Shadow Of Pretense Read online

  “Hey, this is Jimmy.”

  “Jimmy?”

  ‘Oh, sorry, we met this afternoon. I was the guy at Tommy’s who wasn’t Mick.”

  “The beard.”

  “Yeah, that’s me.”

  “The guy with the Fiero?”

  “I wish, that’s Mick’s.”

  “Look, Jimmy, I’m kind of in the middle of something, what is it that you need?”

  “I just felt like there were things I needed to tell you. Mick wasn’t honest with you.”

  “Wasn’t honest how?”

  “Nothing big, it was just weird that he didn’t tell the truth. It’s not like it mattered, but it bugged me. It made it seem like he had something to hide, so I thought I’d call you.”

  “Okay, what did he say that wasn’t true?”

  “How they met for one.”

  “They didn’t meet at Lefty’s?”

  “No, Chrissie's mom and Tommy’s older brother were a thing. Chrissie showed up with her mom at some party Tommy’s bro was throwing and Mick started talking to her. They may have hung out at Lefty’s after they started seeing each other because Chrissie’s mom would toss us some free food and drinks, but they definitely met at Terry’s party.”

  Margot was thinking this was a waste of time until she remembered what Randy said about Jennifer's ex-military boyfriend had a name with a ‘T’ in it.

  “Is Terry some kind of survivalist?”

  “You mean a prepper?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Totally. Do you know him?”

  “Not yet. Does Terry have a last name?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Do you know what it is?”

  “Stannis. You won’t find any record of him anywhere though. He’s off the grid.”

  “But you know how to find him?”

  “Not really. To be honest, he doesn’t really like us. I’d be offended, but as far as I can tell, he doesn’t really like anybody since Chrissie's mom gave him back the wedding ring.”

  “Do you have anything else to tell me?”

  “That thing about them breaking up is bullshit and he may not have known she was fourteen when they met, but he definitely knew she wasn’t twenty-two.”

  “Okay, how about what he told me about the last time they saw each other?”

  “As far as I know, that part was true, though Mick has snuck off a few times without telling anybody where he was going. Was I helpful?”

  “Yeah, you were. Thanks.”

  “Cool. I know you might be a little older than me and even, as you said, out of my league, but do you want to get a drink sometime?”

  “Thanks, but no thanks.” Margot looked inside the restaurant and saw Radcliff waiting patiently then added, “I’m seeing somebody,” for the sake of Jimmy’s feelings, not so much because she cared about hurting Jimmy but because she might still need him for information.

  “It’d just be a drink.”

  “We’ll see, I’ve got your number.”

  “Awesome.”

  “I’ve got to go, Jimmy.”

  “Cool, talk to you soon.”

  Margot was going back inside when Radcliff met her at the door.

  “Sorry about that,” Margot told him.

  “No worries. I’ve actually got to leave. Something came up on a case and I can’t ignore it.”

  “I understand. It wouldn’t have anything to do with Jennifer and Chrissie would it?”

  “No, sadly that’s not my only case. Raincheck?”

  “Of course.”

  Chapter 7

  Margot picked up Mal at eight-thirty. She filled him in on what Jimmie told her.

  “You think he lied because they’re hiding at Terry’s?”

  “It’d be a good reason.”

  “Could be he’s just a liar. Some of these guys are like that.”

  “If you’ve got a better idea, I’d love to hear it.”

  “We just hang out until the cops find them?”

  “She paid me to look, so I’m looking.”

  “You know these things don’t end well, don’t you? Chances of finding either one of them alive is slim or none.”

  “I’ve still got to look.”

  “Yeah, I know. It’s one of things I like about you. Speaking of liking you, how was your date?”

  “It didn’t happen.”

  “He stood you up?”

  “His work called and he had to leave.”

  “His work called at night?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Is this guy a cop?”

  Margot’s silence was answer enough.

  “You’re dating a cop?”

  “I was seeing one for dinner. What’s wrong with that? You were a cop when I was dating you.”

  “Look how that turned out for both of us. You saw some cops yesterday when you found the stiff over at Jennifer and Chrissie’s…is that when he asked you out?”

  Again Margot’s silence was answer enough.

  “Please tell me it wasn’t Ames.”

  “It wasn’t. It was his partner.”

  “The young guy who doesn’t like it when people say bad words?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Isn’t he too young for you?”

  “We’re probably the same age.”

  “I don’t like him.”

  “He’s Ames’ partner, he probably doesn’t like you either. This is it.”

  Mal shook his head. Tommy’s Challenger was in the drive this time next to Mick’s red Fiero, so Mal parked on the street.

  “You going to give him another chance?” Mal asked.

  “Of course, he’s Homicide, that shit doesn’t always happen nine to five.”

  “Well, then put in a good word for me.”

  Margot got out and checked the street.

  “Looking for a blue sedan?” Mal asked as he got out as well.

  “Yeah.”

  “I was watching. If someone is tailing us, they’re really good.”

  “That makes me feel better.”

  Just like the day before, B-boy came bouncing out of the house.

  “Bitch, you better not spray me with mace again.”

  “Call me a bitch again and I’ll feed you the whole can for breakfast.”

  Mal smiled. “She ain’t kidding.”

  “Who are you?”

  “He’s a friend of mine. Is Tommy around?”

  “Yeah, what do you want with him?”

  “I just want to talk.”

  “Okay, then why bring the muscle?”

