by Sutter, C M
I took a picture of it, passed it back, and saw that Renz had his notepad and pen ready to go. Before I began, Marie walked in with a carafe of coffee and five disposable cups. Conway thanked her, and Renz poured the coffee. I went around the table, made the introductions, and when Lorna was ready, I began the questioning.
“Okay, Lorna, walk us through the last thirty-six hours.”
“Thirty-six?”
“From Wednesday night. Most people don’t realize that problems could have been brewing twelve to twenty-four hours before an argument even happens. Having that information does help. What were you and Billy doing Wednesday night?”
“He went to the LLHC meeting like he does every week.”
I frowned. “What does that stand for?”
“Sorry. Lower Louisiana Hunting Club.”
I looked at Bob. “Do you belong to that club?”
“Nope. It’s a little too pricey for my blood.”
Lorna cut in. “Billy gets a reduced membership fee since he’s a board member. They have a welcome meeting and cocktail party twice a month for new members.”
“And that was Wednesday night?”
“Yes.”
“Did you have a problem with him going?”
“Other than the fact that he always comes home drunk, no. I’m used to it.”
I gave Renz a glance then turned to Bob. “You and Lorna have never met?”
“No, can’t say that we have. Hunting here is predominantly a male sport. Don’t really see any ladies out there boar hunting.”
“Humph.” I looked back at Lorna. “Okay, so what time did Billy come home on Wednesday night?”
Lorna shrugged. “I don’t know. I was in bed. He usually comes home, lays on the recliner, watches TV, and falls asleep. Sometimes, he’s there all night.”
“Got it.” I took a sip of coffee and watched her movements. She was fidgety. “Is something other than Billy on your mind?”
“What? No, of course not. I just can’t imagine what he meant when he said he had a business opportunity to check out yesterday morning. It was around eight thirty when he left the house, which seems early to me.”
“Maybe a breakfast meeting?”
“No, he ate before he left. As usual, he didn’t tell me shit, like where he was going, who the meeting was with, or what it was about. I was pissed. It’s like I’m just the wife who is only around to cook, clean, rear the kids, and have sex when he says so.”
I frowned. “Has Billy ever left for more than a day after an argument?”
“No, and that’s why I’m here. He’ll go tie one on, come home in the middle of the night, and then we eventually have make-up sex the next day. He never came home yesterday, so I chalked it up to what he normally does, but when he didn’t show up last night or this morning, my gut said something was wrong.”
“And you tried calling and texting him?”
“Yes, both a dozen times.”
“Does Billy keep any guns in his vehicle?”
“No, only when he goes hunting.”
“And he has a red Dodge Ram?”
Lorna looked surprised. “How would you know that?”
“We met Billy several days back. He was with Mark LaFleur. You know him, right?”
“Yes. They grew up together and have been pals most of their lives.”
“Then maybe Mark knew where Billy was going yesterday morning. Have you called him?”
“I have, and he doesn’t pick up either.”
Her story was getting stranger by the minute. “Do you know for a fact that all of Billy’s guns are accounted for?”
“Well, no. I mean, why would that be the first thing I’d check?”
“Not insinuating anything, Lorna. I’m just covering all the bases. How often does Billy go out hunting?”
“Three times a week, probably, but usually with Mark, and that just wasn’t how it appeared yesterday.”
Renz spoke up for the first time. “In my mind, even if the business opportunity meeting was in a restaurant, I’d still picture his clothing being business casual or sport jacket attire. How was Billy dressed when he left home?”
Her eyes widened. “That son of a bitch was lying to me. He had on jeans and a long-sleeved plaid shirt.”
“Well, it doesn’t mean he was lying, but it could mean the meeting was held outside. Maybe a property purchase, a land agreement, or a new development somewhere he and the person he was meeting had to look at and discuss outdoors. Do you have any investment property?”
“We have two small rental properties. They’re the only reason I don’t have to work outside the home.”
“And what does Billy do for a living?” I asked.
She lowered her voice and her head. “He manages properties.”
Renz took over. “Okay, here’s my card. We’re going to be out interviewing people in an investigation we’re working on until midafternoon, I’d assume. I want you to keep trying Billy and Mark, and we’ll do the same. If you reach either of them, call me and let me know. Otherwise, come back here at five o’clock today, and we’ll come up with a plan of action.” Renz turned to Conway. “Why don’t you have Lorna fill out the report so it’s on file? We’ll go over everything with her later, and having that part complete will speed up the process. Meanwhile, I’d suggest putting out a BOLO on Billy’s truck and an APB for him.”
I asked Lorna a final question. “Is Mark married?”
“No, he’s been a lifelong bachelor and lives alone.”
“Okay.” I passed my phone across the table to her. “Program Billy’s and Mark’s numbers in there for me. That’s the easiest way to go, and we’ll be in touch with you throughout the day.” I looked at Conway. “Let us know if you get a hit on the BOLO or APB too.”
“Sure thing, Agent Monroe.” He walked Lorna to his office, and we said goodbye to Bob then left with the deputies.
