Hate Crime

  Hate Crime

  William Bernhardt

  Bestselling author William Bernhardt is an unsurpassed master at blending psychological suspense with gripping, surprise-filled legal action. Now, Bernhardt and his crusading attorney Ben Kincaid return in a thrilling story of love, hate, and the power of a courtroom to separate deception from the truth.

  In Tulsa, Ben Kincaid has built a national reputation as a stalwart defense attorney who will fight tirelessly for his clients. In Evanston, Illinois, Johnny Christensen has built a national reputation as a sadistic bigot who beat and stabbed a gay man and left him to die. When Johnny's mother comes to Ben and begs him to defend her son, he has one secret reason for saying no.

  But while Ben turns down the case, his younger, beautiful partner, Christina McCall, does not. Traveling to Chicago and facing an explosion of controversy and deadly violence surrounding the trial, Christina steps into a case that is already nearly lost. Her client's only defense is his claim that he left his victim bludgeoned but alive. To prove that someone else committed the actual murder, Christina needs a little bit of evidence – and a good motive to go with it.

  When unforeseen circumstances force Ben Kincaid to enter the trial, the defense attorney sees only one way to prove Johnny's innocence. But Ben's plan means luring a killer out of the woodwork – even though he may kill again…

  A novel of gut-wrenching twists and surprises, this thriller brilliantly explores the passions between lovers – and the passions behind society's most heinous crimes. Once again, the remarkable William Bernhardt makes us challenge every assumption, second-guess every judgment, and feel the terror of the truth.

  William Bernhardt

  Hate Crime

  Book 13 in the Ben Kincaid series, 2004

  For Theta Juan,

  my mother, who taught her children

  that all hate was a crime

  In tragic life, God wot,

  No villain need be! Passions spin the plot:

  We are betrayed by what is false within.

  – GEORGE MEREDITH, Modern Love

  Prologue

  SIX MONTHS EARLIER

  Broken Arrow , Oklahoma,

  in the Tulsa suburbs

  1

  I should feel something more, Mike thought, as he squeezed one eye closed and pressed the other against the scope. Some twinge of reluctance, or regret. A tightening in my gut, a chill at the base of my spine. A tingling beneath the short hairs on the back of my neck. But…

  All he felt was the strong and unmitigated desire to complete his mission, to do what he had come to do.

  If the man would just come a little closer to the window, I could blow his head off, he mused. And would. With pleasure.

  Major Mike Morelli of the Tulsa PD Homicide Division pulled his eye away from the reticle and wiped his brow. The world was a different place, viewed through a sniperscope. After three hours of micro-scrutinizing the apartment walls, the windows, the shadowy figures that passed just out of range, he saw everything from a new perspective. It was all deceptively larger, closer, and, as a result, it conveyed an urgency that Mike was having difficulty subduing. He wanted those bastards so badly. If he could rip out their jugulars with his teeth, he would.

  The cloud cover barely allowed the sun passage. Here on the street, behind the barricade, there was a distinct coolness in the air, one Mike felt in the marrow of his bones. He had not expected this sort of weather and had not dressed for it. Even his trademark trench coat, a carryover from his younger days when he thought it gave him the stature and credibility his youthful face did not, was insufficient to warm him. It was a gloomy Oklahoma day, the perfect mirror for what he was feeling inside.

  With something between a grunt and a sigh, Mike returned his eye to the scope and prayed for a clear shot. C’mon, Mr. Kidnapper, give me a chance. Come to the window for a breath of fresh air, just a tiny bit closer. I’ll give you a view you’ll never forget.

  “Move back!” a man shouted from the darkness of the apartment, his electronically amplified voice sounding more desperate with each word. “Move back or I kill the kid!”

  He’d been shouting like that off and on since the siege began, always frenzied, always violent, and always just out of range.

  “I mean it! If you’re not on the other side of the street in one minute, I’ll ventilate him!”

