Mean Streak(101)

She was silent for a moment, then, “What does all this mean to us, Jeff? To our relationship?”

“I’ve already told you. We can’t go on seeing each other. Emory has to be my sole concern now. I don’t say that to hurt you.”

“Nevertheless, it does.”

“I’m sorry. We both went into this with eyes wide open, neither predicting a happy ending.” Then, “I’d better go now, check in downstairs and see if any progress is being made.”

“Should I keep this latest incident under my hat?”

“Please. Let’s get through the night, see what tomorrow brings.”

“All right.” Her good-bye was tearful and subdued.

He disconnected and grinned at himself in the dresser mirror. “That went well.” Had he scripted Alice, he couldn’t have put better words in her mouth.

If Emory survived this second misadventure with her criminal boyfriend, her mental stability would be brought into question. She would be denounced and ridiculed. Perhaps the end of her star-kissed life would bring too much pressure for her to bear. She might very well break under the strain of losing everything she had worked so hard to achieve, and, when she did, God knows what she would do to herself. Suicide would be credible.

As he was leaving the bedroom, he glanced toward the bed where he’d tossed his ski jacket when he came upstairs. He had noticed yesterday that the trademark zipper pull was missing. He didn’t know how and when it had become detached, and a search among his belongings hadn’t produced it.

It was a small thing. But wasn’t the devil in the details?

*





When Jeff excused himself to go upstairs to call Alice, Jack Connell asked the two detectives, “What’s that about?”

Knight, who was halfway through a minibar can of cashews, said, “Dr. Alice Butler. OB-GYN.” He explained the three-way medical clinic partnership. “Also, she’s Emory’s best friend.”

“Who’s committing adultery with him.” Grange tipped his head toward the top of the stairs.

Jack divided a look between them. “Huh. Does Emory know?”

“We don’t think so,” Grange replied. “She might. She might not care. Would you, if you were her?”

Jack smiled, then asked, “When she went missing, you looked hard at him?”

“Snug as a bug in a rug with Alice Butler from Friday evening till Sunday afternoon, when he became concerned about his wife,” Knight said.

Grange expanded on that, recounting the interview he’d had with the other woman. “She confessed, crumbling beneath the weight of guilt. We thought for sure we had Jeff’s dual motive.”

“Dual?”

Grange told him about Emory’s legacy from Charbonneau Oil and Gas. “She’s worth a bundle and then some. We were on our way to apprehending him, but then Emory showed up at the filling station, alive.”

Knight said, “The husband’s no longer a suspect. Your boy Hayes Bannock stole all his thunder.”

“Bannock won’t hurt her.”

“So you’ve said.”

“I’d stake my career on it,” Jack insisted. “Besides, she isn’t afraid of him or she wouldn’t have left with him tonight.”

Grange said, “That’s the first thing that crossed my mind when Knight called me and said to get over here. There’s a big difference between being unafraid of someone and running off with him. Why’d she go? What did he say to her? What did he do to get her to take off without even getting her coat first?”

Jack said, “I don’t know Emory Charbonneau well, but from my perspective, it’s just as puzzling. Always before, when Bannock was done somewhere, he split. Like in a matter of hours. After the incident with Norman and Will Floyd, I can’t figure why he’s sticking around.”

“Maybe he’s not done with the Floyds. Maybe the beating was only a prelude leading up to a big finish.”

Jack pulled the inside of his cheek between his teeth. “I hope not.”

“Or maybe we’re overlooking the obvious. Maybe Emory’s ‘he treated me kindly’ refrain was euphemistic for…” Knight let his raised eyebrows speak for him, then shook the last of the cashews from the can and tossed them into his mouth. “But whatever he’s doing to, or with, or for her, we still want him for assault and battery. So my question to you, Agent Connell, is on behalf of all the men and women we’ve got out there looking for them. Just how dangerous is this guy?”

“Officers should proceed with caution.”

“That’s it? That’s your only word of advice?” Knight was frowning over the insufficiency. “Word’s spread through our department about the Floyd boys. Truth be told, their beating has been toasted by more than one six pack. They’re scumbags, and that was the opinion even before anybody knew about them raping their kid sister.”

“Have they been charged?”

“Not yet. It’s on the DA’s desk, but the girl is iffy about bringing it out in the open. You know how that goes.”

Jack nodded, and Knight continued.

“In the meantime, everybody’s just a tad spooked over the man who whipped the Floyds single-handedly. We found where he stored his weapons, but not the weapons themselves, meaning he could have a lot of firepower with him. Now a fed has shown up hot on his heels. Bannock’s taken on a…a…”