clean, John. Let’s try and work through this together.” Davidson then leaned back in his chair, giving Adams a sympathetic smile and a nod of encouragement.
After a moment of silence, White said, “I think, basically, you’re a good man. You know what you did was wrong. Deep down inside you wanted to get caught. It’s why you left the body on the side of the road. What we’re doing is giving you a chance to tell your side of it. Explain what happened to your partner so a judge will get the full picture and realize the extent of the atrocity that triggered you to do what you did. Then I can make a submission for an agreed length of incarceration.”
“Let’s talk about it, John,” added Davidson, giving Adams another sympathetic pat on the shoulder.
Adams sighed and said, “Okay, I’ll tell you what happened. I did pick Chico up at the Red Poker.”
“And then you drove him out into the desert,” noted White.
“Yes. I wanted to scare him. Make him think I was going to kill him if he didn’t talk. I wanted to find out who ordered Greg’s kidnapping.”
“You already knew it was the Guajardo cartel,” said Davidson.
“Yes, but Guajardo himself was meeting with other cartel bosses in Cancun at the time. He may not have even known about it. He left the Carrillo Fuentes brothers in charge, but there is no evidence they ordered it. I was hoping to scare Chico into giving me the truth.”
“And then what happened?” asked White softly. “Tell me how it went wrong.”
Adams sighed. “Yes, it did go wrong,” he admitted. “Chico laughed at me. The asshole never did say who ordered it. He never believed I was going to kill him.”
“But by him laughing … naturally it would have infuriated you,” said Davidson.
“It would anybody,” agreed White.
“I’ll say I was infuriated,” said Adams bitterly. “I was angry at myself.”
“Angry at yourself … for what he made you do to him?” asked White.
“No. I didn’t do anything to him. I was angry I hadn’t realized some of his guys had followed us out into the desert.”
“What are you talking about?” asked White, glancing questioningly at Davidson.
“From the Red Poker, I guess. I presume it was his guys. When Chico was laughing at me and saying I wouldn’t kill him, I asked how he could be so sure. He told me to look out the back window of my car. It was hard to see because the sun was in my eyes, but I could make out a car parked down the road from where I was parked.”
“What did you do then?” asked White, well aware that Davidson was shaking his head.
“What could I do?” replied Adams. “I was pissed off at myself for not realizing I had been followed. Chico was demanding I let him out of the car immediately, so I did. I knew he probably had a gun permit so I threw his gun as far into the desert as I could and drove away. Last I saw of him he was walking over to get it. I don’t know what happened after that.”
“So you actually expect me to believe you being there was simply a coincidence with him being murdered by someone else?” said Davidson, while fighting to control his anger.
“Could be a coincidence, or maybe they thought he ratted and killed him for talking to me. Another scenario is he was collecting money from pimps in El Paso. I only took his gun. I didn’t bother with his wallet so I don’t know how much cash he had. The guys who followed us out there might have decided to use the opportunity to rob him.”
“No way that happened!” yelled Davidson. “You were in a fit of rage over what they did to your partner and you took him out into the desert and murdered him. Admit it!”
“I’ll admit I was outraged,” Adams replied calmly. “I have also offered you alternative possibilities to what you had thought happened. If you are going to question me any further, then I want an attorney present.”
Davidson and White watched Adams stalk out of the office.
“He’s guilty as sin,” said Davidson. “I don’t believe his story of a second car one bit.”
“I agree with you, but it would sure leave doubt in a jury’s mind. We would never get a conviction.”
“Then we’ll get more evidence. There is no way we can let him get away with it.”
White sat forward with his elbow on the desk and stroked his chin a moment, before asking, “Is he known to be a hard drinker?”
“Not particularly,” replied Davidson.
“I could smell the booze on him as soon as he walked in,” noted White. “He’s under enormous pressure right now.”
“Good point. I bet he cracks soon,” replied Davidson. “All good cops who fuck up eventually do. Their conscience gets to them.”
“Time to find out what makes him tick and figure out what the best plan of attack will be,” said White. “I would think a full psychological profile is in order.”
“I’ll get hold of the criminal profilers.”
“With what has happened, do you expect him to be transferred?”
“Without his confession, it puts his agency in an embarrassing position. If they transfer him it will imply to the Mexicans he is being relocated to protect him. They may think we are condoning what he did.”
“But if he isn’t moved, the cartel may kill him,” noted White.
“That would save everyone a lot of embarrassment,” replied Davidson evenly.
chapter thirteen
It was Thursday afternoon when Corporal Connie Crane called Jack to say she had met with a Crown prosecutor.
“Here it is in a nutshell,” said Connie. “If a judge thinks you have used too much intimidation, then whatever Slater may tell you would be inadmissible against him at any criminal proceedings. However, if what you are told assists us in investigating other players, then you might be able to go after them. Of course, if that happened, we still couldn’t enter any of Slater’s admissions.”
“What about calling him as a witness if he knows something? Threaten him with perjury if he doesn’t tell the truth.”
“You wouldn’t be able to enter evidence to prove he was lying. If you tried, a judge might say it puts justice into disrepute and toss the whole case.”
“So we can use Slater as a stepping stone, but even if he incriminates himself we still have to send him on his way with a get out of jail free card.”
“I think you got it.”
“Want me to go for it?”
“Yeah, we’ve got nothing else. Wilson’s in agree-ment. Both of us think he knows something about her disappearance, but we don’t
