62

I decided to head home and wait her out. My logic was that, sooner or later, Daphne would come looking for me. She had to know I was the one who’d killed one of her boys, not to mention whoever had been driving the Cadillac.

I spent most of the day sitting outside, pretending to read, waiting for the sound of her car coming up the road. I kept my phone beside me in case someone called. But the car didn’t come and the phone didn’t ring.

Two days passed this way, with me checking in with Chip and Ronnie on a daily basis. They both begged me to come back to the Wildflower where it was safe, but I told them I knew what I was doing. I sounded confident when I said it, but in reality I was growing less and less sure of myself with each passing day.

Eventually I decided I might need to be a little more proactive. An idea began to take root, and the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. I was in the midst of contemplating the best way to initiate it when the phone rang.

I didn’t recognize the number and wondered if it might be Savanna. I picked it up, ready for anything.

It was Claire. She wanted to meet me somewhere to talk about “the case.” I almost told her no, but I decided it might not be wise to exclude anything at this point, so I agreed to meet her.

“Where?” she asked.

“I’ll get back to you.”

“Okay, but don’t wait too long. I want to know what’s going on!”

“Sure,” I told her. “I’ll call you back.”

The reason I wanted to wait on where to meet was because of the idea I’d had. I needed to check on a couple of things first.

I found Eleanor Walsh’s number and dialed it. She picked up on the third ring.

“Mr. Marcus, I thought you’d fallen off the face of the earth. I’ve tried to call you several times. I even left a voice mail. Did you know Dr. Blevins was missing?”

“I’m sorry. I’ve had a hard couple of days. Haven’t even checked my voice mail yet. And no, I hadn’t heard about Blevins. What happened?” I decided playing dumb was the way to go here.

“Randy Harden was quoted in the newspaper as saying he’d last seen him on Sunday night when he made his ‘lights out’ rounds. In the morning, his Cadillac was gone, and no one has heard from him since.”

“Interesting.”

“Do you know anything about it?”

“I wish. I’d love to catch up with him.”

“I was hoping you’d killed him.”

“I’m a PI, not a mercenary.”

“Well, as a PI, have you found out anything else on the Weston boy?”

“I’m still working on it. In fact, that’s what I called you about.”

“Oh?”

“Well, I was wondering about that bar we went to a while back. The one where the kid got beaten up?”

“Oh, yes, Livingstone’s place.”

“Is that the name of it?”

She laughed. “Not really. It doesn’t actually have a name. But Livingstone is the owner, so that’s what I call it.”

“How about a number? I need to talk to him.”

“Yeah, I think I’ve got that somewhere. What’s this about?”

“I think I might know who the woman is that’s abusing those boys.”

*   *   *

I called Livingstone, hoping he was open, hoping for a break. He answered almost immediately. “Bar, what’s up?”

I heard voices in the background and the plucking of an acoustic guitar. Sounded much busier than the time Eleanor and I had been there.

I told him who I was, reminding him of what had happened that day with the Hill Brothers. He remembered. “Eleanor’s friend, right?”

“Yeah. And I’m not sure if I told you that day, but I’m a private investigator, and I’m looking for one of your regulars. She goes by the name Daphne or Savanna? She’s the one that comes in with those brothers.”

“I don’t know that woman’s name, I’m sorry to say. Could be Daphne. Could be Savanna. She hasn’t been in yet today, but she’s been showing up a lot lately.”

“With or without the brothers?”

“Depends. Sometimes with. Sometimes without. But I always get the sense they aren’t too far away, no matter what.”

“I’m heading your way,” I said. “Do me a favor. When I get there, act like you’ve never met me before.”

“You ain’t planning on starting any trouble, are you?”

I paused, not sure how to answer that.

“No,” I said at last. “I’m planning on ending it.”

*   *   *

I called Claire back and asked her if she knew where Livingstone’s place was.

“Sure. I know it.”

“Meet me there in half an hour?”

“Sound good. First round is on me.”

“Okay. Claire?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m happy to talk, but I’m also working. If a certain person comes in, I may have to go pretty quickly.”

“Ooh … sounds fun.”

“So you don’t mind?”

“Do what you have to do. I’m just excited to be a part of it all.”

I told her I’d see her soon and hung up. Then I went inside to grab the recorder I’d found at Savanna’s house. There was still plenty of room left on the tape. I slipped on a light jacket and put it in the inside pocket. Goose was watching me closely. I shrugged and stared back at him. “I don’t know any other way,” I said.