"Yeah, Vasco."
"Good. I'm glad we have an understanding." He stepped back. "Hold out your hands."
"I'm fine - "
"Hold out your hands." Vasco never raised his voice in moments of tension. He lowered it. Make them listen. Make them worry. "Hold your hands out now, Nick."
Nick Ramsey held out his hands. They weren't shaking.
"Okay. Get in the car."
"I just - "
"Get in the car, Nick. I'm through talking."
Vasco got in the front with Dolly, and started driving. Dolly said, "He okay back there?"
"More or less."
"He won't hurt the kid, right?"
"Nah," Vasco said. "It's just a couple of needles. Few seconds is all."
"He better not hurt that kid."
"Hey," Vasco said. "Are you fine about this, or what?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Okay then. Let's do it."
He drove down the road.
Chapter 54-55
CHapter 054
Brad Gordonhad a bad feeling as he walked into the Border Cafe on Ventura Boulevard and looked at the booths. The place was a greasy spoon, filled with actors. A guy waved from a rear booth. Brad walked back to him.
The guy was wearing a light gray suit. He was short and balding and looked unsure of himself. His handshake was weak. "Willy Johnson," he said, "I'm your new attorney for the upcoming trial."
"I thought my uncle, Jack Watson, was providing the attorney."
"He is," Johnson said. "I'm he. Pederasty is my specialty."
"What's that mean?"
"Sex with a boy. But I have experience with any underage partner."
"I didn't have sex with anybody," Brad said. "Underage or not."
"I've reviewed your file and the police reports," Johnson said, pulling out a legal pad. "I think we have several avenues for your defense."
"What about the girl?"
"She is not available; she left the country. Her mother is ill in the Philippines. But I am told she will return for the trial."
"I thought there wasn't going to be a trial," Brad said. The waitress came over. He waved her away. "Why are we meeting here?"
"I have to be in court in Van Nuys at ten. I thought this would be convenient."
Brad looked around uneasily. "Place is full of people. Actors. They talk a lot."
"We won't discuss the details of the case," Johnson said. "But I want to lay out the structure of your defense. In your case, I am proposing a genetic defense."
"Genetic defense? What's that mean?"
"People with various genetic abnormalities find themselves helpless to suppress certain impulses," Johnson said. "That makes them, in technical terms, not guilty. We will be proposing that as the explanation in your case."
"What genetic disorder? I don't have any genetic disorder."
"Hey, it's not a bad thing," Johnson said. "Think of it as a type of diabetes. You're not responsible for it. You were born that way. In your case, you have an irresistible impulse to engage in sex with attractive young women." He smiled. "It's an impulse that's shared by about ninety percent of the adult male population."
"What kind of a fucking defense is that?" Brad Gordon said.
"A very effective one." Johnson shuffled through papers in a folder. "There have been several recent newspaper reports - "
"You mean to tell me," Brad said, "that there's a gene for sex with young girls?"
Johnson sighed. "I wish it were that simple. Unfortunately, no."
"Then what's the defense?"
"D4DR."
"Which is?"
"It's called the novelty gene. It's the gene that drives us to take risks, engage in thrill-seeking behavior. We will argue that the novelty gene inside your body drove you to risky behavior."
"Sounds like bullshit to me."
"Is it? Let's see. Ever jump out of an airplane?"
"Yeah, in the army. Hated it."
"Scuba diving?"
"Couple of times. Had a hot girlfriend who liked it."
"Mountain climbing?"
"Nope."
"Really? Didn't your high school class climb Mount Rainer?"
"Yeah, but that was - "
"You climbed a major American peak," Johnson said, nodding. "Driving sports cars fast?"
"Not really, no."
"You have five tickets for speeding in your Porsche in the last three years. Under California law, you have been at risk for losing your license all that time."
"Just normal speeding..."
"I think not. How about sex with the boss's girlfriend?"
"Well..."
"And sex with the boss's wife?"
"Just once, a couple of jobs back. But she was the one who came on to - "
"Those are risky sex partners, Mr. Gordon. Any jury would agree. How about unprotected sex? Venereal diseases?"
"Just a minute, here," Brad said, "I don't want to get into - "
"I'm sure you don't," Johnson said, "and that's not surprising, considering three cases ofpediculosis pubis - crabs. Two episodes of gonorrhea, one of chlamydia, two episodes of condyloma - or genital warts - including...hmm, one near the anus. And that's just the last five years, according to the records of your doctor in Southern California."
"How'd you get those?"
Johnson shrugged. "Sky diving, scuba diving, mountain climbing, reckless driving, high-risk sex partners, unprotected sex. If that doesn't comprise a pattern of high-risk, thrill-seeking behavior, I don't know what does."