Mayhem & Mistletoe Read online

  “That’s one way of putting it,” CeeCee replied. “He tore through hearts and bank accounts at a fantastic rate.”

  “Did he tear through your bank account?” It was a bold question to ask, but I had to know.

  Rather than delay or deny, CeeCee bobbed her head. “He did. He didn’t take quite as much from me as he did from others I know. I caught on relatively quickly. I don’t have any love for him.”

  I had to admire her fortitude. “Most people wouldn’t admit that.”

  “I have no reason to hide it,” she countered. “Everyone in my circle is aware of what happened. I don’t see the point in hiding it.”

  “He was never really prosecuted,” I pointed out. “People opted to let him go free rather than testify.”

  “I was never asked to testify. Had I been, it wouldn’t have been easy, but I would’ve done it.” She sipped her tea again and placed the cup on the table. “What’s this all about? Why are you interested in Beau?”

  She’d been honest with me, so I decided to repay her in kind. “Did you hear about the bodies found by the railroad tracks?”

  CeeCee nodded, her eyes narrowing. “Beau was one of those men?”

  “I don’t have confirmation on that,” I cautioned. “I overheard his name in conjunction with the case. The sheriff’s department isn’t releasing names until they’ve identified all the victims. That leaves my hands tied ... except for Beau.”

  “Hmm.” CeeCee tapped her bottom lip and leaned back in her chair. “I hadn’t heard that he might be part of that group. Is it true they were wearing Santa suits?”

  I nodded. “I was there for the initial discovery.”

  “Do you know how they died?”

  I pictured the initial mangled body. “There was talk it could’ve been a train accident before the other bodies were found. The sheriff is being very tight lipped.”

  “I bet.” Her eyes flitted with amusement, and then she shook her head. “I don’t know what to tell you. I have no idea why Beau would be in a Santa suit, or how he would end up dead with those other men.”

  “What about you?” I focused on Janet. “Were you one of the women he bamboozled?”

  Janet had the reaction I expected from CeeCee. She shook her head. “Of course not!”

  “Janet, don’t lie,” CeeCee admonished. “The information will come out eventually if Beau really is one of the dead. You should get ahead of the story.” She fixed her attention on me. “Janet also fell for Beau’s story. She was a victim before me. Had she said what she knew at the time, we might’ve been able to end things sooner.”

  Janet balked. “I couldn’t tell people. It was embarrassing.”

  “Yes, well, sometimes embarrassment is necessary for the greater good.” CeeCee shot her a quelling look, one that told me who was in charge in their relationship. “As for Beau, I heard he was sniffing around some of his previous victims looking for help several weeks ago. Actually, it could be months now.”

  Now we were getting somewhere. “Did any of these women take him up on the offer?”

  “Not that I’m aware of. I don’t know anybody who would let him back into a bed let alone a life. He burned his bridges. If he is one of the dead, perhaps karma finally caught up with him.”

  Janet made a protesting sound with her tongue. “That’s a horrible thing to say, CeeCee. Even if he did wrong, he was still a human being. To end up dead like that, out in the cold, and in such a bad area ... well, it’s just awful.”

  I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. The situation was far from funny, but the fact that Janet was more upset about the area where the bodies were found than anything else had me internally laughing.

  “Well, I guess that’s it.” I pulled two business cards from my back pocket. I always kept them handy. “If you guys hear about anybody Beau was sniffing around, please give me a call. I’m trying to track his movements so I can figure out how he ended up by those train tracks.”

  “I’ll ask around,” CeeCee promised. “I’m not sorry he’s dead, of course, but I’m not a fan of murder. If there’s a killer out there, he or she must be punished.”

  At least we were on the same page there.

  11 Eleven

  I left my car at Eliot’s shop so we could drive to Detroit together. I filed my piece from his office — something I did regularly before he blindsided me with the proposal.

  “This is cozy, huh?” Eliot’s smile was broad as he met me by his office door. “It’s like old times.”

