Delusion in Death

19

Moving fast, Eve headed for Observation, contacting Whitney on the fly. “Put me through to the commander,” she snapped when she reached his admin. “Priority.”

“One moment, Lieutenant.”

She pushed through the doors where Peabody and Teasdale watched Mira work Callaway. “We got him.” She held up a finger as Peabody started to speak. “Commander, Callaway is currently in Interview with Mira, charged with the murders. The search team found his hole. They’re bringing in his electronics, and journals, and chemicals. They got it all.”

“Wrap it up,” Whitney ordered. “I’m on my way.”

“Interview A, sir,” she told him as Peabody punched her fists into the air, and Teasdale yanked out her own ’link. “I’m about to go in, finish it. I’ll contact the PA, get someone in here.”

“Hold until I get there. Coming now.”

“Yes, sir.” She clicked off, shot a finger up in the air again, then contacted Reo.

“Cher Reo.”

“We’ve got Callaway, Interview A, and enough evidence to bury him on its way in.”

She watched the petite blonde scramble for her suit jacket. “The boss is in court. I’ll tag him now, head to you. Give me some details.”

“We tied him to Menzini. He has the formula, the chemicals, the works in his apartment. You want more, get here fast.”

She clicked off. “Has he said anything I can use?” she demanded.

“He’s claiming he’s not related to Menzini, keeps asking to be allowed to contact his parents. How they’ll worry about him. Mira’s playing it soft, so he’s trying to wheedle.” Peabody took a breath. “Holy shit, Dallas. He really had everything in his apartment?”

“With some precautions. He never believed we’d make the connection. He wasn’t worried.”

“I’ve contacted my superior.” Teasdale replaced her ’link. “HSO will be filing federal charges. In addition to the murder charges, Lieutenant,” she added quickly. “Not in lieu of.”

“Fine. I don’t care which cage he lives out his miserable life in.

Here’s how it’s going to work.”

She broke off as Whitney stepped in. “Commander.”

He nodded, turned to study Callaway through the glass. “He looks ordinary, doesn’t he? An ordinary man in a well-cut suit.”

“That’s his problem. He couldn’t tolerate being ordinary. That’s why he’s in there, and that’s why he’ll confess.”

“If the formula and the items required to create the substance were in his possession,” Teasdale said, “in addition to the statements of his parents, on record, the biological connection to Menzini, a confession may be superfluous.”

“Not for me. He’s going to say what he did. He’s going to look me in the eye and tell me what he did. Peabody, I want you to go in. Hard eye him, but don’t talk to him, don’t respond if he talks to you. Whisper to Mira we’ve got the evidence, and I’m coming in. She should keep going until I do. Go in now, stand against the wall, and look tough. It’ll add some sweat.”

“Looking tough.” Peabody tightened her jaw, hardened her eyes as she went out.

“I’d like a shot at him myself,” Whitney stated.

“Commander, I’d like to keep the room unbalanced. All women, and him.”

“Understood.”

“I want to circle him awhile,” she said to Teasdale. “He’ll expect the direct hit, and he’s prepared for that. I’m going to dribble out what we have on him, keep hacking at his ego. Follow me?”

“I do.”

“Commander, if you could direct APA Reo to come in as soon as she arrives? Another woman’s going to piss him off. Ready?” she asked Teasdale.

“Very ready.”

Eve walked in first. “Dallas, Lieutenant Eve, and Teasdale, Agent Miyu, entering Interview. Excuse me, Doctor Mira, we’re going to have to cut you off. You’re welcome to stay, of course.”

“This is bullshit.” Callaway jabbed a finger into the table. “As I’ve been telling Doctor Mira, you’ve obviously got me confused with someone else. I’ve never heard of this Menzini person. My maternal grandfather was a decorated military officer, Captain Edward Gregory Hubbard. I can verify that. I demand to contact my parents. It’s my right to have communication.”

