Chapter Eighteen #2
“In his defense, Molly, if I had a daughter, and someone touched her ass, who wasn’t married to her, I’d break off his hand and feed it to him. It’s a man thing.”
She sighed.
“All the testosterone...”
Only, her father was to the point.
“I kept my employees safe, but I never thought any would be in danger outside of my business. I would have walked her out.”
They didn’t doubt that.
“Jimmy, what’s your last name?” Gene asked. “I need it for our report,” he said, lying his ass off.
Someone was getting researched later.
Bet.
On.
It.
In fact, they all were. In the back of his mind, he was thinking about what Ethan had said about the gay teacher, and it stuck in his head.
Why?
He had no idea.
When he looked at the father and daughter, Mitch didn’t even give the bartender time to answer. Instead, he pointed at himself and then Jimmy.
“Kline. His is Birch.”
They made notes of them.
The owner was curious.
“Is what the news saying right?” he asked. “Was she found with two other women?”
Gene nodded.
“Yes, and that’s why we’re here. If I showed you the pictures of them, could you tell me if they look familiar?” he asked. “Maybe they came here as patrons, or maybe you saw Megan with either of them?”
No one minded.
“Sure!” Mitch said. “Anything to help you find who hurt our Megan.”
It was clear the man really cared about his employees. There was emotion in his eyes, and they understood that. There was no doubt he was thinking about how Molly could have been hurt.
Fathers worried.
Gene pulled up pictures of Ivey and Phylis to show them.
They passed the phone around, and when it got to Jimmy, he pointed. “This woman was here,” he said, pointing at Ivey. “She came up to her at the bar a few weeks ago. Maybe it was months. I don’t know. Time moves differently when you’re slinging drinks to drunks.”
Gene wasn’t surprised.
Randal Crest had said that she’d done just that. Everything was lining up in the questionings. So far, no lies were detected.
“What did they talk about?” he asked.
He shrugged.
“All I know is she hugged her, and then they talked for about five minutes, maybe. It was so loud in here. It was busy that night, and I was refilling drinks for the waiter, and covering Megan’s customers at the bar.”
What wouldn’t Gene give to be privy to that conversation?
“And the other one?” he asked.
Gene waited.
When the man flipped to the other picture, he shook his head.
“I don’t know if the other one was in here.”
He passed the phone to Molly, who worked the door. She checked out the two women.
“Uh, this one was definitely in here,” she said, verifying what Jimmy and Ivey’s ex had said. “This other one looks familiar,” Molly admitted. “What’s her name?”
“Phylis,” he said.
She stared at her.
“No, I’m sorry. I don’t know if she was or not. I see a lot of people. She could have been in here. I’m not one hundred percent sure.”
Gene pushed.
“If you were to give it a percentage. Zero being never saw her, and one hundred being definitely saw her, where would up place it?”
She didn’t hesitate.
“Eighty. Firm.”
Gene had an idea.
“Can you look at this person?” he asked, pulling something up on his phone. When he handed it to her, Molly nodded.
“Yeah, that’s Dave.”
Ethan lifted a brow. Then, he saw who it was. His partner was showing them Phylis’ husband.
“Yeah, he picks up food here when we open around lunch time,” Mitch said. “I think he said he takes it to his wife who works nearby.”
Jimmy agreed.
“Yep. That’s what he said,” he offered. “Maybe it’s once a month that happens.”
Gene was aware.
Again, that testimony was lining up too. So far, this case was a bitch because the only liar they ran into was the principal of the school.
Thankfully, Dannie had sent them a copy of his notes, and in them, it said that Dave picked up food for his wife and dropped it off at the business on occasion.
He had taken a shot at it.
“Has he ever come in with someone to eat here?” Gene asked.
Molly nodded.
“Yes! That’s how I recognize her, but her hair was shorter when she came in. Dave is a sweetheart,” she admitted.
Well, they managed to tie all three together, sort of. They’d all been in here.
“Did she interact with the bartender?” he asked.
Jimmy looked unsure.
“I can’t say if she has. We don’t work doubles at lunchtime behind the bar. It’s not a big let's get a drink’ kind of time of the day. Mitch doubles us up after five.”
Well, that was so close, and yet…they were still left hanging on this one.
“Thank you,” Gene admitted. “We appreciate your help,” he said.
Seeing the Feds were done, Mitch sent them off. When they were gone, he lowered his voice.
“They did bad things to her, didn’t they?” he asked.
Gene nodded.
“Yes.”
