of tears came. Landry handed her a box of tissues and waited.

"Did you recognize him, Erin?"

She shook her head.

"Did you recognize his voice?"

"I was so scared!"

"I know you were. It's hard to remember details when you're afraid and something awful like that is

happening. But you need to try to slow it all down in your mind. Instead of seeing it all happen so fast, you need to try to see individual moments, like snapshots."

"I'm trying." "I know you are," he said quietly. "Take your time, Erin. If you need a break, just let me know and we'l take a break. Okay?"

She looked at him and tried to smile. "Okay."

"If you never saw their faces, why do you think Jade was one of the kidnappers?"

"He's the one who told me to be there at the back gate."

"I know, but did you recognize anything in particular about one of the kidnappers that made you think it

was him?"

"I know him," she said, frustration showing. "I know his build. I know how he moves. I'm sure I heardhis voice different times." "What about the other guy's voice? Did he sound familiar? Did he have an accent?" The girl shook her head and rubbed a hand across her eyes, exhausted. "He didn't talk much. And when he did, he whispered and mumbled. He never talked to me."

"Do you know where they were holding you?" Landry asked. "Could you take us there?"

Erin shook her head. "It was a trailer house. That's all I know. It was horrible. It was filthy and old."

"Could you tell if you were near a busy road? Were there any particular sounds you heard regularly?"

"I don't know. Cars, I guess, in the distance. I don't know. They kept me drugged most of the time.Special K." "How do you know that was the drug?" She glanced away, embarra.s.sed. "I've had it before. At a party." "What happened last night? How did you get away?" "One of them-the other one-he dragged me out of the trailer and put me in the van. I thought he was going to kill me and dump my body somewhere, and no one would ever find me!"

She paused to catch a ragged breath and try to compose herself. Landry waited.

"He just drove around. I don't know how long. He had given me a shot of K. I was pretty out of it. I just

kept waiting for the van to stop, knowing that when it did, he would kill me."

"You couldn't see out the windows?"

She shook her head. "I was on the floor. And then we stopped, and I was so scared! He opened the

door and dragged me out. I was dizzy. I couldn't stand up. I fell on the ground, a- a-dirt road. And

he just got back in the van and drove away."

Thrown on the side of the road like a sack of garbage. Something they had used and didn't need anymore. Still, she was d.a.m.n lucky, Landry thought.