“Not once you’re charged with terrorism.” Eve shrugged as she sat. “We can hold you for forty-eight hours without communication or representation. It sucks, but that’s how it plays.”

“If there’s been a mistake”—Mira lifted her hands—“it would save time, and any additional stress to Mr. Callaway if you arranged for his parents to come here. If you spoke with them to verify his parentage.”

“I won’t have my family subjected to interrogation by incompetent police and witch-hunting government agents.” Callaway folded his arms. “I’ll wait. I have nothing to say for the next forty-eight hours.”

“Okay. You can just listen. We can and will run DNA tests to prove Menzini’s your grandfather.”

“Go ahead! I welcome it.”

“And once we do that, you’re not just cooked, you’re served up with tasty side dishes. How did you know about Red Horse?”

Like a child, he turned his head away, stared at the wall.

“Because it’s interesting you’d bring up Red Horse in connection with the killings as Menzini headed one of the sects during the Urbans. Menzini was a chemist, more self-taught than educated. And completely bat-shit. He created a substance that caused violent delusions, extreme paranoia. The same substance you used at On the Rocks and Café West.”

She let it hang, said nothing. Silence ticked, ticked, ticked as she kept her gaze steady and cool on his averted face.

He shifted in his chair. “I’m not a damn chemist. I can’t make something like that even if I wanted to. Which I don’t.”

“How did you know about Red Horse?”

“My grandfather served during the Urbans. I’ve heard stories.”

“He died before you were born.”

“They’ve been passed down. And I’ve familiarized myself with some of the battles he was in. He fought this Red Horse cult. When you mentioned religious fanatics, that came to mind. It’s that simple.”

“But Menzini was never mentioned in this family history?”

“I’ve never heard the name before today.”

“That’s pretty strange, Lew, seeing as he’s your mother’s biological father.”

“That’s utter nonsense. If you had any brain at all, you’d have checked her birth records.”

“Oh, I had enough brain to do that. With enough left over to ask her face-to-face.”

Now his head came around, fast. “What did you say?”

“It’s really more what she said. I get you didn’t want us to speak to her or your father, but, hey, I’m just bullheaded that way.”

“Obviously you frightened and intimidated her. She’s not a strong woman. She’s frail, emotionally. You coerced her.”

“That would be your method. Here’s the thing—the break I’m going to give you right here and now. You can keep denying knowledge, figuring when the truth comes out, you stick to being unaware. Nobody ever told you.”

She waited a beat, gave him time to calculate. “That’s one way. Or you can admit you found out, discovered the documents your mother told me about. The shock of that sent you into a tailspin. Why, your family lied to you, and your grandfather, rather than being a decorated war hero turns out to be some homicidal lunatic mass murderer and child abductor. A religious looney on top of it. He might get mentally impaired out of that line, right, Doctor Mira?”

“The shock alone …” Shaking her head, Mira trailed off.

“It could work to your advantage.”

“I want to speak with my mother.”

“Not going to happen, Lew.”

“A mother testifying against a son,” Teasdale said quietly. “The weight of that testimony will be great.”

His jaw set. Eve imagined she heard his teeth grinding.

“She’ll never agree to it.”

“She won’t have a choice. And when we bring Menzini in—”

“He’s dead!”

Eve angled her head. “What makes you think that?”

“I—I assumed.”

Smiling, she wagged her finger. “You shouldn’t assume. He’ll tell the whole story, about your biological grandmother, the abduction of your mother, her recovery. It’s the sort of thing that might play for you, if you admit you knew—you found out and it screwed you up. APA’s on the way. I want to wrap this up, get home, have a drink. The prosecutor’s office wouldn’t like me giving you this wiggle room, however slim. Make a choice, Lew. And fast.”

“I want to speak to someone in charge.”

“You are. Oh, you mean a man. That’s not going to happen either. Make a choice. I know you found the box of documents. I know you learned Menzini was your grandfather. You found the formula. You’ve got a chance to come clean on that, help yourself. Or you can keep lying, and go down that way.”

