“Oh, right.” Ruth bobbed her head. “I know who you’re talking about. I do know him. He’s a friend of my brother Ray. They used to spend a lot of time together.”
I straightened in my chair. “Ray Bennett?”
“Do you know Ray?”
“I’ve met him.” The new information seemed unlikely to be a coincidence. “How often do you talk to your brother?”
“Not often. He comes around every six months looking for money. I don’t give it to him. He’s not exactly what I would call a good guy. Apparently, I’m surrounded by them.”
“Did Cal and your brother ever spend time together?”
“They did when we first got married. They would go to the bar and have beers together. I wouldn’t call them close, though.”
“And yet somehow they all overlap in this,” I mused, rolling my neck. “Do you think Ray sells drugs?”
Ruth looked taken aback. “I’ve never known him to. I guess anything is possible. Ray always told me that he didn’t want to go to jail on a drug charge because prison sentences are always longer for things like that.”
I had no idea if that was true. “When was the last time you talked to your brother?”
“It’s been a good seven months or so now. I’m hoping he got the message that I won’t be giving him any money. All I care about is cutting ties with that sort of thing. I want to look forward, not back.”
I pressed the heel of my hand to my forehead, considering. “Did the sheriff’s department tell you anything about Cal’s death? Did they give you any information regarding the investigation?”
“No, but I didn’t really ask. All they said was that he’d been shot, most likely over drugs, and that they would be in touch with further information.”
“Have you told Jessica?”
“Not yet.” Ruth turned sad. “I’m not even sure what to tell her. He was a good father at one time. She’s going to be crushed.”
“Do you think she knew what her father was doing?”
Ruth shook her head. “No, and I don’t want you bothering her. She had no idea what Cal was capable of. She thought he was a man with a drug problem and nothing more. Don’t you dare track her down.”
“I don’t want to hurt your family,” I promised. “I’m just trying to figure this out.”
“Figure it out without her. Whatever Cal was up to, my daughter wasn’t part of it. As for my brother, I have no idea what scam he’s running these days. You’ll have to ask him.”
That’s what I intended to do.
24 Twenty-Four
Ruth had given me a lot to think about and Ray was on top of that list. With that in mind, I headed for Eliot’s shop.
“I told you I would come through.” Sabrina was smug in the passenger seat, tilting her head as though picturing herself in front of a news camera giving a report. “I’m going to make a great reporter.”
She had an interesting ego. On one hand, I was impressed with the way she put her boot heel to my throat and applied pressure to get what she wanted. That was reminiscent of something I would’ve done, though I probably wouldn’t have been so overt about it when I was her age. On the other, she’d discovered the information in a way that I hadn’t envisioned.
I was still trying to wrap my head around that.
“You didn’t mention that you knew Cal Shepperly,” I said as I navigated the highway. “That might’ve been helpful to know sooner.”
“I didn’t know Cal Shepperly. I knew Jessica Shepperly. And it wasn’t as if I knew she was the dead guy’s daughter until I started researching him.”
I cast her a sidelong look. “How did you know to research him?”
“I saw the notes on Mr. Fish’s desk. He took them while talking to you.”
That made sense and still .... “Are you saying that you went through Fish’s notes without approval?”
“He had them out.”
That earned a smile. “Well played.”
“I wouldn’t have had to make a move like that if you would’ve included me.”
“I’m not exactly what you would call a team player.”
“You work with Mr. Kane.”
“I live with Eliot ... and don’t call him Mr. Kane. It’s creepy.”
“It’s respectful.”
I fought the urge to yell at the car in front of me when the driver didn’t use a turn signal. “Tell me about Jessica,” I prodded. “Were you surprised when you put it together and realized who her father was?”
“The only way I managed to do that was by going through all those old White Pages listings. I wasn’t sure who he was until I heard Mr. Fish and Marvin talking. I didn’t realize you went back to the halfway house last night.”
“I was there twice yesterday.”
She seemed surprised. “Were you shot at both times?”
“Nope. Just the once.”
“I guess that’s good.” She tapped her fingers against her knee, showing off a bit of restless energy. “I wasn’t exactly friends with Jessica in high school. I was a little nervous her mother was going to say something about the fights we used to have.”
And here was the part I’d been putting together on my own. “You were mean to her because she didn’t have as much money as the rest of you.”
Sabrina balked. “No. I ... that’s rude. I would never be rude.”
Rather than arguing the point, I waited.
“It wasn’t because she was poor,” Sabrina insisted. “She was just ... different.”
“She didn’t have a father,” I said. “Her mother didn’t have money to buy the best clothes and shoes. I’m guessing she had to hold down a job while the rest of you didn’t.”
Sabrina’s expression was dark. “You make me sound horrid.”
I hesitated and then shrugged. “Kids are like chickens. They’ll peck to death the one that is different.”
“Yeah, that doesn’t make me feel any better.” Her gaze was inquisitive. “Don’t bother pretending you aren’t mean to people. I know for a fact you are.
