Chapter 8
Tex
W e make it back to Clara’s house. Reviewing her ring cam makes me more concerned when I see the person who dropped off those magazines. It was a man wearing a sweatshirt with the hood over his face. He clearly knew there was a camera and had made an effort to hide his face. He scrambled around placing the magazines how he wanted them and then left. The time was just after five thirty in the morning.
“Well that was a waste of time,” Clara mumbles as she turns off the monitor.
“Did that look at all like your husband?” I ask.
“Soon to be ex-husband,” she clarifies. She thinks it over for a few moments before saying, “Not really. Chris is tall and thin. Whoever that was had a stocky build and was barrel-chested. Nothing about that man seems familiar.”
“He was wearing gloves so we can’t get any prints off him. I get the feeling this might be someone your husband hired to harass y’all. The fact he kept his face hidden and gloved up suggests a professional.”
Clara’s expression turns fearful, and she glances at the door before returning to me. “I certainly hope not. God knows, I’m no match for a career criminal twice my size.”
“Y’all don’t have to worry. You’re staying with me at the clubhouse until we find out who’s doing this and neutralize him.”
Her mouth drops open but snaps it closed again, nodding. “Yeah, thanks for that by the way.” She pauses for a moment and then says, “Neutralize?”
I shrug, “Stop him.” Stop the fucker any way we needed to, but she doesn’t need to know that. “I think that next step is to speak with your ex. Reckon you’re up for a meeting with him?”
Clara is nodding her head again before I even finish the sentence. “Yeah, we can visit my sister’s place. They like to sleep in on the weekends.”
“Great. I’m looking forward to looking him in the eye when I question him. Do y’all think he’ll talk to us?”
“Probably, but there is only one way to find out. Chris has always thought of himself as a smooth talker, who can talk his way out of any trouble.”
I tell her pointedly, “I think that’s a lot easier when y’all only associate with people who are younger and more innocent about how the world works. It explains why he thought he could sleep with your sister and get away with it.”
Her eyebrows fly up in unison. “That theory makes perfect sense. It would explain why he was so shocked that I didn’t want to listen to all his lies and excuses. Going no contact with him clearly blew his mind, if the hundreds of texts and emails are any indication.”
***
We head out to her sister’s place, and I notice the grass wasn’t cut and all her flowers are dying. I ask, “Don’t they like to keep their yard looking nice?”
“My sister’s husband used to keep it looking really nice. Now that she threw him out for my soon-to-be-ex, I’m sure it’s not getting done because he’s never cut grass a day in life that I know of. That’s something we normally hire someone to do.”
“Tell me he’s a lazy fucker without telling me he’s a lazy fucker,” I mutter under my breath.
Clara just laughs. “When you’re right, you’re right.”
She rang the bell several times before her sister came to the door, she was wearing a robe and looks like she’s just woken up. “You finally came to see us.” The woman looks both relieved and pleased, like Clara had come for a social call or to patch things up.
“I was hoping to talk to Chris. Can you wake him up?”
Her sister’s smile is genuine. “Of course. We were hoping you would give us a chance to apologize properly. Give me five minutes.”
After showing us through to the living room she trots off upstairs, happy as a clam. We look around her house, which looks like a tornado had come through. There are shoes and kids’ stuff everywhere. The house isn’t nasty, nor does it smell bad. It’s just really messy. I guess houses get this way if you have a bunch of kids running wild instead of just one.
Chris comes stumbling downstairs almost immediately and rushes to Clara, like a man who’s realized he made a terrible mistake and thinks he can fix it with words. He’s like a string bean, with scrawny white legs sticking out of the bottom of a pair of knee-length basketball shorts. His hair’s askew and he hasn’t shaved in days. Not that there’s anything wrong with a beard or five o’clock shadow, but in his case it’s clear it’s from laziness. When he catches sight of me his expression immediately turns suspicious. “Clara, what the hell is going on? Why’s our next-door neighbor here?”
Clara gestures for him to have a seat on the sofa. “Good morning, Chris. You look like death warmed over.”
He shoots a dirty look at her sister, not that she notices.
“Tex has been helping me discover who’s been harassing me.”
Chris rolls his eye, “Is this about whoever’s setting off your car alarm? It can’t be that difficult to figure out.”
I jump into the conversation at this point. “There have been other forms of harassment as well. So far, it’s been nonviolent, but it seems to be escalating. That’s the reason we’re looking into it.”
“What’s it got to do with you? She needs to call the fucking police, instead of our fucking neighbor.”