“They did lie to me.” He turned—a deliberate move—to Mira. “All my life. I could never understand why they couldn’t love me, couldn’t give me the affection a child needs. My father … He’s a violent man. The secrets in that house … I can’t speak of it.”

All sympathy, Mira leaned toward him. “Your father abused you, physically.”

Callaway turned his head away, managed to nod. “And in every way. She never stopped him, never tried to. My mother. But she couldn’t help it. She’s weak, and afraid.”

“He abused her as well.”

“She’s terrified of him,” Callaway whispered. “Of everything. We moved constantly when I was growing up. I never knew what it was to have a real home, friends, roots. Then I found that damn box, and knew why she’d never protected me. I was a constant reminder to her of what her mother had suffered—her real mother. I even look like him a little. The coloring, the build. I stepped into a nightmare.”

“I understand,” Mira said gently.

“How can you? How can anyone? To know that runs through you. I wanted to kill myself.”

“But you kept going back,” Eve interrupted. “Hoping to find more.”

“Yes, yes. To find it all, to get rid of it. I brought it all back here, and I dumped it all in a recycler.”

“Oh please.” Eve rolled her eyes. “How stupid are you? Nobody’s going to buy that. You brought it back, and you re-created the substance. Admit it, for God’s sake. Own it. The PA’s going to push for consecutive life sentences in an off-planet cage. Hard as hard time gets. Lay it out, lay it all out and you might have a shot at a facility on-planet. You can write a goddamn book, do media interviews. You can be somebody. Find your balls, Lew.”

“I was going to kill myself. I was going to use what he made to destroy myself. I lost my mind for a while. I wasn’t sure it would work, but I took it with me, into the bar. I was going to wait until it was nearly empty, but Joe wouldn’t leave. I lost my nerve. I got up to go, and that woman bumped into me. She knocked the vial, and it fell. I panicked, and I got out.”

He covered his face with his hands. “All those people.”

“You made the substance?” Eve repeated. “You took it into the bar?”

“Yes. God help me, yes,” he said just as Reo stepped in.

“APA Reo, Cher, entering Interview. Pull up a chair. Lew’s entertaining us with fairy tales.”

“How can you be so callous?” he demanded. “So cold.”

“Me? You’re the champ there. Lew’s just confessed to creating the hallucinogenic and taking it into the bar.”

“I was traumatized! I meant to self-terminate.”

“There are easier ways,” Eve pointed out. “Did you also mean to self-terminate when you took another vial of the hallucinogenic, palmed it off on Jeni Curve without her knowledge?”

“I don’t remember any of that. There are blanks in my memory. The shock. The stress. I want to speak with your superior!”

“Fuck that.” Eve slammed her hands on the table, pushed up to lean into his face. “You needed a vessel, she was handy. You made up some story about a man in black. You were the man, Lew. You. Do you know how many buildings on that street have security cams? Do you think you avoided all of them?”

“You idiot. I never went near camera range.”

“No? You’re sure. Your memory’s clear on that point?”

“I don’t know. You’re confusing me. I want to talk to your commanding officer. I don’t want to talk to you.”

“You can talk to me,” Reo suggested. “I’m Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Cher Reo.”

“Do you think I’m going to talk to an assistant? Some secretary?”

“That’s telling her, Lew.” Eve circled him. “Show her who’s in charge here. Who’s the fucking boss. You murdered a hundred and twenty-seven people, for Christ’s sake, without getting a drop of blood on you. And she sashays in here in her girly suit and sex-me-up shoes and expects you to give her the time of day?

“This is bullshit. Just bullshit. You put an entire city on notice, and you did it because you could, not for some crackpot end-of-days bullshit like your whacked-out grandfather. You’ve got book deals and vid deals coming. They’ll be beating down your door, throwing money at you. And fame. Everybody’s going to know your name, and fear it. That’s what you want, isn’t it? The attention, the respect you deserve.”

