“If you didn’t kill Susan, then who did?”
“I believe it was her husband, Carl Abbott. He was insanely jealous of me and the fact that she had my child. He didn’t say it, but I’ve seen such jealousy before in people’s eyes.”
Harris sipped the coffee and looked steadily at Javier.
“Okay, start from the beginning of this whole thing. You take the kids?”
“No, Ricardo Vasquez did. He’s my uncle.”
“Why?”
“He wants my boy.”
“Susan and your boy. Remember she’s the mother of that child.”
Javier cringed. “I know…”
“What part did you play?”
“I betrayed her. I told her to meet me and I drove her out to a deserted road. She said Carl wouldn’t let her take Tyler to Chile and she couldn’t leave Tyler here. I said I would pay her enough to live here if I could have Mateo during the summer to learn the language and the culture of my family and of my country. She said that she would never let Mateo go to Chile without her. She insisted that Mateo was born in the US and he’s a citizen and will grow up here. That’s when she went berserk. She wasn’t getting her way. She struck me and jumped out of the car and she ran away into the bushes. I was angry, and I left her there. She was alive when I last saw her.”
He sighed at the memory. “I tried everything to stifle Vasquez’s plans, but she was obstinate. I knew she would be. I pushed and she fell into his plan. While she was away from the motel Vasquez had the children stolen away. About an hour later I went back out to bring her back into town. But when I found her, she was dead.”
“What did you do?”
“I was pissed. I loved her. I went to Vasquez and complained that killing Susan was not part of the deal. He told me he didn’t know anything about her. All he wanted was the young child for his lover.”
“And you believed him?”
“As I have had time to think about this situation, he had no reason to kill Susan. I believe it was Carl Abbott who killed her.”
“Why Carl?”
“Like I said, he was insanely afraid of losing his son to Chile. He was afraid Susan might steal away with his child. He was also upset that his ‘wife’ was seeing a foreigner. I think he may have felt rejected by the situation.”
“Yeah, I got a bad feeling about him myself. He’s pretty headstrong.”
* * *
Back in Key West Amy was waiting at the entrance to the hospital for Harris to pick her up. After twenty minutes she tried to call home but got no answer. She tried his cell phone, and it didn’t even ring.
She dialed Sharkey and was connected.
“Amy, what can I do for you?”
“It’s Harris. He isn’t at home and he was supposed to pick me up almost forty minutes ago.”
“He might have gotten hung up on something.”
“His cell phone isn’t working.”
Sharkey’s left eyebrow lifted. “Okay, I was just leaving the office. I’ll come pick you up and we’ll see if we can locate his car.”
“Thanks. It’s just not like him…”
“I’ll be there shortly.”
Sharkey said good night to Jenny who was just about to leave.
“Big night?” Sharkey asked.
“No.” She smiled. “You don’t think that this case will end soon, do you?”
“It seems to get more and more complicated by the moment.”
“Have a good night.” She smiled and waved.
Sharkey headed straight to the hospital and picked up Amy.
“Sharkey, it’s just not like him. I’m worried,” Amy said.
“I understand. I’m concerned too. Let’s go check your house. He might have just fallen asleep. He’s been keeping unusual hours recently.”
“His car is in the garage…where would he go on foot?
“I can’t imagine…unless he was taken by someone?”
They entered the bedroom.
“He always sets an alarm, and it was set for five o’clock and it ran down. He never turned it off. His phone is never dead. It’s too important to him.”
Sharkey reached over and took Amy’s hand. “Okay, take a deep breath and let’s go in and see if we can figure out what’s going on.”
Amy checked the phone charging pad. No phone.
“Where does he keep his gun?”
“In the bedroom drawer in a lockbox. It opens with rings we wear.
“Let’s check it.” They went into the master bedroom and Amy pulled the box out of the nightstand.
She opened it with her ring. “It’s empty.”
“Okay, stay calm.”
They searched through Harris’s home office.
“Sharkey,” Amy said, re-entering the bedroom. “He changed his shirt and the one he was wearing is on the floor. He never leaves clothing on the floor, never. The towel next to the sink is still wet and there’s water all over the vanity and on the floor, like he just quickly and carelessly splashed his face with water. The bed is mussed,” Amy explained. “So he must have been napping.”
“Amy, we’ll do everything we can to find him. However, remember he’s a fine detective, and he knows how to handle things.”
“I know. I just love him so much. He has to be safe.”
“Try not to worry. I’ll be in touch. Lock the door and don’t let anyone in.”
Her nurse’s face returned, and she nodded. “I’ll be fine.”
* * *
Chichi and Jerry sat waiting for Alex to arrive with the information he had on the case.
“You hear anything from your mom about them coming to talk about our wedding?”
“Yes, I did hear, but you’re not going to like it.”
“Go ahead, make my day.”
“Well, my dad is involved in a huge contract that will take the next three months before he can get away.”