  Mike heard the personal radios surrounding him crackle to life, and a few moments later they were all moving back. Again. Hour twelve of the Sequoyah Heights siege. Progress made: zero.

  Mike’s finger rested ever so gingerly on the trigger guard, never past the safety. But if he thought he had a shot, he’d pull that trigger so fast the SOT team and their professional sharpshooters wouldn’t know what happened. He knew he could do it. He could sense the electricity surging through the stock into his shoulder. He could feel the cold steel and smell the leather strap. He had the power of life and death in his hands. But the only part that interested him at the moment was death. He wanted to pull that trigger so badly. Just give me half a chance, he murmured to himself. Just half a chance.

  “Are you checked out for that weapon, Major?”

  Mike eased away from the rifle, laying it on its side. Party’s over.

  “Yes, Special Agent Swift, I am. As a matter of fact, I’m checked out for about every kind of weapon there is. But I was only using the scope to surveil the apartment.” And if you believe that…

  “Just making sure. Don’t want any screwups on my watch.”

  Her watch? When the hell did this become her watch? That was the problem with Feebies-one of several. They couldn’t cross the street without trying to take charge.

  “Our first priority is getting that little boy out alive,” Mike reminded her.

  “I’m well aware of that,” Agent Swift replied. She was a petite but strong woman, Mike observed, not for the first time. Dark hair, an almost perfect match to her turtleneck. Gun holstered by shoulder strap, visible when her jacket pulled back. She managed to bring off that no-nonsense, don’t-mess-with-me look without suggesting that she had an ax to grind. “But if one of my men gets a shot at one of the kidnappers, I can damn well guarantee we’re going to take it.”

  “Good to know. Of course I wouldn’t dream of interfering.”

  She gave him a long look. “I’ve always prided myself on my ability to work cooperatively with local law enforcement.” Mike had to grin, both because he knew that was a crock, and because for a moment he was certain she was going to say, “I’ve always depended upon the kindness of strangers.” Swift had come from the Chicago office of the Bureau, but she was originally from the Deep South-an Alabama girl, if he recalled correctly. Mike loved the accent-a pleasant change from the unenunciated drawl you got in Oklahoma the closer you moved to the Texas border. “That’s why you’re here. I wanted to keep the locals involved, but I can’t have you endangering the success of my operation with any hotdog stunts.”

  Mike peered at her credulously. “Where would you ever get the idea I might try some hotdog stunts?”

  “From everyone who knows you. Including Chief of Police Blackwell.”

  Damn him, anyway. Whose side was he on?

  “I also know you’re not so crazy about working with FBI agents. I heard what happened during the Lombardi case, so I guess you’ve got your reasons, but I still-”

  “You still won’t let me endanger the success of your operation. I got that, Special Agent. I’ll keep my nose clean.”

  “Until we catch the kidnappers. Afterward…” She cocked her head to one side. “You can try anything you want.”

  Now what was that supposed to mean? he wondered, as he watched her move down the line and start in on one of the snipers. Was this FBI
agent flirting with him? That would be a gross impropriety. And darned flattering.

  He stood and buttoned his rumpled coat around his forty-four-inch chest. All of a sudden he was glad he’d dropped that postsmoking weight. Those trips to the gym might’ve been worth it, too.

  But he didn’t need any distractions at the moment, or anything confusing his feelings. Eyes on the prize, he told himself. First we take down the pond scum in that apartment. He surveyed the phalanx of men surrounding him on the street, as well as the similar lineup on the rooftop of the office building just behind. Even if he didn’t particularly care to acknowledge it, Swift had done a first-rate job organizing this detail. She had everyone in place and ready to roll. There was no way those child-abusing monsters were going to escape this net. It was just a matter of time, a thought which filled him with a strange warmth. If only there was some way to accelerate the process.

  Off to the left, he spotted two familiar faces moving in his direction.

  “Stand at attention, Special Agent,” he said, raising his voice so she could hear. “The parents.”