I look him right in the eye and say, “She did call the police and I’m here to investigate.” Technically, I’m a trainer rather than a regular police officer but he doesn’t need to know that.
His mouth falls open and I ask, “Can y’all tell me where y’all were last night between the hours of eleven and three in the morning?” It’s that question that all cops ask when they want to catch the perp off-guard and see the moment they realize they’re a potential suspect. Though in Chris’ case, he just sits there with his mouth open like he’s catching fucking flies.
A short silence spins out in the room before her sister speaks. “He was here with me, like he is every night.”
Something about her demeanor doesn’t ring true. “Y’all sure about that, ma’am. If we pull the footage from your doorbell camera which I see you have, we’d find that he came home like a good little boy after working hard all day?”
She freezes in place for a brief moment, before he admits he wasn’t there. “I had a night out with the boys. They can vouch for my whereabouts. The bar we were at also had security footage that you can pull.”
“Name?” I ask.
“Jugs,” he replies. I see Clara’s sister’s expression darken. I reckon Chris is gonna have some explaining to do later, as to why he was hanging out at a bar with scantily dressed waitresses with huge breasts.
“I wasn’t anywhere near my home last night,” he clarifies.
“Former home,” Clara chimes in.
Her sister adds, “Oh sweetie, you’re gonna have to sell that so Chris can cash out his half. We’ve got plans and he’ll be needing his share of the proceeds from selling the house.”
Chris shoots her a dirty look, but it’s Clara who clarifies the situation. “That house belongs to me. I bought it with my inheritance before Chris and I married.”
“What inheritance? We only got fifty grand a piece from Grandpa’s estate.”
“Yeah, and I invested it wisely and didn’t blow it on vacations and shoes, I also had some money set aside and bought it before the housing bubble blew up.”
I can tell her sister is getting agitated. “That’s not fair.”
Clara mumbles under her breath, “Cheating with my husband and trying to make me sell my house is not fair.”
Her sister isn’t listening though. She turns to Chris and demands, “Is what she’s saying true? Does the house belong to her?”
He grits his teeth and answers, “It is. You have no right to stick your nose in our divorce.”
I stepped in again before things blew up, “We’re not here to talk about the divorce or estate planning. We’re here to talk about what Chris knows about the harassment taking place against his wife.”
Chris shakes his head, looking bewildered. “I honestly don’t know anything about it.”
“Did y’all buy a bunch of pornographic magazines and have them delivered to her house?”
“What? No! Of course not. I’m married to a beautiful woman. I’d be kind of stupid to ruin it all by getting addicted to porn.”
“But having a full-blown affair with your wife’s sister is somehow okay?” I ask, again making good eye contact.
“That was a drunken one-night stand. Clara knows I love her.”
Her sister makes an indignant sound in the back of her throat, stands up, and flounces away. I come to my feet and slip him one of my cards. “If y’all can think of anything else, please don’t hesitate to call. I may have to bring y’all in for questioning at some point. And be forewarned, if I find y’all within a hundred yards of Clara’s home, I will arrest you. Got it?”
He starts stammering, “I thought Clara came to talk to us, to make things right.”
I just stare at him. “How could she possibly make things right? She wasn’t the one who fucked up her marriage by having an affair with her spouse’s sibling.”
If looks could kill, I would be a dead man. Chris is only just now beginning to realize that I was not going to go out of my way to help him get face time with Clara. As far as I am concerned, he needs a good ass whooping.
I don’t know why, but something about his behavior seems too oblivious for him to be the one harassing her. Chris seems more focused on himself, rather than Clara or her sister. He seems depressed, like a man out of place who had pinned all his hopes on getting forgiven. Still, it would be dumb to rule him out based on my gut instinct. He’s still the most likely suspect, statistically speaking.
I follow Clara out the front door, where she gets briefly snagged by her tearful sister complaining that he’s out every night drinking, and she didn’t know what to do. Clara doesn’t have a lot to say, nor does she give her sister much eye contact. Their interaction is awkward, though to be fair I’m not sure how it could be anything but awkward. Clara extricates herself and continues walking to the truck with me.
The minute we’re inside with the doors shut, she asks, “What do you think?”
I press my lips together into a firm line for a few minutes as I mull the whole thing over in my mind. Being a former cop, I have a good nose for perps. “I’m not so sure that it’s Chris. But this whole damn situation is confusing.”
“How so,” she asks.
“Well, if what Chris is saying is true, that he wants you back, then by rights he should be moving heaven and earth to woo y’all back, not hanging out at his bit on the side’s place waiting for the woman he betrayed to come save him from his own shitty decisions. To be honest, he doesn’t sound half smart to me.”
