Spontaneous - Brenda Jackson [39]
Duan nodded, thinking the house Mr. Bennie was living in had experienced a lot of sadness. “Where’s his daughter?”
“Valerie, who is a year older than I am, left for college in New Jersey and met a guy there. Now they’re married with a little girl. I get to see them when I come home for Christmas. She usually comes and spends the holidays with Mr. Bennie like I do with Mom every year.”
“He’s never remarried?”
“No, he never remarried. I like Mr. Bennie. He’s a really nice man who helps Mom out a lot with the yard and by doing odds and ends around the house.”
Kim didn’t say anything for a moment, then asked, “Why do you think he likes Mom that way?”
Duan smiled. “There are little things I notice, things I can now recognize as signs. Trust me when I say they went past me with my own father. And they went past Terrence, as well. Olivia pointed them out to us and made us aware that Cathy, our dad’s secretary, had been in love with him for years. We thought Libby was crazy until she told us to pay more attention, so we did. At first we didn’t pick up on anything, but then we noticed the looks Cathy would give Dad when he wasn’t looking and how she would do anything for him.”
“And you saw Mr. Bennie looking at Mom when he thought she wasn’t looking?”
“Yes. And then there’s the way his face lights up whenever she walks into a room. Trust me. I’d say he’s definitely smitten. And sometimes people have a tendency not to notice someone who’s always there, even if that person’s the best thing for them.”
At that moment, Duan’s cell phone went off. Luckily they were still stalled in traffic, so he lifted his hip to pull the phone from his belt clip.
“Yes, Landon. What’s up?”
“We may have found the guy in question. One of the women recognized him from some of the photos as the same guy Mandy Villarosas flirted with that night.”
Duan nodded. “Did anyone recognize him as a former classmate?”
“No. So now we have a face, but we need a name. Brett is going to provide that.”
Duan chuckled. Brett could do just about anything with a computer. “Let me know when he finds out something.”
He clicked off the phone and glanced over at Kim. “We have a make on the guy that Mandy Villarosas was supposed to have met.”
“So you know who he is?” she asked, not hiding her excitement.
“No, but he was captured in several pictures, so at least that’s a start. We’re not sure if he went there with someone, or if he knew anyone at the club. Remember, this was ten years ago.”
Her hope deflated, Kim sank back into her seat. “So it will be like pulling a needle out of a haystack.”
Duan laughed. “Not really. Especially since Brett is working that end of things.”
“Brett? One of the guys in your firm?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Brett is our computer and technical expert and he’s developed this high-tech network. All he has to do is scan in this guy’s picture and it’ll be distributed to all his databases. It goes to probably every law enforcement agency in the country, as well as the FBI’s database. I’ll give him less than forty-eight hours to find out the identity of the man.”
“But like you said, it’s been ten years,” she reminded him.
“Yes, and the beauty of the equipment Brett has developed is that it can do an age enhancement. If we know what he looked like then, you can be certain we’ll know what he looks like now. Brett has had quite a few successes.”
“Wow.”
Duan chuckled. “Yes, now we’re getting some where.”
He shifted his head to look out the windshield. It was dark and they were on a two-lane road with cars in front and back of them, all at a standstill. “Hell, how long is that train? It seems like we’ve been stopped for a while.”
“Not sure. I told you to go this way because it’s a short cut back to the hotel. I forgot about the train crossing.”
He glanced back over at her and grinned. “Are you anxious to get back to the hotel?”
“Aren’t you?”
Duan leaned back in his seat. “Yes.”
“Why? You can’t be hungry since my mother fed you plenty. What’s the rush?