Raising The Stakes. Sandra Marton

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      “Damn.” Gray shoved his plate aside. All at once, he had no appetite. “How much longer will it take?”

      Ballard shrugged. “I can’t say for certain. Four years is a long time and when the lady left, she seemed determined to cover her tracks.”

      “Kitteridge doesn’t know where she went?”

      “I didn’t talk to him. Not yet, anyway. He was out of town but from what I picked up from local chitchat, he has no idea what happened to her.” Ballard patted his lips with his napkin. “Hey, don’t look so sour. I promise, we’ll find her. I’ve got three men looking for her.”

      “Yeah, yeah.” Gray sighed, sat back and rubbed his hand over his forehead. “I just don’t want this to drag on forever.”

      “You said money wasn’t a problem.”

      “It isn’t. Time is my concern. I want to get this done with.”

      “Gray, my man, don’t I always deliver?”

      It was true. Gray had no doubt that Jack would find Dawn Lincoln Kitteridge. He just had to be patient.

      “Yeah, you do. Look, put another couple of people on it, okay? Do whatever it takes to locate the lady.”

      “Absolutely.”

      “Meanwhile, what’s this Harlan Kitteridge like?”

      “It’s Harman. I told you, I didn’t meet him, but I did some checking. He’s got some stuff on his record.”

      “Such as?”

      Ballard opened his notebook again. “Some DWIs. Two bar fights. He broke up a guy pretty bad in one of them but witnesses said it was self-defense so, you know, case closed. An assault on a woman he’d been living with. Beat her up and she called the cops but when it came to the courtroom, she said she’d hurt herself taking a tumble down the stairs and all she wanted was Harman out of the place.” Jack looked up. “Nothing once he married our girl. Dawn either swings a heavy bat or she reformed him.”

      “Yes,” Gray said lightly. “They sound like a real nice couple.”

      The bus boy cleared their places. The waiter stopped by. Gray ordered espresso; Ballard ordered a cappuccino and cheesecake.

      “So,” Ballard said, “the next thing I’m going to do is fly on back to Queen City and have a chat with Mr. Kitteridge. He’s on his mountain again.”

      “I thought you said he doesn’t know where his wife is.”

      “I said that’s what the town says. Besides, even if he doesn’t, maybe he can give us some clues. Maybe she talked about wanting to see someplace special. Maybe she has friends in places outside Queen City.” The investigator peered at the slice of cake the waiter put in front of him, then dug into it. “At the very least, he can probably fill in some blank spaces while my guys look for her.”

      “That sounds reasonable, I guess.”

      “Trust me, Gray. It is reasonable. Just tell your client to keep his pants on, okay?”

      Gray laughed. “I’m sure he’ll love the advice, Jack. Anything else?”

      “Nope. Oh. Yeah, before I forget…” He patted one breast pocket and then the other. “Here,” he said, and held out a small white envelope.

      “What’s this?” Gray opened the envelope. Inside were the photo of Jonas and Ben, and the one of Nora Lincoln. “Ah. The pictures. You don’t need them anymore?”

      “Not really. Besides, I made copies. I figured your client might want these back.”

      Gray nodded and pocketed the photos. “You’ve done fine, Jack. To be honest, I didn’t think we had a chance of coming up with anything, but you’ve managed to find the girl.”

      “Not yet. I found where she lived and who she lived with.” Ballard took a sip of his cappuccino. “She’s still among the missing.”

      “Among the…” Gray looked up. “You think something happened to her? That Kitteridge did something?”

      “Hell, no. Jeez, you’ve been associating with lowlife too long. No, Gray. I just mean I haven’t located her yet. But I will.”

      “Fine. Call me when you do. In fact, call me after you go to Queen City and speak with Harman Kitteridge. I have to admit, I’m curious.”

      Ballard grinned. “Your wish is my command, counselor. Say, is this lunch on your client’s expense account?”

      “Why?”

      “You think I could have another slice of that cheesecake?”

      * * *

      That night, Gray phoned Jonas and gave him a brief update. When he finished, there was a long silence. Then his uncle cleared his throat.

      “So,” he said, “the girl really exists.”

      “Yeah. So it would seem. Do you still want her found?”

      “Yes, of course. Find her, talk to her, see what she’s like…” Another silence. “This husband of hers. He doesn’t sound like anybody’s idea of Prince Charming.”

      “No. He doesn’t.”

      “You’re gonna meet with him?”

      “No,” Gray said coldly, “I am not. The investigator I hired will do that. There’s no reason for me to talk to the man.”

      “You got a good way of seein’ inside people.”

      Gray laughed. “Don’t try to con me, okay? If I did, I’d have figured out, years back, that the only way my father could have come up with money for my schooling was by begging it from you.”

      “You know, boy,” Jonas said, his voice hardening, “maybe you ought to be grateful he did, otherwise what would you be doin’ right now? Not livin’ high on the hog in New York City, I bet.”

      “I’ll call you when I know more,” Gray said, and hung up the phone.

      Hours later, he gave up trying to sleep. The old man certainly had a way of getting to the heart of a thing. He’d grown up disliking Texas and despising his uncle, congratulated himself for getting free of both…and now it turned out he hadn’t actually escaped either one.

      He went into the kitchen, switched on the light, took the pictures Jack Ballard had given him from the kitchen table and stared at the faces frozen in time.

      There was more to this tale than his uncle admitted. Gray had suspected it. Now, he was sure of it. He’d been a lawyer long enough to sense when a client was omitting pieces of a story. Sometimes, you were happy to leave it like that. You wanted the truth, but you didn’t want to hear things that might keep you from doing the best possible job. Defending a man against a charge of СКАЧАТЬ