Chapter Ten
Ben slammed his hammer down on the framing nail, venting his frustration.
The day had been a bust, and he still had a few hours to go before his shift ended.
He worked alongside Hanson again, and the man was more disagreeable than usual.
He snapped at Ben at every turn, and Hartcourt had to step in once when Hanson’s verbal assault grew loud enough to be heard over the construction site.
Any attempt on Ben’s part to smooth things over or find out what bug Hanson had up his ass proved futile.
By twelve-thirty, Hanson had gone to see Hartcourt, and within minutes, he drove away from the construction site without saying a word to anyone else.
Hartcourt just ordered Ben to continue with the work Hanson left unfinished without any sort of explanation as to why Hanson left.
Ben considered that something might be wrong with Caleb, but there was little he could do to check into it, just short of walking off the site and risking his cover.
He wanted to call Luke for an update, but Hartcourt was strict about the use of cell phones when they weren’t on break.
Distractions led to accidents, so it was a rule he wouldn’t break as much as he wanted to.
Ben was left with no one to take his frustration out on except for the nails on the business end of his hammer.
After a bit, he realized he was less angry at Hanson’s unreasonable treatment and more irritated at himself for losing his cool.
He was conditioned not to rise to others’ taunts or bullying, but today Hanson had pushed him too hard.
That, along with Ben’s fitful night of sleep, had been enough to rankle his temper.
When the time came to clock out, Ben waved off invitations from the others to grab a beer somewhere.
With his curiosity burning, he drove to Hanson’s home and found a spot on the street to park and watch his suspect’s house without being noticed.
Well, unless he sat on the street for too long.
There was a risk that a concerned neighbor would call the cops and report him for suspicious activity.
If that happened, he’d have some fast explaining to do.
He only observed for a couple of minutes before realizing no one was at the Hanson home. Hanson’s car wasn’t visible, no lights were on inside, and no one was visible through the windows. From what Ben knew of the man, this was enough of a break in the family’s routine to make Ben suspicious.
After a moment, he started his truck and moved down the street, turning on the next block to drive up behind the Hanson home. If he drove slowly enough, he could see Hanson’s backyard through the line of houses on this street. All was still and quiet, which gave him an idea.
Taking another turn, he drove the truck into the dirt parking lot of a small church tucked away in the quiet neighborhood.
The brick sign announced the location as Guiding Light Church with services held on Sunday mornings, Sunday evenings, and Wednesday nights.
The church remained quiet on the other days of the week, such as this one, so Ben parked behind the church out of sight of passersby.
He set out on foot, careful not to attract attention, until he was able to approach Hanson’s house undetected.
He peered in the windows but noted nothing that he hadn’t seen before — a house in complete disarray.
On a hunch, he pulled a glove from his pocket, slipped it on his hand, and tested the knob on the back door.
He was shocked when it turned in his hand without resistance.
The lack of security could be the byproduct of living in the small town, but knowing how private Hanson was, the notion didn’t seem likely.
Taking a deep breath, he stepped inside and quickly closed the door behind him.
Careful not to leave evidence of his presence, he moved through the home, not sure what he was looking for but searching all the same.
He took a few deep breaths to clear his mind and push away the frustration of his day to focus.
Other than clutter, dust, and a faint odor he couldn’t name, he found nothing of consequence as he moved from room to room.
He cleared the kitchen and living room. There was another door that was locked, and he decided not to break his way inside.
He had the skills to easily pick the lock if he wanted, but he had no idea how much time he had before Hanson and Caleb returned home.
For now, he would stick with what was in plain sight.
He moved to the bedrooms, looking through Hanson’s first before walking through Caleb’s.
He searched the pantry closet before stepping into the hallway bathroom.
Nothing appeared out of the ordinary, and he was ready to exit when his gaze fell on a box in the garbage can.
His brow furrowed as he reached for the box of hair dye.
