by Rita Herron
Maude crossed her arms, her look belligerent. “Look, you can accuse him all you want, but if you want me to pay back whatever he took from folks, I don’t have any money.” She gestured around the room. “Just look at this. He left me high and dry.”
“We don’t want your money,” Dugan said.
“Then, what do you want?”
Sage sighed softly. “Maude, the day Ron Lewis left Cobra Creek, he took my three-year-old little boy with him.”
“He kidnapped your son?” Shock flashed red on Maude’s face. “He might have been a cheat, but I find that hard to believe.”
Sage nodded. “It’s true. He took him from my house. My son’s name is Benji.” She pulled a photo from her purse and handed it to the woman. “That was taken two years ago. I haven’t seen him since.”
Maude’s alarmed gaze met hers. “I don’t understand. Seth...he cheated people out of money, but he wasn’t no kidnapper.”
Sage’s stomach knotted. “I don’t know why he took Benji,” she said. “But I know that he lied to me. He asked me to marry him, and he warmed up to Benji from the start. Did the two of you have children?”
She shook her head. “I had a miscarriage right after we got married. After that, I was scared to try again.”
“Did he talk about children a lot? Did he want a family?”
Maude’s lip curled into a scowl. “No.”
“What about his own family?” Dugan asked. “Did he tell you anything about them? Did you ever meet his mother or father?”
“No, he said his parents were dead and he didn’t have any brothers or sisters.”
“When was the last time you saw or talked to him?”
“I told you, right after I bailed him out of jail about four years ago.”
“Did he come home with you that night?” Dugan asked.
“Yeah. He spent the night, then said he was going to make things right, that he had to talk to someone about a job and that he’d be back when he got things worked out.”
Sage lowered her voice. “Did you have any idea that he’d been arrested before?”
Maude shook her head no.
“How about that he used different names?”
“I told you I didn’t know what he was up to.”
“He didn’t call you and tell you about being in Cobra Creek?” Sage asked.
“No. I... When I didn’t hear from him, I was afraid something bad happened to him. That the law caught up with him and he was back in jail.”
“So you didn’t look for him?” Sage asked.
“I called his cell phone, but it was dead.”
“You haven’t heard the news, then?” Sage asked.
She crossed her arms, irritation tightening her face. “No, what the hell is going on?”
Sage glanced at Dugan, and he cleared his throat. “I’m sorry to have to tell you, Mrs. Handleman, but Ron Lewis...aka Seth Handleman...was murdered.”
Maude gasped and twisted the afghan between her fingers. “What? Who killed him?”
“That’s the reason we’re here,” Dugan said. “I’m investigating his murder.”
Sage studied Maude’s reaction. She seemed sincerely shocked. And she’d given no indication that she’d killed him or that she wanted him dead.
“Please, Maude, if you can think of a place Seth would have gone or someone he would have contacted, tell me. I’m afraid that whoever killed him took my little boy, and that Benji’s in danger.”
* * *
MAUDE’S FACE PALED. “I...just can’t see my Seth kidnapping your boy. If he did, someone must’ve forced him to.”
Dugan had considered that. “But Ms. Freeport didn’t receive a ransom note.”
Maude threw her hands up. “I don’t know what to say except I’m sorry, Ms. Freeport. But I don’t know anything.”
“Do you recognize the names Mike Martin or Joel Bremmer?” Dugan asked.
“No, should I?”
“They’re two of Lewis’s other aliases.”
Maude dropped her face into her hands. “You think someone he conned killed him?”
“That’s possible,” Dugan said. “Or it could have been one of the other women in his life.”
Maude made a strangled sound. “I shoulda known he wasn’t faithful when he left me. Why do I always fall for the losers?”
Sage patted her back with compassion. “I know just how you feel, Maude.”
He laid a business card on the table beside her. “Call us if you think of anything.”
Sage sighed as they walked outside to the SUV and got inside. “What do we do now?”