“Oh, Chris is smart, I know he doesn’t appear that way, but he’s an accountant.”
I raise my eyebrows, “Maybe he just has a passive personality, where things happen to him, and he just drifts along waiting for things to resolve themselves.”
“Yeah, that describes him perfectly. Chris just isn’t all that motivated. That’s why he wants me to take him back. He’s used to drifting along in my slipstream while I do everything for him. I don’t think he loves me, he just wants to be taken care of.”
Giving her the side eye, I point out the obvious. “I guess that’s what you liked about him, that he’d just follow you around like a little puppy, making all the decisions in life.”
Her voice turns cold. “Or, hear me out on this, I did most of the executive decision making because my husband chronically dropped the ball, and I had to. Despite the fact that I went into the marriage wanting a partner, and not a manchild.”
I don’t respond to her remark because I can tell she’s getting aggravated. Instead I go in a different direction. “That sounds about right.”
She sits with a grim look on her face.
“I’m really sorry y’all are having to go thought this situation, Clara. I can’t believe he fucked up a perfectly good marriage by getting with your sister behind your back.”
“I’m just ashamed to admit I never saw it coming. How could I miss that? The weird part is that my sister’s husband is a really nice man. He and Chris were close before this all popped off. He was a good dad that helped her out with the kids and had a decent job. They seemed so happy before she decided to throw it all away on Chris.”
“Why don’t we see if your sister’s husband will talk to us? What’s his name?”
“Wade Duncan,” she says.
“We’ve got to face the fact that he might have an axe to grind with you, for a variety of reasons.”
“Why me? Surely if he’s angry at anyone it’ll be Gina or Chris?” she asks.
I shrug, “It could be that although he hates Chris for cheating with his wife, he might think it’s your fault he strayed, or he might think that his wife would have come back to him if only you had taken Chris back. He might even blame y’all for your sister throwing him out.”
“Always blame the woman,” she shoots me an angry look.
“Hey, I’m not saying I agree with that shit. Just how some men’s minds work.”
“Again, anything is possible,” she mumbles.
I watch her take out her cell phone and text his number. He responds almost immediately, agreeing to meet us.
I tell her, “Let’s meet him in a public place. See if he wants to have coffee with us.”
“He suggested the Spark Diner on route fifty. Is that okay?”
“That’s just fine,” I tell her.
“He’s on his way.”
“Tell him we’re heading that way right now.”
I shift gears and drive us there. The fact that Wade seems so keen to talk to us is a good sign. “I’m hoping that if it turns out that Wade isn’t a viable suspect he might have some useful information on your sister. He might even have intel on Chris, things he’s picked up talking to him over the years that could give us a hint as to who is doing this.”
Suddenly, Clara perks up a bit. “To be honest, they were pretty close before this situation blew his marriage up. They used to be tight at one time.”
***
When we pull into the restaurant parking lot, Clara points to a blue SUV. “That’s his vehicle. He’s already here, waiting on us.”
We jump out of the truck and go into the diner. When Clara starts moving towards a man, I follow her. When I get close enough to really get a good look at him, something that feels like empathy wells up in my chest.
I hear Clara gasp and whisper “Jesus” under her breath.
This man looks terrible. He’s wearing a white, wrinkled button up shirt that looks a bit dingy. His hair is greasy, and his hands are trembling when he raises his cup of coffee to his lips. Whereas Chris looked a mess because he’s lazy, this guy looked like he’d given up on himself.
Clara and I slide into the booth across from him and she says, “Wade, you look terrible. What happened?”
“My best friend slept with my wife, and she threw me out for him. She won’t even let me see the kids. Said I had to take her to court to get visitation with them. Can you believe that?”
Clara shakes her head, looking traumatized by the sight of him. “I’m right there with you. She’s my sister after all.”
Wade brings up one hand and scratches at his right temple. “I just don’t know how something like this could have happened. I never saw it coming,” he says in a shaky voice.
Clara acknowledges, “I didn’t see it coming either, Wade. I remember coming home early and seeing her car in my driveway. I just thought Chris was sick and she’d come to check on him. It didn’t occur to me that they were having an affair until I walked in and saw their clothing on the living room floor. Then I heard them and…” She breaks off, we can both see the look that flashes across Wade’s face. It’s clear this is all new to him.
Wade takes another drink of his coffee. “I wondered how that went down. You went no contact with everyone so fast, I didn’t have a chance to ask you anything.”
Clara’s bottom lip begins to tremble. “I’m sorry Wade. I should have called you and explained things.”