The smiling face on the outside had dark hair that was more of the shade of Caleb’s than his father’s.
Placing the box back in the garbage, he searched through the cabinet under the sink and found two unopened boxes of the same hair dye.
Removing his phone from his jeans, he took a picture of the box.
He wasn’t sure what his find meant, but he didn’t want to leave without documenting it.
An idea struck him. He tore off pieces of toilet paper and used one to place strands of hair from a brush lying on the bathroom sink.
Returning to the master bathroom, he did a different piece of the toilet paper to do the same thing to the hair in the brush he found there.
Deciding he’d spent enough time searching the house, he made his way through to the back door.
He heard a car door slam, and he rerouted his steps to a window that looked out at the front.
An SUV parked in the Hanson driveway, the back hatch open.
Only a moment passed before a hand reached to close the trunk door, revealing a woman standing with Caleb Hanson at the back.
She spoke to the boy as he shrugged his backpack on, but Ben couldn’t hear what she said.
Caleb nodded and started walking, his steps taking him around the back of the house.
Ben ducked out of sight into the pantry just as Caleb came through the unlocked back door. Since he left the pantry door slightly cracked, he watched the young boy drop his backpack on the kitchen counter, stop at the refrigerator to grab a soda, then wander to a different part of the house.
Once Ben heard the distinct sound of a video game, he stepped out of the pantry and through the back door, locking the knob before he pulled it closed. The door had been unlocked for Caleb to come inside when he was dropped off, but Ben couldn’t leave it unsecured with the young boy there alone.
Careful not to draw suspicion, he jogged back to his truck, his mind whirling. His gut churned like he’d just discovered something critical to his case, but he wasn’t sure what that was. Rather than driving back to the motel, he placed a call.
“Hey,” Luke answered at once. “Good timing. I’m here with Easton and Jackson.”
Ben didn’t know where here was, but it didn’t matter. His brothers were the exact sounding board he needed.
“Good. I need some perspective on what I just found. So Hanson left his shift after lunch today. His attitude was shit, which is saying a lot since he’s never friendly.
The thing is, whenever he’s not at work, he’s with Caleb.
As soon as I could, I headed over to his place to do some snooping.
No one was home. The back door was unlocked. ”
“So you went inside,” Jackson finished for him.
“Right, just for a cursory look. The place is a dump, but there wasn’t anything that stood out until I went into the bathroom, which is obviously the one Caleb uses. I found an empty box of hair dye in the trash and two more boxes in the cabinet. The color matches Caleb’s hair more than Hanson’s.”
“Weird,” Easton said. “But what does it mean?”
“I’m not sure,” Ben admitted. “I mean, what reason would he have to change Caleb’s appearance, but not his own?”
“Well, why does anyone change their appearance at all?” Jackson asked. “If they’re on the run. If they’re hiding.”
“If they’re bored with their look,” Easton interjected. “I mean, women color their hair all the time. It’s weird for a kid to do it, but maybe he wanted something cool like a friend of his has. It wouldn’t be that big of a stretch.”
“He’s a fourth grader. I doubt he’s worried about his hair. He’s more preoccupied with video games,” Ben said. “Anyway, I’m guessing Luke filled you in on my theory?”
“Yeah,” Jackson responded. “You think the kid is not Hanson’s biological son.”
“Well, either that or Hanson is his dad, but his mom was never his mom. So while I was inside, I got some hair from their brushes. Think we can find a lab to do some DNA testing? I know it’s a long shot, but it’s all I’ve got at the moment.”
“If it closes this case sooner, then we’ll make it happen. I’ll call Alex. They have a private lab they use, and he can get a rush on it.”
Jackson’s Army buddy, Alex Crandell, owned the successful Atlas Security. Because he and a few of his security operatives were aware of the Legends, Alex often helped Jackson and his brothers with cases.
“Thanks, brother,” Ben said. “I’m not sure where to go from here if this lead doesn’t pan out.”
