Echoes in Death (In Death #44)(112)

“He’d busted out and was screaming at Daphne, smacking her, choking her. Said how he’d kill her. ‘I’ll kill you, you whore’—he’s screaming that. She’s still tied up, not much she can do about it. I’ve gotta say, made me hard. Then he spots me, then he charges. He was crazy, out of his fucking mind. Moved damn fast, too, knocked me back some, and that’s when I grabbed that big vase. I had to defend myself, so I smashed it over his head, put him down. Lots of blood,” he said, reminiscing. “He’s flat out, she’s barely conscious, all glassy-eyed. I figured she was dead at first, but she was breathing. I did her again, real quick because the whole thing stirred me up. Then I let her go, like I do. She just lay there, out of it. She ought to thank me for bashing that vase over his head. If I hadn’t, she’d be as dead as he is. Anyway, I broke down the set, got my things, and left. Yeah, she ought to thank me. She’ll be a rich widow now instead of a dead whore.”

He flicked his fingers on the empty tube. “I could use another.”

“Go ahead, Peabody. Kyle’s doing thirsty work.”

As Peabody exited, Eve took him back over the Strazza assault to refine details. When Peabody came back in, she shifted to the last murders.

“Why did you kill Miko and Xavier Carver?”

“I was getting into a rut. Before I bashed the crazy doctor, I was already getting into a rut. If you don’t change and grow, that’s what happens. I wanted the experience. I wanted to know how it felt. The whole thing with—what’s his name?”

“Anthony Strazza.”

“Yeah, Strazza, it was fast, so in the moment. Whack and done. I like to plan and anticipate. It’s why I’m good at what I do. And I wanted to experience it while I was still revved from before.”

“You went in planning on killing them?”

“It was time to change things up. Take it to a new level.”

“You knew she was pregnant. You had the cameras.”

“Didn’t apply.” He waved that off. “Anyway, they pissed me off with their perfect little lives, their perfect little plans. I gave them a big, important death.”

“They should thank you.”

He laughed, sucked on the tube. “None of this is going to matter.”

“Why is that, Kyle?”

“Because your scowling friend there is right. I can hire a platoon of lawyers. Hell, an army of them. The kind who’ll keep this in the courts for years while I’m out on bail. The kind who’ll piss all over your evidence and make this go away. The kind who’ll have every woman I banged admitting they wanted just what I gave them. We can put together a deal now, save us all time and trouble. Putting together deals is one of my specialties.”

“What sort of deal do you have in mind?”

“I’ll cop to going into the houses, setting the stage. Hell, let’s face it, I can eat out on that story for years. I did it for research, for firsthand experience for upcoming projects. I pay a fine, even do some community service, no problem.”

“You killed people, Kyle.”

“Strappo—”

“Strazza,” Eve corrected.

“Whatever, that was self-defense. You said so yourself. I gave him a whack in self-defense. The others, I got caught up in the moment. I lost it. Temporary insanity as a result of taking a life, right? I’ll agree to therapy, even make some financial restitution. Which would include a generous donation to the NYPSD. Say, a million.”

“You’re offering to give a million dollars to the NYPSD.”

“I can afford it. With, say, another ten percent of that to each of you. Petty cash considering who you married, but this one?” He jerked his head toward Peabody. “I bet she can use it. A nice little bonus for clearing this all up without wasting my time.”

“He’s offering you a hundred thousand to smooth this all over, Peabody.”

“I heard. That’s a lot of money against a detective’s salary.”

“There you go. You ditch this recording, or I’ll help you edit it so we can all cover our asses. I pay some fines, do some good works, talk to a shrink, and donate a nice chunk to the police. Win-win.”

“That sounds really interesting, Kyle, except for the fact three people are dead, four women were raped, beaten, and terrorized, four men were brutalized.”

He actually rolled his eyes as she spoke.

“Lives were violated, lives were taken, and everything you’ve said here, on record, in this room, demonstrates unequivocally that you knew exactly what you were doing, planned what you would do, and feel no remorse whatsoever.”

He turned to Peabody. “Better talk to the rich bitch, sweetie, or you’re going to be out a hundred K.”

“You can take your hundred K and stick it up your ass.” Peabody pushed up, slapped her hands on the table as she leaned into his face. “You’d better hire those lawyers, you fuck, because no matter how many, no matter how much they cost, you’re going down. All the way down. You’ll be whining in a concrete box for the rest of your life. You can live another hundred years, and I hope to Christ you do, and every morning you’ll wake up to the same view. A box and bars. And I hope to God there are some big, sweaty guys with dicks the size of jumbo kielbasas serving with you who’ll be able to say, ‘Hey, he wanted it,’ after they’re done with you.”