Phoenix Read online

  There was some movement in the hall outside of Alice’s chambers. She moved the ashtray on her desk and opened her desk drawer where she kept a thirty-eight special. She sat down behind her desk and watched as shadows entered the hallway, and she could see slow movements until there was a light tap on her smoked glass chamber door.

  “Yes,” she called out.

  A male voice said, “Cleaning crew, Your Honor. Do you want us to clean?”

  The man had a thick Spanish accent, and she looked around her office and to the rear entrance and asked, “How did you get into the hallway? My bailiff has orders to keep everyone out.”

  “I’m sorry, Your Honor, but I saw no bailiff. Would you like your office cleaned?”

  Alice contorted her face a bit and said, “I don’t recognize your voice, and your English is very, very good. Who are you?”

  “Cleaning crew, Your Honor. I am on duty in your building as we are shorthanded. I usually work at the federal courthouse, but we are on loan to the city. Yes or no? Do you want your chambers cleaned?”

  Alice put her hand on the gun with her finger through the trigger and said, “Sure … please.” The door opened, and a tall, thin man walked in. There was a smaller person in the shadows, and Alice sat still while looking at the two figures with her hand on the gun. There were a few tense moments, but the two cleaners went about their business, and as they did, Alice got up and grabbed her coat and purse and said, “Thank you for taking care of my chambers. The bailiff will see you out. I’m sure he just went to the bathroom.”

  The tall man said, “Yes, Your Honor. I’m sure you are correct. The bailiff just went to the bathroom. We will let ourselves out when we are finished.”

  Alice walked back over to her desk, pulled the gun from the drawer, and dropped it in her bag then quickly made her way to the back exit. She heard the man calling out to her but didn’t hesitate. She was in a full run as she exited the building. She heard the ricochet of a bullet off the steel exit door and concrete wall as she ran for her car.

  Saul Winston opened his eyes to three very, very bright lights above his head. He tried to move his arms and legs, but they were so heavy they didn’t move. “Help me. Is there anyone there? I need help.”

  He was unable to move his head, but he heard a female voice say, “Help is on its way, Mr. Winston. Well … sort of.”

  “Who the hell are you? Where am I?” Barbara O’Brian stepped into his line of sight dressed in a white medical outfit. Her red hair and blue eyes were striking against the antiseptic white of the room. He looked up at her and asked, “Who are you?”

  “I’m an associate of your host, Mr. Winston.”

  Saul tried to move and asked curtly, “And just who the fuck is my host?”

  He saw Barbara’s head turn away from him and then a familiar male voice said, “I’m your host, Mr. Winston. Please show respect for those who assist me.”

  Saul blurted out some obscenities, and the Eagle moved up next to the table and looked down into his eyes and said, “You are not good at taking directions, are you Mr. Winston?”

  “Wait … you’re the FBI agent from the house. O’Brian said I would be meeting the Iron Eagle. You know who the Eagle is?”

  John smiled as he asked Barbara to leave them. She walked out of the room as the Eagle looked down at Saul and said, “We are one in the same, Mr. Winston. Now, I’m going to ask you some questions, and you are going to answer them honestly, so that I don’t have to go through the long ordeal of tearing your body to pieces. Understand?”

  Chapter Seventeen

  “Gas ‘em like the Eagle

  did at the church?”

  “The who’s who of Los Angeles attorneys is what I’m talking about, Sandy. I understand that Howard Cohen is dead. He was to receive the lifetime achievement award at the gala dinner tomorrow night at the Ritz, which we are turning into a memorial dedication ceremony and announcing the Howard Cohen scholarship. It’s going to be sponsored by the ABA as well as the Californian Bar Association and Howard’s firm, now your firm I would hope.”

  Sandy Hyde sat in a client chair across from Tom Koswick who had finished speaking and folded his hands in front of him. “Jesus, Tom! Put this whole ceremony on ice until we get through all of this shit.”