Taking another sip of his coffee, he continues. “Unlike you, I didn’t leave immediately. I loved her and didn’t want to lose my family. So like a dumbass, I told Gina we could make things work. Within a week, she’d thrown me out and let Chris move in.”
Scratching nervously at his neck, he mumbles as if to himself, “It’s like all those years of us being together, loving each other, and having kids together didn’t matter at all. She got her opportunity for something better and jumped at it without hesitation. I wasn’t even an afterthought, more like the nuisance that she wanted rid of. Every time I call to talk to the kids, they cry and ask when I’m coming home. I don’t know what I’m doing with myself anymore, Clara.”
Clara reaches out and puts her hand over his. “Look at me Wade. You’re a good man and a good father. You were a good husband, one that any woman would be proud to have. I don’t know what’s gotten into my sister, but she and Chris are the ones in the wrong here. You and I didn’t do anything to deserve this. It’s just one of those crazy things that happen when you least expect it. You’ve got to snap out of it. Don’t let a couple of assholes ruin your life.”
He swallows hard. “I got my doctor to put me on medical leave because I haven’t been able to pull my fucking self together and act like a man. I lost my apartment and have been sleeping in my car. Someone slashed my tires last night and I spent my last hundred bucks getting it replaced. I’m at rock bottom here, Clara. They already ruined my damn life, and I don’t know if I have the strength to pull myself out of this hole I’ve fallen into.”
Damn it! I can’t stand to see a man lose his wife. I know exactly what he feels like, so I pull out my phone and text Siege.
Me: Got space for another at the clubhouse? Will explain later, but I can vouch for him.
Wade is still talking when my phone vibrates, it’s a response from Siege.
Siege: Okay brother.
I knew my Prez would come through. Turning to Wade I say, “Alright, here’s the thing. Someone has been harassing Clara as well. It’s too much of a coincidence that y’all got your tires slashed too. It seems like someone is targeting both of y’all.”
His head snaps around to look at Clara. “Someone is stalking and harassing you? My God, why didn’t you say something? I could have parked up and kept an eye on you.”
Clara gazes at him. “If I’d known you were down on your luck, I’d have let you stay in my guest room. Don’t worry about me. You’ve got enough going on trying to cope with this whole shitshow on your own.”
“No,” I tell her. “We need Wade’s help, especially if they’re targeting him too.”
Of course we really don’t need Wade’s help, but he sure does need ours. So I turn to him and say, “You’re coming with us today. Our clubhouse has extra rooms for people to stay in temporarily. You’re gonna get cleaned up, have a nice lunch with us, and then you’re gonna help me figure out what’s going on here.”
Wade just laughs, “Dude, you’re nuts if you think I can figure out shit right now.”
“You’re wrong about that. Y’all might have the key to unlocking this shit and y’all don’t even know it. You’ve been involved in this family for years. You know Chris like the back of your hand. Y’all also know all the family secrets and have been eyes on with all the weird shit that nobody ever talks about.”
I can tell the little wheels in his head are turning and he’s considering the offer. He finally tells me quietly, “I don’t have money to pay my way so going with you would be taking advantage.”
“No. That’s how it works with a motorcycle club. If y’all help us out in any way, y’all get to stay at the clubhouse. The rooms are nice and clean, the brothers are friendly, and the food and drink are free. You pay by helping out with whatever problem we have. This is the way we operate. Hell, the bar doesn’t even have a fucking cash register because all the drinks are on the house.”
Clara catches on to what I’m doing and encourages him as well. “Yes, I’m staying there at the moment. They all say the Savage Legion trades a favor for a favor. This is a win-win situation. Please come with us and at least give it a try. We really need you.”
I point out, “If you don’t like being there, y’all can always just leave. Ain’t nobody gonna get mad one way or the other.” I glance at my watch. “Whatever you decide, we’re gonna have to get moving, because I left my fourteen-year-old there with one of the prospects. He’s learning to play chess.”
Hope lights up Wade’s face. “It’s a family friendly place?”
“Yeah, during the day brothers bring their kids. After dark,” I pause. I’d not broached that subject with Clara. I mean it’s not a den of iniquity but put a bunch of men together with alcohol and barely dressed club girls and things can sometimes get a bit X-rated. “After dark it might not be so family friendly. Any kids either go home or stay in their rooms.”
An expression of amusement settles onto Wade’s face. “Well, since I’m not a kid, I guess that’ll be alright. You really think we can get to the bottom of this?”
I give him a decisive nod. “Course I do. We’re smart, capable men after all.”
Clara seems delighted. “Let’s get going then.”