“There were two other women on the list I want to question.”
“Other wives?”
“One was a wife, one a girlfriend.” He fastened his seat belt. “Maybe one of them can shed some light on Lewis. If he lied to Maude about having a family, one of them might know.”
“You think if he had family, they might have Benji?”
“I don’t know, but there might be some answers in his past that will tell us who killed him.”
Chapter Seven
Sage laid her head against the back of the seat and dozed while Dugan drove to the address he had for Mike Martin. According to Jaxon, his girlfriend was named Carol Sue Tinsley. She volunteered at a local women’s shelter.
The small town was south of Laredo and took him an hour to reach. Just as he neared the outskirts, Sage cried out, “No, please don’t take him....”
Dugan gritted his teeth and realized she was in the throes of a nightmare. How many nights had she actually slept in the past two years without suffering from bad dreams?
“Please...” She choked on a sob.
Dugan gently reached over and pulled her hand into his. “Sage, shh, you’re dreaming.”
She jerked her eyes open with a start.
“It’s okay,” he said softly. “A nightmare?”
She blinked as if to focus and straightened as if to shake off the dream, although the remnants of fear and sorrow glittered in her green irises.
He turned into an apartment complex that had seen better days, checking the numbers on the buildings until he reached 10G, Martin’s last known address.
A few cars and pickups filled the parking spaces, although there were more empty spaces than those occupied, indicating that the building wasn’t filled to capacity. The patios looked unkempt, and overlooked parched land, and the roof of the building needed repairs.
He parked and turned to Sage. “Do you want to wait here?”
“No, let’s go.”
Together they walked up to the building, then climbed the stairs to the second-floor unit. The cinder-block walls needed painting, and someone had painted graffiti on the doorway to the stairs.
“Ron liked money. He always wore designer suits and drove a nice car.” Sage wrapped her arms around her waist. “I can’t imagine him living in a place like this.”
Dugan silently agreed. Although Mrs. Handleman’s home hadn’t been in great shape and her house wasn’t filled with expensive furnishings, it was upscale compared to these apartments.
“Maybe he and Carol Sue were lying low until he made the big score.” And his fancy suits and car were a show to make the ranchers believe he was big, important. That he could save them financially.
It was dark inside.
“No one is here,” Sage said.
Dugan tried the door, but it was locked. He removed a small tool from his pocket and picked the lock. The door screeched open, revealing a deserted living area with stained carpet and faded gray walls.
“Stay behind me,” Dugan said as he inched inside. He glanced left at the kitchen, then spotted a narrow hallway and paused to listen for sounds that someone was inside. Something skittered across the floor, and Sage clutched his arm. “It sounds like rats.”
Dugan nodded, senses alert as he crept closer. There were two bedrooms, both empty. He stepped inside the first one, crossed the room and checked the clo
set. Nothing.
He and Sage moved to the next one, but when he opened the door, a bird flew across the room, banged into the window and then flew back.
“It’s trapped,” Sage said.
Dugan closed the distance to the window and opened it, giving the bird a way to escape.
“It looks like whoever lived here has been gone awhile.”
Judging from the bird droppings and the musty odor, he agreed. “After I search the apartment, I want to speak to the landlord and find out if they left a forwarding address.”
“I saw an office when we first drove in.”
Dugan checked the closets, but they were empty. Then he led the way back to the living area. He stepped into the kitchen and searched the drawers and cabinets. “Nothing. And no sign of where she went.”
They walked outside and Dugan locked the door. Then they drove to the rental office. Dugan carried a photo of Lewis inside, and a receptionist with big hair and turquoise glasses greeted them. “You folks looking for an apartment?”
If he was, he sure as hell wouldn’t spend money at this dump. “No, just some information. Is the landlord here?”
She shook her head. “It’s his day off.”
Dugan checked her name tag—Rayanne—and faked a smile. “Then maybe you can help us, Rayanne.”