  I recognized what he was getting at but wasn’t thrilled with the prospect of encouraging him. “Let’s go.”

  Easygoing as ever, he nodded. “Sure. Let’s go down to a halfway house in Detroit. I’m sure that will be a lovely visit.”

  “I was thinking you could buy me dinner in Mexicantown.”

  He brightened at the suggestion. “Now that’s a horse I’ll gladly ride.”

  I was still pondering his response when I climbed into his truck. “You say weird stuff sometimes,” I said as he fastened his seatbelt.

  “That’s pretty funny coming from you.”

  “What do I say that’s weird?”

  “You once spent two hours explaining why Jason Voorhees was a better killer than Freddy Krueger.”

  “And I still maintain that’s true. Jason was truly frightening in at least half the Friday movies. Freddy is only scary in three movies.”

  “I assume you’re including the original Nightmare film in that assessment.”

  “One, three and New Nightmare.”

  He cocked his head. “I pretty much agree. I also liked Freddy vs. Jason.”

  “Everybody likes Freddy vs. Jason, but that’s an entity all its own, though. It doesn’t belong in either franchise.”

  “Fair enough.”

  Eliot focused on the road after that. Rush hour traffic was in effect, but we were heading in the opposite direction, so it wasn’t too bad. Workers going north were trapped in gridlock.

  ELIOT PARKED IN A CITY LOT one block down from our favorite Mexicantown restaurant. He linked his fingers with mine as we walked. “You didn’t tell me about the rest of your afternoon.”

  “I’m not sure what there is to tell,” I said, smiling when he started swinging our arms. It was such a teenage thing to do, but it always made me smile. “CeeCee Green was one of Beau’s victims. Do you know her?”

  “I’ve met her a few times. She seems ... okay.”

  I cocked an eyebrow. “I kind of like her.”

  “That’s probably because she’s prone to liking you.” Eliot’s grin spread as he cast me a sidelong look. “You would be right up her alley.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “She likes ballsy chicks, and nobody has bigger balls than you, Trouble. She’s got quite the reputation when it comes to the yacht set out at the Harrison Township Country Club.”

  That was new information I was happy to absorb. “What sort of reputation?”

  “Her reputation resembles yours in the sense that you don’t want to mess with her. She’s less willing to get her hands dirty than you. She’d be more apt to hire someone than do the deed herself.”

  That was interesting. “Do you think she’d be willing to hire a murderer?”

  Eliot hesitated. “I honestly can’t say. That takes a particular personality and I’m not sure CeeCee has that personality, mostly because you have to care to want to kill someone. She isn’t the type to care.”

  The statement caught me off guard. “What do you mean?”

  His shoulders hopped. “She seems like an ice queen — imperious and cold. All her interactions with people come off as fake to me.”

  “And you think she reminds you of me?”

  He jolted at the question and captured my gaze. “I didn’t mean it that way.”

  “But you said ....”

  “No.” He fervently shook his head. “I know you don’t want to hear this because you’ll conside
r it an insult, but you’re the most caring person I know.”

  “Yeah, now I know you’re full of it.”

  He snickered. “You go out of your way to right wrongs, correct injustices. Why do you think you hate Ludington so much?”

  “Because he’s bad in bed.”

  Eliot scowled. “I don’t like being reminded that you actually dated that guy. I can’t reconcile that in my head. I mean ... that’s just not you. Only an idiot would date that guy more than once, and you’re pretty far from an idiot.”

  I knew he meant it as a compliment, but I remained edgy. “I was looking for someone who was the opposite of Jake at the time.”

  “Well, you found him.”

  “I just ... was angry with Jake. He went overseas when he was supposed to stay in Michigan. I was looking for a way to punish him.”

  “See, I figured that out myself a long time ago. I wasn’t certain you had ever figured it out. Good on you.”

  I sighed. “I’m oddly self-aware.”