  Tom took a deep breath and said, “It’s all in motion, Sandy. There’s no way to stop it. Besides, I think we both know that you didn’t come here to discuss the dinner. You’re here over the murders.” Sandy nodded and asked for a glass of water, and Tom pulled a bottle from a refrigerator behind his desk and handed it to her.

  She took a few sips and said, “Tom, I know that you were sleeping with Mrs. Winston.” He didn’t move. He just sat staring in silence. Sandy took another drink of her water and said, “Howard had a PI on Janet, and his PI has everything on you. You do understand that you could and most likely will be disbarred if this gets out?”

  Tom laughed lightly and said, “We’re lawyers, Sandy. We take care of each other, for Christ’s sake. Even if Howard knew about the affair with Mrs. Winston, he would never have told anyone about it. Howard and I didn’t get along, but he would never release that information into the public arena. Besides, Howard and your firm both have a few demons in your private background that could easily be leaked. The whole concept of our judicial system is kept in place by the whole MAD concept, you know that.”

  “‘Mutually Assured Destruction.’ One talks, and we all go down. That might have worked even five years ago but not anymore. Howard is dead by his own hand, and someone was with him when he committed suicide.”

  Tom’s face lost all color, and his hands began to shake. He stood up and walked to the edge of his desk and asked, “There has been no news about there being a witness to Howard’s death. How do you know this? And if you do know this, as a matter of fact, who was it?”

  Sandy put the bottle on a coaster and said, “Our office log reports show there were four people in Howard’s suite at the office the morning of his death. Sheriff Jim O’Brian, Sheriff elect Samantha Pritchard, FBI Special Agent Chris Mantel, and Agent John Swenson.”

  He walked back over to his desk and collapsed into his chair. He drew another deep breath and asked, “You have video and audio that monitors the whole building, right?” She nodded. “Well … where were the four when Howard killed himself?”

  “The audio and video is blank.”

  “Blank?”

  “Blank … we have footage up to the four entering Howard’s apartment foyer and the four talking quietly amongst themselves, then the screen is wiped clean. No audio or video for hours. It picks back up when the coroner and her team arrive on scene.”

  Tom stared off into space for a few minutes and then said, “I will make an inquiry with a contact I have at justice as well as the LAPD and see if they know anything.

  Sandy stood up and said, “Well, we better get to the bottom of this and fast. I have a bad feeling that whoever is doing the killing has us in their sights.” Tom nodded as Sandy walked out the door.

  Aston Phillips was reading in the solarium of his home when several bright lights flashed around him, attracting his attention. He looked up to see Paul walk in with Judge Alice Walker. Aston put down his book and stood as Alice walked in. Paul signed, but Aston put his fingers to his lips and said, “Relax, Paul. We are all friends here.” Aston pointed to a sofa across from him and invited Alice to sit.

  She sat down as Paul stood behind her and pulled the thirty-eight special out of her bag and pointed it at him and said, “Mr. Green, if you would be so kind as to join your boss, so I can see you both.”

  Paul moved around the couch as Alice sat with the gun trained on him. Aston looked at her and asked, “Alice, why all of the hostility?”

  She pointed the weapon at Aston and said, “I see that you had the cochlear implants done. I’m impressed, Aston. I can
’t see where you had the surgery.”

  Aston sat back in his chair and said, “I am sponsoring a clinical trial of this new implant. There are only three people in the

  world with the device, and, yes, you are quite the astute observer. With this new device, there is no outward sign of the operation

  or the implant. It is rather pleasant, Alice. I can still enjoy playing the role of the deaf while hearing every word being said around

  me. It’s a fascinating new device and is going to change the world

  for the deaf.” Alice nodded, still holding the gun, and Aston repeated his question calmly, “Why the hostility? Have I or Paul done something wrong?”

  She sat back and said, “I have a pretty good idea that my bailiff is dead back at the court house, and I just made a quick exit from my chambers with bullets flying behind me. Aston, do you want to explain?”

