“Let’s see,” Cal said after a minute. “It looks like Ryan Devereux’s father died a number of years ago. His mother’s name is Charlotte. She lives in Commerce City. Devereux has a brother, who lives in New York City, and a sister who lives in Colorado Springs. Ryan is the baby of the family.”
“That’s great work.”
“But it tells you nothing,” he said, feeling my pain. “Let me see if I can dig up anything interesting on any of them.”
“Thanks.” I fought the urge to close my eyes. I was afraid if I did, I’d fall asleep. It was now close to five, and I was exhausted. Something was bothering me, but I couldn’t quite figure out what. “I’m missing something,” I said.
“What?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, this isn’t going to help. The Devereux family is clean, no criminal record for any of them. You want me to check into their finances, stuff like that?”
I shook my head, then realized he couldn’t see that. “No, don’t worry about it. Wait, what about the café in Limon?”
“Where the letter was sent from?”
“Right. Who owns it? Would they have any ties to Devereux?”
“Let me check.” A long pause. “It belongs to Buddy and Clara Westerville. They’ve lived in Limon their whole lives. The café has been run by his family since the 1950s.”
“How’d you find that so fast?”
“Believe it or not, the café has a website,” he laughed. “And at first glance, it doesn’t appear that there’s any relation to the Devereux family. You’re probably right that whoever sent the letter used the café address as cover.”
“Uh-huh.” I frowned. “I’m at a dead end.” And then something major occurred to me. “I guess I don’t have to pursue this anymore.”
“Why?”
“Rasmus is dead, so Holly’s off the hook. She doesn’t have to worry about him anymore.”
“But I know you, you still want to find out who killed Rasmus.”
I sighed. “Yeah, you’re right. But not right now. I’m going to head home and sleep for a while. I’ll deal with this tomorrow…er, later today. Or after I meet Willie’s parents.”
“Oh, that’s today?”
“Yes, and I’m nervous about it. I want to make a good impression.”
“You will, and you should let this go for a while. And that’ll mean Willie will quit worrying about you.”
“How’s she doing?”
“She finally fell asleep,” he said, a touch of concern in his voice. Willie was one of Cal’s favorite people. And that was a short list. “And Holly’s been quiet, too.”
“She hasn’t made any more phone calls?”
“No way.”
“Good. Hey, Cal?”
“Yes?”
“Thanks for your help. I really do appreciate it.” I was tired and feeling sentimental.
“Anything for you, my friend,” he said. “Be careful driving home.”
“Will do.”
I ended the call and sat for a moment, almost too tired to leave. Then the nagging thing in the back of my mind hit me full force. Earlier in the day, or the previous day, when I’d hidden in the closet at the Rasmus house, I’d overheard Andre talking on the phone, and he’d said something about “Charlie.” And Cal had said that Devereux’s mother’s name was Charlotte. Was “Charlie” a nickname for Charlotte? Andre had said something about finding Charlie and then something about “before she finds it.” I’d assumed “it” was the letter and “she” was Holly, but what if Andre had said “us”, meaning find Charlie before she finds them? Was she the one who sent the letter, and did Rasmus and Andre know she’d sent it? And were they trying to track her down? It made sense. Did she want to kill the people who put her baby in jail, where he died a violent death? That could push any mother over the edge. And Rasmus couldn’t tell the authorities, or he’d have to tell them about his suppressing evidence, and he couldn’t do that. Andre could confirm my thinking, but how could I talk to him? Then I realized how. I grabbed the phone and called Cal again.
“Wake Holly up,” I said when he answered. “I need to talk to her.”
“Sure.” I could hear his chair squeak as he got up. “What’s going on?”
I explained about Charlotte and about overhearing Andre say “Charlie”. “I want to talk to Andre about her, and I’ll bet Holly has his number.”
“Gotcha. Hold on.”
I heard muffled voices, and then Holly’s tired voice came on the line. “What’s going on?”
“What’s Andre’s cell phone number?”
She rattled it off and I wrote it down on a notepad I grabbed from the glove box.
“Why do you need that?” she asked.
“I have some bad news.” I told her about Rasmus.
“Oh,” she said. “I…I don’t know what to feel.”
“Sorry to drop that on you, but I need to talk to Andre.”
“Okay. You think Andre knows who did it?”
“Possibly.” I gave her my reasoning.
“I heard William talking about Charlie,” she said. “A few days ago.”
“What did he say? Think!”
“Okay, calm down.” She paused. “It was something about getting her before she gets us.”
“William knew she was after him.”
“She got him,” she said without any emotion.
“And I’m going after her. Stay there and don’t call anyone.”
“I won’t,” she said, then put Cal back on the phone.
“Keep an eye on her. I’m going after Charlie Devereux.”
“I’ll stay by the phone in case you need me.”
“Thanks.” I ended the call and then dialed Andre.
“Hello?” he said cautiously when he answered.
“Tell me about Charlie Devereux.”
He let out a nervous breath. “Who is this?”
“You know who it is. Are the cops still there?”
“Yes.”
“Are they finished questioning you?”
“Yes.”
