Chapter 5
Ashton walked through Sean’s property, waiting for the deputies, looking for any sign of what could have happened to Sean. He texted Crystal, asking if Sean had a vehicle, and she quickly responded.
No vehicle. His nephew used to come by occasionally and deliver groceries, but it didn’t seem very consistent.
He thought about that and frowned because occasionally wasn’t exactly helpful for somebody like Sean, in a wheelchair with no car.
His wheelchair was also missing, which was potentially a good thing, meaning he was off in it, looking for Khan.
He sent Crystal another text, asking for the nephew’s name.
Charlie Nester.
He stared at the name, tweaking something in his brain, but he couldn’t quite place it. He quickly did a Google search, but nothing came up. When he heard a vehicle, he turned to see a deputy cruiser pulling up.
He went out to greet the two guys, whom he hadn’t met before.
He explained what he had found and that he had sent Crystal back home again, but they could talk to her if they felt it was needed.
He led them through the place. “There’s no sign of Sean, and he’s disabled and a senior,” he shared, “so that’s not a good sign. ”
The deputies just looked at him, and Ashton smiled, thinking they were trying to place him. “I’m from around here. I’ve just been away for the last several years. I’m Ashton Nelson.”
The two deputies nodded, seemed to recognize his name. One said, “You’re the grandson who’s been off in the military.”
“I am, and I’m home again.”
The same one noted, “Your grandmother has been making all sorts of accusations.”
“I’ll bet, so in what way are we concerned about her accusations?” Ashton asked. “My grandmother is obviously in a state about a lot of things.”
“She’s making accusations about you trying to steal her home out from under her.”
He smirked at them and then chuckled. “You’re more than welcome to address that in a separate investigation, if you like,” he suggested, “but, right now, I am more concerned about Sean’s disappearance.”
“He’s probably at his nephew’s place,” said the same deputy who did all the talking, adding a shrug.
“So, he’s probably at his nephew’s place, and you don’t care, is that it?” Ashton asked, frowning.
The deputy flushed at his tone. “We don’t really know you, do we?”
“So, because you don’t know me, you’re not worried about Sean? So, just contact Charlie then and ask him when he last saw his uncle.”
“Look. This is hardly a major case.”
Ashton stopped to stare at both of them. “So, Sean’s place has been tossed, the door’s found open, and a disabled senior citizen is missing, and you’re saying it’s not important?”
One deputy flushed again, while the other deputy glared at him.
Ashton nodded. “I can see how this will go.”
“Oh, you’re more than welcome to talk to our sheriff,” said the glaring deputy.
“Oh, don’t worry,” Ashton replied, calm and cool. He pulled out his phone and called the sheriff. “Hey, Richard. How’s the town treating you?”
The two deputies froze right where they were.
Richard chuckled. “I see you’ve been causing all kinds of chaos since the minute you got here.”
“Yeah, well, here’s some more. I’ve got two of yours here, and they seem to think that Sean going missing isn’t even worth writing a report on.
” Silence came on the other end, and Ashton added, “They didn’t identify themselves to me, but I sure was shocked to hear them say that.
I can’t tell you who they are, but I can give you the license plate off their vehicle. ”
At that, one of the deputies protested, “Hey, that’s not fair.”
“What’s not fair?” Ashton asked, turning and holding up the phone. “This is your boss, and you yourself told me that I was free to lodge a complaint against you if I wanted. So, I’m taking you up on that and lodging a complaint, which is why I have phoned the sheriff.”
A roar came from the other end of the phone call, and one of the deputies winced.
Richard yelled, “Ashton, I’ll talk to them.”
“Yeah, you better,” Ashton said. “I don’t know what the hell’s happening around this area, where gossip has become evidence, but your deputies all but accused me of stealing my grandmother’s property.
And you know better than I do what that accusation really means—defamation, and all that goes with it. ”
Dead silence came for a moment on the other end, and then Richard sighed. “Yeah, I’ll really be talking to them,” he declared.
“I’ll be stopping by the station later today to see how all that goes.
” And, with that, Ashton disconnected and looked at the two deputies, who both looked stomped.
