Full Black - Brad Thor [69]
“I never wanted Ava to die,” he said. “Please.”
There was silence, several moments of it.
“Please,” he repeated. “I need your help.”
Alisa knew that Ralston was a good man. She also knew that the men accused of Ava’s death were the ones who were responsible. She was one hundred percent sure about that. Ralston had allowed Ava’s killers to go free. It made it very difficult to hear from him now, much less be asked to help him.
“If this is about cozying you up to one of my firm’s clients to help you get some movie deal, I swear to God I’ll make good on my promise to kill you. Do you understand that?”
“It’s not about business. I’m in trouble.”
“If you need a lawyer, you’ve come to the wrong place,” replied Alisa. “You’ll have to find somebody else.”
“No,” said Ralston. “I don’t need a lawyer. At least not yet.”
She had no idea what was going on, but he definitely had her attention. “What have you done?”
“I’ll explain it when I see you.”
“Oh? Just like that we’re having a meeting?” she replied. “Sorry, I’m booked.”
“Damn it, Ali. This is serious.”
“What this is, Luke, is my time, which gets billed at eight hundred and seventy-five dollars an hour. At least, that’s what I get paid when I am working, which is what I was doing before you called pretending to be from my children’s school and pulled me away from my client and a very important negotiation I’m trying to hammer out for her.”
Ralston decided he was going to have to give her something to get her to meet with him. And as strained as their relationship had been, she was the closest thing to family he had. “Did you hear what happened at Larry Salomon’s house?”
“Did I hear about it? Everyone’s heard about it. It’s all people in this town are talking about this morning. Why would you ask me,” she said, her voice suddenly trailing off. “Tell me you had nothing to do with what took place at Salomon’s house.”
“I need to see you. I need a favor.”
“Oh, my God.”
“Ali, please,” he said. “I need to see you.”
“Did you kill those people?”
“No comment.”
“No comment?” she replied. “Oh, my God.”
“Ali, come on.”
“What happened to Salomon?”
“He’s fine,” said Ralston. “He’s with me. He can vouch for everything.”
“Then I suggest you two turn yourselves in to the police. Pronto.”
“We can’t. At least not yet. That’s what I need to talk to you about.”
Alisa was quiet as she thought about how to handle it.
“Are you still there?” Ralston asked.
“Quiet,” she replied. “I’m thinking.”
Ralston remained quiet.
“Where are you?” she finally asked. “Are you somewhere in L.A.?”
Ralston was hesitant about answering, but realized he was going to have to trust her. “We’re south.”
“How far south? San Diego? Mexico City?”
He decided that for the time being it was better for all involved if he didn’t give her too much information. Until he knew for sure that she was on his side, he was going to be very careful. After all, she had promised to kill him. And though he doubted that she really meant it, there was still part of him that knew better than to cross her, or her father. “Can you get down to Manhattan Beach?” he asked, picking a quiet beach community just north of where he was.
“Well, you certainly can’t come up and meet me in my office, can you?”
It was a rhetorical question that Ralston didn’t need to answer. “How soon can you be there?”
Alisa checked her watch. “I’ll have to figure out what to tell my client and cancel the rest of my appointments. Depending on traffic, I can probably be there in about an hour.”
They picked a place to meet and Ralston said, “Thank you. I really appreciate your doing this for me.”
“Don’t thank me just yet. Wait till you get my bill. I charge double for travel.”
CHAPTER 31
Ralston printed Alisa’s picture from her law firm’s website and gave it to Hank, who made the short hop up to Manhattan Beach to make sure she wasn’t being followed.
He sat across the street from a small shop on Manhattan Beach Boulevard called Barbie K. Wearing what he referred to as his retired