  Two well-dressed adults arrived at about the same time she did. The man was wearing a tailored suit and a starched white shirt. The woman wore a dark dress and clutched a DK handbag. At first blush, Mike read the man as angry, which meant guilt-ridden, and read the woman as angry, which meant terrified. But he supposed he could be wrong. He had been wrong before. Once.

  “I’m Harrison Metzger. Which one of you is in charge?”

  “I am,” they both answered, Swift, because she was, and Mike, because he had the irresistible urge to give her ego a tweak. They exchanged a pointed look.

  “I’m a homicide detective for Tulsa PD,” Mike explained. “I’m in charge of the homicide case. This is Special Agent Swift with the FBI’s Child Abduction Task Force. She’s in charge of the kidnapping case.”

  Metzger turned to Agent Swift. They always went to the Fed, Mike noted. The Oklahoma inferiority complex. Anyone from out of town had to be smarter than a local. “I want to know what’s being done to save my son. Looks to me like you’re all just sitting around on your asses.”

  To her credit, Swift remained unruffled but not unsympathetic. “Mr. Metzger-”

  “Dr. Metzger.”

  “Doctor,” she corrected. “I’ve had my public relations liaison brief you every hour. I think you know everything we do. We’re waiting for an opportunity-”

  “Who are these people, anyway?”

  “The kidnappers? We don’t know their names. We believe there are four of them, working together. The one who keeps speaking into the bullhorn is obviously male. The others, we’re not sure.”

  “I don’t understand why this is taking so long. You know where my boy is. Go in and get him!”

  “Sir, I can assure you that-”

  “Before, your excuse was that you didn’t know where they were. Now you’ve got them surrounded, and you’re still not doing anything!”

  Mrs. Metzger stayed a safe distance behind her husband. Mike had the sense that she was embarrassed by her husband’s tirade, but she knew better than to interfere.

  “We don’t think it would be prudent to storm the apartment. We know they’re armed-”

  “Aren’t your people armed?”

  “Of course.”

  “So what’s the problem? Show some balls, girl.”

  Agent Swift paused barely a beat before responding. “Sir, I can assure you that when the time is right for action, we will take it. But at the moment, our top priority is getting your son out safely, which means avoiding, if possible, an exchange of fire that might endanger-”

  “This is what happens when you put a woman in charge.” He shifted his gaze to Mike. “Is there something you can do, Major?”

  “I’m just here to support Agent Swift, sir. Whether you realize it or not, she’s playing this by the book. And doing a first-rate job of it.”

  “Do you people know how long my son has been their captive?” His confrontational mask cracked a fraction. “There’s no telling what… what they might have done to him!”

  “I understand your concern, Mr. Metzger-”

  “Dr. Metzger.”

  Mike drew in his breath. The man was a Ph.D., which, to his mind, barely counted and certainly didn’t justify constant correction. But this was not the time to digress. “Dr. Metzger, from the start, we have moved as quickly as possible. And that hasn’t changed. But what’s most important is that we get Tommy out alive. Remember, the ransom demand came in almost immediately, and you paid it according to their directions. We have no reason to believe the boy has been molested.”

  That, of course, was a lie, statistically speaking, anyway. As Mike knew all too well, more than 90 percent of all noncustody-related child kidnappings involved some form of molestation. But in most cases the child turned up again relatively soon, after the kidnapper had taken what he wanted. When the child was held for longer than twenty-four hours, the statistics became far more grim. Less than 50 percent of those kids ever made it home again.

  Tommy Metzger had been gone for eight days.

  “What about poison gas?” Metzger continued. “What about a flamethrower? I want those men laid low! I want them to pay for what they’ve done to my family!”

  On the other side of the street, Mike saw that a minicam reporter had spotted them and was recording the whole scene. Probably had one of those ultrapowerful spy mikes that can pick up conversations from miles away. Odds were this argument would be rehashed on the six o’clock news.