  Paul looked down at Aston who had nothing but a book in his robed lap. Alice looked up at Paul and said, “Mr. Green, please remove your weapon and place it on the table in front of me.” Paul slowly reached behind his back and pulled out a gun and laid it on the table. There was a chair next to Aston, and she asked Paul to sit. Alice looked at Aston and asked, “Why Aston? Why did you send a team to kill me?”

  Aston closed the book and said, “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Alice. We are teammates in this situation. You are the disguised voice behind Paul’s firestorms. That’s what we worked out. This is justice, Your Honor. I sent no one to kill you.”

  She reached out and picked up Paul’s weapon. She looked it over and said, “Well done, Aston. Your money does allow you some excellent technology, doesn’t it?” The two men stared at Alice as she put her finger on the trigger then pressed the safety on the gun and then the clip release. The clip dropped to the floor with a yellow glowing light shining off the end of it. She picked up the clip and put it in her lap then cleared the weapon’s chamber and said, “A laser guide … and not just for bullets, am I right Aston? Where’s the remote for this room?” Aston pointed to a table next to her where a small thin black remote sat. She picked it up and pressed a couple of buttons, and the light went off on the clip. She looked at Aston and asked, “Once again, I ask you, why did you send someone to kill me?”

  Sandy Hyde had gotten back to her office where crime scene tape was all over the entrance. She cut through it and walked into the foyer to the elevator. The doors were open, and she entered and pressed the button and pulled her tablet from her bag and turned it on. The elevator doors opened, and she crossed the marble floor inlaid with the firm’s initials and walked down the hall and into her office. Her office was dark with the exception of a lawyer’s lamp on her desk. She dropped her purse in one of the guest chairs and stepped into the light when a familiar voice spoke up.

  “They know about everything, Sandy.” She didn’t respond right away. She took a pitcher of water off the edge of her desk and poured some in a glass then took a sip.

  She sat down in a chair next to the one she had thrown her purse on and asked, “And just how the hell would you know anything, Violet? Where have you been?”

  Violet twisted her body in Sandy’s desk chair and said, “I was with Dr. Sara Swenson and her protégé Dr. Karen Faber.”

  Sandy took a drink of her water and asked, “Who knows what, Violet?”

  She stood up and leaned across the desk and said, “The FBI. They know about Howard. They know about what you have been doing to corrupt the system, and they are going to get you if the Iron Eagle or your firm’s personal serial killer doesn’t get you first.”

  Sandy laughed lightly and asked, “How do you know any of this?”

  Violet sat back down as Sandy stood up and turned on her office lights. She looked over at Violet who was still dressed in the pantsuit that was covered in Janet Winston’s blood and brain matter and asked, “What the hell happened to you?”

  “Janet Winston’s head being crushed under the wheels of a very, very powerful van happened to me at the Bonaventure Hotel.”

  Sandy didn’t say anything. She just stared at Violet and then coolly said, “Oh … well, we both know that slut had it coming. That had nothing to do with this office. It had to do with Saul, I’m sure.”

  Violet stood up and walked to an open door in Sandy’s office, turned on the light, and Sandy could hear water running in her private bathroom. “Well, I’m just a low level lawyer, Sandy. It’s my job to defend the innocent before the courts, and I don’t get paid the big bucks like you do to get them off. What I can tell you is that the wrath of shit that has been going on in this office and Howard’s death are about to come home to roost with the killer, and I have a good idea that both Jim O’Brian and John Swenson are getting close to figuring this situation out, and when they do …” There was the sound of water being splashed, and then Violet appeared from the bathroom with a white towel covered in the blood. “Someone is going to call on you, Sandy, and I have a feeling you’re not going to like the visitor.”

  Sandy got a snotty look on her face and said, “You know, Vi, you would have been better off if you had stayed in the FBI academy at Quantico and became a federal agent. You are as stupid as those dumb asses, and you would have made the perfect fit at the FBI.”

