Chapter Twenty-seven
Allen tied the belt to his satin robe as he descended the stairs. The door chime sounded again as he reached the ground level and he barked, “Hang on a damn minute!” It wasn’t even ten a.m. Didn’t they have any goddamn manners? He still had guests upstairs. New guests. Ones he was thoroughly enjoying.
He got to the door, unlocked it, and pulled it open. Two men in cheap suits were standing at the threshold. One gave him a practiced but nevertheless awful grin.
“Mr. Beaufort? Mr. Allen Beaufort?”
“Who’s asking?”
The one with the grin flipped open his identification, showing a shiny badge. “Detective Hallorin. And this is Detective Marks.” He flipped the wallet closed and took on a more serious look. “May we come inside for a moment?”
Cops? What the fuck? Were they here for the girls? No. The agency he used was exclusive and extremely private. They guaranteed complete anonymity. So why were these assholes at his door?
“Well, that depends,” Allen said. “On why it is that you’re here.”
“Mr. Beaufort, we’re here to discuss your ex-wife.” He peeked at his small notebook. “One Natalie Brewer.”
Natalie? What the fuck? Had she’d been found? Was she dead? He hadn’t heard from Tito since he’d last seen him and that had been a few days before. If she was dead and Tito hadn’t found that out and told him, he really would kill him. He needed to know this shit. Preferably before the cops, in case he needed to clean anything up.
“Oh.” He covered his heart, as if he were distressed. “In that case, please, come in.” He stepped aside and allowed the men entry. He motioned them into the living room and offered them a seat. The detectives sat on the sofa while he snuck a look back up the stairs, hoping that the girls would remain put. He sat in the armed chair across from his visitors, crossing his legs and adjusting his robe to cover his knees. He was drastically underdressed and unprepared for their visit, but he didn’t want to leave them alone to go change. He didn’t trust cops as a rule, and he was only doing this to see how much they knew about Natalie, if anything.
“Has something happened?” he asked, feigning innocence.
Hallorin stared at him. “Such as?”
Allen shrugged. “I’m not sure. I just assumed that something must’ve happened. Otherwise, why would you be here?”
Hallorin let the question hang before he spoke again. “Mr. Beaufort, when did you last see Natalie?”
Allen pretended to think for a moment. “I can’t really say. A few months ago maybe? As I’m sure you know, she took out a restraining order against me, so I’ve had no recent contact with her.”
“You’re sure about that?”
“I am.”
Hallorin looked to Marks.
“Mr. Beaufort, it seems that Natalie is missing,” Marks said.
“Missing?”
“Her vehicle was found abandoned and burnt some weeks ago and no one has heard from her since.”
“Oh. I wasn’t aware.” Allen looked at his lap and pretended to be saddened by the news. He wasn’t totally bullshitting, he really did feel something. Just not sadness. It was more like disappointment. They weren’t telling him anything new.
“And you’re saying you haven’t had any recent contact with her, correct?”
He glanced up. “That’s correct.”
“Then why, Mr. Beaufort, did you go to her place of residence recently, demanding to see her?”
Allen made a steeple with his fingers and smiled. “Gentlemen, I can assure you I did no such thing.”
“We have two witnesses who claim otherwise.”
“And whom, may I ask, are they?”
“One of them is her roommate. Gayle Nelson. She says you demanded entry and locked yourself in Natalie’s room.”
“Gayle Nelson?” He kept his smile. “Am I mistaken or isn’t she known to use illegal substances?”
“Meaning?”
“Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it? She, for reasons I can attest to, has it out for me. She’s lying.” Hallorin raised an eyebrow at him and Allen continued. “Ms. Nelson has never liked me. And she partakes in recreational drugs. In other words, she’s not all there, not very competent. And she’s shaken me down for money, more than once. I refused. She promised I would pay one way or the other.”
“So you’re saying that she’s making this up to what, get some kind of revenge?”
“Precisely.” He leaned forward. “Let me ask you this. When you spoke to her, did her apartment reek of marijuana?”
“How would you know that if you hadn’t been there?” Marks asked.
Allen rested back in his chair. “I have been there, gentlemen. Just not recently. In fact, I’ve been there twice, and both times the apartment smelled of pot and Gayle herself was high.”
“And why were you at Natalie’s place of residence?” Hallorin asked.
“To bring her some of her things. As you know, we recently split and she’d left some of her things here at the house. She asked for them and I brought them to her.”
Hallorin flipped through his notes. “Your divorce was contentious, was it not?”
“I didn’t want the divorce. If you want to call that contentious then so be it.”
“Why didn’t you want the divorce?”
“Because I love my wife. We had our problems, but I wanted to try and work through them.”
“Mr. Beaufort, were you ever violent with your wife?”
“Absolutely not.”
“You never put your hands on her?”
“We had our disagreements, Detective, but no, I never put my hands on her. She, however, did put her hands on me a few times if you’d care to discuss that.”
Hallorin again looked to Marks. He closed his notebook and stood. Marks followed suit. “I think we’ve got all we need for now, Mr. Beaufort.”
Allen stood along with them. He waved them toward the door. “Please, let me know if I can be of any more assistance.”
“We will.”
Marks opened the door. Female voices came from upstairs. Allen plastered on a smile as the detectives looked at him curiously.
“Overnight guest,” he said.
The detectives exchanged another glance and walked out the door. Allen bolted it behind them and hurried into the kitchen to pick his phone up off the counter where it was charging. He dialed Tito and seethed into the phone, this time leaving a voice mail.
“You stupid son a bitch, the cops were just here. They’re looking for Natalie. You better find her before they do, or I swear I’ll bury you up to your head in the desert and let the coyotes and ants devour you.”