“What happened?” JP asked, once Sabre sat down.
Sabre began to recount the events, and the more she explained, the angrier JP and Ron became. JP paced the floor. Ron seethed. “You two need to calm down, or I’m not telling you anything else. You’re making me more nervous instead of helping me.”
“That son-of-a—”
“JP, please sit down,” she said looking at him, then at Ron. “And you, breathe.”
“Are you going to call the cops?” Ron asked.
“No, he didn’t lay a hand on me, even though I could tell he wanted to. He was so angry that he clasped his hands in front of him and held them there so tight that I thought he might break a bone.”
“He did what?” JP said. Sabre could hear the anger in his soft voice.
Sabre demonstrated.
“That’s what his brother says he does to his kids. It’s a behavioral modification technique to get them to behave. He learned it from his mother who did it to them when they were young. Apparently, she used some pretty harsh punishment to train them so it would work. I think that was more of a threat to you than an effort to control himself.”
“Maybe. I’m just glad he’s gone and you two are here.”
“Are you sure you don’t want me to call the cops?” JP asked.
“No, but I need to call the social worker and let her know what happened. That way, it will get into the report for court.”
Sabre picked up the phone and called the social worker. While she was on the phone, Ron went to the back room and got each of them a bottle of water.
Sabre hung up the phone, took a deep breath, and said, “Okay, you two get me up to speed on what you know about my cases. I need to think about something besides Todd Lynch, although he’s not the only unhappy parent I’m dealing with right now.”
“Did someone else threaten you?” JP asked.
“No, I have all these strange cases with strong-willed, angry parents, which isn’t all that odd. It’s just that I don’t usually have this many at once. And then this thing with our mother.” Without pausing, she said, “Ron, do you have anything new on Jim Jones?”
“I hit quite a few bars in East County and got nothing.”
“Which means he probably doesn’t frequent East County bars,” JP said.
“I’m going downtown tonight, and if I have time, I’ll go to some of the bars at the beach.” Ron looked at the time on his cell phone. “I need to go. I told Mom I’d be home for dinner.”
“Find out where she’s going to dinner Friday night with Harley,” JP said.
“That’s my plan.” He hugged Sabre and left.
Sabre and JP went through every case he was working on and discussed what he had learned.
“You met the LaFiura family when you were in Pasadena investigating Lynch, right?” Sabre asked.
“I only met Marilyn. I don’t think her husband and children were home. I didn’t go inside, so I can’t be sure. Why?”
“Heather Lynch asked that their home to be evaluated for placement of the boys. I talked to the boys about it. Nolan and Drew were thrilled. Evan didn’t seem to care much one way or the other. He just wants to be with his mother.”
“But won’t that make it harder for them to see their mom?”
“Heather’s moving to Pasadena too, if her children do. She has a friend she can stay with there, and her sister has also opened her home to her. Heather wants to get away from the influences she has here and would already be gone if her children weren’t in foster care.”
“I just want that Todd guy gone,” JP said.
“What did you think of Marilyn LaFiura?”
“She talked a lot, but she seemed genuinely concerned about the children.”
“She’s an Avon representative and an author, so she works from home. Her husband, Andrew, is a fireman.”
“Good, then he should be able to handle Todd. My first impression of Marilyn is that she would be protective. That’s all I got.”
“The social worker evaluated the home today, so if that’s the recommendation and Todd’s not in agreement, I’m sure we’ll be hearing about it soon.”
“I got some more information on Harley Lindgren and Vanna Norstrom,” JP said when there was a lull in the conversation. He filled her in on what he had learned.
“And he filed for divorce just a month ago?” Sabre asked.
“Yes.”
“About the time he met my mother?”
“I didn’t know exactly when they met, but I do know he filed for divorce around the same time he joined the online dating service. He listed himself as ‘widowed.’”
“Do you think my mother is safe with this guy?”
“As long as she doesn’t marry him,” JP said. When Sabre didn’t laugh he said, “Too soon?”
“Yeah.”
“Until we can sort this out, Ron and I have worked out a schedule to keep an eye on them. And Detective DuBois is going to dinner Friday night at the same restaurant if Ron can find out where they’re going.”
She furrowed her brow and tightened her shoulders. “Why? Does he think Lindgren will hurt her?”
“No, he’s just going to observe, and I think to get a free meal out of me. We’re just taking precautions.”
Sabre let her shoulders drop to a relaxed position. “You’re right. I’m being silly. It’s just that I’d like to be spending more time with my mother right now so we could talk about him, but I’m so busy and stressed out.”
JP walked to her, took her hand as she stood up, and wrapped his arms around her. “Do you want to go to dinner and spend the evening together?”
She looked up at him. “I would so love to do that, but I’m going to get take-out and spend the rest of the night preparing for my hearings tomorrow. I’m sorry.”
“No worries,” JP said.
“I wouldn’t be very good company anyway,” she said, as she stroked his arm. “I’m already distracted because Mary Margaret is going to church tonight. I hope it all goes well.”
