Footprints of a Dancer (Detective Elliot Mystery) (8 page)

“Well somebody must’ve, else he wouldn’t be gone.”

“Why do I get the feeling you’re getting ready to do something really stupid?”

“I have to, Jimmy. Don’t you understand?”

“So how are you going to get there? And how will you find him if you do?”

“I found one of his letters on mom’s desk, and it had an address on it.”

Footsteps clicked against the road near Langford’s fence.

“I got to go, Jimmy. I’ll call you later.”

Wayne turned off the phone and stuck it in his pocket. Whoever was out there started talking. He couldn’t be sure, but he thought one of them might be Chief Stanton.

Chapter Thirteen

Elliot wore the hard hat the receptionist gave him and walked through a large bay door leading to the work area, a massive metal building behind the office. The address Cheryl Reynolds had given him was for a manufacturing plant on the east side of town.

An average sized man wearing a clean uniform and a hardhat waved to Elliot and started across the concrete floor of the plant. A few feet in front of Elliot, he stopped and said, “How can I help you, sir?”

A noisy forklift scooted past and exited through the bay door, disappearing into the yard.

Elliot couldn’t imagine Gerald working in such an environment. “I’m looking for someone, a former employee of yours, a guy named Stanley Reynolds.”

He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “Melba Jean said you were asking about him. What do you want to know?”

“I need to talk to him, thought maybe you might know where he is, if he got a new job or not.”

“Does he owe you money or something?”

“It’s a little more complicated. What happened here? Why did he lose his job?”

He glanced over his shoulder and when he turned back, he spoke in a hushed tone. “Look, mister. I don’t know who you are, or why you’re here, but I’ve been told to keep my mouth shut. Besides, the boss man’s coming this way. I’d be careful how I used the name Stanley Reynolds around him.”

The other man drew near, his face reflecting a mixed bag of emotions. It was lawn-boy, the guy Elliot had encountered at Gerald’s house.

“Interesting coincidence,” Elliot said, “seeing you here.”

The first man Elliot had spoken with tried to make an exit, but lawn-boy stopped him. “Get back here, Ben. I might need a witness.” To Elliot he said, “What the hell are you doing here?”

“People don’t usually answer rhetorical questions.”

Lawn-boy whipped out a phone and punched some numbers, but when he spoke, his words were directed at Elliot. “You’ve got about five minutes to get off this property.”

“And if I don’t?”

As if on cue, several security guards appeared. “Then I’ll have you escorted from the premises.”

Elliot glanced at the one called Ben. “Pretty strong reaction to a few questions, wouldn’t you say?”

He didn’t answer.

“It looks to me like your boss has something to hide,” Elliot continued.

Lawn-boy made a gesture and the security detail stepped closer.

Elliot raised his hands, signaling no conflict, and pushed past
the guards. He strode across the concrete floor and exited through the bay door.

Elliot drove away from the plant. He couldn’t figure Gerald working in such a place, especially with lawn-boy for a boss.

Later, as Elliot drove along the streets of Stillwater, he found a burger joint and pulled in. As he walked across the parking lot, a car pulled beside him and the window rolled down.

It was Ben from the plant. “You got a few minutes?”

“Sure,” Elliot said. “Come on in. I’ll buy you lunch.”

After they were seated, the man extended his hand across the table. “Name’s Ben, Benjamin Leeds.” He took a bite of burger and washed it down with some soda. “Sorry about the way I acted at the plant. I think you understand, though. If Bogner knew I was here talking to you, I’d have more to worry about than losing my job. Five years, I’m out of there, but right now I need the money. Anyway, what Bogner did to Stanley Reynolds wasn’t right. I don’t want you to think I’m part of it.”

“Some honest answers might help.”

Benjamin Leeds turned away, his eyes focusing on something outside the glass wall of the restaurant. When he turned back, he said, “I’ve been at the plant for thirty-five years. Things were pretty good until Darrel took over, nothing like his old man. Nobody likes the jerk, but more to the point of your question, he’s been messing around with Stanley Reynolds’ wife. Everyone knew about it, except for Stan. If he did, he certainly didn’t show it.”

“Does Bogner have a habit of fooling around?”

