Secrets in the Shadows (20 page)

“Most of the information I’ve given you was obtained through legal channels—public records, newspapers, web sites. You’d be amazed how much you can find out about someone on websites devoted to genealogy, or through local forums and discussion boards. All that stuff is in the report I prepared for you.”

“What you won’t find in the report is some of the details about the prostitutes, and some of the speculation about Troy. We also got very lucky—one of my contractors lives in northern Georgia, and he has a ton of connections, both law enforcement and folks on the other side of the law. He put out some feelers, and the news flooded in. Apparently, this family is not well-liked in that part of the state, but they are very well known among a certain culture.”

“So the report—how far is that going to take me, investigation-wise? Were you able to find enough through legal channels to pursue an inquiry, if necessary?”

Charlie hesitated. “The thing is, except for the two youngest daughters, Carl seems to have kept his nose clean. The prostitutes, the topless dancers? For the most part that’s just disgusting behavior that can’t be prosecuted. I wish there was something I could point to, but it looks like Carl’s in the clear.” He looked at Lauren. “I’m sorry there isn’t a smoking gun somewhere that you could use to get the guy, but try to look at it this way—at least he didn’t leave any more victims out there.”

Lauren agreed, though she had to admit to herself that part of her had wanted to see the man hang. Sitting back, she crossed her arms. “I guess his illness is punishment enough, in a way. The rest is up to God. I just have to accept that.”

After a minute, Ethan cleared his throat. “So what about Troy? You said he looked interesting. What’d you find out about him?”

Charlie’s expression hardened. “Troy’s a different story. Looking at all the other Vernon kids, they seem stable, healthy—normal, for lack of a better word. None of them have criminal records. They keep their noses clean, their bills paid. You get the picture. Troy, however? He’s rotten to the core. After what I learned from his background search, I’m really liking him for the vandalism.” He picked up a second file, thumbing through it.

“When they came out of hiding in Rabun the first time, Troy never went back to school. He dropped out of high school and ended up getting his GED in jail. He stayed in Rabun, in the aforementioned house, but about six months after his parents moved, he stopped paying rent. The guy who owned the house evicted him. Troy got even by burning down the rental house.” He paused for a minute for the impact of his words to take effect.

“It was his first offense, and the judge felt sorry for him. The prosecutor wanted a longer sentence, based on the violence of the crime, but the judge wouldn’t have it. He sent Troy to a minimum security prison with the smallest sentence he could hand down. Troy was out in two years for good behavior.”

“Where were his parents when he went to prison?” Ethan asked.

“They were in Hart County. They’d been there about a year when he was arrested, and he got out just before they disappeared the last time.”

Lauren angled her head to the side. “Did he go back to live with them, then? I can’t imagine his mother letting him back in her house after he’d been in prison.”

“Oh, but you’re forgetting. Troy’s a mama’s boy. He convinced her that he had been framed. He told her the guy who owned the house burned it down for the insurance money.”

“And she believed him?” Lauren snorted. “I don’t know why that surprises me, but it does. She won’t believe her husband is raping her daughter, and she won’t believe her son is an arsonist. What an absolute…” She stopped and drew in a deep, calming breath. “I don’t even know what to say. Good God.”

Charlie’s face was grim. “It gets better. He moved back in with them for about six months, until they went into hiding again. Troy didn’t want to violate his parole by leaving the area and have to go back to jail, so he called a prison buddy of his, and moved up to Union County. He worked odd jobs up there for a while, and lived with several women. While he was in Union County, there was a string of robberies in the area. There were also a couple assaults, and the local cops suspected his involvement, but they were never able to prove anything.”

Sitting back in his chair, he pinched the bridge of his nose as though he were getting a headache. “His probation was up a couple of years after he moved into Union County, and he managed, somehow, to keep his nose clean, probably by not getting caught. About eighteen months ago, he left Union County and showed up at his parents’ house. He brought his wife along with him. Her name is Iris, and she was only fifteen when he married her. Her parents had to sign for it, as the legal age of consent in Georgia is sixteen. She was also about five or six months pregnant when they got married. That means that she was a hell of a lot closer to fourteen than she was to sixteen when he got her pregnant. He was twenty-six at the time.”

“I didn’t think she looked that old the other day in the shop,” Lauren said, quietly devastated. “She’s pregnant again, looks to be about four or five months along, and she was flat scared to death when Mary Margaret went crazy. He married a child. Is there anything that can be done about it?” She looked from Ethan to David. They both shook their heads.

David answered. “I don’t think so. If her parents signed for them to marry, the law’s hands are tied. It sounds like he has a taste for young girls, though. Probably something worth keeping an eye on We might be able to catch him with his pants down sometime in the future. Has anything happened since they’ve been back? Any red flags?”

“Not really,” Charlie answered. “However, they do have Internet where they’re living now, and it would be possible to put a ‘tap’ on that IP connection to see what they’re up to. It wouldn’t exactly be legal, but it could be done.”

“Let’s hold off on that for now,” David told him. “I can’t knowingly tell you to do something illegal, but if we ever need a backdoor, it’s something to keep in mind.”

Ethan spoke up. “I’m supposed to go to Jefferson County tomorrow afternoon and interview Troy. I would have gone sooner, but their sheriff wanted me to wait until one of their detectives could go with me.”

David whistled. “Jurisdictional pissing contest?”

“Something like that. Our sheriff is Republican, theirs is a Democrat.”

Lauren was getting restless. It had been a long day, and all the talk about the Vernons was making her skin crawl. She turned to Charlie. “What else did you find out? Although I don’t know if I can handle anything more right now.”

“We can take a break if you need to,” he told her.

