“I’m his mother, but I know he has issues,” Marlene replied. “I didn’t raise him well. That’s why I’ll stand by him no matter what. It took me a long time to get clean and I’ve told him I’ll be here when he’s ready to do the same. I keep hoping that day will come.”
“Right now we’re just trying to find out if he was dating a woman named Sasha Carmichael,” Brian explained smoothly. “She was killed out on the highway a few days ago — looks to be a hit and run — and there’s been some confusion about the individual she was dating.”
“And you think it was Jason?” Marlene’s forehead creased. “I don’t recognize that name. I’m sorry.”
Jack struggled to hide his disappointment. “Would he tell you if he was dating someone?”
“Probably not. After the last woman — that slutty Maisie girl — I told him I didn’t want to meet another one until he was clean. I pray and pray his taste in women will improve with clarity, but I’ve yet to be rewarded for my prayers.”
Jack worked his jaw, his temper firing at the name. “Did you say Maisie?”
“Yeah.” Marlene bobbed her head. “Maisie Washington. She’s a librarian or something. That’s what Jason said anyway. He was all proud when he brought her around. She was obviously a slut, though. The girl had the look.”
Jack’s eyes tracked to Brian and he could see the older detective’s mind working a mile a minute. “Have you heard from your son recently?”
“Not in the last two weeks or so. That’s not uncommon, though. He only comes around when he wants money and I’ll no longer give it to him because I need him to hit rock bottom. That might sound mean, but it’s where I’m at.”
Honestly, Jack was impressed with her fortitude. “It sounds like a good plan, ma’am. We’re sorry to have taken up your time. We’ll be in touch if we have further questions.”
10
Ten
“Why does it always come back to Maisie?”
Jack’s disgust was so robust Brian wondered if it would need to be strapped in the backseat for the ride to the library.
“She has her finger in every pie in Shadow Lake,” Brian said as he navigated the back streets that led to their destination. “Honestly, I’m not surprised. Maisie has run through half the guys in town — the other half are afraid to catch something from her — and she’s running out of men.”
“Yeah, but this guy ... .” Jack held up his hands and waved them around. “This guy is a loser, even by her standards. Maisie only dates men if she can get something from them. What does a guy who owes more on parking tickets than he’ll ever make have to offer her?”
“That’s a good question.” Brian stroked his chin, his mind busy. “Maisie doesn’t always pay particular attention to her partner’s possibilities if she’s bored. That’s what we could be dealing with here. It’s possible Maisie isn’t looking at him as a long-term partner but more of a temporary distraction. I mean ... the boy is handsome.”
Jack offered up an incredulous face. “He’s handsome?”
“What?” Brian felt self-conscious under his partner’s steady glare. “He’s a good-looking kid. Oh, don’t look at me that way. I’m comfortable with my sexuality, and I can see why some of the girls think Jason is attractive.”
“If that’s your story.” Jack rolled his eyes but returned to the conversation at hand. “Jason grew up two towns over. He only moved to Shadow Lake a few months ago.”
“Maisie works faster than that sometimes.”
“That’s not what I’m getting at — and, yeah, she does — but what I’m wondering is where they met. Jason doesn’t strike me as the sort of guy who spends a lot of time hanging out at the library.”
“That’s a good point.” Brian pulled into a parking spot in the library lot and cocked his head. “I don’t know where they met. I honestly don’t know that Maisie has anything to do with this. It’s possible that Jason doesn’t have anything to do with this.”
“It’s possible,” Jack agreed. “Let me ask you this, though; you knew Sasha. Maybe not well, but you knew her. Is it possible she would’ve been interested in this Jason guy at all? From the way you’ve described her, she was a good girl.”
“She was a good girl,” Brian agreed. “The thing I’ve learned living in a small town, though, is even the best girl sometimes gets a bug up her butt and decides to take a walk on the wild side. Jason has been in trouble with the law, but it’s not exactly as if he’s been collared for violent crimes. For a good girl in Shadow Lake — and they all lose their heads at one point or another — Jason might be appealing.”
The thought process of women often baffled Jack. Before Ivy, he’d never taken the time to figure women out. Now, he often found himself struggling to keep up ... and he considered Ivy the most rational of women. “What about Ivy? You said all good girls take on a bad boy at one time or another. Who was her bad boy?”
“She dated a cult member. That’s how you two met.”
Jack scowled at the memory. “Oh, right. To be fair, she didn’t date that guy when he was a cult member.”
“No, but she did date him ... and I think it was obvious from a young age that there was always something wrong with that kid. That was her rebellious phase. Maybe Jason was Sasha’s rebellious phase.”
“Maybe.” Jack rolled his neck. “That still doesn’t explain Maisie’s part in the story. I mean ... why does it always have to come back to Maisie?”
Amused despite himself, Brian clapped his partner on the shoulder. “I think you’re still bitter about the fact that Ivy is essentially paying what you consider a steep price for saving Maisie’s life.”
“Something Maisie