“What could go wrong?”
“Not much, I guess. She’ll be supervised by someone from DSS and they know she’s not to be alone with either of her parents. I don’t want her to accidentally see Lester. Although he’s not supposed to be there, you never know.”
“Do you want me to go?”
“I don’t think you’ll be too welcome there.”
Sabre gathered her files and JP took them from her. She locked up and they walked to her car.
“Thanks for watching over my mom,” she said, and then kissed him goodnight.
JP followed her home and made sure she got inside safely. Before he drove away, he picked up his cell and made a call. When the voicemail came on, JP said, “Jim, this is JP Torn. I won’t be taking the job in Alaska, but thank you for the offer.”
Chapter 32
Ron sat at the dinner table with his mother, anxious to ask her about Harley, but he didn’t want to sound too concerned. Instead, he quizzed her about her day.
“Has that neighbor’s cat been back?” he asked.
“The one that got locked in the garage yesterday?”
“Yes, that one.”
“No, he hasn’t been back. I haven’t seen him today at all. I think maybe they’re keeping him locked inside.”
Ron took a couple of bites of his meatloaf. “Did you play bridge today?”
“Yes, I told you I was going to play bridge when I left this morning. And before you ask, my partner and I came in second.”
“You mean you lost?”
“Yes, but it sounds better to say it my way.”
A few seconds of silence passed before Ron said, “I saw there was a new plant on the shelf out back.”
“Yes, I picked it up from the nursery on my way home from bridge today,” Beverly said. She set her fork down on the side of her plate. “What is it you really want to know?”
Ron blurted, “Where are you going with Harley on Friday?”
“It’s good to be here, Mom. Now tell me already.”
“We’re going to C Level on Harbor Island. Sabre and JP went there recently, and she said it has a gorgeous view.”
“Sweet. That place isn’t cheap, I guess I’ll give him that. It does have a spectacular view of the water, the city, and Coronado Bridge. Have you been there before?”
“No, I’ve never been, so when Harley insisted that I pick some place nice, I did. I also looked it up online and I was quite impressed.”
“Is he picking you up?” Ron asked, afraid of the answer. If he was, Ron planned to follow them.
“No, I’m meeting him at the restaurant. Not because I’m concerned, but I knew you and Sabre would have a fit.”
“What time?”
She sighed, but then answered, “At seven o’clock.”
“Mom,” Ron said, trying to sound nonchalant, “how well do you know this guy?”
“We’ve gone to coffee three times, and we’ve had four or five phone conversations. We’ve exchanged life histories. He is very polite, has a good sense of humor, and I like him.”
“How many times has Harley been married?”
“Three. Two are dead and one disappeared. He has three grown children from the first marriage: a lawyer, a teacher, and his youngest who has recently moved back home and enrolled in college. He owns a very successful real estate business, so I expect he is financially comfortable. He hasn’t shown me his bank statements or his stock portfolio, but he does drive a new Mercedes.” She paused. “But then you already knew all this, didn’t you?”
“I didn’t know about the Mercedes, or his daughter moving home.”
“So Sabre is investigating him?”
“A little,” he said sheepishly. Then he added with more fervor, “You met him online. It’s not like you know someone who can vouch for him.” He reached across the table and touched her hand. “We just want you safe, Mom.”
“I know, and I appreciate that. I think if you met him, you’d feel better about him.”
“Good idea, Mom. When can we do that?”
“Let me get through our first date. I don’t want to scare him off.”
They finished their meal and then both stood and picked up their plates. “Oh, and we’ve had sex twelve times in the back of his Mercedes,” she said seriously.
“Eww! Mom!”
She roared with laughter. “I’m kidding. You know your mother better than that, but you deserved it. You should’ve seen the look on your face.”
“You got me good, but do me a favor, okay?”
“What’s that?”
“Pull that on Sabre when you get a chance, but say twice instead of twelve. It’ll make it more believable.”
Ron chased his mother out of the kitchen. They had an agreement that if she cooked, he did the cleanup, and vice versa. At first, she tried to do it all, but she finally quit fighting him on it, which made him feel better about staying there. He didn’t want to be a burden on her. Before he started the dishes, he called JP with the time and location of his mother’s date.
“Are you going to the bars tonight?” JP asked.
“Yeah, I think it’s a good night to go downtown and try the Gaslamp Quarter.”
“That’s a lot of bars. Maybe I should go with you. We can split up and hit more that way. Maybe it’ll give us time to do another area as well.”
“Do you have time?”
“There’s not a whole lot I can do elsewhere tonight. Sabre’s too busy, it’s too late to go to Orange County and follow up on Vanna, and I’m sick of sitting at the computer. If I’m going to work, that means going to church or the bars. I choose the bars.”
~~~
The Parker Case
JP and Ron made a plan before they left. They were familiar enough with the Gaslamp to know which bars were where. They decided to each take at least two smaller bars and one large one, and then meet in front of The Tipsy Crow on Fifth Avenue.
