LITMIR.BIZ

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      “If you call working twenty-four/seven with a person close, then the two of were very close.”

      “Weren’t they planning on turning Coyote Ranch into a winery?”

      “They were?” Resseur seemed genuinely surprised. “That’s a new one, but I’ve been out of the loop. Good idea though. Gil had a fabulous wine palate. It’s certainly a good use of that monstrous place.”

      “Monstrous?”

      “That’s not a home. That’s a national park.”

      “You seem to have a lot of insights into the family.” Decker put down his notebook. “What do you think happened, Mr. Resseur?”

      “Me?” He pointed to his chest. “I don’t know.”

      “But you’ve thought about it.”

      “Of course.” He went over to his picture window and studied the view. Then he turned and faced Decker. “Nothing too profound. To get through all that security, it must have been an inside job. Isn’t one of the security guards missing?”

      “Yep. But do you see just one person pulling this off by himself?”

      “No, but that’s not how it happened. Someone hired thugs to do the murders. Gil remembers seeing people with tattoos before he crumpled and blacked out.”

      “Any candidates for the mastermind besides Rondo Martin?”

      “I’d check out the head of security: Neptune … something.”

      “Neptune Brady. Why do you suspect him?”

      “He was supposed to keep Guy and Gilliam safe. And now they’re dead.”

      “Grant is keeping Brady on as a security guard. What do you think about that?”

      “That speaks to Grant’s stupidity or Gil’s paranoia about Grant.”

      “He really thinks his brother was in on the murders?”

      “Gil has said a lot of things. But he’s delirious and doped up. His brain is scrambled right now.”

      “Have you arranged for any type of security once Gil leaves the hospital?”

      Resseur tapped a nearby end table. “I’ve broached the subject. Gil is disinclined to talk about it. He keeps harping on being released because he thinks the doctors are trying to poison him. That’s why I can’t take his talking against Grant too seriously.”

      “For the record, Grant told me he thought you were a good guy.”

      “He said that?” Resseur finished his wine. “That’s good to hear. There was always … tension whenever I was around Gil’s family. Whenever there was a big public party, I always asked my very attractive sister to come along. Not that we were fooling anyone. Gil’s mother was always cordial to me, but his father was … let’s just say uncomfortable.”

      “Did Guy ever say anything to you about your relationship with Gil?”

      “No.” Resseur got up and poured himself another glass of wine. “Gil was always very protective. He took care of me, and I was happy to go along with whatever he wanted.”

      “You didn’t feel resentful?”

      A forced laugh. “Resentful? Not at all.” He attacked his wine again. “What care I if we vacation in Monaco or the Spanish Riviera?”

      Decker smiled. “I see your point.”

      “That’s the way it went. Gil told me where we were going so I could either pack my tux or my Speedos. I didn’t see the point of making a fuss, especially because my time with Gil was so limited.” He studied his wineglass as if reading tea leaves. “Now it looks like we’re going to have lots of time to catch up.”

      “It sounds like that’s okay with you.”

      Resseur’s eyes got teary. “I love Gil. I always have. I’ll take what I can get.”

       20

      “It’s him.” Rina pointed to the mug shot of Alejandro Brand. “This guy is definitely the shorter one who the man called Alex. I recognize the face, but also the tattoos—the snake and the tiger—and the scar. This is definitely the man I saw Harriman with this afternoon.”

      “Okay.” Decker checked his watch. It was almost eleven in the evening and he was tired. But he soldiered on, inspired by Rina’s enthusiasm. “Let’s see what we’re dealing with.” He typed the name into his computer, but the machine froze. “The computer’s down. It’ll keep until morning. Let’s go home.”

      “Would you like me to look for the bigger one? If you give me a little time, I could pick him out.”

      “Let’s call it a night.”

      Rina’s eyes swept the empty station house and landed on her husband’s face. Although it had been a long day for her, it had been an even longer day for Peter. She had been caught up in the excitement of discovery. “You’re right. I would probably do better anyway if I had some rest.”

      Decker shut the mug book and helped her on with her sweater. The two of them left the station house, zooming out of the police parking lot in Decker’s Porsche. “After you’re done trying to ID man number two, your involvement in the case will be over.”

      “Don’t worry. I’ll be happy to bow out. I won’t have anything more to add.”

      “Having just said that …” He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. “I’m going to be a total hypocrite and ask you another question.”

      “You’re not being a hypocrite. You’re just wavering between wanting to know versus thinking about my safety. Stop worrying. They didn’t see me. I was very careful. The men had already left for the courtroom by the time I got to Harriman.”

      “What if they had spies?”

      “They didn’t have spies, Peter.” Rina softened her voice. “I know that the Bodega 12th Street gang is filled with bad guys, but they’re not the CIA. Now what did you want to ask me?”

      Decker had lost his train of thought. “Oh yeah. You’re sure that Harriman didn’t tell you anything about the words he exchanged with Alex.”

      “He didn’t say anything about the conversation. He did say that we should talk.”

      “That’s not going to happen. Not only do you two have nothing to talk about, if you two did powwow, a clever lawyer could say that you two colluded against the client.”

      “Good point, Counselor; your law degree did not go to waste.” Rina sat back in the seat. “I told him I didn’t have anything to say to him. I said if you needed to talk to him, you’d call him.”

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