  Violet laid the towel down on the arm of one of the guest chairs across from Sandy’s desk and said, “Yeah, well, I did finish my training, Sandy. I just decided to leave the Bureau because I didn’t feel it was my cup of tea. However, I have to admit that I might have acted hastily so many years ago, and I might just put my application back in here for the FBI’s LA field office and come back and bust your ass … because I know something that no one else knows.”

  Sandy leaned back in her chair and asked, “And what’s that?”

  Violet pulled her purse up on her shoulder and started walking to Sandy’s office door and said with her back to her, “That you’re the one behind all of this Sandy. That you’re the one orchestrating this murder spree on your own firm and associates and God knows who else.” Violet was out of her office and walking to the elevator when Sandy came running out behind her.

  Violet pushed the button to call the elevator, and Sandy said, “How dare you accuse me of such treachery.”

  The elevator doors opened, and Violet stepped in and turned to face her. She pressed the button for the lobby and said, “It’s not an unfounded accusation, is it Sandy? Howard knew it, and that’s why he killed himself. Howard knew you were the brains behind all of this, and he also knew that he was going to go down, so he took the easy way out.” The elevator doors were closing, and Violet said, “But Howard was with someone when he died, and he handed someone the evidence, or at least enough information to lead back to the ring leader of these killings. Sooner rather than later, they will come for you, or he will come for you.”

  Sandy ran for the elevator doors and got her arm between them before they closed. She pushed Violet hard against the back of the elevator and pressed the emergency stop button. The elevator alarm began to blare, and Violet said, “You just triggered an alarm for police and fire, Sandy. You’re losing it.”

  Sandy pressed her elbow into Violet’s throat and asked in a cold and calculated voice, “Who is going to come for me?” Violet was choking and flailing her arms.

  She tried to speak but couldn’t, then a voice came over the elevator speaker and said, “This is Lieutenant Johnson with the Los Angeles Fire Department. How many of you are in the stuck car?” Sandy pulled her arm away from Violet’s throat, and she coughed and choked for a few seconds.

  “Is there smoke or fire up there?”

  Sandy didn’t respond, and Violet said with a rasp in her voice, “No sir … I swallowed wrong. The elevator is fine, sir. I bumped the lock by mistake.” Violet reached around Sandy and pulled the emergency lock, and the alarm stopped.

  The elevator doors were trying to close b
ehind Sandy when she stepped off, and Violet looked at her as the doors closed and said, “The one who calls himself justice will be coming for you, Sandy. You know him as the Iron Eagle.”

  She only caught a brief look at Sandy’s face as the doors finished closing, but the look was enough to get a smile out of Violet as the elevator began to descend. She mumbled to herself, “To see your face, Sandy. I would think that never occurred to you.” Violet was rubbing her throat as the elevator reached the lobby. There was a fire unit at the entrance and Johnson was there when the doors opened to make sure Violet was okay. Once she had convinced LA fire she was fine, she walked out of the building with a smile on her face and pulled her cell phone from her purse and hit speed dial.

  There was a moment of silence, and the line began to ring.

  “Swenson.”

  She said, “John, it’s Violet. We need to talk.”

  “About what, Vi?”

  Violet cleared her throat and said, “The person behind the killings, John. I think I know who it is.”

  There was a moment of hesitation, and John asked, “Where are you?”

  “Leaving Cohen and Hyde’s offices.”

  “You are supposed to be at the hospital, Violet.”

  She opened Karen’s car door and said, “Yeah, well, I needed to pay a visit to an old friend.”

  John’s voice was heavy on the other end of the line, “And what friend would that be?”

  “Sandy Hyde … she is quite upset, John. Very, very upset. Way out of character for the cool collected Sandy I know.”

  John said, “Go home, Violet. I will send someone by to pick you up in a few hours.”

  She started Karen’s car with the phone to her ear and said, “You better get me fast before the killer does.” She hung up the phone line leaving John hanging in dead air.