He said they spoke quietly but that he definitely heard Ripton say to the other man, “Do something about him.” Tex asked him if he was sure and Ripton said he didn’t want Wakefield delirious in some ER telling cops or paramedics what happened and who he was with. “Put the fucker down.”
At that, the other guy took some squeeze bottles and vials out of his bag. After he forced some pills down Wakefield’s throat, he began spraying large amounts of something into his nose. Then the Texan got out his stethoscope again and listened for a long time. Derek was afraid of getting caught by them, so he moved away to the far side of the living room with a fresh wipe and looked busy. It was quiet in there for a long time, until he heard movement and Ripton say, “Well?” and the other man said, “Put a fork in him, he’s done.” When they came back out into the living room, the concierge pretended he didn’t know what had happened and just kept cleaning. All Ripton said was “Nice job. Do the TV remote once more and then you can go.”
What made Derek Snow talk to Cassidy Towne was his guilt. He was no angel; he took her money just as he had taken Ripton’s. But sharing with the gossip columnist the details of what really happened, which was the murder of Reed Wakefield, became for Derek a quest for absolution. He said he was afraid of the Texan, who had said he would kill him, but he was more afraid of living his life burdened by his own complicity.
Snow also told Cassidy how painfully difficult it was for him to not be truthful with Soleil Gray, who had begun to call him regularly and sob about her guilt over the responsibility she bore for her ex-fiancé’s OD. He saw her descending deeper and deeper into an abyss. He said to Cassidy that when she was done with him for her book, he might contact Soleil and tell her the truth. Towne begged him to wait and he said he would. But not forever. Soleil’s pain only added more weight to his own guilt.
Rook asked Nikki, “Do you think that’s why Derek was calling Soleil that night when she got that call at Brooklyn Diner?”
“I had the same thought,” Heat said. “It was the same night Cassidy Towne was killed. I’ll bet Derek spotted Rance Wolf snooping around for him and tried to tell Soleil before it was too late.”
“Which it probably was,” said Ochoa.
“It’s sad,” said Nikki. “Soleil not only never got to hear the truth from Derek Snow, but the manuscript she stole was missing the last chapter so that everything she read up to that was an indictment of her behavior, feeding her guilt.”
Rook nodded. “The double tragedy for her was that she died not knowing she was off the hook for Reed’s death.”
Ochoa eyed his partner. “What’s got you all twisted up in yourself?”
“What makes you think that?” said Raley.
“Hey, I know you, you’re like my wife.”
“You mean ’cause I’m not sleeping with you, either?”
“Funny. I mean I know you. What is it?”
Raley said, “OK, about Soleil Gray . . . If Jess Ripton was running all this—I mean the killings—whether it’s on Toby’s behalf or his own, then how did she figure in? I mean besides being paranoid and guilty about the night of the OD.”
Heat said, “Knowing what we know now, I don’t think she was involved at all with Ripton or Wolf or Toby. At least not as part of any of the killings.”
“And yet she did mug Perkins to get that manuscript,” said Raley. “Are you saying she did that coincidentally?”
“No, not coincidentally, simultaneously. There’s a difference.”
Rook took another pull of his beer. “Well, then what made her suddenly decide to do that?”