Chapter 12
We caught up with Angela at her home in Whispering Heights. It was a nice neighborhood, but a far cry from the mansions of Stingray Bay and the Platinum Dunes.
Angela was upset, but not surprised. A grim frown tugged her face, and her eyes misted with sorrow. "I don't know how I'm gonna tell the kids," she said, blotting the tears away with a tissue.
She had invited us in, and we sat on the sofa in the living room. The home was cozy and well-kept. Pastel yellow walls and white accents. Breezy coastal furniture. French doors opened to a patio and a pool.
Angela's jaw tightened. "It makes me so mad. I just spoke to him last week. He told me he was out of rehab, and that was all behind him. He was done for good this time. For him, I really hoped he was telling the truth. There was no chance for us. He messed that up a long time ago.” She frowned.
“Wes was such a kind soul. He was a hard guy to stay mad at," she said with a slight chuckle.
She exhaled a frustrated breath as the memories flooded in.
"I tried. I really did. I held out for as long as I could, but the kids could see what was going on.
I couldn't have him around them in that condition. You understand?"
She didn't need to ask us for approval, but I'm sure somewhere inside, she felt responsible for Wesley's death.
"There's no one to blame but Wes. He made his own choices."
Angela frowned and nodded.
She grabbed another tissue from the coffee table and blotted her eyes again. "Can I get you anything to drink? Water, coffee?"
"No, thank you,” I said. “We’re fine. You know Tad Vickers?"
Her jaw tensed, and her eyes filled with anger. "That little weasel has been selling him drugs since high school."
"High school?"
"Wes wasn't doing heroin in high school. Back then, it was weed, Molly, and a little cocaine on special occasions. As they grew older, Tad graduated to the heavy stuff." She thought for a moment. “Are you gonna put him in jail?"
"We're certainly going to have a talk with him.”
"He can be charged with manslaughter because Wes died, right?"
"If he sold him the drugs. But proving that might be difficult.”
"I hope you put him under the jail,” she said, anger narrowing her eyes. “I can’t imagine how someone who is supposedly a friend could watch another person deteriorate like Wes did and keep feeding him drugs. I guess it's all about the money with that guy.”
"When was the last time you talked to Wes?”
"Just a few days ago," Angela said. "Like I said, Wes called last week and swore up and down he was clean. Wanted to talk to me about working out some kind of custody agreement where he could see his kids again. I got sole custody after the divorce because of his drug use.”
"Did he have a criminal record?"
"No. But he had tried rehab twice before during our marriage. It was a documented part of our divorce.”
"What do you think instigated his drug use initially?”
She exhaled a hopeless breath. "I don't know.
I think in high school and college, it was just fun.
Recreational. Everybody dabbled here and there.
But something happened. Wes changed. I saw it even before we got married.
I kept thinking that marriage would straighten him out.
Then, I thought kids would straighten him out.
" She shook her head. "I was wrong. Some people you just can't fix. "
I thanked her, offered our condolences once again, and gave her a card.
I told her to get in touch if she needed anything or remembered any details that might be helpful.
But I was of the mind that this was open and shut.
Wes had made poor life choices and overdosed.
Just like Whitney Hollingsworth. Two senseless deaths in the span of 24 hours.
It was enough to make you think there was an epidemic at hand. And perhaps there was.
We left and set out to find Tad Vickers. According to the DMV, he lived in the Nautilus. It was a luxury high-rise with all the amenities and a private marina. It was a nice place, and the units didn’t come cheap.
Jack pulled up to the valet, and the kid jogged to grab his door. “Keep it up front,” he said as he slipped a few bills in the kid’s palm. “We won’t be here long.”
“Nice car,” he replied, ogling the classic beauty.
We walked to the main entrance, and I flashed my badge at the glass doors. The doorman let us in. I didn’t see the concierge. JD and I strolled across the opulent lobby to the elevators and zipped up to the 15th floor. We marched down the hall, and I rang the video doorbell at unit #1517.
There was no answer.
I rang again, and we hung around another few moments with no response. If Tad was inside, he wasn’t answering.
We left and made our way back down to the lobby. I asked the doorman if he’d seen Tad lately.
“I think he left early this morning.”
“Did he say where he was going?”
The doorman shook his head.
I thanked him, gave him my card, along with a wad of cash, and asked him to get in touch when Tad returned. I wasn’t holding my breath that I’d hear from him.
The valet pulled the Porsche around, and we climbed in. I texted Isabella and asked her to track Tad’s phone.
She texted back a few minutes later. [He doesn’t have a cell phone listed in his name. He’s probably using a prepaid, and he’s smart enough not to use it from his condo.]
[Thanks.]
Tad had been in the drug game long enough to know how to cover his tracks. Never sell to people you don’t know. Never do deals over devices that can be linked to you. Never handle product directly if you can avoid it. I’m sure at this stage, he had runners.
We headed back to Diver Down and grabbed lunch. Teagan greeted us at the bar with a cheery smile as we took our seats. Somehow, she seemed to make all the troubles of the world fade away with that smile of hers.
Afterward, we went back to the Avventura, got into costume, and set out for the children’s hospital. I pulled on a pair of sweatpants over the elf tights so I didn’t look like a total idiot as we traveled between here and there. I carried the jacket, cap, and shoes, and brought a change of clothes.
Jack donned the wig and beard. He looked pretty jolly in the red suit, but he'd already worked up a sweat by the time we got to the Porsche. A little cool weather might be a welcome relief.
We drove to the hospital and took a moment to get into character in the parking lot. Game face on, I climbed out of the car, put on the jacket and cap, and followed JD into the lobby.
“Ho, ho, ho,” Jack bellowed as we entered.
Jasmine greeted us with a warm smile in the lobby. With bright eyes, she said, “Oh my God! You two look amazing!” In a soft, sincere tone, she added, “Thank you for doing this. The kids are going to be thrilled.”
Jasmine was a heavenly creature with raven hair, tan skin, and smoldering dark eyes. She was a Christmas package JD was just waiting to unwrap. If he played his cards right, she might just be under the tree on the big day.
“So, I figured we’d just go room to room and greet the kids. I’ll keep a watch on the time and try to keep it moving so we can get to everyone.”
“We’ll get to everyone,” JD assured. “Doesn’t matter how long it takes.”
Jasmine smiled, already melting.
I had a sneaking suspicion this wasn’t about Jasmine at all. Jack just wanted to make the kids smile. So did I. For some, that was a little harder than anticipated.