“You got it right, and then some.”

Elliot took a drink of soda. He wanted to believe this was nothing more than marital problems, but he suspected there was much more to it. “Did Stan deserve to be let go?”

“Not really. He didn’t set the world on fire or anything, but he did his job well enough.”

“How long had he been there?”

“Six or seven months at least.”

“Sounds like he moved around a lot.”

Ben shrugged. “That’s the way it is with general labor.”

Once again, the notion of Gerald working in a manufacturing environment struck Elliot as odd. He’d been good with words, not tools. “What else can you tell me about him?”

“Not much. He was a quiet sort, kept to himself mostly.”

Elliot glanced at the table. Ben’s description of Gerald didn’t sound like the bright, energetic journalism student he’d known in school. “How about friends, relatives, hangouts, hobbies, that sort of thing?”

“This is starting to sound serious. I thought you were just a friend who wanted to talk to Stan, but maybe there’s more to it than that, like maybe he’s really…”

“Missing?”

“What’s going on here, Mr. Elliot?”

“I was hoping you could tell me.”

“I’ve told you pretty much all I know about it.”

Neither the face of Benjamin Leeds nor his mannerisms gave any indication of deception. “Thanks for your help,” Elliot said. He gathered his trash and started for the exit.

Mr. Leeds followed. “I do remember something. It might not mean anything, but…”

Elliot kept walking. “I’m listening.”

“It’s about Stan’s car. He always kept it clean, but the last few days before he got canned, it was full of stuff, not messy, but like maybe he’d been living out of it or something.”

Elliot threw the trash into the container. He’d wondered about Gerald’s transportation, if he’d driven his own car to Tulsa, or if he’d hired a rental. “What kind of car was it?”

“A 1989 Cadillac DeVille, sort of beige-colored, not restored or anything, but it ran good, real smooth. Cars are a hobby of mine.”

Elliot pushed through the restaurant door and stepped outside. Cheryl Reynolds had not mentioned her husband had been living out of his car. However, she had made a point about his getting phone calls from an old girlfriend. “How did Stan feel about the relationship? Did he ever stray outside the marriage, or express an interest to?”

Ben shook his head. “Not that I know of, unless you count Terri Hill out at the plant. She and Stan had lunch together occasionally, but it didn’t look like anything romantic, just friends I’d say.”

The name caught Elliot’s attention. Gerald had known Terri Benson before Laura had come along, and they continued to hang out together after Laura had disappeared.

Ben Leeds looked as if he’d swallowed something bitter. “I’m starting to get a real bad feeling about this.”

“That makes two of us,” Elliot said. “Do you know of anything, other than the affair, that caused Stan to get on the wrong side of Bogner?”

The look on Ben’s face said he hadn’t intended to get himself in this deep. “They had an argument right in the middle of the shop floor a few days ago. I assumed it was about the affair, but I don’t know for sure.”

Elliot considered confronting Bogner about it, but decided the time wasn’t right. “This friend Stan had lunch with, her maiden name wouldn’t happen to be Benson, would it?”

“I don’t know, Mr. Elliot. But she hasn’t been to work in a couple days. She called in sick.”

Elliot remembered Terri Benson leaning toward the eccentric side of life. “Any idea of how I could get in touch with her?”

Chapter Fourteen

Terri Benson stood along the wall beside a set of pool tables, watching a guy with tattoos covering his arms lean over to make a shot. It was a bar just outside of town called Harry’s. Benjamin Leeds had told Elliot he might find Terri there. She had the same hair style, the same gothic clothing, the same pale, unearthly complexion as when Elliot had last seen her.

Elliot walked over to the pool tables. “Hello, Terri.”

Terri Benson snatched a long neck from a nearby table and took a sip.

Elliot wondered if she might smash the bottle against the side of his head.

Instead she held her arms open, signaling for a hug.

The tattooed man took note of this. He’d stopped playing the game and stood like a soldier, the cue stick a rifle at his side.

Elliot gave Terri a quick hug then stepped back. “It’s good to see you,” he said. “You’re looking well.”

Terri touched the tattooed guy’s shoulder and smiled. “It’s just another old friend from college that I never expected to see again.”

To Elliot, she said, “Do you two always travel in pairs?”