“Meet me at Starbucks at Eighth and Colorado,” I said. “Ten minutes.”
I ended the call before he could say anything else.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
5:05 AM
The Starbucks had just opened when I pulled into the parking lot. I kept some cash in the glove box, so I took it and got out of the 4-Runner. I yawned and stretched, groaned at the aches and pains I felt, then hauled my tired ass inside the coffeehouse. The intoxicating coffee aroma perked me up a little. I waited in line, feeling dead on my feet, and when I got to the front of the line, the cashier eyed me warily.
“What can I get you?” she asked.
“A two-shot espresso,” I said dully.
I normally ordered a macchiato, but I was desperate for as much caffeine as I could get. The cashier scrutinized me as I paid, probably thinking I should just shoot the caffeine into my veins. And right then, if I could have, I would have.
I stood to the side, and when my drink was ready, I took it and went to a corner table, away from any prying ears. I took a sip and then pulled out my phone and called Joan Bennett. It rang a number of times and then went to voicemail, so I called again, and then a third time, with the same results. On the fourth try, she answered.
“What?” she snarled. “I told you to leave me alone.”
“I think Ryan Devereux’s mother is after you.”
“What?” Now she was astounded. “I thought you said you saw William Rasmus outside my house.” Her words were slurred. She’d probably been drinking since I left her house.
“William’s dead.”
“Oh my god.”
“And so is Ryan. He died in prison a few weeks ago, but I’ll bet he told his mother about the evidence that could exonerate him. Not only that, his mother has been in contact with William. You received a letter, too, right? That’s why you had the gun. You’ve been fearing for your life.”
“Yes,” she whispered. “I received a letter. It sounded just like the one you said Holly saw, but I figured it was from Ryan. I had no idea he was dead.”
“And you thought it’d be better to lie to me about it?”
“I’m…sorry,” she said lamely.
“I’d keep the gun handy,” I snapped, “because Charlie, Ryan’s mother, is still on the loose.”
“Where is she?”
I shook my head in frustration. “If I knew where she was, I wouldn’t be talking to you.”
“Oh, right. Are you going to find her?”
“I’m trying. Either way, I think you should go to the authorities with what you know. Now that William’s dead, it’s going to come out.”
“I’ll think about it,” she said.
“You do that,” I said and ended the call, angry that she was resisting any efforts to help her.
I put the phone away and gulped the espresso, burning my tongue in the process. I sat and stared out the window. Five minutes later, a black SUV pulled into the lot and parked next to the 4-Runner. Andre got out, strode inside and saw me sitting in the corner. He stomped over, yanked out a chair, and sat down across from me.
“Talk,” he said.
“Holly hired me to help her get away from William,” I began. “I was supposed to pick her up outside Pura Vida, and when she didn’t show, I went looking for her.”
“Once you found her, why didn’t you let it go?”
“Because I knew you and William would come after Holly and me, so I needed the letter. With proof of what William did, he’d have to leave both of us alone.”
He stared at me, then nodded. “Yeah, William would punish her, and come after you as well. He was furious with both of you.”
“I heard.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “When?”
“In the warehouse.”
“Oh, right. And after you left the warehouse?”
“I took Holly to a safe place, and then I looked up the case referenced in the letter, and that led me to Joan Bennett.”
“Not bad,” he said.
“Thanks. I talked to Joan, and she confessed to her part, but said she wasn’t going to say anything, so I went to the Rasmus house to see if I could find the letter.”
“And found William.”
“Yes, and the letter.”
He frowned, then said, “How do you know about Charlie?”
“I figured Ryan Devereux must’ve been released from prison, and that he was coming after everyone involved, but I found out he’d died. So I researched his family, wondering if one of them might’ve been looking for revenge. I’d decided that it was a dead end, and then I remembered you mentioning “Charlie” yesterday when you were in William’s office.”
He narrowed his eyes but didn’t say anything.
“Charlie is a nickname for Charlotte,” I said. “Ryan Devereux’s mother.”
He sat back and contemplated me. “After William got the letter, we started investigating,” he finally said. “Then a week ago, Thacker received a call from Charlie. She said that Ryan had died and so Thacker was going to pay. Thacker’s got a hunting lodge outside of Boulder that hardly anyone knows about, so he went there while we started searching for her, but the problem was, she’d disappeared.”
“Did you let Joan know?”
He shook his head. “William couldn’t stand her, so he said she was on her own.”
“Nice,” I said sarcastically.
He shrugged. “Anyway, we’ve been trying to find Charlie, and then this business with Holly came up right in the middle of it.” He sounded mad at Holly.
“You do realize that you could be held liable for what you know about the evidence cover-up,” I said.
He glanced away. “I do what William tells me.”
He seemed as loyal to Rasmus as Betsy was to Holly, I thought. But what price would he pay for that loyalty?
“I thought you worked for Rasmus,” I said.
“I work for them both. But babysitting Holly takes up a lot of my time.” He sighed. “Once I dealt with you two, I was going to look for Charlie again,” he said. “I had no idea she was stalking us or I would’ve told William to forget about Holly, at least until we’d dealt with Charlie.” He glared at me. “You’re a real pain in the ass.”