The man looked conflicted.
So, Gene went there.
“If you know ANYTHING, or suspect something, we need you to tell us, no matter how small you think it is. It might help find who hurt her.”
Hearing that, Mitch kept his voice low.
“I had a thing with Megan,” he said. “It was on the DL because she’s the same age as my daughter,” he admitted. “She told everyone she was gay, but she wasn’t after we met. I guess she swung both ways because she was sleeping with me.”
Well, Gene hadn’t been expecting that.
“I want to let you know that, because we definitely hooked up, a lot. It was difficult to keep it under wraps with my kid working here, but we were doing just that. I didn’t want you to find out because that makes me look sketchy.”
Oh, that it did.
Honestly, Gene appreciated him being honest with him.
This was what he was talking about when it came to Robert Fergus. He hadn’t told them, but Mitch Kline had.
Neither man was shocked he didn’t want his daughter to find out about it. Not every kid wanted to see their parent engaged in a MUCH younger woman.
In front of them.
“For how long?” Ethan asked.
He laughed.
“A couple years. She started working here at nineteen, six years ago, and it was right about then. At first, it was flirting, but it became something more.”
They weren’t judging him, but he had to be in his late forties—early fifties.
Megan was barely mid-twenties.
“I know she was half my age, and that’s why we didn’t flaunt it around. Molly would shit herself and kick my ass, but the heart loves who it loves.”
That posed a question.
“Are you and Molly’s mother…?”
He stopped him.
“She died of cancer when Molly was sixteen. It’s only been me and Molly since then. When I met Megan, she breathed life into me again. Molly has her own place, so most of the time, Megan can come to my place, or me hers, and we are not noticed.”
They let him talk.
“When I sent her off shift, she was heading to my place, not her apartment. That’s why I was so freaked out when I saw her car.
Honestly, I believed she changed her mind and went home.
I can’t tell you how sorry I am that I let her go alone,” he whispered.
“I loved her. I just didn’t know how to tell Molly about her. That was the last obstacle.”
They could see that.
The man was incredibly emotional.
“And she wouldn’t be happy?” Ethan asked.
Mitch laughed.
“I don’t know. Molly is unpredictable. Since her mother’s death, she hasn’t been the same. They were so close, and she watched her mother slowly die. It was traumatic.”
Well, Ethan understood that.
Cancer had taken his mother, too.
“Keep telling us about that night,” Gene said, giving him a chance.
Mitch did.
“When I got home, I was in a panic. She was supposed to show up at my place. I don’t live near the pub. At first, I thought maybe she took a cab. She’s done that before when she’s gotten off before me. She’ll leave her car, and…”
Gene got it.
“I called her phone a bunch of times, and I even drove back into the city to see if she was at her home. When she didn’t answer, I assumed I’d pissed her off when I sent her home.
She really didn’t want to leave. I know she would have rather stayed and Molly gone home, but I had to choose.
I have to watch the business's budget. I figured in the morning, she’d call and forgive me. ”
Well, he’d figured wrong.
“And no one was bothering her?”
He was to the point.
“I would have broken their necks had they been bothering her, so I’m not sure if she would have told me.”
Ethan was curious.
“Did she tell you why she was skittish around men?” he asked.
Mitch shook his head.
“No. She just told me that she liked older men. I don’t know if you noticed, but I’m definitely older.”
Oh, they noticed.
Because he’d been honest, they were honest.
“We are getting forensics. When was the last time you had sex with Megan, and was it with a condom?” he asked. “We have to cover our bases.”
The man glanced over at Molly, who was helping seat customers.
“I like bare. She was on protection. As for the when, it was earlier that day, in my office. She came in before everyone else, we had sex in there, and then, she went home a few hours later,” he said.
“You can have my DNA,” he offered. “I’ll help however I can.
I’m devastated. It’s getting hard to not tell everyone. How am I going to go on?”
Gene didn’t have an answer for that.
But Ethan did.
“Lean into your daughter. She looks like someone who can help you get through it. She’s not going to hate you for falling for someone her age. She’s going to hate you for not telling her. Then, she’ll wonder what else you’re not telling her.”
That was a good point.
“Thanks for that. I’m going to do that. We’re going to have a little wake here in a couple days for Megs. I’ll tell her before so she’s aware.”
That was probably a good idea. If Megan told anyone about their relationship, that cat would be out of the bag.
Ethan was sitting there, thinking about what Mitch had said about her liking older men, and that made him ponder the principal.
He was older than Ivey, too.