Father Figure (A Jaxon Jennings' Detective Mystery Thriller Series, Book 3)

by Richard C. Hale

  “Loverboy’s name is Theodore Moore. A twenty-nine year old construction worker I’m pretty sure was working for Rothstein’s company.”

  “You’re quick. You just left.”

  “It was in the paper, but I overheard Ben Rothstein last night talking with his father about giving Moore a job and this was how he was repaid. See what you can dig up on him.”

  “On it.”

  “Ray made me buy him a cup of coffee with my winnings.”

  “You told him?”

  “He guessed.”

  “We were pretty obvious. Is he all grumpy now?”

  “No. That’s the thing. He’s all fun and games this morning. I’m wondering if he’s doing crack or something.”

  “I’m right here,” Ray said. “You do know I can hear you talking about me.”

  Vick laughed. “Give him a hug for me.”

  “No.”

  “Yeah, that would be weird. Tell him I’ll give him one when I see him.”

  “I don’t think I’ll go there either. Gotta’ go.”

  “Call me later.”

  “You said that this morning. I figured this was the call.”

  “Love you too.” She hung up and he smiled to himself.

  Jaxon put his phone in his pocket and read the rest of the story. Nothing else was surprising, so he put it away. They drove in silence for a few minutes.

  “Are you going to tell me where we’re going this morning?” Ray said. “Or am I just going to drive around while we drink coffee?”

  “Are you going to tell me what happened last night?”

  “You know what happened.”

  “After.”

  Ray sat silent for a minute.

  “Nothing. I had a few drinks and went home.”

  Jaxon nodded. “How’s Michelle?”

  “How would I know?”

  “Just thought something might have happened. You’re in an awfully good mood this morning.”

  “I just slept well.”

  “I can’t see how. You were probably up until three or four and then you were at my house at eight.”

  “You’re a pretty good investigator,” Ray said. “Figure that all out by yourself?”

  “Vick helped.”

  “You two are in rare form this morning.”

  “You’re starting to get grumpy.”

  “You’re starting to sound like my father.”

  Jaxon grinned, but let it go. “We need to see Ben Rothstein this morning. He won’t really be up for a visit, but he told me to come see him at his father’s anyway.”

  “So the Rothstein estate it is.”

  Jaxon directed Ray to head north over the Buckman Bridge toward Mandarin.

  The Rothstein estate was located near the Julington Creek area, on the St. John’s River. It was a sprawling ten-thousand square foot place with a gated entrance, but no guard. They pulled up and were buzzed in after communicating with the staff at the other end of the speaker system.

  The driveway curved around through large oaks that created a canopy over the driveway. A true southern mansion. The house sat up against the river with the circular drive feeding arrivals to the marble columned front entrance.

  Ray parked in front of the door and they exited the vehicle.

  Jaxon had been here only once before for the initial consultation with Ben Rothstein. Rothstein hadn’t wanted to risk questions from his wife and he felt a visit to Jaxon’s office would not be appropriate. Jaxon figured the man was embarrassed to be seen at a local PI’s place of business.

  They were greeted by a behemoth of a man in a dark suit and athletic shoes. He was easily four inches taller than Jaxon and at least sixty pounds heavier. Jaxon could see the bulge of a gun beneath the jacket.

  They were escorted to a study with numerous animal heads hanging from the wall and a huge floor to ceiling bookshelf with matching rolling step ladder. They were told to wait.

  They waited.

  Twenty minutes later, William J. Rothstein walked briskly into the room and sat behind the large oak desk that was occupying the space in front of a huge picture window. The grounds and the river could easily be seen through the glass.

  “What can I do for you gentlemen?” William Rothstein asked.

  Ray looked at Jaxon.

  “Your son asked to meet with us this morning,” Jaxon said.

  “He won’t be available,” William said. “I know you’re aware of the unfortunate events of last night.”

  Jaxon nodded. “That’s why we’re here.”

  William tented his fingers over his desk and scowled.

