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"Hard to tell. Junior spilled his milk as soon as we sat down to the table, and it made a flood, and we all got dripped on. And when we were trying to mop up the milk, Blackie got the pot roast and ran away with it. So we had peanut butter and jelly for dinner. And while we were eating our sandwiches, Fluffy got loose and ate Gary's shoelaces and left jelly beans under the table
.
“I had gotten a movie for when the kids went to bed, but Gary was sort of soaked with milk, so he left early. He looked like he was thinking about kissing me good night at the door, but the kids were all standing there watching, so he shook my hand and left.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah, it was a night to remember. Maybe we should go to plan B and find me a housewife.”
“But he must like you if he was thinking about kissing you when he left.”
“I guess.”
“Do you like him?”
“Sure. What's not to like? He's nice to the kids and the animals. And he's even nice to me. And he's cute and cuddly. And he seems very stable. I just can't imagine anyone wanting to take on the chaos.”
I was used to having dinner with a kid who thought she was a horse, a grandmother who set the tablecloth on fire on a regular basis, and a future brother-in-law who fainted and farted at the mention of marriage. I didn't see where Charlene had more than the normal amount of chaos.
Ralph had been standing in the doorway, taking it all in. “Maybe we should set the cat on fire again,” he said. “Just a little.”
I told Charlene to hold off on the cat, and I got back into my car and searched through Gary Martin's file for his phone number. I called his home phone and got his machine. I tried his cell and got his message service. The message service said he was in emergency surgery, so I headed for his clinic. Twenty minutes later, I pulled into his lot, looked in my rearview mirror, and saw Diesel pull in behind me.
I got out of the Escape and went back to Diesel. “How do you always know where to find me?”
Diesel shrugged. “I can tune in to you.”
“You have my car bugged, don't you?”
Again, the smile with the dimples. Most guys look cute with dimples. Diesel got dimples, and the temperature went up ten degrees.
“Don't you dare dimple me,” I said to him.
“Can't help it. It just happens. Do you have Annie's file with you? I need to see it.”
I got the file from my car and slid onto the passenger seat, next to Diesel. “Not a lot in this. Just the usual bond agreement and personal information.”
Diesel scanned the paperwork. “Annie's lawyer secured her bond from Vinnie. Standard procedure. The lawyer is one of us. She went back to her house in Hamilton Township, and two days later Bernie started harassing her. I was called in, and we moved her out to the safe house. I find it hard to believe someone discovered the safe house. I think Annie must have left voluntarily.”
“Have you been back to her house? Maybe she just wanted to go home.”
“I sent Flash. He said the house was locked and dark, but I think we should see for ourselves.”
I shelved Gary Martin, rammed myself back into the Escape, and followed Diesel across town to Annie's house. It was exactly what I would have expected. A tidy cape with two front dormers. White siding and black shutters. Very traditional. White picket fence around the small yard. A red heart on the mailbox. We parked in the driveway and walked to the front door.
“There's bad energy here,” Diesel said.
I took a step back. I didn't want to walk in and find Annie dead on her living room floor. “How bad are we talking about? Do I want to wait out here?”
“Not that bad. Disrupted would be a better word.”
Diesel opened the door, and we walked into the dark, silent foyer. He flipped a light on, we worked our way through the house, and it was clear that the house had been tossed. Couch cushions were scattered, drawers were left open, beds were torn apart, toilet-tank tops were on the floor. No stone unturned. We checked all the closets, the basement, and the crawl spaces. No bodies found.
We left Annie's house exactly as we found it, Diesel locked the door behind us, and we angled ourselves into his Vette to talk.
“Someone was looking for something,” I said to Diesel.
“Yeah, and there might have been a struggle in the foyer. The vase was knocked off the sideboard onto the floor.”