“Just doing my job.”
“Uh-huh.” He thought for a second. “You set off the alarm at my house?”
I nodded. “I needed to see if you’d taken Holly there, and if not, I wanted to follow you to where you had taken her.”
“That’s how you found her?”
“Not quite. I lost you after you left the ChopHouse, but I knew that William owned Vail Valley Brewery, so I went there.”
“And broke in.”
I held up my hands. “I needed to find Holly, and I did. But now Charlie needs to be stopped. She tried to get Joan, and she took care of William,” I said. “She’s going to try for Thacker.”
“I’m sure she will,” he said.
“Did you tell the police about her?”
He hesitated.
I was incredulous. “Still trying to cover for William?”
He looked away.
“You should at least call Thacker to make sure he’s okay.”
“I’m sure he is.” But he took out his phone anyway. He punched a couple of buttons and then waited a second, then he said, “It’s me. William’s dead.” A pause. “Yeah, I think she did it, and she’s on the prowl, so stay at the lodge and –” His eyes grew wide. “What?” Another pause. “Maybe you do need to get back to the office, and I’m sure you think it’s okay, but this woman’s uncanny. You need to go back to the lodge.” Pause. “All right, I’ll meet you at the house.” He ended the call, then turned to me. “What kind of idiot leaves a safe haven to come back here?” he snapped.
“The kind who thinks because he’s powerful, he’s invincible,” I murmured.
“He wants to talk to me at his place.” His lips formed a tight, angry line. “It’s a gated community in Cherry Hills. She wouldn’t be able to get in, would she?” he muttered.
“It’s not as hard as you think,” I said. “I had a client who lived in that neighborhood, and his murderer sneaked over fences to get to my client’s house.”
Andre shook his head disgustedly. “I better go over and talk to him.”
“I’ll go with you.” I didn’t need to, but I didn’t trust Andre. I could see him trying to cover for Thacker and Rasmus, and I wanted the truth to come out. Ryan Devereux deserved it, even if his mother was taking matters into her own hands. So I gulped the last of my coffee and stood up. “Lead the way.”
We rushed out to the parking lot.
“Here, you might need these.” He said as he stopped near the SUV. He handed me my Glock, lock-pick set, and cell phone.
“Thanks,” I said.
“Your mom kept calling,” he said. “I finally turned it off.”
I felt my cheeks getting hot. “She can be persistent.”
“No kidding.”
I saw the trace of a grin as he got in the SUV. I got into the 4-Runner and we headed out of the parking lot.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
5:40 AM
I felt a sense of déjà vu as I followed the SUV west on Eighth Avenue to York Street, which turns into University Boulevard, then south into Cherry Hills Village, one of Denver’s most affluent neighborhoods, and right by the Cherry Hills Country Club where I’d met Lucy the day before.
Wow, I thought. Had it been less than twenty-four hours since I’d talked to her?
Andre turned onto Cherryridge Road and stopped at a gatehouse. A guard stepped outside and spoke to Andre for a moment and then he moved back and the SUV proceeded. The guard waved me on through, and he threw me a quick salute as I drove by. We meandered through a couple of quiet streets, and even though I’d been in the neighborhood before, I was still awed by the size of the homes. Then Andre turned dow
n a long driveway that was lined with evergreen trees. We passed a turn-off, and a few hundred feet beyond that, Andre circled into an enormous square drive with a gazebo and small lawn in the middle of it. On either side of the drive were flower gardens surrounded by more evergreen trees.
I got out and noticed that the drive was fashioned of brick and set into a pattern. Then I got a better look at Edwin Thacker’s mansion. It was one of the biggest in the neighborhood, and I’d bet the entire metro area. It was brick, in a U-shape, with another building shooting off from the north end of the U. And that was just the part I could see. Evergreen trees helped keep the mansion secluded. No lights were on outside the house, and the windows that I could see were dark, but since the house was so massive, that didn’t necessarily mean no one was home.
“Come on,” Andre said.
“Is Thacker here?”
“The guard said he came home about ten minutes ago.”
We hurried up a wide sidewalk before we came to a large covered patio that held several sculptures. We had to walk another thirty feet just to get to the front door. Andre poked a big gold button to the right of ten-foot oak double doors.
“Given the circumstances, shouldn’t we walk in?” I asked.
He shook his head. “You don’t just walk in on someone like Thacker.”
“You don’t have a key?”
He glanced at me curiously. “Why would I have a key?”
I gestured in the direction of University. “The guard at the gatehouse let you in, and you know Thacker well enough to have his cell phone number, so I figured…” My voice trailed off.
He let out a short laugh. “I’m here enough to get past the gatehouse, but Thacker would never give me access to his house.”
“Uh-huh.” I yawned and stretched.
“Not used to the long nights?” he asked.
“Not this long.” I was feeling punchy.
“Try being in the military.”
“No, thank you,” I said.
By now we had killed enough time I was surprised no one had heard us. Or no one was home. Andre rang the bell again.
Night of the Hunted: A Reed Ferguson Mystery (A Private Investigator Mystery Series - Crime Suspense Thriller Book 11) Page 14