Wherever She Goes(65)

I chuckle. “I’m not that stupid.”

He takes another plate of pad Thai. “On that note, I also had my clerk dig into the Zimas. It’s an interesting situation, and I’m not sure what to make of it. Denis’s father definitely has ties to organized crime. It’s the kind of scenario where everyone knows he’s breaking the law, and no one can prove it. They even tried doing an Al Capone by going after him for tax evasion. He’s very, very careful. He has good connections to the Russian mob through his wife’s family. So Denis grew up right in the heart of that. There are all kinds of rumors about his old strip club in LA. The most pervasive was that it wasn’t just selling underage strippers, but underage girls themselves.”

“Prostitution?”

“More like sex slavery.”

“Do you think Kim was part of that?”

He takes a bite of his food before answering. “On the surface, that makes sense. Teenage girl starts dancing in his club and then gets together with him. It seems very . . . suspect.”

“Uh-huh.”

“But I’m not sure it’s as cut-and-dried as it seems. Kim stayed with Zima after he closed the club. And he’s the one who closed it. The rumor is that he had a falling-out with his parents and decided to go straight.”

“He closed the strip club and started the Zodiacs.”

“It’s more than that. Apparently, he started to cut a deal with the feds, turning on his parents. He told the feds that he had information. He asked for witness protection for himself and Kim. She was using another name at the time, but it was clearly her. They were brokering a deal with him when he backed out. He said he’d made a mistake, and he didn’t have anything for them.”

“Was it grandstanding? He wanted something from his parents so he threatened to expose them?”

“Possibly. That’s a dangerous way to get a bigger allowance, though. It’s more likely that he realized the danger. Either way, it looks as if Brandon was born about ten months later.”

“Which probably means he didn’t go straight after all. Kim ran and hid her baby for five years. She knew Zima was dangerous.”

“I’d agree. Throughout all that, Hugh Orbec was at his side. He’s definitely Zima’s right-hand man . . . whatever business Zima is into these days.”

We talk some more. I pull up the still images from the video of Charlie. He recognizes the mother and boy, and he says he’ll talk to them, see whether they noticed anyone hanging around the park or videotaping nearby. When I show him the photo of the car, he chuckles at first, and says, “Lots of those around here. Probably a lot in Denis Zima’s world, too. I could try to find out what he and Orbec drive. Do you have a better shot of it? I can’t see much from that angle.”

“No, this is it.”

I zoom in. “Do you recognize it?” I say.

He pauses, lips pressed. “Possibly? I’m not sure. Leave it with me.”



I’m making coffee when Paul’s law clerk gets back to him. The house is a secondary address owned by a Chicago woman named Elizabeth Kenner.

I look up Kenner. She’s a retired social worker, active in several youth organizations. She’s been living in Chicago for seven years. And before that? She’s from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Where Kim and Ellie grew up.

I call Ellie. When I tell her the name, she’s quiet for a moment. Then she says, “Yes! Of course. Beth. She was Kimmy’s outreach worker. Before Kimmy left, she had some problems. Our dad . . .”

“There were problems,” I say when she trails off. “Between him and Kim.”

“Him and all of us, but Kimmy got the worst of it. She was tough, and the tougher she got, the harder he . . .” She inhales sharply. “It was bad. I didn’t realize how bad because I moved out when she was still a kid. Anyway, Kimmy got into trouble, and she was assigned a youth outreach worker. That was Beth. I met her a bunch of times in hopes I could help.”

She describes the woman she remembers, and it matches the photographs of Elizabeth Kenner.

“That makes sense, doesn’t it?” Ellie says. “My sister trusted Beth. When she needed help, she might have contacted her. Kimmy might even have moved to Chicago because of her.”

“It does make sense,” I say.

“Then we need to speak to Beth. Do you have an address?”

“I do, but I really think the police—”

“No,” she says firmly. “I need to know what went wrong. Why Brandon isn’t with Beth. If we call in the police, we might spook Beth. Especially if she knows what kind of person Brandon’s father is. If you can’t come with me, I understand. Just give me her address.”

I tell Ellie I’ll get back to her. Then I hang up and go into the study, where Paul is working. I tell him everything.

“If you’re comfortable going with her, that’s probably a good idea,” he says. “It would help to have a witness to whatever this woman says. I don’t see any danger. This is the person Kim trusted with her child.” He gets to his feet. “And I know you’d like to hear the answers firsthand.”

“I would.”

“I’ll go with you and wait in the car.”

I shake my head. “This is just an interview. I can handle it.”