  “I don’t think that it’s appropriate for you to be here at this difficult time. Surely you don’t wish to create further grief for my son and this family.”

  “I’m confused here,” Jaxon said. “We were asked to be here by your son. I understand the tragedy of last night is still a very fresh wound, but we would never consider disturbing you if we were not invited.”

  “Needless to say, my son was no doubt out of his head and confused. I can speak for him and everyone here that your services will no longer be required.”

  Jaxon looked at Ray who shrugged.

  “Very well. Please forgive the intrusion and extend my condolences to your family.” Jaxon stood.

  William smiled thinly and stood as well. “Thank you.”

  Ben Rothstein walked into the room. “There you are.”

  Jaxon was unsure if Ben’s discovery was directed toward him or his father.

  “Ben,” William started, “Mr. Jennings and Mr…uh…”

  “Maningham,” Ray volunteered.

  “Mr. Maningham were just leaving.”

  “Leaving?” Ben asked. “But I need to spend some time with them.”

  William walked up to his son and put his hand on his shoulder.

  “It’s too soon, son. You’re in no shape to be reliving any part of this.”

  “I want these assholes caught, Dad. The longer we wait, the colder the trail gets. Isn’t that right, Jaxon?”

  Jaxon nodded. “We still have time, Mr. Rothstein, but ideally, it would be best to pursue the trail as early as possible.”

  “Let’s do it, then. Dad, I’ll be all right. Can I borrow your office for a bit?”

  The senior Rothstein did not look happy, but nodded.

  “I’ll leave you to things, then.” He turned to go and then had a second thought. “Try not to be long gentlemen. He doesn’t realize how difficult this will be for him.”

  “Yes, sir,” Jaxon said. “We should only be a few minutes.”

  William gave one more look at each of them and left the room.

  “I know he’s just looking out for me,” Ben said, “but he can be a pain sometimes.”

  “No problem,” Jaxon said. “He might be right. Anytime you feel like you can’t deal with us, we’ll take off.”

  Ben directed them to a couch and chairs in front of the bookcase and they all sat.

  “I’m not going to beat around the bush, Jaxon, I want you to find whoever did this and kill them.”

  Jaxon never flinched.

  “We’ll find them, Mr. Rothstein, but there will be no killing. You know that’s not possible.”

  Ben’s anger flared a bit, but he tried to compose himself.

  “Do you know what it’s like to lose a loved one?”

  “Actually, I do.”

  “Violently?”

  “Yes.”

  This seemed to fluster Ben, but he recovered and moved on.

  “Then you know what I’m feeling.”

  “Yes, sir, but taking that course of action is not the solution. We’ll find them, or help the police find them, and then the legal system will do what needs to be done. Period. If you can’t abide by that, our relationship is over.”

  Ben Rothstein shook his head.

  “All right. I’m so numb right now that I’m not thinking straight. The anger comes and then I go numb again. I loved her more
than anything. Yes, she was cheating on me, and that pissed me off, but I can’t stand the thought of her gone. These men who killed my wife, I want their heads.”

  “We do too,” Jaxon said. “But still attached to their bodies.”

  Ben took a big breath. “Ok. What can we do?”

  “I need to ask you some questions. Can you be honest with me?”

  “Of course.”

  “Theodore Moore. He was your wife’s lover. He was also an employee of yours. I know you recognized him last night. Should we know more?”

  Ben looked away and then back. The anger boiled just below the surface and Jaxon thought the guy was going to throw something through the window.

  “I hired that asshole two months ago to help him get his feet back on the ground. Yeah, Teddy was an employee.”

  “What else?”

  “He was a piece of shit low life. Showed up late for every job. Got in a couple of fights with my dependable guys. He was stealing from the company, but I couldn’t prove it.”

  “Stealing, how? What’d he steal?”

  “Tools, materials—lunches.”

  “Lunches?”

  “I know it sounds stupid, but he was either too lazy to make himself a lunch or he spent all his money on drugs and booze. A couple of the guys complained to me their lunches were missing.”

