Gated Prey (Eve Ronin #3)(71)

“Nope. If he had any stolen goods, he’s already unloaded them. Unlike his crew, he didn’t keep any bling for himself. But you’ve found enough to convict him several times over.”

“And he knows it.”

“By the way, I met his attorney.”

“He came to the house?”

“He’s Green’s next-door neighbor,” he said. “Millard Himmel. He’s primarily a divorce attorney, but he has some experience in criminal defense. He’s on his way to the station.”

Eve ended the call, left the CSU team to process the cars and the Amazon van, and headed back to the station.



Eve and Burnside sat across a table from Himmel and Green in the interrogation room. Burnside was dressed for court, even though it was Sunday, in a suit that accentuated her figure rather than exploiting it. Himmel was a round-faced, pale, chubby man in a polo shirt, pleated shorts, and slip-on loafers and he seemed a bit disoriented. This wasn’t how he’d planned to spend his day.

Burnside took charge. “This is an open-and-shut case, Mr. Green. A slam dunk. A no-brainer. A lawyer just out of school, who has never tried a real case before, could effortlessly win this one. We don’t even need to question you.”

Himmel harrumphed. “So why are you here on a Sunday instead of working on your bikini tan?”

Burnside nailed him with a sharp look. “Is that a sexist remark, Mr. Himmel?”

“I’m genuinely admiring your tan, speaking as someone who sunburns easily, and making an observation. I’m not a criminal defense attorney by trade, but I know nobody likes working on Sundays. So if what you say is true, you must want something from my client.”

Burnside glanced at Eve to answer the implied question.

“Grayson Mumford,” Eve said.

“What makes you think my client knows this individual?”

Burnside took that one. “Mr. Mumford, like the three dead men, was on the soccer team Green coached, and he was a floating security guard at every gated community Green’s home invasion crew hit in Calabasas. He eased their way in and picked the homes that they robbed.”

Eve looked at Green, who was slumped over the table, examining the scratches as if they were ancient Sanskrit he was attempting to decode. “But this time he sent your crew into a trap and got Dalander and Nagy killed. Colter was so mad, he fled to the grocery store where Mumford was working security to confront him. Mumford gunned him down to save himself.”

“And you, Mr. Green,” Burnside said, and slapped her palm on the table, startling Green. “But that part didn’t work out so well, did it? Grayson Mumford is going to walk while you do twenty-five years to life in prison.”

“I didn’t kill anyone,” Green said.

“Be quiet, Michael,” Himmel said. “I’ll do the talking.”

But Burnside ignored Himmel and directly addressed Green.

“You’re the ringleader. You brought them into Vista Grande, aiding and abetting in the crime . . . which led directly to their violent deaths. That’s accomplice to armed robbery and felony murder. We have all the evidence we need against you but nothing on Grayson Mumford.”

Green snickered at that. “You’re the fucking clowns who gave him the Medal of Valor.”

“Yes, we are,” Burnside said. “But you’re the fucking clown who can either do the full ride in prison, while Mumford remains free and pursues a career in law enforcement, or you can reduce your sentence by helping us.”

That got Himmel’s full attention. “What would helping you entail?”

Now Burnside addressed him. “Mr. Green gives us a full and detailed confession now, including the names of anyone involved in committing the robberies or selling the goods, and then he arranges a meeting with Mumford, which we’ll record.”

“You want him to wear a wire and get Mumford to incriminate himself.”

“That’s right.”

Green had no choice and, from the look Eve saw on his face, he knew it. So did his lawyer.

Himmel pretended to consider the offer for a moment. “If you drop the murder charges against my client, and agree to recommend that the court impose the most lenient sentence possible on the armed robbery charges, he will consider your offer.”

“It’s a deal but it expires in ten minutes,” Burnside said. “We can’t risk Mumford learning that Green has been arrested, so we have to act fast.”

“Deal,” Green said.

Himmel’s head whipped around to Green. “We need to talk—”

“About what?” Green interrupted. “Mumford is the only leverage we have.” He glanced at Eve. “Does he really want to become a cop now?”

“So I’m told.”

Green shook his head. “If only his brain was as big as his balls.”

Burnside left to get the warrant for the wire and Eve got Green to give her the details on his home invasion racket.

Green confirmed that the robbers came in as part of the landscaping crew and left in the Amazon van, or vice versa, depending on the situation. He wasn’t worried about any of his landscapers causing any trouble or going to the police. They were all Hispanic day workers, mostly illegal immigrants, that he picked up on street corners or in Home Depot parking lots throughout the valley. Most of them didn’t speak English and didn’t want anything to do with the police out of fear of being deported.