Elliot scanned the bar for familiar faces, wondering if someone had followed him in. “I was hoping you might know where Gerald is.”

Taking a cigarette from a pack on the table, Terri lit up. She blew out smoke and said, “No one calls him Gerald anymore.”

“I’ve been to his house and the plant where he worked. Things aren’t right. What’s going on?”

“You’re the ghost from Christmas past. You tell me.”

Elliot stared across the table, wondering if Terri was drunk, or just too far gone to care. “I spoke with Ben Leeds earlier. He said you haven’t been to work in a few days.”

Mr. Tattoo watched with interest.

“It’s Laura,” Terri said. “She’s come back. Gerald never could keep his mind straight when she was around. Need I say more?”

“Plenty more, Terri. I need to know where he is.”

Terri finished her beer and signaled for another. “Gerald and I had a good thing going back in school before she showed up. He slept at my place more than he did his own.”

Terri stopped talking while the waitress sat the beer on the table. Afterward she leaned close and lowered her voice. “Those were the best days of my life. It’s been crap ever since.”

Elliot glanced at the table. “Doesn’t it strike you as odd that Laura would be here? Or have you forgotten she disappeared?”

“All I know is she keeps getting in the way.”

Elliot’s stomach tightened. He hadn’t realized there was more than friendship between Terri and Gerald. But he knew how it felt to love someone you couldn’t have.

“I never thought I’d put my hopes on something negative happening to someone, but with Gerald’s marriage being in trouble, I thought we might finally get our chance. He never said as much, but we’d been having lunch quite a bit, and there was something he wanted to tell me, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. I could see it in his eyes.”

A song began to play on the jukebox, some country number Elliot had never heard before. It’d been quiet in the bar before, and though the music wasn’t loud it was enough to muffle their conversation.

Terri lit another cigarette. “He told me he’d moved out and he was sleeping in his car. He even said where he was going to park that night. I thought it was an invite. I sat around the house, wondering what to do until I figured it had to be fate or something. I slipped out and went over there, you know, to give him some company, maybe even some comfort. It sure didn’t turn out the way I thought it would.”

“What happened?”

Terri’s eyes glistened with moisture. “He’d chosen a good spot all right. It was plenty dark and all, but I stumbled around until I found the car. Hell, I’m standing there knocking on the window, like some giddy fool, until my eyes finally adapted and I saw what was happening. She was wrapped around Gerald like a teenager on her first date.”

“It could have been anyone. You said it was dark.”

“It was Laura all right. I’d know her face anywhere. But it was the way she looked at me that almost stopped my heart. It wasn’t like she was mad at my being there, or even gloating over the victory, but a pitiful look, like she was in pain or something. It scared the hell out of me. I ran back to my car and drove home fast as I could.”

Elliot’s phone went off, but he was so engrossed in Terri’s story it took him a moment to realize it. The ID showed it was Carmen. “I need to take this,” he said, “but don’t leave. We have more to talk about.”

He brought the phone to his ear. “Carmen, what’s up?”

“I called earlier, but you didn’t answer.”

Elliot squeezed the phone. It wasn’t like Carmen to get upset over trivial things like a dropped call. “Sorry. I guess I didn’t hear it.”

“Where are you?”

“I’m in Stillwater.”

“What are you…? Never mind.”

The juke box started again. It seemed louder now. To make things worse, Terri Benson began to laugh. Elliot cupped the phone, but it was too late.

“Are you with someone?”

Elliot watched Terri kiss her tattooed boyfriend. “It’s a client. I’m on a case.”

“Your occupation always makes itself known. I’m sorry I bothered you.”

The phone went dead.

Elliot tried calling her back, but there was no answer.

“I’m worried about Gerald, too,” Terri said. “And you’ve got cop written all over you, so I know something’s up. Find him for me, Kenny. Bring him home.”

Elliot stuffed the phone into his pocket. “What you thought you saw with Gerald and Laura in the car, when did it happen?”

“Late Sunday night.”

Elliot looked at Terri. Gerald had called Monday morning. “What do you know about Darrel Bogner?”

She shrugged. “He owns the plant where I work.”

“What about the fight he and Gerald had?”