Heads You Lose - Lisa Lutz [85]
“Of course,” Paul said.
“All right, think MILF.”
It took Paul about two seconds. “Lila Wickfield.”
“Uh, a little higher up the age range.”
“Wow. Deena Jakes?”
“Higher up, in every way.”
Paul was stumped. “Come on, man. Who?”
Paul heard Rafael exhale before he gave the answer: “Marybeth Monroe.”
“Jesus,” Paul exclaimed. “Hart’s mom?”
“I went up there looking for Hart to see if he’d seen Brice. She was having some wine and I joined her. It got weird. Afterward she wanted to make me a sandwich and stuff. Not my finest hour, okay?”
“Did you at least find out anything about Hart?”
“Just that his mom—”
“Okay, okay,” Paul interrupted. “Want to help me out later?”
“Sure. What do you need?”
“A ride. Egan knows my truck.”
Back in his room at Mapleshade, Sook was grateful to get his usual package, and Paul let him defer payment. The old man had been reinstated the previous night, and he’d need every bit of juice he could get to stay out of trouble, including the special services he provided to certain staff members and residents. Paul didn’t bother giving Sook the alibi quiz since Lacey said she’d already cleared him.
Down the street at We Care, Lito was trimming some bushes on the side of the main house. Before Paul had even left his truck, Lito called out, “I don’t know anything. My dad and uncle aren’t here.”
“Take it easy. I’m here on business,” said Paul, patting his pocket. He was fine with the wait-and-see approach with the Babalato deal. At the current rate, their offer could hit seven figures before the weekend was out. He and Lito went back to a tool shed and made their customary transaction. Mr. Skittles watched them sleepily from a corner.
“I do need to ask you one favor,” Paul said afterward. “I’m trying to help my sister get through her fear and start living a normal life again. So I’m just asking everyone where they were during a couple of recent time periods.”
“She always seemed a little high-strung,” said Lito.
“So how about two weeks ago, late Saturday night—between two and three a.m.? The night before I called you from Diner.”
“I was playing Crystal Orc online. That was the final battle for the realm. We took on some punks from New Zealand. The whole thing’s on You Tube if you want to check it out.”
“‘We?’” said Paul.
“The Shattered Legion,” said Lito. “My guild.”
“Anybody else I’d know in your guild?” Paul asked with a straight face.
“Uh, not unless you’ve been hanging out with high school kids,” said Lito.
“Okay, what about this past Wednesday afternoon from around one to two?”
“Just here, working in the garden. In plain sight.”
“Good enough. Thanks, man.”
“No problem.”
After a pause, Paul asked, “How about your dad and your uncle?”
Lito’s face turned hard. “No idea,” he said.
On the way back to his truck, Paul saw Mr. Portis being wheeled out to the central patio by a nurse.
“None for me, thank you!” Mr. Portis shouted cheerfully, to no one in particular.
At dusk, Paul and Rafael sat in Rafael’s truck a couple doors down from Egan’s home office. It was a warm night; the windows were rolled down. They’d both read the reports online about Egan’s wife and the bus accident, but it hardly eased their suspicions. Egan seemed like the type who’d hire someone to give her a push rather than get his own hands dirty.
“Something about him is just too vanilla,” Paul said from the passenger seat. “Lacey wants me to interrogate all my friends when the rational suspect is grinning right in her face with those anchorman teeth.”
“Why do men constantly get shit for thinking with their dicks, but women never get called on it when they do the same thing?” Rafael asked. “Uh, no offense to your sister.”
“None taken. They’re supposed to have this intuition, but you know what’s better than intuition? A strong, logical mind. Like Brandy’s.”
“Your girl’s quite a catch, I gotta say,” said Rafael.
“But a little young for your tastes, right?” asked Paul.
“Hey, it was one night, okay?”
Egan came out his front door and hopped down the stairs. He was wearing