  “You are. Have you figured out why you hate Ludington as much as you do?”

  “He’s a horrible individual.”

  “Why else?”

  “Because ... because I hate myself for being stupid enough to trust him.”

  He tugged me closer, pressing a kiss to my temple. “You really are self-aware. As for CeeCee, when I said that you were similar, I only meant on the surface. You both won’t put up with any crap, but you’re much more accessible.”

  “Is that a good thing?”

  “It is in my book. I love you just the way you are.”

  I didn’t bother to hide my eye roll. “You only say things like that to get me stirred up.”

  “That is my goal in life.” He held open the door of the restaurant. “Did anything else happen?”

  A flash of blond hair caught my attention and I looked across the street. A group of people — all younger — laughed and cavorted as they walked toward a different restaurant. None of them boasted blond hair. “Um ... what did you say?”

  Eliot’s forehead wrinkled. “Where did your head just go?”

  “Um ... nowhere.” I forced my gaze to his and smiled. “I thought, just for a second, that I might’ve seen Sabrina. I think the stress of the day is getting to me. She’s obviously not with that group.”

  Eliot focused on the people in question and shook his head. “No, definitely not. Those don’t look like Washington Township kids out for a good time.”

  “They’re far too hipster,” I agreed.

  “They also look stoned.”

  “That’s what I meant.” I skated under Eliot’s arm and into the restaurant. “You asked a question before I got distracted. What was it?”

  “I just wanted to know if you learned anything else of note.”

  “Not really. CeeCee had a friend there, Janet Olsen. She was one of Beau’s victims too, though she was much more reticent to talk about it.”

  “Can you blame her? She was probably embarrassed.”

  “I can see that. CeeCee wasn’t embarrassed. She was more annoyed.”

  “Some people put a higher priority on justice. You’re the same way, which is why you feel the need to go after Ludington the way you do. He’s a bad man all around, but you don’t hide the fact that you dated him. You would rather punish him outright than hide the outrage he inspires in you. Not everybody is like that.”

  Something he said pinged in the back of my brain. “Those emotions are still there. I mean ... if someone screws you, revenge seems a necessity. You might not wear that emotion on the surface, but that doesn’t mean it’s not there.”

  “What are you thinking?”

  “I’m not sure. I need to work it out. Let’s have dinner. I’ll tell you as soon as I’ve figured things out.”

  THE HALFWAY HOUSE RAY DIRECTED US TO was even more rundown than I expected. It was one of the ancient houses that had probably looked amazing seventy years ago, but now was struggling to remain upright.

  “This doesn’t look like the sort of place I would want to end up,” Eliot noted as we met in front of his truck, his hand automatically going to the small of my back. “I mean ... this place looks haunted.”

  “It wouldn’t be my first choice either.”

  He gave me a little nudge. “Let’s get this over with.” He glanced over his shoulder, to where three men stood on the opposite side of the road watching us. “This is not the sort of neighborhood I want to be in after eight.”

  I picked up the pace. The front door was locked, as I expected, so I rang the bell. It was almost a full minute before I heard shuffling on the other side of the door. I imagined a man standing there, staring at us through the peephole, but the locks remained in place.

  I pressed the doorbell again ... and then again.

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’m getting to you. There’s no reason to get impatient.”

  Eliot and I exchanged amused glances, but they disappeared when the door swung open to reveal a grumpy-looking man in a flannel shirt and oversized jogging pants. He leaned forward, a pair of dated glasses perched on the end of his nose. “What do you want?”

  As far as greetings go, I’d heard worse. “My name is Avery Shaw. I’m from Macomb County. I work for a newspaper there.”

  The man moved to shut the door, but Eliot extended his foot to keep that from happening.

  “Let’s not be hasty,” Eliot chastised. “Hear her out.”

  “There’s nothing that a newspaper reporter can say to me that I’ll care about,” the man challenged. “We don’t like her type here.”