JP started at the south end of the Gaslamp, near Market. His first stop was The Field Irish Pub, which was literally brought over in pieces from Ireland and reassembled. It was dark and cozy, and known for its good food. It was busy, but it didn’t take long to find out that a guy who wore his wire-rimmed sunglasses the entire time had been there several months back. He struck out at the Barleymash and Werewolf bars, but he wasn’t sure if they were too busy to notice the guy or if he hadn’t been there.
JP tried a couple more bars on the side streets with no luck until he reached The Reef, a small dive on Market. He discovered Jim Jones had been there as recently as the night before. MJ, the bartender, was certain that was him in the photo JP had on his phone.
“Did he leave with anyone?”
“I’m not sure. He seemed to be hitting on one of our patrons.”
“Did they leave together?”
“I think so, but I can’t be certain. I was about to go see if Dandee needed another drink, and they were both gone.”
“You know her?”
“Just from coming in here. You get to know the names of the regulars. She’s been here a lot the last couple of weeks. She used to come in every few nights and then she stopped for about six months until a few weeks ago.”
“Do you know anything else about her?”
“Only that she’s troubled. She seems to be drinking her sorrows away right now.”
JP handed her his card. “Please call me if she comes back in. We’d like to stop this predator.”
“You got it.”
JP stopped at two more places before he reached The Tipsy Crow. Ron was coming out of the bar.
“I got nothing in there,” Ron said, “but I found one place that had seen him, and one that was a strong maybe, both dives. The bigger places were a bust.”
“Same here,” JP said. “That seems to be his pattern. How long ago was he here?”
“They were both pretty vague, three months, six months, maybe a year.”
JP shared what he had found out. Dandee appeared to be their most likely chance of talking to another victim.
“Do you want to hit the bars at the beach?”
“You go ahead. I think I’ll call it a day. I’m tired as a two-dollar hooker on dollar day. Let me know what you find.”
Chapter 33
The Fowler Case
“How did it go in church last night?” Sabre asked Mary Margaret.
“It went really well. I got to see Penny. She told me about all the things that are going on in the church.”
“Like what?”
“Like Dana got caught passing a note to Brayden last week. They got in so much trouble. They had to sit on opposite sides of the circle last night, and they couldn’t sit together when we had a snack, or during prayer.”
Mary Margaret babbled on about the evening and her time with Penny. Sabre felt good that Mary Margaret had a few moments of childhood. So much of that part of her life was gone.
“It felt so good to be in church again. I know God wanted me there.” She looked down at her feet and bit her lip. “I just get so confused sometimes.”
“How do you mean?”
“I want to be a good girl and do what’s right, but I don’t want to be married to Lester. He’s creepy.”
“I know.”
“I want to go home to my parents, but I don’t want Lester there. But my father says I need to trust God. He has a plan. Papa says we’re legally married in the eyes of the church and it’s wrong for me to fight that. What do you think, Ms. Brown?”
Sabre did all she could to keep from saying what she really thought. She didn’t like any excuse for child molestation and that’s th
e way she saw this whole thing. Mary Margaret was too young to consent to any of this. For Sabre, it was simple. She was too young to consent to a marriage, they had no marriage license sanctioned by the state, and in the eyes of the law, Mary Margaret was not married. But for Mary Margaret, it was much more than that. She had a moral dilemma she couldn’t figure out. She felt guilty for not obeying her parents and even guiltier for not doing what she thought God wanted her to do.
Sabre took Mary Margaret’s hands in hers, looked her in the eye, and chose her words carefully. “Mary Margaret, I know life is very unsettling for you right now. I also know how important your church and your beliefs are to you and I wouldn’t ever try to take that from you or disparage it in any way. The same with your parents. I would never tell you to disrespect them. What I will tell you is that adults don’t always agree on how children should be raised, and the law isn’t always black and white. You have stated several times that you don’t want to be married to Lester. My job as your attorney is to protect you—as a child, not as a married woman—and I’ll keep fighting until we win, or run out of options. Your job is to try to be a kid, and let the adults sort out the legal issues. Once they’re resolved, we can figure out where to go from there.”
“I try not to think about everything at home. I do pretty good most of the day, but when I go to bed at night, I start to think about the things my father tells me when he visits.”
There was a court order that her parents could not discuss the court case with Mary Margaret, or talk about Lester or the marriage. “Has he said anything about the case or about Lester?”
She thought for a moment. “No, he just says to trust God’s plan, but I know what he means by that.”
“Does your mother say anything?”
“No, she hugs me a lot and tells me how much she misses me.”
“You seem to be pretty settled in here. Are things going okay?”
“Mr. and Mrs. Venable are very good to me. She loves to bake, and she’s really good at it. They’re good Christian people. They said if I wanted to and my parents agreed, I could go to church with them on Sunday. They know how much I miss going to church, but they made it very clear that I didn’t have to go.”
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