Chapter 42
It was ten thirty by the time we slowed at the driveway of John Cavanaugh’s property. I hoped that meeting would start somewhat smoother than the one with the Duggar’s the day before. According to Leroy, John was a batterer, which meant he likely had a bad temper. We were about to see how things played out with two sheriff’s deputies and two FBI agents, all armed, arriving at his front door.
Smythe was behind the wheel and seemed like a take-no-prisoners kind of guy. He didn’t beat around the bush, and I was sure he would know how to handle just about any type of personality. I was confident that Renz and I could, too, but we were out of our element by a long shot, so having local law enforcement with us was helpful.
Smythe barreled down the long dirt driveway, and like the others, John’s home was far closer to the water than it was to the road. We waited for the dust to settle before climbing out of the car, and once it had, we saw a man sitting on a rocker on a long covered porch. He stood, put his hands on his hips, and yelled out that we better have a damn good reason for being there.
Again, as we approached, Renz said he would take the lead.
The man raised his hand. “That’s far enough, and I expect an answer before you take another step.”
We stopped twenty feet from him, bookended by the deputies, and Renz yelled out.
“We’re FBI agents, and we’re here with the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies to ask you a few questions. That’s if you’re John Cavanaugh.”
A boy stuck his head around the corner of the house and yelled out. “He’s John Cavanaugh, my pa.”
John spun. “Riley, get your ass in the house right now and tell your mama that I’ll deal with both of you later.”
Renz called out to get the man’s attention back on us. “The kid didn’t mean any harm, sir. May we ask you a few questions about people in the area?”
“Why?”
“We aren’t local, that’s apparent, but we need information from locals who may know someone who could be capable of abducting people. A handful of young folks have gone m
issing in the last few months, and some have met with foul play. We’re hoping to speak with people who might know of somebody who fits that bill.”
“Well, I don’t. I mind my own business, and by doing that, I’ll probably live a longer life.”
“So you don’t know anyone like that, or you just don’t want to tell us that person’s name?”
I discreetly stepped on Renz’s toe. He was pushing his luck, and I wanted to walk away in one piece. I’d already come to the conclusion that there wasn’t a way to prove or disprove what anyone told us. People could and likely did lie to us, and there was no way to know the difference.
“I don’t know any kidnappers, but I wouldn’t tell you if I did. Your best bet is to stay out of people’s business—for your own good.”
“Is that a—”
I cut in before Renz finished the sentence. “Thank you, Mr. Cavanaugh. Have a nice day.”
John grabbed the screen door, cursed us out, and disappeared into the house, where I heard him yell Riley’s name.
I jerked my head toward the car. “We need to think this through and preferably do it off his property.”
Back out on Bayou Dularge Road, Deputy Smythe pulled over, and we got out and talked across the hood of his car.
“What are you thinking, Jade?” Renz asked.
“Nobody is going to be truthful with us. We’re wasting our time and chasing our tails, and for what? We’re outsiders, have no idea who we’re looking for, and also have no idea if anyone will tell us an ounce of truth.”
Whitley nodded. “Sorry, Agent DeLeon, but I have to agree with Agent Monroe. These people are never forthright when it comes to talking to the law. That’s why we usually just leave them alone. They won’t help us—ever.”
“Then what about the stories Leroy and Zeke Duggar told us? What about the names they gave us?”
Smythe scratched his head. “In my opinion?”
“Yeah, sure,” Renz said.
“It’s all bullshit. They say what you want to hear because they want you to leave them alone. If they tell you a good story that you buy hook, line, and sinker, there’s a chance you won’t come back. That’s the end goal—to get you to leave. If I was in charge of the investigation, I’d only deal with reliable people and reliable leads.”
“Which we have none of,” Renz said.
I took my turn. “I don’t know. I think Bob is reliable.”
Renz nodded. “Yeah, maybe, and what would he have to gain by lying to us?”
“Nothing, so let’s knock out the Evan Millbrook lead and then forget about them. We’ll go back to the sheriff’s office and see what we can find out about Billy’s disappearance.”
We headed northwest to Mandalay, and after a round of door knocking and walking Evan Millbrook’s property, it appeared that nobody was home. As Smythe drove us back to the sheriff’s office, I called Lorna Bennett to ask if she’d heard from Billy. She said she hadn’t. I suggested she meet us at the sheriff’s office for another question and answer session. I didn’t know if Billy’s disappearance was related to the murder investigation, but I doubted that it was. Billy was a grown man who could probably handle himself just fine unless he was completely blindsided and ambushed by somebody with a weapon. But without word that someone had a grudge against him, I couldn’t understand why anyone would do that.
The deputies dropped us off at the Explorer. Renz and I were going to grab some lunch, and I made the call to Conway as Renz drove. We agreed to reconvene with Lorna at one o’clock and try to figure out where Billy could be and why nobody could reach Mark LaFleur either.
We sat at a booth inside the typical family-styled restaurant with brass and floral décor. The booths lined the outer walls, and the center of the room was filled with tables. From the number of people bellied up to the tables, I assumed the food was good. We placed our drink orders, mine being sweet tea, and browsed the menu. The grilled chicken breast sandwich, fries, and coleslaw would be fine. Renz said he was going to order two double cheeseburgers and fries.