She batted blue-shadowed eyes at him. “I’ll sure try.”
“How long have you worked here?”
She laughed, a flirty sound. “Feels like half my life.”
He laid the picture of Ron Lewis on the desk. “Do you recognize this man? He lived in 10G.”
She adjusted her glasses and studied the picture. “Well, that looks sort of like Mike Martin. Except he had sandy brown hair and a mustache.”
Dugan glanced at Sage, then laid the phony license with Martin’s picture on it. “This was him?”
“Yeah, that was Mike.” She looked up at him with questioning eyes. “He was a real charmer, although that girlfriend of his was a piece of work.”
“How so?” Dugan asked.
“She always ragged on him about this place. Didn’t think it was good enough for her.”
“Did you know them very well?”
“Naw, he was kind of a flirt. Kept telling me he was gonna make it big one day and then he’d show Carol Sue he was important. That she was wrong about him.” She fiddled with her glasses again. “But they’ve been gone from here a long time. What’s this about?”
“Did you know Mike was arrested?” Dugan asked.
Rayanne averted her gaze, a guilty look. “Why are you asking about that?”
“Because he tried to con the people in my town, and he conned me,” Sage said. “He also ran off with my little boy and then he was murdered. I’m looking for my son now.”
Rayanne’s expression went flat. “Well, damn.”
“What?” Dugan asked.
“I did hear he was arrested, but I didn’t know what it was all about.”
“Carol Sue bailed him out of jail after his arrest,” Dugan said.
“Yeah,” Rayanne muttered. “But the next day, both of them packed up and ran. Skipped out on the rent and left the place in a mess. Mr. Hinley had to hire someone to haul out all their junk.”
“What did he do with it?” Dugan asked.
“Took it to that landfill,” Rayanne said. “Wasn’t anything worth keeping or selling.”
Another dead end. “Did Mike ever mention anything about a family? His parents or a sibling?”
Rayanne shook her head.
“How about a friend he might have gone to when he needed a place to stay or hide out?”
Rayanne looked sheepish. “Well...”
“Give us a name,” Dugan said.
“He had another woman on the side. Carol Sue didn’t know about her, but she lived in 2D. Beverly Vance. She’s a hairstylist down at Big Beautiful Hair.”
“Does she still live in the complex?” Sage asked.
Rayanne nodded. “But I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell her that I sent you.”
“Why not? Don’t you two get along?”
Rayanne frowned. “Tarnation, that woman was as jealous as they come. She hated Carol Sue and told me to stay out of her way. Declared she was going to have Mike to herself, one way or the other.”
Dugan grimaced. So, he could add Beverly Vance to the growing suspect list.
In fact, any one of the women Lewis had conned and scorned could have killed him.
* * *
SAGE SILENTLY PRAYED that Beverly Vance knew something about her son as they walked up to the woman’s apartment and knocked. “If Beverly killed Ron...Mike...maybe she took Benji,” Sage said.
“That’s possible. But Rayanne didn’t mention anything about a child living with her.”
Sage’s mind raced. “Maybe she dropped him at a church or hospital, somewhere where he’d be safe.”
“That’s possible,” Dugan said. “Although when the story aired about Benji being taken by Lewis, if he had been dropped off, someone would have probably notified the authorities.”
“Maybe,” Sage said. “But maybe not. Especially if they took Benji to another state. And Gandt didn’t issue an Amber alert.”
Dugan’s dark look made Sage’s stomach knot.
“Oh, God...what if whoever took him carried him to Mexico?” Then she might never know what happened to him or get him back.
“We can’t jump to conclusions,” Dugan said. “Let’s follow the pieces of the puzzle and see where they lead us.”
Sage just hoped they didn’t lead to Mexico. Finding Benji in the United States would be difficult enough, but crossing into another country where the legal system was less than satisfactory would complicate matters more.