“That’s right, and I’m not talking to a bunch of idiot women.”

“Come on, Lew, show us your balls. Give us a thrill. When the real PA gets here, he’ll know he’s dealing with a man. A man who demands respect. Not some weak sister like Joe Cattery. That bitch Weaver was going to promote him over you. It was time for a game changer. Time to level the field. And all those happy hour assholes, slurping up the half-priced drinks. I bet they made you sick. Plenty more out there just like them, but you—you’re special. It’s about damn time people treated you the way you should be treated.”

“Joe was nothing. A flunky.”

“That’s right. That’s right. It had to burn your ass when he got the big bonus.”

“My bonus. Weaver fucked me over.”

“That bitch.” Not controlled now, Eve thought. Cornered, furious, cracking. “And it wasn’t the money, not really. Right? It was the principle. What did you do, Lew? Impress me. You had the formula, you had the journal—all those secrets inside the faded brown cover. Sure, we found that.” She kept her eyes steady when he blinked. “The men said you really put it together, Lew. All the time, the effort, the planning that went into building the lab, outfitting it. And the risk. Talk about balls. It’s dangerous, cooking up LSD, mixing it, getting all the parts and pieces together. That takes brains and balls. It takes imagination. People are going to talk about Lewis Callaway for generations.”

“You admit it.” He jabbed a finger at her. “You admit that.”

“I was messing with you before. Nobody’s ever going to forget what you did, who you are. Jesus, Lew, you’re in a league of your own. Tell me what you did. I’ll never forget.”

He shook his head, turned away again, but his breathing was fast, his eyes calculating.

Nearly there, she thought.

“If you did this,” Teasdale put in. “Can prove you did this, the agency will be very interested. They want people like you, Mr. Callaway, working for them. High-level positions.”

“Wait just a damn minute,” Eve began.

“Lieutenant, we’re talking about global security. My superiors—and this reaches the highest chambers—have authorized me to persuade Mr. Callaway, should he prove himself, should he offer details that leave no room for doubt he perpetrated these events, to consider an offer.”

“Working for the HSO?”

“Menzini’s talents have certainly been useful. My superiors are of the opinion yours will follow suit.”

“Some cushy job!” Eve rounded on Teasdale. “Some big, covert government deal? For killing people? I should’ve known you’d play it this way. Let me do all the work, then grab the prize at the end.”

“Those with the skill and aptitude for such matters are more useful with us than not.” Teasdale merely shrugged. “HSO values creativity and—as you so aptly stated—balls. But I can’t discuss any of it any further without solid evidence, and Mr. Callaway’s statement.”

“My grandfather works for the HSO? He’s alive and working for you?”

Teasdale pokered up. “I’m not at liberty to say anything more on that matter at this time. I don’t have that authority.”

“I should’ve known you’d screw me over,” Eve said bitterly.

“Priorities, Lieutenant. And power. The choice is yours, Mr. Callaway.”

“You thought you had me.” He sneered at Eve. “You don’t know who you’re dealing with. All my life I knew there was something more in me, something different. They tried to hold me back.”

“They?” Eve prompted.

“My parents. But I could always get what I wanted, make people do what I wanted—or pay. I knew I didn’t get the more from them. They’re nothing. Ordinary. And when … when I found out where I’d gotten it, I was happy. At last. I’ve finished playing the game, pretending to give a shit. People needed to pay.”

“Joe Cattery, Carly Fisher.”

With a cagey smile, Callaway folded his arms. “Immunity.”

“I can’t authorize that.” Reo put a little squeak in her voice. “My boss has to—”

“The HSO offer takes precedence over assistants,” Teasdale said, smugly. “Once Mr. Callaway has given me the information necessary, I’m authorized to make him that offer. People needed to pay,” she repeated to Callaway. “And you had the means.”

