At Harbor Police Headquarters, she picked up the phone to call her contact with local law enforcement, Staff Sergeant Paula DeGrassi. “Let me hear that message,” Sonny requested. She listened to the boy’s voice carefully, confirming her suspicions. “When did he leave it?”
“Christmas Eve. Late. I didn’t get it until this morning. The body might be off the coast of Mexico by now.”
Sonny thanked her and hung up. The hair she’d collected from Ben’s bed was being processed at the crime lab. It could always be compared with hair taken from a brush at Lisette’s house, or a DNA sample if one was available, in the event that her body was never recovered.
In most cases, no body meant no murder charge. James’ phone call may have taken care of that technicality.
If the hair from Ben’s bed belonged to Lisette, body or no body, Ben would be a prime suspect. Unless Sonny could get something on Arlen Matthews, other than that he didn’t report dead bodies because he was too cheap to pay a $500 fine.
Scumbag.
She was angry with Ben for lying to her, but she couldn’t believe him a murderer. Arlen Matthews, on the other hand, was as shady as they came.
It was time to have a talk with James.
Sonny followed Carly down Windansea Beach, staying far enough behind that the girl wouldn’t notice. Sure enough, Carly met James near a group of elephant-sized rocks, and the pair went behind them to engage in some hanky-panky.
When Carly emerged thirty minutes later, flushed and smiling, Sonny was too jaded to find it cute. Ben had better get ready to be a grandpa.
A hot, thirty-four-year-old grandpa.
Sonny waited for Carly to get out of earshot before she went in for James. The instant he saw her, he tried to run, proving he’d recognized her earlier at the docks. He was so fast he almost got out into the open, where she couldn’t tackle him without taking the chance of being seen. He put up a hell of a fight, until he realized that while she wasn’t exactly hurting him, neither could he break free from her hold.
“What do you want?” he asked, panting with exertion.
“Did you tell Carly you saw me today?”
“No.”
Sonny breathed a sigh of relief. “I know you reported Lisette’s body. I recognized your voice.”
“Fuck,” he muttered.
“You might as well keep talking.”
“Are you crazy? You’re a cop. I’m not telling you a fucking thing.”
It was a pretty good impression of Ben, and it pissed her off. She twisted James’ arm behind his back far enough to make it hurt. “Talk or cry.”
She knew he was in pain, but he didn’t make a sound. “You think you can do something to me that my dad hasn’t already done?” he asked quietly.
She thought about it. “I can tell him about Carly.”
He was silent for a moment. “Fine. Take your fucking hands off me, though. I’m not going to run.”
She released him carefully, because she wasn’t sure he wouldn’t try to hit her, and he was stronger than he looked.
“You’re wasting your time,” he said in a cold voice. “I don’t know shit. When we brought up the net, Lisette was in it. My dad shook her loose. That’s it.”
“Did he kill her?”
“How should I know?”
She found it telling that he didn’t deny the notion out of hand. “What condition was her body in?”
James’ skin took on an unhealthy pallor. “All messed up. Naked. Blue. Pieces missing.”
“Cut out by a person?”
“No. Crabs will eat anything.”
Sonny nodded, pleased with his sea expertise. “Could you tell how she died? Gunshot, stab wounds, marks on her neck?”
“I didn’t look too long. But I didn’t see anything like that.”
“Did your dad know her?”
“Maybe not by name.”
“Did he have sex with her?”
“I doubt it. She had
Sonny realized that James was either familiar with Lisette’s reputation, or he knew her better than he let on. “What about your brother?”
“No. He didn’t even recognize her.”
“And you?”
His stricken face said it all.
“James, if it comes out later that you were with her, it will look bad. I need to know now, to protect you.”
“I don’t trust you not to tell Carly.”
Ah, the single-mindedness of youth. His greatest fear wasn’t going to jail or getting charged with murder, but being in the doghouse with his new girlfriend. “You keep my secret, I’ll keep yours.”
He sighed. “We didn’t have sex, exactly. She sort of, um…” He made a quick gesture, indicating activity below the waist.
She understood what he meant. A no-strings blow job was hard to resist. Could Ben? “How long ago?”
“A few weeks. Before I started seeing Carly,” he stressed.
“Okay,” she said. “Tell me about your dad. What kind of man is he?”
“A psycho,” he admitted. “But I can’t say he’s done anything violent. Other than rough up hookers. And me.”
Sonny had suspected as much. “Will you be all right at home?”
“Not if he finds out I made that phone call.”
A plan had already begun to form in her mind. “Here’s what we’re going to do…”
When James opened the door, it was clear he didn’t recognize her. She’d dyed her hair black with a temporary rinse and covered her blue eyes with brown contacts.
Sonny wasn’t sure the disguise was necessary. Even though she’d seen Arlen at the docks earlier, she doubted he would recognize her face. Or even look at it. She was wearing ratty jeans, a black tank top with no bra underneath, and way too much makeup.
She looked like a whore, all right.
Arlen was sitting on the couch, cheap sunglasses shielding his eyes. He pulled at the brim of his cap lazily, not bothering to stand. “We don’t speak Spanish here, senorita.”
“I speak English, if you like.”
“I like,” he said. He had a whisky bottle in his hand, from which he took a slow, measured sip. “How much?”
Arlen laughed, kicking James in the shin. Sonny forced the smile to remain on her face. “He don’t like women.”
James’ mouth thinned into a hard line, but he didn’t bother to defend himself.
As was her intention, Arlen immediately turned his anger toward her. He yanked her by the arm, bringing her atop his lap and spilling whisky all over the front of her shirt. “I’m the one paying you, bitch. You’ll take care of me.”
Suppressing the reflex to gag, Sonny murmured an apology as she explored the muscles in his shoulders. “I like you, too, senor. You are very strong.”