Dugan knocked again, but no answer, so they walked back to his SUV and drove to the hair salon where Beverly worked.
Big Beautiful Hair was housed in a trailer on the edge of the small town, across from a convenience store called Gas & Go and a liquor store called Last Stop. Several cars were parked out front, a sign painted in neon pink-and-green advertising the big hair Texas women were famous for.
Sage hurried up the steps to the trailer, anxious to speak to Beverly. When she entered, the whir of hair dryers and blow-dryers filled the air, the scent of perm solution and hair dye nearly overwhelming.
There were three workstations, with patrons in various stages of coloring, cutting, highlighting and dying scattered through the long, narrow room. A half dozen bracelets jangled on the arm of the buxom brunette who approached her.
“Can I help you, miss?” She started to examine Sage’s unruly hair, but Sage took a step back.
“I need to see Beverly.”
The woman shrugged, then turned and called for Beverly. The platinum blonde at the second station glanced over, her sparkling eye shadow glittering beneath the lights. “Yeah?”
Sage crossed the distance to her, while Dugan hung back. On the ride over, they’d decided Beverly might open up to her before she would to someone investigating the man Beverly apparently loved. “Can we talk for a minute, Beverly?” Sage said in a low voice.
“You don’t want a cut and color today?”
“No, I need to ask you some questions about Mike Martin.”
Beverly dropped the curling iron she was using and hurried over to Sage. “Mike, good Lord... Now, there’s a blast from the past.”
“When was the last time you saw him?” Sage asked.
Beverly chewed her bottom lip for a moment before she answered, “About four and a half years ago.”
“How was he?” Sage asked.
Beverly tapped one of her three-inch high heels. “Agitated.”
“Did he tell you that he’d been arrested?”
Beverly coaxed Sage to the back by the hair dryers. “Yes, but that was a mistake. He said he was going to get it all worked out and then he’d come back for me.”
Sage forced a calm to her voice when she wanted to sc
ream at the woman that she’d been a fool to believe anything Mike Martin had said.
Just as she’d been a fool to believe Ron Lewis.
“So you knew he was leaving town?”
Beverly nodded. “He said he was due to make a small fortune and then the two of us would get married and buy a house. Maybe even a ranch of our own.”
Disgust filled Sage. Ron certainly could be convincing. “Did he say where he was going to make this fortune?”
Beverly leaned in close. “Said he was into a real estate deal with this developer and he was buying up property left and right. He’d already picked out some land for us.” She batted her eyes. “I always dreamed about having a big place in the country. Waking up to the sun.”
Clearly Beverly had been snowed by Ron’s charm. “Then what happened?”
An odd look glimmered in Beverly’s eyes. “Then he just disappeared. I tried calling the phone number I had for him but got a recording, saying it was disconnected. I haven’t heard from him since.”
“What did you think happened to him?” Sage asked.
Tears moistened Beverly’s big blue eyes. “I don’t know, but I’ve been scared to death that something bad happened. That his old girlfriend Carol Sue found out our plans and did something crazy.”
“What do you mean, crazy?”
Beverly’s voice choked. “I mean, like kill him. She was always jealous of me.”
“Did Carol Sue own a gun?”
Beverly nodded. “A .38. She was good at shooting, too. Mike said her daddy took her to the shooting range every week when she was a kid. That she won the skeet-shooting contest at the county fair three years in a row.”
Sage dug her nails into the palms of her hands. They had to find Carol Sue. If she’d shot Lewis, maybe she knew where Benji was.
* * *
DUGAN SAW THE FRUSTRATION on Sage’s face as they left Big Beautiful Hair and drove toward Cobra Creek. Beverly had been completely in love with Mike Martin, aka Ron Lewis.
Dammit, he needed the man’s real name. Learning the truth about his upbringing might explain what had shaped him into a con artist. A man who not only swindled people out of their money, but charmed women into believing and trusting him when he told them nothing but lies.