Page 95 of Nowhere to Hide
“Leave her out of this,” Kramer hissed.
Eric pulled a report from his folder. “She sort of followed in your footsteps. But instead of choosing a career in security, she’s a police officer in Maryland. You must be proud of her.”
“What does she have to do with anything?”
Eric put an enlarged photograph of Ellie, taken from her driver’s license, on the table. He turned it to face Kramer. Letting his daughter look up on him during this conversation would hopefully apply pressure to Kramer’s conscience. “How do you think she’d feel if she learned what you did all those years ago? Would she be proud of you? Or would she be heartbroken?”
Kramer pushed the photo of his daughter back toward Eric. “Timothy never had me cross the line.”
Yet you can’t look your daughter in the face while you say that…Eric shoved the photo back to where it had been, and Kramer flipped it over. Eric pressed on. “Maybe she’d understand if you explained how you felt you had no choice, that Timothy?—”
“I didn’t,” Kramer spat. “Heheld Ellie over my head just like you’re doing now, and he made me sign that ridiculous NDA.”
“Are you saying that you ran Susan and her son off the road?”
Kramer remained silent.
“My client was a victim of Timothy Hanson. You said so yourself.” Wood peacocked his posture, chin jutted out.
He’d clearly grasped hold of the defense strategy Eric had provided. To Kramer, Eric said, “Why did he wait six years to go after Susan Crawford?” It was a long shot Kramer would know and be willing to share the answer, but Eric had to try. Curious minds and all…
Kramer shook his head. “Mr. Hanson wasn’t in the habit of confiding in me, but he said something about teaching the world a lesson.”
“The world…?” Eric would get around to what the lesson was in a minute.
“More specifically any of the women he assaulted.”
Throwing Kramer’s earlier words in his face would accomplish nothing. But so much for Timothy beinga good,decent family man. “That still doesn’t explain the lesson or why he waited so long to target Susan.”
Kramer licked his lips. “Ms. Crawford came around looking for money. She had an NDA too, but she was going to challenge it.”
So Timothy’slessonwas more a message that he wasn’t going to let his victims blackmail him. Susan Crawford’s crash covered, Eric decided to move forward in another direction. “Roger Simms was the police photographer from that day. He died within the week, and his report and the pictures he took went missing from the official record. Maybe he wasn’t willing to play along and Timothy ordered you to take care of him…?” The recording had suggested Simms was murdered by Timothy’s man, but Eric softened the accusation. Shift the weight of this onto Timothy. Continue to make Kramer feel it was safe to talk.
“So what? You think my client killed him too? What proof is there of that?” the lawyer protested.
Eric sat back in his chair, relaxing his shoulders and arms. “There were other people involved in the cover-up. Two police officers. One of them is talking.” Not a lie, possibly misleading. Whatever would make Kramer think they were angling for a deal by turning on him.
“They don’t know who I am.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that. You don’t think trained cops would have dug into the people handing them a payoff?” A poker bluff dispensed with nonchalance.
Kramer’s gaze landed on the back of his daughter’s photograph that was still on the table.
This gave Eric something to work with. Kramer was still in possession of a conscience. He turned the photo back upright. “She’s a beautiful woman, who is making a real difference with her life. Tragically, Susan Crawford didn’t get the same chance. Her life was cut short. Her son lost his mother, and her sisterhad to bury her. So many lives were destroyed that day. And then there’s Roger Simms’s family and friends who were all left searching for meaning in his death.”
Kramer picked up Ellie’s photograph.
“She might understand if you told her everything. Why you did it, felt you didn’t have a choice,” Eric said softly, working an angle. “She’d probably even respect you more for taking accountability for your actions.”
Kramer let the photo fall back to the table, and Eric returned it to the folder.
“How this plays out is up to you, Mr. Kramer. I will tell you that whoever talks first gets the deal. That’s just the way it works.” He articulated it as if he were on Kramer’s side, even tossed in a solemn smile.
“Fine, yes, I did everything you just mentioned. I ran Crawford off the road, and I pushed that photographer over a ravine.” Kramer slumped forward and buried his face in his hands.
“I want the record to show that my client came forward.” Wood was quick to jump in to salvage some of Kramer’s future.
“We’ll make it work.” Eric would say whatever necessary to get Kramer behind bars. He stood and left the room. In the hallway, Eric updated the uniformed officer on standby to take Kramer to a holding cell and that formal charges were coming. Now to resume the nightmare of his current existence. The arrest warrants should be ready.
