Cold Case Manhunt. Jennifer Morey

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СКАЧАТЬ manly,” Catherine added. She’d married a tall man herself.

      “There’s nothing going on between us,” Jaslene insisted. “In fact, I told him about Ansel and he assumed I cheated on my husband.”

      “You almost did,” Tatum said.

      Jaslene lowered her head with the pang of grief and regret that fact instilled. She felt like she had cheated. And Cal was right. Her husband had died not knowing the truth.

      Tatum reached over and put her hand over Jaslene’s. “I’m sorry. I know what a sensitive subject that is for you.”

      “You didn’t cheat on Ryan,” Catherine said. “Ansel kissed you. You didn’t kiss him. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

      Jaslene wished her heart would believe that. True, she hadn’t been the one to initiate the kiss, but what it had made her feel was the part that felt wrong.

      “I asked my husband what he would do if something like that happened to me,” Catherine said. “He told me he’d beat the hell out of the man and make sure I felt loved.” She smiled, full of affection for her man.

      Had Jaslene’s husband made her feel loved? Ryan had been a geologist like her. They’d gone to school together. Sometimes she thought both of them having the same profession wasn’t such a good thing. They’d both had different ideas on certain earth processes, for one. For example, he supported global warming and had conviction that would be the cause of an apocalypse. She agreed humans were responsible for climate change, but she also thought the earth was far more powerful than any human influence. People would heat up the earth, but that didn’t mean the planet would come to an end. The earth would recover, even if humanity did not.

      She and Ryan had argued often. Jaslene had fallen in love with his intelligent mind and his dark good looks. Best friends, they’d shared a love of nature. But had that been enough? Why had another man sent sparks, which she had never felt with Ryan, chasing through her? She had liked Ryan’s lovemaking and his kisses. But she hadn’t been transported to outer space. She wasn’t sure Ansel could have done that, either, but he had gotten off to a good start with that kiss.

      “Well, you aren’t a cheater,” Tatum said. “You have integrity and respect for others. You don’t have it in you.”

      “Tell that to Cal.” Jaslene smiled to cover the sick feeling churning her stomach.

      “Something tells me he’s going to discover that on his own,” Catherine said. “He doesn’t know what he has yet.”

      What did he have? Her? Not yet, and Jaslene wasn’t sure she ever wanted him to, since he thought so little of her now, without any details on what had really happened with Ansel.

      * * *

      Dr. Drake Faulkner, the chiropractor Benjamin had recommended for Payton, welcomed Cal into his office. He closed the door, muffling the sounds of voices considerably. Dr. Faulkner was almost six feet and fit, with salt-and-pepper hair and titanium glasses.

      “Thanks for seeing me.” Cal sat on a chair, taking in the stacks of files on the desk and cluttered windowsills. Outside, the snow had picked up, flakes hitting and melting against the glass.

      “My receptionist told me it was important...related to a missing person who may have been a patient of mine?”

      “Yes. Payton Everett.”

      The doctor’s interest perked up. “She wasn’t a patient of mine. She was referred to me but never came to see me. Seems I can’t help you after all.”

      “I think maybe you can. What can you tell me about Dr. Benjamin?”

      “What do you want to know?”

      Rather than say he needed to know everything, Cal started with “Did he ask you to meet him and Payton for lunch?”

      The doctor hesitated. “Yes, but I refused.”

      “You refused or didn’t show up?”

      The doctor leaned forward, elbows on the desk. “Mr. Chelsey, Dr. Benjamin asked me to meet with a potential patient. I found that ethically insulting, not to mention a risk to my practice.”

      “Why did you think it was ethically insulting?”

      “Because I don’t have personal relationships with my patients. If he intended to refer her to me, then why do it over lunch?”

      “Why did Dr. Benjamin ask you to meet her?”

      “Maybe he liked her. I don’t know.” Dr. Faulkner leaned back.

      “What was the nature of your association with Benjamin?”

      “I worked for him when I opened my practice, but I went out on my own because I didn’t agree with his philosophy...like meeting patients for lunch.”

      Cal believed that. “Do you know if he had any kind of personal relationship with Payton beyond meeting her for lunch?”

      “No. Like I said, she never came to see me and I went out on my own shortly after that incident.” He tapped his fingers on the end of the armrest.

      “If you worked for him, why the need for a referral?”

      “His company is large and includes several clinics and practices. He had a referral program set up between them all.”

      He seemed agitated. “Why did Benjamin ask you to meet him and Payton for lunch? Why not just refer her to you like a normal doctor?”

      Faulkner grunted derisively, his fingers stilling. “You just answered your own question, Mr. Chelsey. There’s nothing normal about Dr. Benjamin. He’s not a man who lives by any rules other than the ones he makes up himself.”

      A lot of criminals embarked on their wayward careers with that kind of mentality. Could Dr. Benjamin be behind Payton’s disappearance? If he liked her as Dr. Faulkner suggested, that would be highly unlikely. Unless Payton posed a threat to him, but what threat could she pose? Telling his wife didn’t seem enough for a motive. Maybe Faulkner just disliked the doctor.

      “Can you tell me of any other incidents he caused?” Cal asked. “Do you think Dr Benjamin was having an affair with Payton?”

      “It’s possible. That wasn’t the first time he took a patient to lunch, if that’s what you mean. He had a way of treating his practice like it was a personal extension of himself. He grew a very successful business on charisma alone. He owns several clinics across the country now, including two home health care services companies. Many doctors and nurses work for those clinics. He’s a multimillionaire. I give him credit for being smart, but I found his personal interactions with his patients too risky. I wanted no further association with him.”

      Dr. Benjamin did have a way of presenting himself as friendly. He had been kind and patient and cooperative up until the end, when he’d refused to answer any more questions. Jaslene had noticed that, too. But was that all a show?

      “Did you remain in contact with Benjamin?” Cal asked.

      Faulkner’s СКАЧАТЬ