“I had what I needed. Cattery, Fisher, they’d pushed the wrong buttons, hadn’t they? Messed with the wrong person, and for the last time. That’s what I can bring to the table,” he told Teasdale. “I’ve got the means and the brains to make HSO the most powerful agency on-or off-planet.”

“I’m listening.”

“What’s the offer? Spell it out.”

“That depends on what you tell me, and what can be proven. I can tell you HSO is very interested and intrigued by your—alleged—talents.”

“Bureaucratic bitch,” Eve muttered, and got a cool smile from Teasdale.

“You’ve been outmaneuvered, Lieutenant. If, of course, Mr. Callaway elects to cooperate with us.”

“I’m going to have terms,” Callaway told Teasdale.

“We can certainly discuss terms, but we require proof you had not only the means, but did, in fact, execute these incidents.”

“They all did what I wanted, didn’t they? What I made them do. Everyone in that bar, in that crappy café danced to my tune. That’s what you’ll get with me,” he told Teasdale. “Someone who gets the job done.”

“What did you make them do, Mr. Callaway?” Teasdale asked.

“Kill each other. Slaughter. Live their fears and die fighting. It was all there in the journals, my grandfather’s papers. His crazy religious angle? You don’t have to worry about that from me. I’m not crazy, and I don’t believe in anything but myself.”

“That’s important. My superiors will want to be assured of just that.”

“Idiot Joe, sitting there, moping for his wife and brats. And I thought, you won’t mope much longer, asshole. I wanted Weaver, too, but she left, skipping out to have sex. I settled for Joe, and the rest of them. That fucking bartender, the bitch of a waitress, that stupid woman and her friends. All I had to do was put the vial in her pocket when she bumped into me. Already opened. It takes a few minutes to take effect, and I timed it right down to the heartbeat. That’s how good I am. Got a little headache, but that’s all. I was out in the air before it took hold. And I just kept walking.”

“You made the substance yourself?”

“It’s tricky,” he said with a nod at Teasdale. “Not that hard to come up with the ingredients, especially if you take your time. I had to build the lab. It’s small. I wouldn’t mind playing around with other ideas in a better lab. I’ve got a knack.” He tapped his chest with his thumb. “I guess I got it from the old man.”

“I’ll pass that on,” Teasdale replied.

“I think I can improve it, so it lasts longer, starts faster. The second hit would’ve been better if the effects had taken hold quicker. Once the cops got there, started stunning people, it cut down on the count.”

“How did you choose the second location?”

“For that bitch Fisher. She thought she was going to climb over my back? Her and Weaver, always plotting and planning out to hold me back.” He sliced his hands like an umpire calling the runner safe. “That’s done.”

“And the second accomplishment. How was it done?”

“I wasn’t going to go in. It would give the cops a reason to look at me. See, I think things through, figure the angles. I just waited for the delivery girl. Dumb as a bag of hair, that one. I stopped her, asked her to order me a sandwich, grab me a table. Said I had to run into the drug store, but I’d be right there. Gave her a thank-you hug, stuck the open vial in her pocket. Done and finished. I grabbed that pita and strolled on back to the office.”

“Where were you hitting next?” Eve asked. “Indulge me.”

“Why not? There’s an Italian restaurant down from the office. Appetito. Weaver goes there a lot. All I’d have to do is check her book, see when she’s taking some fuck there for foreplay. I made friends with one of the waitresses. I’d use her for delivery. With those three out, I’d move up, take over for Weaver. Now they can suck me. Their loss is HSO’s gain.”

“It is indeed,” Teasdale agreed.

“Is that enough, Reo?” Eve asked.

“Oh, I’d say that, served on a silver platter.”

“Peabody, get a couple of uniforms to help you take Lew through processing. I don’t believe he’s going to feel very cooperative.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Screw that.” He tipped back, smirked at Eve as Peabody slipped out. “I’m not doing any time, even overnight. I’m with the HSO.”