  “He’s just keeping me company. You're going to invite us in or is Tommy going to talk to us outside?”

  “Just wait here I’ll get him.”

  B-boy disappeared back into the house.

  “You really think he’s going to bring him out?”

  “If he doesn’t we’re going in.”

  After a minute, a shirtless Tommy stepped outside.

  “What do you guys want?”

  “Actually, we want to talk to your brother, but his address is unlisted.”

  “Yeah, well that’s because he doesn’t like to be talked to very often. Tell me what you want him to hear and I’ll pass it along.”

  “It’d be better if we did this ourselves.”

  Tommy shook his head. “Look, I know he’s stubborn and obsessive, but he got the message last time. He’s going to leave the girl alone.”

  “Last time?”

  “Yeah, when your boss sent a different set of thugs.”

  “When who sent a different set of thugs?”

  “Jennifer’s new boyfriend, the crook.”

  “She has a new boyfriend that’s a crook?”

  “Who else has leg breakers in the payroll? He sent you, didn’t he?”

  “No,” Mal told him, “we don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “If you’re not here to warn Terry to leave Jennifer alone, why are you here?”

  “Just like I said, we want
to ask him a few questions.”

  “About what?”

  “Jennifer and her daughter. They’re missing.”

  “You think Terry has something to do with that?”

  “No, he knew Jennifer well enough to ask her to marry him. He might know her well enough to help us find her.”

  “Maybe you should be asking her new boyfriend.”

  “We didn’t know she had a new boyfriend. ”

  “I got the feeling he liked to keep things on the down-low. Pretty sure he has a wife. Hell, the only reason I know anything about him is he sent people out to threaten my brother. At the time, I didn’t even think it was a bad thing, Terry can get a little possessive and he has trouble taking no for an answer.”

  “He back off?”

  Tommy shrugged. “I don’t know, I hope so, but Terry has some issues.”

  “Do you know the new boyfriend’s name?”

  “Yeah, Stone.”

  “Dean Stone?”

  “Sounds right. Talk to him. He’d know better than Terry.”

  Mal and Margot looked at each other and then back to Tommy. Mal said, “That’d be kind of hard since he’s dead.”

  This made Tommy pause.

  “We think Jennifer’s in trouble,” Margot told him. “Talking to your brother might help.”

  Tommy considered this for a long second before he pulled the latest iPhone out of his pocket. “I can call him, but I can’t make any guarantees he’ll talk to you. Like I said, he has some issues.”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  Tommy nodded, hit a few buttons and put the phone to his ear.

  He said, “Hey,” and then walked away, putting some distance between him and Margot.

  “What do you think he’s telling him that he doesn’t want us to hear?” Mal asked.

  “Doesn’t matter, whether Tommy helps us or not, we’re going to have a conversation with Terry.”

  “You think an obsessive stalker type who’s also an end of the word prepper might have something to do with Jennifer and Chrissie’s disappearance?”

  “Wouldn’t be the first time.”

  “What about Stone’s involvement?”

  “I’m guessing that ended when he went down to Mexico. It does explain her gap in work history.”

  “You think Dean Stone was her sugar daddy?”

  “You seem to be asking all the obvious questions tonight.”

  Mal laughed, “Yeah, it does make sense, but who’s the dead guy in the living room and who left the blood trail?”

  “I’m going to ask Terry about that too.”

  Tommy came back.

  “What did he say?” asked Margot

  “He said he didn’t want to talk to you.”

  “He say anything else?” Mal asked.

  “He said he hadn’t seen either one of them.”

  “I don’t suppose you asked him where Jennifer might go?”

  “I didn’t, but I didn’t really have to.”

  “You didn’t have to do anything,” Margot said, “that’s why we wanted to talk to him, asking questions is more our thing.”

  “Yeah, I get that, but that’s not the reason I didn’t have to. He told me he hadn’t seen either of them, but all I told him is there were a couple of people here asking about Jennifer that needed to talk to him.”

  Tommy was quiet for a moment as if he wanted to see if Margot or Mal could figure it out.

  “You never mentioned Chrissie did you?” Margot asked.

  “Nope.”

  “But he knew she was missing too.”

  “Bingo. He knows something.”

  “I don’t suppose you can tell us where he is?”

  “You want me to rat out my own brother?”

  “If he didn’t do anything, we don’t mean him any harm.”

  “And if he did?”

  “Depends on what he did, but we’re not making any guarantees.”

  “You’re not selling it very well.”

  “I’m not much of a salesperson,” Margot told him.

  Mal shrugged as he said, “At some point, we’re going to find out anyway. It’s just a matter of if you’re going to make it easy or make it hard.”

  “That sounds a bit like a threat.”

  “I’m just telling it like it is.”

  Tommy nodded. “Here’s the thing, I can’t tell you something I don’t know.”

  “You don’t know where your own brother lives?”

  “Wherever it is, it isn’t as nice as my place. We aren’t that close. He likes to live off the grid and apparently that means moving around a lot. Since Jennifer dumped him, he’s been living in his motor home. It’s why Stone sent his thugs around to bother me. They couldn’t find him. Probably for the best though. He can be a little jumpy around strangers and he’s armed to the teeth.”

  “We can take care of ourselves,” Margot told him.

  “Yeah, I bet you can, but bring more than the mace, if you know what I mean.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind. You really don’t have any idea where he might be?”

  “He probably won’t leave the state but other than that? I’d say, knowing Terry, the place isn’t going to show up on the GPS.”