  This case had been big news from the outset, from the moment one of the kidnappers grabbed eight-year-old Tommy Metzger outside his Tulsa private school. Mike had worked many a big case since he’d started with the force, but this one was something else again. The combination of the father’s prominence and wealth-in addition to teaching, he had penned a series of best-selling books- the cruelty of the snatch, captured on video by a parent coming out of a dance recital, and the photogenic qualities of the abductee, made this case an instant media sensation. All the national news agencies were carrying it; posters featuring Tommy’s face had blanketed the country. Every night, the evening newscasters updated the case-and if there was nothing to update, they reviewed what had gone before, usually rescreening the amateur video footage that had propelled the crime to the forefront. The initial snatch had been botched and the kidnappers had ended up killing the kid’s nanny, thus turning it into a homicide and bringing it into Mike’s bailiwick. It was the ransom-1.5 million in cold, hard cash-that had allowed the Feds to trace the kidnappers. A homing device sewn into the bag had led them to this apartment in the Tulsa suburbs. Their first approach had been subtle. Two agents disguised as UPS men knocked on the front door. Somehow, though, the kidnappers made them and started firing. Swift then moved in the troops, and ten minutes later the siege had begun. Everyone’s worst fear was that if the situation escalated, the kidnappers would become desperate and kill the kid.

  If they hadn’t already.

  Metzger’s anger was reaching a bitter crescendo. “Lady, you may not understand how influential I am in this community. I know people. Lots of powerful people. And if you don’t do something fast to save my boy, you’re gonna end up with your tit in a wringer!”

  To Mike’s amazement, Special Agent Swift smiled. “Sir, I know you’re concerned about your son. I don’t blame you. But if you don’t stop interfering with my operation, I will be forced to have you removed from the premises. For your son’s safety. And yours.”

  Mike almost whistled in admiration as the father stomped away, mother clinging close behind.

  “Man,” Mike said, “you handled that brilliantly.”

  Swift shrugged. “If handling kidnappers was as easy as handling parents, this would’ve been over a long time ago.”

  “I would’ve been tempted to escort Metzger to the floor. With my fist.”

  “Oh, he wasn’t really angry. He was riddled with guilt
, venting on me as an avoidance mechanism. He and his wife are separated, you know. He’s moved in with some hot young number in Glenpool. Future trophy wife. Metzger hasn’t seen the kid in weeks.”

  “Really?” In fact, Mike hadn’t known that.

  “The mother is only marginally more attentive. My investigators tell me the one the kid was close to was the nanny.”

  “And now she’s gone.”

  “Yeah.” There was a slow release of air from between her lips. “And Tommy knows it, too, since he saw a bullet enter her neck.”

  Mike winced.

  “Metzger’s concerns about Tommy’s well-being are utterly reasonable, all things considered. The kidnappers intentionally chose the son-not the wife, not the girlfriend. They wanted the boy. And they’ve had him for more than a week.” Her voice faded. “And now they must be realizing they’re going to get caught-possibly killed-no matter what they do…”

  Mike swore silently. His eyes returned to the fifth-story window and the dark shadows that flickered elusively across it. “Special Agent Swift, much as I hate to agree with Metzger, we’ve got to get that kid out of there. Soon.”

  “I also agree, Major,” she said, following his gaze, “but I won’t do something stupid just to be doing something.”

  “So what’s your plan?”

  “Same as before. We watch and wait. Until our opportunity comes. Then we take it.”

  Mike had almost given up hope that the situation could be resolved tonight. Darkness had fallen with no improvement, not in the hostage situation, and not in Mike’s soul. Just as the gloom of the day had mirrored his inner state before, so the darkness that now enveloped them seemed altogether appropriate. Swift had ordered all illumination kept to a bare minimum; the less reflective light bouncing around, the better the chance that one of her snipers might eventually get a clear shot. The kidnappers weren’t talking and weren’t budging. In short, the siege was going nowhere. Mike had even reluctantly called his friend Ben Kincaid with the unhappy news that he’d have to watch tonight’s Xena rerun alone. This standoff showed no signs of resolving itself anytime soon.