Killer View

47

THE HAILEY LIBRARY HAD BEEN A SUPERMARKET IN ITS former life. Walt came here often enough with the twins, but he still couldn’t shake the memory; he expected to smell fresh coffee and doughnuts. Instead, he passed the front desk and a table displaying NEW ARRIVALS. There was an end cap on the nearest stack devoted entirely to Hemingway. Walt wished the fame and lore of Hemingway could have been attributed to the work of the great writer when he’d lived in the valley, but, instead, most of the fame of the place came from the fact he’d died here. Being known as a place where a famous writer ate the wrong end of a shotgun was nothing but trouble for the county sheriff. Others had come here for like purpose. Not so great to be the trendy suicide locale.

He’d never paid any attention to the library’s conference room. It held an oval table that sat ten, with just enough room behind each chair to slip past. There was a pull-down whiteboard at the end of the room, carrying notes written in pink marker that appeared to have something to do with a book sale fund-raiser.

He didn’t appreciate being made to wait, but Da

Finally, the door opened.

Da

“Sorry I made you wait,” he said, shaking hands with Walt only after he’d locked the conference-room door and twisted the blinds closed. “I thought if someone followed me, they wouldn’t see you entering after me, and that just felt better.”

“Someone’s following you?”

Cutter shook his head with a look of disgust. “Who knows?”

“Sit,” Walt said.

Cutter took the chair next to Walt and spoke quietly. “You know about the charges at the hotel? The violation of my parole? Chuck Webb said you knew about it, said it could have been worse-much worse-and that I had you to thank for that.”

“Wouldn’t know what he’s talking about,” Walt said, stone-faced.

“Someone called it in to the Sun Valley police. Said I was drunk or stoned or both. So I ended up under suspicion, and they required a blood test because of the parole and I had coke in my system-coke I have no memory of doing, I might add. And that puts me in violation.”

“Chuck told me most of this,” Walt allowed. “I didn’t know the blood workup was back.”

“None of this matters to you, I know, but the blowback that followed is what counts.”

“What kind of blowback?” Walt asked. He was feeling edgy all of a sudden, like the room was too small.

Cutter glanced nervously toward the locked door. He lowered his voice, forcing Walt to concentrate on his every word.

“I shouldn’t tell you this. I know that. You, of all people. Damned if I do, damned if I don’t. But the thing is, they warned me if I violate the NDA I signed I’m shit up the creek. The way my probation reads, you’re supposed to be informed of any possible violations, so I’m taking a big chance, Sheriff. That’s my point: a very big chance.”

“Slow down, please. You signed a nondisclosure agreement?”

“I’ve been bought off. Fifty thousand dollars plus all legitimate expenses arising from the contamination. I was told that if I accepted the money, the parole violation would eventually be dropped, that Trinity could return to production in as little as two weeks, and that I’d be reimbursed for lost inventory and gross revenue for the period in question. All I do is show them our books for the past three months and they’ll average my revenue stream.”

Walt couldn’t help but remember the stench of the burning sheep and Peavy’s reminder of the loss of money that any mass grave would mean for the rancher.

“Who offered you this?”

“No idea. A call to my cell phone. A private number. I tried to trace it. I even called my brother-he owns the cell company, after all. Dead end.”

“A hoax,” Walt proposed.

“The next day, five grand was in my checking account-my personal checking account, not my company account. I checked with the bank: the deposit was cash, made through an ATM. Totally untraceable.” He glanced back at the door again. “Second phone call said the five grand was just to prove the offer was for real.”

“The terms? What did they want from you?”

“They’ll provide a script for me. I’m to stick to the script.”

“And the CDC?”

“Dr. Bezel’s report will apparently support whatever it is I’m supposed to say.”

Walt attempted to process all that he’d been told. Who could control the CDC like that? “Why me, Da

“Why you?” he blurted out, laughing and grimacing at the same time. “I’m already in violation of my parole-this coke thing-which, incidentally, was a total frame job. I’m not saying I expect you to believe that, but the way it happened-”

“I believe it,” Walt said, interrupting. “Tell me about the payoff.”

“I’ve told you everything. Two calls. Sign the NDA. The five grand up front. It all goes away.”

“Who can promise such a thing?” Walt blurted out.

“My thoughts exactly.”

“What did you tell them?”

“I signed. Are you kidding me? You know the hit I’m going to take? My inventory destroyed. My line shut down. I’m not insured for this kind of thing. Who is? I was sunk. I mean totally screwed. And then this phone call. Fifty K, on top of costs. And they made it clear that if business is off for a while because of this, they’ll take care of me.”

“But… why tell me?” Walt repeated.

“I’ve got to be breaking a dozen laws, right? I had a chance to think about it and I came to you. As sweet as this deal is, if it means another twenty months in prison, I’ll pass, thank you very much.”

“It’s nothing my office would have anything to do with, beyond the parole violation.”

“But that’s the point: it’s a clear violation of my parole, right? Doing anything like this?”

“Enlisting in a cover-up? Yeah. That would be federal time. But it’s apparent that whoever is making the offer has a long reach. It could be genuine. And, how do I say this?” He paused. “You aren’t the only one to receive such an offer.”

“They came after you?”

“Me? No!” Now it was Walt glancing toward the door. He stood and peeked out the blinds. No one. With his back to Cutter, he said, “What’s important to focus on here, Da

“I know that.”

“And this just escalates things, doesn’t it? I mean, after this, they’ll have you on accepting a bribe, avoiding a CDC investigation-any number of charges. If they want.”

“That’s why I’m here, Sheriff. Did they frame me on the coke thing just to make sure I’d take this offer or am I being set up now to take a bigger fall? Someone’s coming after me, and I’m screwed either way.”

“I don’t have the answers.”

“I’d rather go bankrupt than return to that damn facility.”

“But you agreed to take the money.”

“Yeah, but it’s only the five grand so far. And I’ve come to you to cut a deal. Buyer’s remorse. I don’t care about the money. I’ve told you everything. Honestly, I have. I will keep the money in escrow, not spend a cent of it. I’ll wear a wire, allow you to tap my phones- whatever you want. I do not want to get on the wrong side of this. Now, I understand I’ve already done that,” he added quickly, “but this is my attempt to fix it.”

“If these people can deliver, then I’m no use to you,” Walt admitted.

“They’ve got to be government, don’t they? I mean, who can make such promises?”

“Or big business,” Walt said, speaking what he was thinking, never a good call.