  “How did he know your wife?”

  Ben gave a pained look and then turned away.

  “He met her at a company party.”

  “Was your wife normally attracted to guys of his type?”

  “She was normally attracted to me.”

  “Right. Did you introduce them?”

  He pushed his hair away from his eyes and sighed. “Yeah. I introduced them. She wanted to know who the new guy was.”

  “What did he do when you introduced them?”

  “He hit on her right in front of me,” Ben said.

  “Pretty brazen.”

  “He was a scumbag. He wasn’t real obvious about it, but I saw through it. He was a smooth little fucker.”

  “Why would you hire this guy? He sounds like trouble from the get go.”

  Ben stood and paced a bit. He glanced toward the door and then said, “My father.”

  “Your father asked you to hire him?”

  “As a favor.”

  “Did he say why?”

  “No.” Ben sat. “And I didn’t ask.”

  “Do you always make business decisions like that?”

  Ben stared at Jaxon like he was a child, someone who didn’t, or couldn’t, understand the real world.

  “Look. Not many know this, but my father has a huge stake in my business. He fronted all the startup costs and injects cash regularly into it to ensure its continued success. I don’t say no to him.”

  Jaxon nodded and glanced at Ray. Ray looked disgusted, but Ben didn’t notice.

  “What do you think his reasoning was?”

  “For wanting me to hire him?” Ben asked.

  “Yes.”

  Ben stared out the window at the river as if remembering something. He turned back.

  “I don’t know.”

  “You don’t have any clue or suspicion why your father, who seems to care greatly for the success of his son’s business, a business he’s heavily invested in, would push a low life scumbag like Moore onto you to babysit?”

  “No.”

  Ben Rothstein was hiding something and Jaxon knew it. He glanced at Ray and by the look on Ray’s face, he knew it too.

  “All right. Let’s move on. Ray recorded the license number of the vehicle that dropped off Teddy Moore and it’s registered to one Abbot Mason. That name mean anything to you?”

  Ben swallowed. “No.”

  Jaxon held his gaze for a few seconds and then Ben looked down at the floor.

  “It could be important, Ben. The trail grows colder by the minute.”

  “I don’t know the name.”

  Jaxon sighed.

  “Is there anything you can tell us that might help us? Enemies? Past girlfriends? Past boyfriends?”

  “The Rothsteins have lots of enemies, it’s impossible not to in big business, but nobody that would sink this low.”

  “Anything in your wife’s past that could come back to haunt her?”

  He hesitated. “She was married before.”

  “Ex-husband still in the picture at all?”

  “He comes around from time to time, but she wouldn’t have anything to do with him. They usually got into it when he showed up. He was not over her.”

  “Lovesick enough to kill her?”

  “I doubt it. I don’t know.”

  “Name?”

  “Jonathan Gunther.”

  Jaxon wrote the name down. He turned to Ray. “Anything you want to ask?”

  “Where were you last night?”

  Ben stood up. “Listen! You guys are supposed to be on my side.”

  “Easy, Ben,” Jaxon said. “We need to know so we can find a way to confirm your alibi.”

  “You don’t trust me?”

  “Ray didn’t say that, but the police will be focusing their investigation on you. It’s always the jealous husband. You should know that and be prepared to defend your actions.”

  Ben looked between Jaxon and Ray and slowly nodded. He sat.

  “You’re right. Sorry. I loved her so much that it’s beyond my comprehension that anyone would think I had anything to do with it.”

  “We know, Ben. Help us help you.”

  He nodded.

  “Where were you?” Ray asked again, serious.

  “I was at my office. I told the police that last night.”

  “Can anyone confirm it?”

  He hesitated. “Yes.”

  “Who?” Jaxon asked. He had a feeling where this was going.

  “My secretary.”

  “Name,” Jaxon said.

  “Candice O’Neil.”

  Jaxon wrote.

  “Is she normally there that late at night?” Ray asked.

  Ben stood and paced.

