Gray waited two hours for the lawyer to show up but considering it had been a last minute thing, he was grateful it wasn't longer. The police officers moved him to a private, unrecorded room where he and the lawyer could discuss his options.
Neal Ashley was a polished-looking man in his forties with slicked back hair. The first thing he did when they were alone was ask if Gray killed her or not.
Was that really the sort of thing a lawyer should be asking? Gray didn't know; he had only dealt with corporate lawyers before. He stared blankly and the lawyer smiled.
"Mr. Meyer, I don't care what you did. We have attorney-client privilege so I can't tell anybody anything you say without your explicit permission. I only ask because the answer will help me know how best to assist you."
He supposed it made sense. During the attempted interrogation while waiting for the lawyer, the police mentioned that they found security footage inside the taxi he had taken to move Lacy to the Bronx. He had no idea how they had found it—maybe that cab driver saw his face after all and recognized him—but the damage was done.
If this went to trial, he would surely be found guilty and get the harshest punishment if Brann Knighton had anything to do with it. Pleading guilty to get a lighter sentence might be his best bet. So long as they couldn't prove it was premeditated, he would be fine.
The fact that Lacy intended to drug him might work in his favor here. He could say it was a case of self-defense where he momentarily lost rationality.
"I did it," Gray said flatly. "There is no point in denying that since I don't want to go to trial. Tell me my options."
"Why don't you start from the beginning," Neal suggested mildly, as if he hadn't just gotten a murder confession out of his client. "I'll need to know everything that happened."
Gray could tell him everything but the fact that he had been planning on having Lacy die in an accident the next day when he killed her. Attorney-client privilege or not, he wanted there to be no doubt he deserved the lighter second degree murder sentence.
"Are you aware that Lacy Knighton was completely obsessed with my little brother?" he asked before beginning his story.
"That would be Aaron Hale, correct? I've seen the news. But I didn't know there was a connection between them aside from the fact that he got engaged to someone else at her birthday party."
"She's been after him for years, going so far as to drug his wife when they were in high school simply because she ate lunch with Aaron. On multiple occasions she has intended to drug him before discovering he was married, believing that if she could sleep with him once that he would marry her."
The lawyer eyed him curiously. "How is this relevant?"
"Because Lacy's first instinct is always to drug people she can't control. The day I killed her, she tried to drug me. All I did was turn the tables on her and wrestle the needle away. I jabbed her with it and got people to escort her from my office.
"Once she was gone I realized that she would never leave me or Aaron alone and that for the safety of my family, she needed to disappear. I snuck out of a hidden door in my office, pulled her into a cab, and took her to an alley in the Bronx where I thought she wouldn't be found for a while. That's it," Gray finished nonchalantly.
Neal straightened the papers in front of him before looking Gray in the eye. He didn't seem at all fazed by what had been said, making Gray slightly curious how many murder confessions it took hearing to become so casual about it.
"Mr. Meyer, you're telling me that you chose to kill Lacy in a spur of the moment act of self-defense for the sake of your younger brother?"
Gray nodded. "Aaron took his family on vacation because of how stressed out his wife was about Lacy stalking their apartment building. I saw a chance and I took it. I don't regret it but I do regret getting caught."
The lawyer actually laughed. "You're an honest one. Most people will swear all day long that they didn't do it, or if they did, that it was an accident. From what you say, it sounds like this woman had it coming to her."
His demeanor grew more serious before he continued.
'That being said, Brann Knighton wants justice. You're smart to not want to take this to trial. Your best bet is to give a signed confession using exact details of what you did and when, since it was a spur of the moment decision. I can probably negotiate it so you get 15 years to life."
15 years to life. What a horrible uncertainty. Gray might get out when his niece and nephew were teenagers or he might never get out at all.
Even though 15 years was the best minimum sentence he could expect, the thought of wasting so much time behind bars was abhorrent. When he came out, his company would probably be in shambles. He had enough to live on if he didn't maintain his playboy lifestyle but who would want him at that point anyway?
Murderers weren't exactly prime dating material. He would have to leave New York and change his name if he ever truly wanted to start over but that would be a major parole violation. Leaving would require waiting until his sentence was complete.
Neal spoke up again, derailing Gray's train of thought. "I would recommend making your confession as straightforward as possible. Don't let it be obvious that you hated her or wanted her gone. It needs to seem like you lost your head in a moment of weakness. Write it out and I'll help you edit it."
Gray sighed. At least this man seemed to know what he was doing. He would have to thank Aaron later, provided his brother ever willingly spoke to him again.