The in Death Collection Books 11-15 - J. D. Robb [263]
“Why don’t you shut up, you miserable excuse for a humanoid. Peabody, record on.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Vincent Lane,” Eve began, “you have the right to remain silent.”
“You’re arresting me?” The color that had drained from his cheeks bloomed back violently. “You think you can arrest me? You have no cause, you have no case, you have nothing on me whatsoever. Do you know who I am?”
“Yeah, I know who you are. You’re scum. Now, you’re going to sit down while I read you the rest of your rights and obligations. Then you’re going to sit there and answer my questions. Because if you don’t, I’m going to haul you downtown, into Interview. And somehow along the way, the media’s going to get wind of it. By the time you’re supposed to be meeting your girlfriend for lunch, it’ll be all over the screen how Vince Lane has been arrested for suspicion of conspiracy to commit grand larceny, conspiracy to transfer stolen goods, and a whole bunch of other fun little conspiracies, too—topped off with the whopper. Conspiracy to commit murder.”
“Murder! You’re crazy. You’ve lost your mind. I never killed anyone. I’m calling my lawyer.”
“You do that.” Eve spoke mildly and stretched out her legs. “You go right on and do that. Wonder how long it’ll take your friends Gerade and Naples to find out you’re hiring a rep to defend you in a murder case. Wonder how long after that they’ll sic Yost on you to cover their own hides. Or maybe they won’t have to hire him.”
She paused, studying her nails as Lane stood frozen by his ’link. “Yeah, I’m thinking he’ll do this one for free. He’s got his own hide to protect. You know what he does to his victims, Vinnie?” She lifted her eyes then, locked on his without an ounce of pity. “He breaks them to pieces, then he makes sure they’re conscious when he rapes them. I’ve got a video I can show you of how he’d take on a man like you. Snap your arm like a twig, pound your face into mush so even your mother wouldn’t know you. Then when you think it can’t get worse, he’d butt-fuck you. And the pain of all of that is so huge, so impossible, you can’t believe it’s real. It’s like some horrible nightmare, some personal hell that opened up and swallowed you whole. And you won’t be able to get out of it, get away from it. Not until he slips that wire around your neck and pulls it tighter. And your feet hammer on the floor. You die pissing yourself.”
She got up. “Come to think of it, that’s just about the perfect end for you. Go ahead and call your lawyer. Let’s get it started.”
“No one was supposed to get hurt.” Tears spurted from his eyes, spilled down his face. “It’s not my fault.”
“It never is with people like you.” She pointed to the sofa. “Sit down, and tell me why you’re not to blame.”
“I needed money.” He rubbed his eyes, then glugged the water Peabody had brought to him. “Mother got this insane idea to auction off her things, so many of her things, and just give it away. This damn foundation idea of hers. I’m her son.” He shot her a glance that begged for pity. “Why should she give all that money to strangers when I need it?”
“So you needed to figure a way to keep it in the family.”
“We argued. She said she was cutting me off. She’d said that before, but I thought this time she might have meant it. I was so angry. She’s my mother,” he said, looking to Eve for understanding.
“You went to see your friends.”
“Needed to blow off steam. I went to see Dom. You wouldn’t catch his father shoveling money to strangers like this. Dom never has to worry how he’s going to pay a fucking bill. We were just talking, having a few drinks. I said something like, I should just take the stuff, sell it myself, and see how she liked it. We were just talking about how it could be done. Just talk. Then it started looking like maybe it could be done. Hundreds of millions of dollars. I’d never have to worry again. I could live the way I chose, with no one to answer to.
“I guess I got pretty drunk. I passed out, and the next thing I know it’s