  “I was mad. Mary Beth was cheating on me. Even though you guys hadn’t provided the proof, I knew it. She was cheating on me and I wanted to pay her back.” His shoulders sagged. “I’m an ass, I know, and I hate myself for it, but I was so angry that she would do that to me. Now she’s dead and the last thing I’ll remember is the fact I tried to pay it back. I paid it back and now she’s dead.”

  An uncomfortable silence settled over them and when Ben looked up his eyes were wet. He took a deep breath and pulled his shoulders back.

  “Find them, Jaxon. Find them for me. I have a debt I owe and I plan on paying it.”

  * * *

  As Jaxon and Ray stepped out the front door of the Rothstein estate, a white, unmarked police cruiser pulled up behind Ray’s car. Tate got out of the driver’s side and Laurelyn, the passenger’s.

  “Here comes fun,” Jaxon said under his breath.

  “They don’t look happy to see us.”

  “I’m not happy to see them. We’ll give ‘em a gift, though.”

  “The license plate number?”

  Jaxon nodded.

  “Let me do it,” Ray said. “It’s my fault I forgot to tell them about it.”

  “Be my guest.”

  Tate and Laurelyn walked up the steps and stopped in front of them.

  “You guys are up to no good this early in the morning,” Tate said, and grinned.

  Jaxon could see sweat stains soaking through his sport coat and it reminded him of the humid summers in D.C. when he had been in the same boat. Now as a PI, he could wear shorts and a t-shirt if he wanted. Jaxon kept it simple with jeans and a Polo. Laurelyn’s brow and upper lip showed tiny beads of sweat. He could imagine her sweating in another situation. He glanced at Ray who stared at Laurelyn, mesmerized.

  “A/C not working in the car?” Jaxon asked.

  “Seems to be out,” Tate said. “We can handle it.”

 
; “We could give you a lift. The A/C in Ray’s car is frigid.”

  “We’ll be fine.”

  “Suit yourself.”

  Jaxon went to move, but Tate held up a hand.

  “Hold on a sec.” Tate glanced quickly at Laurelyn. “What are you guys doing here so soon after a grieving husband’s horrible night?”

  “We were asked to stop by,” Jaxon said.

  “By who?” Asked Laurelyn.

  “By whom,” Jaxon corrected. She gave him a look. “Ben Rothstein. My client.”

  “What did he say?” asked Tate.

  “He fed us donuts and told us to kill whoever was behind his wife’s murder.”

  Tate chuckled. “I bet he did.”

  “We declined,” Ray said, smiling. Laurelyn did not join in.

  “So you’re no longer his employees?”

  “We didn’t say that. We just aren’t killers.” Jaxon shrugged.

  Tate glanced at Laurelyn and then shuffled his feet.

  “Are you guys going to be like this all the time?”

  “Like what?”

  “Confrontational,” Laurelyn said.

  “We’re answering your questions.”

  “You know what I mean,” she said.

  “We do. And no, we’re not going to be like this all the time. In fact we’re going to give you something we discovered, right now.”

  “Really,” Laurelyn said and crossed her arms.

  “I forgot about the license plate number of the car that dropped off Moore,” Ray said. “I have it. Sorry. It slipped my mind.”

  Laurelyn didn’t look impressed. “It slipped your mind.”

  Ray nodded, smiling.

  “All night?” she added with a funny look on her face.

  “I was distracted.” He kept the smile going.

  Laurelyn looked flustered. “Can we have it?”

  “Sure.”

  Ray took his notepad out and gave them the information including the name and address on file for the registration.

  “The DMV is very helpful,” Jaxon said.

  “We’ll get our own address,” she said.

  “Good idea. Who knows what kind of old information we might have.”

  Laurelyn looked angry again, but said nothing.

  “Anything else you want to tell us about?” Tate asked.

  “Nope.”

  “You don’t have anything or you don’t want to tell us?” Laurelyn said.

  “Yes,” Jaxon said and moved to go. Ray chuckled and moved too.