  “And I understand that,” I offered, fighting to keep my voice even. I was already agitated but displaying that wouldn’t get me what I wanted. “We’re not here to give you a hard time. We’re here for information.”

  The man was instantly suspicious. “What sort of information?”

  “Well, for starters ... what’s your name?” I decided that social niceties would be a necessity if I wanted to drag information out of this curmudgeon.

  “John Doe.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “Is that hyphenated?”

  “Not last time I checked.”

  Eliot, perhaps sensing the conversation was going down the toilet, took over. “You’re Cal Shepperly.”

  I cast him a sidelong look, impressed. “How do you know that?”

  “Yeah, how do you know that?” The man demanded.

  “I looked it up this afternoon,” Eliot replied calmly. “You technically work for the state, so that’s public information.”

  That was something I knew and yet had forgotten. “Good job.”

  He lightly patted my back and continued. “We’re not here to cause trouble for you, Mr. Shepperly. We’re here for information about one of your residents. Once we get that information, we’ll be out of your hair.”

  Shepperly didn’t look swayed. “Or I could just close the door in your faces and go back to watching The Masked Singer. There’s a giant swordfish on and I just know he’s going next. I think it’s Screech from Saved by the Bell.”

  “We don’t want to keep you from that important spectacle,” Eliot drawled, “but we’re not simply going to leave. We’ll be interrupting your show if you don’t take a few minutes to talk with us.”

  I was impressed. Eliot was definitely taking a page out of my book. I wasn’t sure he had it in him.

  “We really don’t want to take up much of your time,” I pressed. “We’re here about one of the men who stayed here. Nothing more.”

  Shepperly sighed. “What man?”

  “Beau Burton.”

  Shepperly’s expression shifted. “If he’s done something, that’s not on me. I reported to the state when he didn’t return. He’s not my responsibility.”

  “We don’t believe he’s done anything,” I reassured him quickly.

  “Oh, right, because you folks seem the type who want to hang out with Beau because he’s such an entertaining guy.”

 
“It’s more that we believe something has happened to him,” I offered hurriedly. “We think he’s dead.”

  “Really?” That stilled Shepperly. “I didn’t hear anything about that. The state is supposed to inform me if one of my guys turns up dead.”

  “They might still be working on that,” Eliot said. “The body was discovered yesterday. They might still be working through the chain of communication. We aren’t constrained by rules.”

  “Definitely not,” I agreed. “I think rules are stupid.”

  Shepperly folded his arms across his chest and regarded me. He seemed much calmer than he had moments before. “Why doesn’t that surprise me? There’s nothing about you that screams ‘rule-follower’ now, is there?”

  “Definitely not.” I saw no reason to lie. “We’re looking for information on Beau. What can you tell us about him?”

  Shepperly shrugged. “He wasn’t an easy guy to live with. He had a chip on his shoulder. He was angry that he was charged with a crime in the first place because he said he was providing a valuable service.”

  “He got off on those charges,” I pointed out. “The prosecutor couldn’t find anyone to testify against him.”

  “No, but he was charged with a few piddly crimes, all associated with lying about his financial status,” Shepperly replied. “I can’t remember the list of charges, but they got him six months in jail. He was released for time served when the other cases evaporated.”

  I’d forgotten about that. “He was in the county jail a long time,” I mused. “A good six months or so.”

  Shepperly bobbed his head. “And that’s the sentence he got. I don’t think it was a coincidence. The folks out in Macomb County wanted him gone. That’s why he was sent here. They said they were afraid someone might try to hurt him if they found out he’d been released into a halfway house in those parts.”

  “What sort of resident was he? Did he pull his fair share around the house?”

  Shepperly let loose a derisive snort. “Look around. Do you think anybody pulls their fair share here? This place is a halfway house to hell. People who come here have no intention of bettering themselves. I can count on one hand the number who have walked through this door with the intention of getting back to a decent life.”