“If you guys aren’t prepared to do what’s right by Sean, who’s missing,” he emphasized, “then I’m wondering just exactly what the citizens in this town are paying you wages for. ”
The two deputies remained silent, then shared a look at each other. “Look. We didn’t say—”
“Yes, you did,” Ashton corrected. “Yes, you absolutely did everything I complained about to the sheriff. So just to be clear, I expect this missing person’s case to be taken very seriously.
I understand my grandpa has already been reported as missing, so I trust that you will give that missing person’s case your full attention as well.
I’ll be stopping in town later today to talk to the sheriff on both these matters.
I do not, however, have time for it right now.
Therefore, you’ve got some time to redeem yourselves, at least a little bit. ”
And, with that, he returned to his truck, hopped in, and drove away, without even giving them a second glance. He didn’t get very far down the road when his phone rang. It was Richard. He answered it and asked, “What the hell kind of a shop are you running these days?”
“Yeah, your grandmother’s done a hell of a job on you.”
“Well, that’s nice. She doesn’t own jack shit and hasn’t for many years. Oh, and besides stealing from the household account, she’s graduated to stealing from Grandpa’s investment clients,” he explained. “So, maybe you need to think about that one too.”
After a brief silence, he came back, “Are you serious?”
“Has everybody forgotten I am a finance major? Hell yes, I’m dead serious. I talked to Timmy yesterday, and I figured he would fill you in on the details.”
“Maybe you better fill me in,” Richard suggested.
“Grandma’s been embezzling for years. I’ve been trying to pay back the money to buy some time for them to get it straightened out.
I came back six years ago to make sure she didn’t have access to the family’s household checking accounts and Grandpa’s investment clients.
I set them all up so she could only put money back in, deposits only.
In the meantime, I’ve been trying to cover all the gambling losses and outright thefts,” he shared.
“And now that my grandfather has gone missing, my grandmother has gone crazier than normal and has everything pretty spun up.”
“You never thought to let me know any of this?” Richard asked.
“Believe me that I thought the legal agreement from six years ago, that Grandpa’s attorney drew up, that Grandpa and Grandma both signed, was a stop-gap measure to prevent any future thefts and would correct the theft issue, forcing repayments, given enough time that is.
So far Grandpa’s clients have been covered, when asking for distributions.
Grandpa definitely didn’t want to advertise any of that, and I surely didn’t want Grandma’s addiction to destroy Grandpa’s business either.
It was one thing when she was stealing from the family, but it’s gotten way worse.
Hell, I’m the financial officer over all this mess, and I’m pretty damn worried right now. ”
“Look. You need to come in, so we can go over this from top to bottom.”
“Yeah, that would be nice, except I got a really close look at your crew today,” he pointed out. “So, if gossip and innuendo and sheer ineptitude and laziness and lies are what I’m looking forward to, believe me that I’ll be speaking to my own attorney first.”
Richard groaned. “Look, Ashton. We go back a long way, and I will deal with my deputies. I’ll remind them that’s not how we operate around here. At least I didn’t think it was, until I heard what they did today.” He sighed and added, “I promise I’ll handle it better.”
“And remember that my grandfather is also missing too.” And, with that, Ashton ended the call.
Ashton headed into the lawyer’s office. Even though he was a few minutes early, his lawyer, Anderson Moore, was there, and the coffee was on.
Anderson smiled at him and got up to greet him. “How much chaos have you already caused?”
“A lot.” He then explained just what had happened this morning so far.
Anderson’s eyebrows shot up, and he asked, “You do know Richard, don’t you?”
“I do and for a very long time,” he replied, “so I was a little unprepared for his guys and their piss-poor attitudes.”
“Well, the gossip about you stealing the place from your grandma they’ll just have to stuff because that place is yours free and clear.
The fact that you told him that she’s been stealing money from your grandfather’s client accounts is a whole different story.
That contract, signed by both your grandparents, was also an NDA. ”
“Which contract was broken in the last couple years, by my grandparents. So, I’m a little fed up with everybody acting like I’m the big bad wolf being hard on this sweet little old lady and her poor missing husband.”
Anderson nodded. “In the last few years, Johanna has been anything but discreet, so that should help discount any rumors she’s spreading.” Yet Anderson had to laugh.