Key West Gone into the Night by Elizabeth Hilleren (best authors to read txt) 📗

 “I know that she got knocked up by that Hispanic man. I told her she was crazy to take up with foreigners. I told her.  She was never an easy child. I could have wrung her neck when she turned up pregnant.   She never had good sense in men. Nothing personal, Carl.”

Carl was sitting at the corner of the table now and just waved his hand in dismissal of her comment like he had heard these opinions before.

“However, I must say that she knew how to put out beautiful children.”

“Okay, tell me about Javier.”

“Susan told me that he’s wealthy. Don’t know if that’s true.  He bought her some nice things, but it wouldn’t be the first time some guy bought things they couldn’t afford to get what they wanted from a woman. He supposedly lives in Chile and travels for business. She was pretty tight lipped about him. I met him last Christmas.  They were seeing each other after she had moved Carl out. My grandson Tyler was very taken with him. He seemed nice enough to me, but I don’t trust foreigners. Nothing personal,” she added quickly.

Sharkey nodded.

“We have the local police going through your daughter’s house. Do you know if he stayed with her any length of time?”

“He was there for Christmas.  I think he stayed two or three weeks and left after New Year’s.  After that I’m not sure. I tried to tell her to end it, but she refused. Never really understood her. I didn’t see her again till the baby was born. She wanted her freedom from Carl but seemed content to tie herself down with another baby.  Go figure…”

“Okay, thanks. I’d like to talk to Carl alone, so I’m going to have one of our officers take you down to the cafeteria and get you some refreshments. We shouldn’t be too long.”

“Okay. I think I need something to steady my nerves.”

Sharkey called to have her escorted downstairs to the cafeteria.

*    *    *

Carl stood and Sharkey motioned him over to his desk.

“Sorry about that,” Carl said. “She’s a unique combination of opinions and a tendency to be pretty outspoken without thought of the consequences.”

“These are very emotional times for everyone. I understand. I do ask that you be truthful as you can about everyone involved. To do our job we need your help and being protective of people or their histories doesn’t help. I need to know as much about your wife’s demeanor, activities, and plans as you can tell me. When did you last talk to her?”

Carl took a deep breath.  “It was last week. She called frantically looking for more money.  She had lost her job and couldn’t keep up with the bills.  Mostly hospital bills and baby costs, she said. I was pissed. That kid isn’t mine. But I relented and sent her a couple hundred to get her through the month. I’m not a very good hard ass.”

“When did you know she was pregnant?”

“She had the baby in late August. She never really told me.  She didn’t show. She didn’t gain weight, just wore looser clothes.  I couldn’t believe that after he got her pregnant, he never came back to see her. I don’t know why.”

He changed the subject and continued. “She was the love of my life. She just had a hard time settling down after Tyler was born. Eventually she asked me to leave. I didn’t want to but didn’t want to create a war in Tyler’s house. So, for the kid, I left. I visited often to see Tyler. When I found out that she was seeing someone I wanted to make sure that Tyler was okay, not being ignored or being abused by the guy.”

“Why would you think that?”

“I came to pick up Tyler once and he was there. I didn’t trust him. Maybe it was just personal, but he seemed kind of…I don’t know…too smooth. But you know those foreigners can be emotional.”

Sharkey chuckled softly. “Yeah.  So, you didn’t have any further contact with him?”

“I was able to find out a little from Tyler. He told me that he lives in Santiago, Chile. He showed me some of the toys that he bought him. They were from Chile. Tyler said Javier wanted to have him and his mother visit him in Chile. That sent red flags up for me.”

“Why? Were you afraid you might not see him again?”

“I thought I didn’t like him, but yeah, I guess a lot of it was that I was afraid Tyler might be swept away to where I might never see him again.  He was smooth, a silver-tongued devil, that might take them all away.”

“Anything else that you can tell me about him?”

“You gotta find him. I’m sure he killed her.”

“What makes you so sure about that?”

“Just a gut feeling.  Who else would?”

“That’s what we hope to find out.” Sharkey’s eyes held Carl’s.

“You need to go now and get some rest and food. I’ll be in touch with you again tomorrow. We need you to officially do a positive identification of Susan’s body,” Sharkey said.

Carl took a deep breath.  “All right, in the morning. I’m not sure how much more I can take today.  I really like Stephanie, but she can be wearing. It was a long drive down here.”

“I understand. Here’s my cell number. Just call if you think of anything that might be of help.”

“Thanks, Detective. I appreciate everything you’re doing.”

Sharkey smiled. “Get some rest.”

Carl Abbott nodded as they headed for the cafeteria to collect Stephanie Williams.

*    *    *

Harris went to meet with Rex, who drove them to the waterfront.

“I feel like I just got hit by a Mac truck, Rex. I don’t know what to do. I feel like a