“What you are, Callaway, is deeply stupid.”

“What you are, bitch, is fucked. When do I meet the head men, Agent?”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Callaway, if I gave the impression the offer would precede you serving out your sentences. The HSO does believe you’ll be very useful to us—should there be a medical miracle and you survive one hundred and twenty-seven life sentences. And we feel you’ll be very useful serving approximately the same amount of additional time in a federal institution.”

“This is bullshit. You said—”

“I believe the record will show I gave no specific details on this offer. In any case, lying during Interview or interrogation is accepted—even encouraged. I believe, Mr. Callaway, it’s you who are fucked. I’m very happy to have played a small part in it.”

Eve braced when he surged to his feet. “Please try it. My turn,” she said to Teasdale. But even as she spoke, Peabody came in with two uniforms.

“Oh well, maybe next time.”

“I want a deal.” He struggled against the vice grip on his arms.

“Sure. Ask me after, say, seventy of those life sentences.” Reo smiled at him like a raptor. “We’ll talk.”

“I want a lawyer!”

“Let him contact a rep after processing,” Eve told Peabody. “Nice work, Agent.”

“The same, Lieutenant. He was proud of it. You were right about that.”

“Yeah, and ambitious. You were right with the HSO angle.”

“I’ll report to my superior, handle the paperwork on my end.” Teasdale let out a long, windy breath. “Then I’d like a very big drink.”

“I hear that. One thing. Is Menzini still alive?”

“My information is he died a few months ago.”

“Okay. I’ll be around.” She turned to Reo. “No deals, right?”

“What’s to deal? He spelled it out. If he gets a decent lawyer, he’ll try for insanity or mental defect.”

“He’s not insane nor defective,” Mira said. “I had a session with him right here, on record. He isn’t legally insane, and was perfectly aware what he did was wrong, immoral, illegal. There won’t be a health facility sentence here. It’s his conscience, his morals that are defective, not his mind.”

“Good to hear. I’ll have all the records for you within the hour,” she told Reo.

“I’ll wait. By the way, sex-me-up shoes?”

“I was following a theme.”

“Well.” Reo turned her ankles, looked down. “They are pretty fabulous.”

“They are,” Mira agreed.

“I was going to say the same about yours. What a terrific color.”

“Could we not talk about shoes in the box that still smells of evildoer?”

“You started it,” Reo reminded her before she turned back to Mira. “Do you have time to run through your findings on him? I’ll buy you a drink in the lounge.”

“That sounds good. Eve?”

“I’m going to deal with the paperwork.”

She stepped out behind them, spotted Roarke with her commander.

“Sir.”

“Good work, Lieutenant. Excellent work.”

“Thank you, sir. We had a good team who put a lot of hours into it, a lot of skill.”

“Agreed. I’ll be addressing the team. We’ll be making an announcement to the media, holding a brief conference within the hour. You’ll need to be there.” He smiled at her, and for the first time in days, with a light in his eyes. “I realize that feels like punishment, but it’s important we inform the public, and you attend.”

“Yes, sir.”

“After which I suggest you go home and enjoy your evening. I’m going to.”

“I wonder if he means he’s going to have so much sex,” Roarke commented when Whitney was out of earshot.

“Please. Don’t put that image in my head. I need to see what you brought back from Callaway’s.”

“Secured in your office, except for the electronics. Feeney’s got them in EDD. I wanted to watch you work this one, so I came down for a bit. But I’ll go back, give him some time. The bastard’s encrypted everything. It’s not overly complicated, but it’s going to take a little time to get all his notes and so on.”

“Everything we can get adds to it, but I don’t think there’s a hurry. Still, I guess I’m going to be a couple hours.”

“Just let me know when you’re ready to go. And we’ll enjoy our evening.”

“I cracked that code,” she said as she split off to her office.