“Something tells me we’re heading in the right direction even if your theory is not right,” Luke interjected.
“I checked into the mom like you asked. Nothing stood out except for one thing I thought was odd. The doctor of record for Delia Hanson when she gave birth and had her miscarriages is the same doctor who signed her death certificate.”
“Did she die in childbirth?” Jackson questioned.
“No. She committed suicide,” Luke said.
“Did you check out the doctor?” Easton spoke up while Ben processed the new intel.
“He died some time ago. He has family living in California,” Luke answered.
“So why do we care if he signed her death certificate?” Easton asked.
“Because he was already retired when she died,” Jackson returned.
Ben stayed silent. His mind worked through the different pieces, tossing them around in his head, looking for how they fit together.
His brothers continued to talk, obviously not realizing that he didn’t chime in.
Their back-and-forth was a piece of home that he’d been missing since beginning this case.
The banter was welcomed background noise, familiar in its chaos, allowing him to think.
“Ben. Ben. You still there?”
Ben turned his attention back to the phone call. “Yeah, sorry. Just thinking.”
Jackson continued. “I texted Alex. He has someone in the area where you are. He’ll meet you at the motel in a couple of hours to get the samples.”
“Great. Thanks, man. Listen, I’ll talk to you guys later.”
“Hold up, Ben,” Luke said.
With the shift in background noise, Ben guessed his brother took the call off speaker phone.
“Listen, I checked into your girl.”
“She’s not my girl,” Ben grumbled.
“Keep telling yourself that, brother. Anyway, Charlotte Redding came up clean. At least for the last year or so. Beyond that…”
Luke’s voice trailed off, and Ben sat up straighter. “What did you find?”
“Nothing.”
Ben exhaled loudly. “She’s clean?”
“I didn’t say that. I said there’s nothing to find on your girl past the day she stepped foot in Ivy Springs over a year ago.”
“She’s using an alias.” Ben was surprised…that he actually wasn’t surprised by Luke’s discovery. He’d known Charlotte was hiding something, so the fact that she wasn’t using her real name made sense.
“You have a photo of her? I can run her through facial recognition software to see if I can find an ID.”
“I don’t, but it doesn’t matter. I’ll take it from here. Thanks, Luke.”
“I shouldn’t have to say this to you, but it’s never a good sign when someone lies about who they are.”
“Which is what I do all the time.” Ben settled back against the seat, defeat washing over him.
“That’s not what I meant, dumbass. Look, be careful, okay? You’re a sucker for a girl in trouble, especially one who’s hot. Don’t let her get one over on you.”
“She’s not like that.”
“You don’t know what she’s like,” Luke countered. “That’s the point.”
“I can’t walk away, man. She needs help. I have no doubt she’s using an alias because she’s hiding from something or someone who has her scared. No one should have to live terrified.”
“I agree, but until you know for sure that’s what’s going on, you need to keep your guard up.”
“Yeah, okay. I know. You’re right. I can’t lose perspective. I’ll be careful.”
“Good. Keep your head on a swivel and reach out if you need us there.”
The call ended, but Ben’s tumultuous thoughts had just begun spinning.
Several minutes passed before Ben reminded himself he needed to get moving.
He secured the hair samples in plastic bags he kept in his lunch cooler, and he managed to find a marker in the glove box to label the two samples.
He had enough time to grab food and a shower before the Atlas Security operative showed up at the Skyline.
He went through the motions of ordering at a fast-food drive-thru window, paying with cash, and heading back to the motel.
Out of habit, he sought out Charlotte’s car in the parking lot, but it was gone, as was Wally’s vehicle.
He suspected Wally and Mona knew the truth behind Charlotte’s secrecy, and he was tempted to question them under the guise of wanting to help.
But more than he wanted to know the truth, he wanted to hear that truth from Charlotte directly.
He just had to figure out a way to convince her to trust him with her secrets.