want it back. Caitlyn, now that you’ve talked to the sheriff, we should go up, get you cleaned up for dinner.”
Not altogether satisfied, but calculating she’d gotten all she could—for now—she stood up. “Will you tell the people who helped me? Dillon and Julia and Gram?”
“It tells me about your character you’d ask that. It tells me good things. Yeah, we’re going by there when we leave here.”
“Will you tell them thank you again?”
“That’s a promise.”
“We’re going to live in Grandpa’s guesthouse for a while, and we’re going to Ireland with Nan to stay there for a while, too. But will you tell me if you’re right, and they have to go to jail for twenty years?”
“I can do that.”
“Thank you.”
“You bet.”
“Thank you, Deputy Wilson.”
“You’re welcome.”
As she went out with Nina, Red heard her say, “Will you stay with me while I clean up and change? Will you stay in my room?”
“She’s afraid to be alone,” Aidan said quietly. “She’s always been so independent, ready to explore, or settle down on her own with a book or a project. And now she’s afraid to be alone.”
“I don’t want to overstep, Mr. Sullivan, but it might be helpful if your daughter had some counseling.”
“Yes.” He nodded at Michaela. “I’ve already made some calls and contacts. She doesn’t want to go back to our house in L.A., so as she said, we’ll move into my father’s guesthouse. And we’ll spend some time in Ireland—get her away from any publicity for as long as possible. I know you both have work, and you’ve had a very long day. I don’t want to keep you, but I need to ask. Will there be trials? Will Cate have to testify?”
“Ms. Dupont pled guilty, so no trial. I can’t tell you about Sparks and Denby. I will say, while they’re not all that smart, I think they may be smart enough to take a plea. We’ve got enough, if they don’t, to push for life without parole. Twenty years is a hell of a lot better than life.”
Red got to his feet. “We’ll keep you updated. Are you heading back to L.A. soon?”
“I think yes, I think as soon as possible.”
“I’ve got your cell. I’ll reach out.”
Red checked his watch on the way to the car. “I think we can mooch a meal at Maggie’s when we fill them in. Let me tell you, Mic, both those women can cook.”
Michaela considered it. “I could eat. Are we going to hit Denby and Sparks tonight?”
“Might as well strike while the iron’s hot enough to burn their asses. You up for it?”
Michaela settled in the passenger’s seat, looked back at the house, thought of the girl. “I’m up for this one.”
Both men said: Lawyer.
Unsurprised, Red started the ball rolling for a public defender for Denby—who claimed he couldn’t afford to hire one—and gave Sparks his call so he could contact his own.
With Maggie’s exceptional chicken and dumplings—and a slice of Julia’s spice cake—happily filling his belly, he huddled with Michaela.
Both agreed, of the two, Denby racked up more stupid points. They’d take him first.
Together they walked into the interview room. And though he restarted the recorder, Red held up a hand. “It’s going to take awhile for the court to appoint your lawyer, and awhile for him to get here. You don’t have to say a word, that’s your right. We’re just here to let you know it might take till morning, and to give you a little information.”
“I got nothing to say.”
“Nobody’s asking you to, just making you aware that Charlotte Dupont’s exchanged considerable information in exchange for a deal. First come, first served—you know how it works, Frank. With what we got from her, and from other sources, the state intends to go for life, no parole.”
“That’s bullshit.” But he’d gone sickly gray. “I didn’t do anything.”
“Not asking you what you did or didn’t. Are we, Mic?”
“No, sir, the suspect has engaged his right to an attorney. Until that attorney—well, whoever the courts can scrounge up—gets here, we’re not asking a single thing. Simply informing.”
“I bet it’s Bilbo.” Red let go a snickering laugh. “With this guy’s luck I bet it’s Bilbo. Anyway, from what we already know, this was your operation, so you’re likely to go down the hardest.”
“Mine? That’s a crock of—”
“Now, Frank.” Red held up his hand again. “You don’t want to say anything until you talk to your”—he rolled his eyes at Michaela—“lawyer when he gets here. Mic and I put in