As Renz sipped his coffee, I talked. “What do you make of Billy Bennett going missing?”
He shrugged. “Don’t know yet. We don’t really know the guy or his habits, especially when an argument is involved. What strikes me as odd is that Lorna couldn’t get in touch with Mark LaFleur either.”
I nodded. “I tried his number twice, and both times, it went to voicemail. I think we should stop at his house, bang on the door, and talk to some of the neighbors.”
Renz agreed. “We will but not until we get some more answers from Billy’s wife.”
I was discouraged by our lack of leads. We had nothing that advanced the investigation, and we were on our fifth day in Louisiana. “We’re going to go home empty-handed, aren’t we?”
“There’s a good chance that we will. We’re accustomed to neighbors seeing something, cameras catching crimes, and people cooperating with the law. All of those advantages that we’re used to are much more challenging when everyone owns twenty acres of land or more.”
I rattled my fingers on the table.
Renz frowned. “Something percolating in your brain?”
“All we have are the videos of Carla and the mystery man at Bubba Mike’s. The rest, except for the skull identified as Casey Witherspoon’s, is probably made-up information, and it’s distracting us from finding the actual killer.”
Renz sighed. “True enough. So what do you suggest since we only have two days left here?”
“Like Smythe said, work with facts and only facts. Let’s eat our lunch and get back to the sheriff’s office so we can talk to Lorna, review the footage again, and compile a list of things that we can actually work with.”
“So you’re saying we should start over?”
“Yep.” I rolled my eyes. “That is, unless you have a better idea.”
“Humph.”
I grinned. “That’s what I thought.”
Chapter 43
Conway, Lorna, Renz, and I sat around the table in our office. In front of Conway was the missing person’s report that Lorna had filled out earlier regarding Billy’s disappearance. We had already asked some of the questions, but Billy’s height, weight, eye and hair color, identifying features, birthdate and age, and doctor and dentist information were new.
The typical missing person would have been looked into by the sheriff’s office and wouldn’t concern us. We weren’t sent to Houma to investigate missing people, only to find the killer who had already dumped what was left of the victims he’d murdered. But since it was Billy and Mark who had discovered the last known remains, there could be a connection, and we needed to check into that. I was also concerned that nobody had contacted the sheriff’s office about Mark, but according to Lorna, Mark’s parents had moved to Florida years back, and he had only one sibling, a sister living in New Orleans.
Conway let out a hard breath. “Okay, so what’s our focus going to be?”
Renz gave me a head tip, and I began. “We need to know more about Billy, and then we’ll direct our attention to Mark too. We don’t know if their disappearances have anything to do with our current investigation, yet it seems awfully coincidental that they’re the men who discovered the last dump site, and now they’re both unaccounted for.”
Conway scratched his head and turned to Lorna. “Okay, we need to know everything. Does Billy have any enemies, anyone who is pissed at him, like a tenant, maybe?”
“No, not to my knowledge. Billy is outgoing and friendly, and most everyone likes him.”
Renz took his turn. “He hasn’t mentioned a new business opportunity to you in the last week or so? Something that he’s been talking to someone about?”
“Nope. Like I said earlier, I’m just the wife. I don’t create an income, so I have no say in what he does with our money.”
“And the last thing he did before telling you about the so-called business opportunity meeting he was going to was the LLHC meeting the night
before.”
“Yes. The first I spoke to him about anything was yesterday morning. I got up, made breakfast, he ate, and then he said he was leaving for this alleged meeting. I knew nothing about it, and he’d never mentioned it the day before or any time prior to that.”
I tipped my head at her. “Try his phone again and put it on Speaker.” We watched as Lorna tapped Billy’s name on her phone, set it on the table, and waited as it rang. It immediately went to his outgoing voice message.
Renz piped up. “Does Billy ever turn off his phone?”
Her eyes watered as she spoke. “We fight and argue, Agent DeLeon, but he isn’t that mean and spiteful. Our argument was very typical, not a knock-down, drag-out fight. He wouldn’t ditch me and the kids and let me worry like that.”
I covered her hand with my own. “Okay, try Mark’s phone again.”
Her results were the same, and it appeared that Mark’s phone had been turned off too.
Conway shook his head. “There’s something suspicious going on.” He looked at Lorna. “And Billy didn’t say a word about meeting up with Mark yesterday?”
“Not a word, and when I went back home earlier, I checked Billy’s guns—they’re all accounted for.”
That in itself made me worry. If something had happened to him, Billy didn’t have a way to defend himself other than by using his own strength.
I shook my head, and Renz noticed.
“What?”
“If nothing was different and Billy didn’t say anything about leaving early yesterday morning for a meeting, then it must have been arranged during the party at the hunting club the night before. That would make sense, wouldn’t it?”
“Not a bad conclusion, Jade,” Renz said. “Do you know any of the members there, Lorna?”
“Yeah, Mark. Billy and Mark were on the board together.”
I palmed my face. “Shit.”
Renz pointed at my laptop. “Pull up the club’s website and see what you can find out.”
“On it.” I slid it over and began tapping the keys. “Okay, on the calendar of events, it shows Wednesday night’s new-member-orientation meeting and cocktail party.”