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“That hurts.” Duke put a hand to his chest. “Where is the trust?”
“It disappeared the minute you offered to let my girl live with you, while completely disregarding the probability of your impending death.”
Duke laughed out loud. “What did you call her?”
Jessica looked at him with awe. She certainly never expected him to claim her. But she liked it. He slid his arm around her shoulders possessively.
“That’s right, Duke. She’s my girl. I fully admit it. Get over yourself.”
“Contrary to popular belief, I’m glad to hear it.” Duke gestured for them to sit in the chairs in front of his desk.
“What is your lead?” Jessica asked. She was so anxious to get her car back.
Duke opened a file on his desk. “After you left the diner, I got to thinking about where the thief put his car in order to steal yours. Likely he didn’t walk here from wherever he was before.
“So I checked all the license plates in the diner parking lot. Almost all of them were local folks. I recognized most of them without even having to check the system. The only vehicle of any note was a rental car. I got the plates, traced them to the rental company, and got a driver’s license picture of someone from three states away.”
Jessica sucked in her breath. “I moved here from three states away. Is he from the Chicago area?”
“Great guess.” Duke grabbed a paper from the file and slapped the enlarged photo of the driver’s license picture of the guy in the diner in front of her.
She pointed to him. “That’s the jerk in the diner.”
“Albert Wayne,” Duke said his name. “He’s listed as some sort of private eye, but his credentials are dubious. He doesn’t have a criminal record, but he’s been picked up and talked to more than a few times in some underhanded deals, according to a law enforcement friend I talked to in the Chicago area. He has lots of deadbeat criminal friends, as well. So, I’d say at best he runs with a bad crowd and at worst he’s a criminal for hire.”
Garrett studied the picture as if trying to memorize it for later punishment. “But if he took her car away someplace, how will he retrieve his vehicle?”
Duke smiled. “I had one of my deputies sit on it, keeping it under close surveillance to discover who picked it up.”
“Did anyone?”
He flashed a quick grin of satisfaction. “Yep. Just a couple of minutes before you got here. My deputy is following the guy, but interestingly enough, it’s not Albert in the car, based on my guy’s description of the new driver.”
“So there’s more than one guy messing with Jessica’s things.”
Duke lifted one shoulder, making an impassive face. “The truth is, all of this is speculation until we find her car and dust it for prints.”
“I hope you find it soon. I love my car. I miss my car.”
“I’ll do everything within my power,” Duke promised.
Jessica held up her phone. “The next time you call me. I’ll answer.”
Duke grinned again. “Can’t wait.”
Garrett cleared his voice. “No. You call me, I’ll tell her.”
“Jealousy? Again? I have to say, I enjoy seeing this side of you, Garrett.”
“Well, trust only goes so far, Duke, and you look at Jessica way too much.”
Duke turned his attention to her. “Well, she seems like a very nice person. Why wouldn’t I look at her whenever I got the chance?”
He narrowed his eyes, put his complete resolute focus on her, their eyes locked into a fierce stare, then suddenly Duke crossed his eyes and tilted his head to one side, putting a goofy grin on his face.
Jessica started laughing at his expression. She couldn’t help it. After two seconds, Garrett grinned and a chuckle escaped. “You’re an idiot, Duke. Are we done here?”
“Yes. I wanted to know if she recognized this photo.”
“I saw him in the diner, but I don’t remember him from any dealings in Chicago. It’s possible he’s been in one of the Barrington hotels, but I don’t think I ever spoke to him.”
“I told my deputy to follow the car to see where it goes, but unless he speeds or breaks some traffic law, I can’t stop the vehicle or speak to him without cause.”
