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Predator
Faye Kellerman
LAPD Detective Peter Decker is about to face a case that will push him to the limit…Residents in a local building have been complaining of a smell coming from an apartment rented by the eccentric inventor Hobart Penny.Nearly ninety-years-old, and a hermit for the last 25 years, it is not surprising that the reclusive genius has died without anyone’s knowledge. However, as Decker steps inside, it’s clear that Penny has died from anything but natural causes…Penny’s children describe their father as a cruel and vindictive man. His second wife knew a man with strange sexual appetites, while the owner of a Californian animal charity speaks only of a kind-hearted old man.But further searches not only add to the list of suspects, but find evidence of a disturbed, depraved mind. So just who was Hobart Penny? A brilliant inventor, a generous philanthropist or a callous killer?
FAYE KELLERMAN
Predator
[Published in the USA as The Beast]
To Jonathan, as always
To my editor, Carrie Feron
And to my fans who have supported me for the last twenty-five years!
Table of Contents
Cover (#ue242b734-6fd2-5e19-93c7-390d149452b3)
Title Page (#ucc5525da-b7b2-5515-ad6b-0715bb1f6ac1)
Dedication (#ub500f030-f2b4-5c26-b8a0-9999a53a3ece)
Chapter One (#u991df08e-89f2-562d-b3de-cf5647e820f4)
Chapter Two (#ub5a8f252-2379-5e50-a899-ed43e228d4be)
Chapter Three (#u76725d8b-8e6e-5f8f-9e32-b98cf6c20579)
Chapter Four (#u28ffdb8b-d3ca-5940-8824-51162721bf1b)
Chapter Five (#ua1717296-4f8e-5866-b11a-e8eb1b361121)
Chapter Six (#u1b791da9-bb7d-5695-8fe9-0b443d80fb92)
Chapter Seven (#u4fab84eb-a03b-5bfd-849f-cadb2bdd4e94)
Chapter Eight (#uc83fe253-11fd-5ab0-9d17-73e5f76059c4)
Chapter Nine (#u97f0a511-bfbc-5ec6-82b5-fcae9183dd2c)
Chapter Ten (#uc350434f-9045-5991-8723-5c7168b6d25b)
Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seventeen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eighteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nineteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-One (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Two (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Three (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Four (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Five (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirty (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirty-One (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirty-Two (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirty-Three (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirty-Four (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirty-Five (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirty-Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirty-Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirty-Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirty-Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Forty (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Author (#litres_trial_promo)
Also by Faye Kellerman (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ONE (#ulink_d7d47baf-3afe-5c31-b56d-314eb95315a9)
It was the stuff of nightmares, starting with the slow walk down the courtroom aisle: as if his stall tactics had the power to stop the inevitable. Seven hours of testimony, but it wasn’t the length of time that was horrific. When practicing the piano, Gabe had done marathon sessions twice as long as that. But he had always used his music to zone out, and that was impossible to do when being grilled on the witness stand. It had required concentrating on things he was trying so hard to forget: how that day had started out so normal and within minutes had turned into something almost deadly.
By four in the afternoon, the trial had finally recessed and the prosecution was essentially done, although Gabe knew the lawyers would have more questions on redirect. He walked out of the courtroom with his foster mother, Rina Decker, on one side and his foster dad, the lieutenant, on the other. They guided him into a waiting car. Sergeant Marge Dunn was behind the wheel.
She maneuvered the silent group through the streets of the San Fernando Valley—a suburb of L.A.—until they reached the driveway of the Decker house. Once inside, Gabe collapsed on the living room couch, took off his glasses, and closed his eyes.
Rina took off her tam, liberating a sheet of black, shoulder-length hair, and regarded the boy. He was nearly bald—courtesy of an indie film he had starred in—and his complexion was pale and pasty. Little red bumps covered his forehead.
She said, “I’m going to change and get dinner ready.” At the sound of her voice, Gabe opened his eyes. “You must be starving.”
“Actually I feel queasy.” He rubbed his green orbs and put his specs back on. “Once I start eating, I’m sure I’ll be okay.”
Decker and Marge came in a moment later, chatting about business. The lieutenant loosened his tie, and then took a seat next to the boy. The poor kid was constantly jockeying back and forth between the teen and adult worlds. For the last year, his foster son had been at Juilliard, finishing almost two years in one. Decker threw his arm around the kid’s shoulder and kissed the top of his peach fuzz head. Gabe wasn’t totally bald, but what was growing in was blondish.
Gabe asked, “How’d I do?”
“Phenomenal,” Decker said. “I wish every witness I had was half as good as you.”
Marge sat opposite the boys. “You were a dream for the prosecution: completely credible, plainspoken, and damn cute.” When Gabe smiled, she said, “Plus being a movie star doesn’t hurt.”
“Oh jeez. It was barely above a student film on a shoestring budget. It’ll never go anywhere.”
Decker smiled. “You never know.”
“Believe me, I know. Did I ever tell you about my breakdown scene? I’m running down this long hallway of the sanitarium buck naked with my hair flying in back as attendants in white coats try to catch me. When they catch me, they start to shave my head and I’m screaming, ‘Not my hair, not my hair.’ I haven’t seen the movie, so I’ll have to take the director’s word that it was a great scene.”
“You haven’t watched your own movie?” Marge asked.
“No. Too embarrassed. Not at me being naked, but I’m pretty sure I’m a dreadful actor.”
Marge smiled, stood up, and picked a piece of pilled wool off of her beige sweater. “Well, gentlemen, I’ve got to go back to the station house. I left a pile of paperwork on my desk.”
“Not to mention everything that I dropped in your lap,” Decker said. “Thanks for picking up the slack.”
Rina walked in. She had donned a long-sleeved black T-shirt, a jean skirt, and slippers. “You’re not staying for dinner, Marge?”
“Can’t. Too much work to do.”
Decker looked at his watch. “I’ll come join you in about an hour if you’re still around. I’ll bring you a care package from tonight’s dinner.”
“In that case, I’ll make sure I’m around.” Marge waved and left.
Decker said to his wife, “You need any help?”
“I’m fine. It’s been a long day and a little quiet is okay with me.” She disappeared into the kitchen.
Gabe said, “I should shower. I smell pretty bad. I was sweating a lot.”
“Normal.”
“I suppose this is only a warm-up for tomorrow. Defense is going to have a field day with me.”
“You’ll be fine. Just stick to who you are and tell the truth.”
“That I’m the son of a hit man?”
“Gabe—”
“I mean who are we kidding? You know they’re gonna bring him up.”
“Probably. And if they do, your lawyer will object, because Christopher Donatti is irrelevant.”
“He’s a criminal.”
“He is, but you aren’t.”
“He runs whorehouses.”
“Whorehouses are legal in Nevada.”
“He cut up Dylan Lashay and turned him into a mass of jelly.”
“Now you’re speculating.” Decker looked at the boy. “Okay. I’m the defense and cross direct, okay.” He cleared his throat and tried to act like a lawyer. “Have you ever participated in anything criminal? And be careful what you answer.”
Gabe thought a moment. “I smoked weed.”
“Ever take pills?”
“Prescription medication.”
“Such as.”
“Paxil, Xanax, Zoloft, Prozac … a cornucopia of pharmaceuticals. My doctors rotate around to see what’s affective. And the answer to that is—nothing.”
“It is sufficient to just list the medications, Gabriel.”