“Are we almost finished?”

“Almost.”

She nodded. “Then let’s get this over with.”

His mouth tightened, but he continued. “Okay. This all brings us to Margie. I tried to find her and was able to track her as far as Florida. That was right after she left here, and she’s active for about six months after that. Then she disappears.”

David sat back, his face blank. “Completely disappears?”

“She never applied for a credit card, driver’s license, or marriage license. She hasn’t ever been listed on anyone’s birth certificate, and she wasn’t listed in the Social Security Death Index, either,” he said. “It doesn’t look good. I’m sorry. I’ve got a team running searches on missing persons, unidentified, and that sort of thing, but it will take a little while to get the results back.”

They all seemed to realize that as young as Margie had been when she disappeared, and as troubled, it would have been all too easy for her to have been abducted and killed. No one would ever know about it unless her body was found and identified.

“When the attack occurred, I really blamed Margie for the part she’d played in it, but looking back now, as an adult, I’m able to see that she did what she had to do in order to survive. She was a victim, maybe even more than I was. The people who were supposed to keep her safest betrayed her the most. I feel like I owe it to her to try to find out what happened to her.”

Ethan stood. “Well, as much as I hate to, I need to run. Any chance you can get me a copy of that report?” he asked Charlie and shook his hand.

“Of course. I brought an extra.” He pulled the file out of his briefcase and handed it to Ethan.

“Thanks. I’ll let you know what I find. I’ll stop on my way out and pay my tab.”

After he left, they wrapped up. Charlie handed the other copy of the file to David. “I’ll make you a copy if you want,” he told Lauren.

“No. I’m fine.”

“If you change your mind, just let me know.” They started out of the room. Charlie stopped them, indicating the side door to the kitchen. “You might want to go out this door instead. The dining room’s probably full by now, and half the people out there are probably Brown Bag customers. If they see you, it’ll take an hour for you to get out of here.”

With a grimace, they complied. “I hadn’t thought of that,” she told him. “Thanks again.”

As they came into the kitchen, Rita scowled, turned her back, and walked away. Joely rolled her eyes and walked over to them.

“Fricking drama queen. Sorry about that. Sonny said to tell you there’s no charge for today’s lunch. No arguments. He was very, very insistent.”

Charlie smiled. “Okay. Tell him thanks for us?”

“Sure, but answer something for me.” She moved in close and lowered her voice. “What’d you do to Rita? She’s been in a snit ever since she came out of the banquet room the last time.”

Charlie straightened up, shooting a snickering David an exasperated look. “Not a damned thing.” Ruffling Joely’s hair, he thanked her again and they headed for the parking lot.

“Are you going to swing by and visit with Ava for a little while?” Lauren asked David. “She’s at Mrs. Zollman’s.”

“I’d like to. I’m actually off the clock today, so I don’t have to head back for a little while.” He shook Charlie’s hand.

“Let me know if you need anything further.”

David assured him that he would. “I really appreciate you helping with this. It’d be slow going without these files.” He gave Lauren a hug and walked to his car. Charlie moved closer to her as they watched him drive away.

“He seems like a pretty decent guy.”

She smiled. “He is. I’m glad we were able to rebuild our friendship. I think it makes being Ava’s parents so much easier. What’re your plans for the rest of the day?”

“I don’t know, really. I thought I’d head to the library, and then I probably should get home and do some work. Somebody’s gotta make the money to pay the bills, and since my cat doesn’t seem interested… What about you?”

“After I meet that contractor, I’ll probably go home and work on paperwork, laundry, dishes. You know, the normal stuff.”

“Are you okay? I dumped a lot of stuff on you in there just now.”

She looked across the parking lot at the river. “I am. I just need a little while to absorb it all.”

“Okay. Just call me if you need to talk, or anything.”

“I’m taking Ava to Mom and Dad’s this evening. Maybe I’ll see you there?”

“Maybe.” His eyes warm, he touched her face with a tentative hand. Carefully, he brushed her lips with his. He let his mouth linger a little before he drew back, eyes closed. With a deep breath, he opened his eyes.

“I might drop by this evening, see what Win and Molly are up to. Yeah, the more I think about it, that sounds like a good idea. Don’t you think?”

Lauren smiled. “I’ve heard worse. I’ll see you later.” As she drove home, she realized she was still smiling. After the day she’d had, that was surprising and more than a bit telling.

Raven Lynch was worried. It was after ten o’clock and his boss, Charity Vaughn, still hadn’t come downstairs. He’d gone ahead and, with Cara’s help, opened for business, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.

“I’m going to go check on her. You have things under control down here?”

Cara smiled as two customers walked through the door. “Of course, just hurry back.” She moved to greet the new arrivals, and Raven hurried through the door that led into the back of the gallery. He stopped by the office first. Unlocking the safe drawer in her desk, he grabbed the key to her apartment. He didn’t like going into her apartment without her permission, but his instincts were screaming that something was wrong.

Since the key unlocked the outside entrance to the apartment, he headed out to the small garden area between the building and the parking lot. On the few occasions she hadn’t been available to do it herself, she’d had him escort repairmen upstairs. Though there was an entrance to her apartment from inside the building, Charity was the only one with access to that door.

“I’d prefer to not bring them through the gallery. No one else needs to know about the private entrance.” There had been a strange emotion on her face when she’d told him that, something Raven was at a loss to interpret, but the look had left him cold.

When he reached the third-floor entrance, he frowned. The windows were closed, the shades drawn, and the place looked deserted. Turning, he looked back at the employee parking area. Sure enough, Charity’s little red convertible was in its spot. A sense of foreboding washed over him, and his hand shook when he rang the doorbell.