PJ hooted with laughter. “I don’t taste good, Maizy-monster! I’m stinky!”
“And ticklish,” Beck added as he flipped PJ again and landed him gently on the wood floor.
“Don’t tickle me or I’ll pee!”
“Ew! No peeing,” Maizy said with a giggle as she smoothed her curly black hair from her face. “How are you, Beck?” she asked as she gave him a hug.
“I’m good, Maizy. You enjoying your vacation from a classroom full of kindergarteners?”
She shook her head and her black curls bounced around her shoulders. “No, I’m not. I’m already gearing up to go back. I miss my last class like crazy and can’t wait for the new one.” She tickled PJ’s belly. “Including this little punkinhead. Go eat your sandwich, buddy.”
PJ ran off, after hugging Maizy’s leg, and Beck heard him climbing into his seat at the table to eat his snack.
Patrick walked out of his office just then. “Thanks again, Maizy. I appreciate you doing this.”
As he hugged her, she replied, “I know you do. Someday I’m sure I’ll be hitting you up for babysitting services, too, if I don’t wind up being an old maid.”
Patrick and Beck both chuckled. As beautiful and vivacious as Patrick’s curvy sister was, that was highly unlikely. It was just a matter of time before some lucky guy snatched her up.
They climbed into Beck’s truck and headed over to the Dancing Pony. The cold air in the club was sweet relief from the heat, which was intense that day, even by his standards.
Inside the club, they greeted Ace Webster and Kemp Whittier, who had been involved in the private investigation into Chloe’s situation. Ethan greeted them and poured coffee into mugs for them after they’d taken a seat.
Ethan introduced the two men who were leading the private investigation. Mel Richardson and Connor Talbot looked imminently capable of finding justice for Chloe. It impressed him and said a lot about the people of Lusty that the investigation had been instigated by their Town Trust. He was grateful that Chloe had found her home in a safe little town like Lusty. Beck was also pleased that he and Patrick had been asked to help get Chloe a little justice.
Connor gave a brief rundown on the situation, most of which Beck and Patrick were familiar with, before he moved into the specifics of what they’d done in the investigation to date, including their manner of surveillance. Beck wondered if they had any pictures of this bastard who’d thrown Chloe and her little sister, Carrie, to the wolves.
Connor said, “As part of the surveillance that we’ve been conducting on our Mr. Smith, we introduced a couple of high-tech audio transmitters, one attached to his telephone, and the other under his computer desk.”
“So what you’re saying is, you’ve bugged the place?” Beck asked.
Connor looked like he wanted to smile as he replied, “We did, yes. We know that we can’t use anything we catch on tape in a court of law, per se, but if he were to talk out loud about having killed Neil Jackson, or hell, even where he’s got the body buried, we could use that as probable cause to get a warrant. Unfortunately, that didn’t pan out.”
The investigation hinged around finding probable cause to search Baxter’s property for the body of Neil Jackson, the lawyer representing Chloe and Carrie’s interests, who Baxter was suspected of murdering.
Beck said, “I have no problem with the concept of bugging his place. The fucker stole from two little orphan girls. He deserves to be some jail inmate’s fuck buddy for that.” Realizing that showing any emotion might limit how much good he would be to them in a tight spot, he let out a deep breath. “Sorry, I know that doesn’t help—and I know about the statute of limitations.” Then he looked around the table. “Who’s this guy, anyway? Ethan said he’s been around Divine for a decade or so. Would we know him if we saw him?”
Connor removed a black and white photograph from his briefcase and slid it across the table to him and Patrick. “I took this a few weeks ago. Take a good look, so you’ll recognize him if you do see him.”
Beck lifted the eight by ten photo and stared at it along with Patrick for a few seconds before a cold chill swept over him. “Son of a bitch. I told you there was something wrong about that guy.” Looking at Patrick, he said, “We’ll have to tell Lucy about this. Let her know our suspicions were spot on about him, and not just sexist bullshit…whatever.”
“I take it you’ve seen the man?” Ace Webster asked.
“Yeah.” Patrick nodded before dragging his fingers through his hair in a gesture that clearly showed his agitation.