by Susan Harper
“I don’t want to get you in trouble either, Patrick,” Jack assured. “Let’s go. Good luck speaking with the ex, Felicity.”
“Thanks,” she said. “I’ll probably need it.”
Jack and Patrick headed out the door, and Jefferson moaned a bit. “I guess I could try to see what I can find online about Edgar. See if there’s anyone he was particularly close to or if I can dig up anything of interest.”
“You’re going to be stuck here, so you might as well,” Felicity said and went behind the counter to grab her purse. “Don’t forget that Trixie and Fix will both be here today, so you won’t have your hands too full for a Saturday.”
“That’s true,” he said. “It’ll be good experience for them to work a Saturday together. Saturdays are pretty rough around here. I might back off a little bit and see how they handle the rush.”
“They’ll rock it,” Felicity said. “They work really well together. Like you and me.”
Jefferson smiled. “I’m glad you think so.” He stood up from his seat at the couch and came over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. “You be careful out there by yourself, all right? You always manage to get yourself into some sort of trouble.”
She laughed and brushed his hand away. “Okay, okay, I promise to be on my best behavior.”
He laughed too and walked her out. It would be a while before opening time, so Felicity was not quite sure what Jefferson was going to do to kill the time. Probably do some research on Edgar or maybe open up shop early. Either way, she knew it would be fine. It was nice knowing that he always had her back.
She loaded up into her car, eager to go meet the woman who had once called herself Mrs. Edgar Uldridge.
Chapter 6
Jack sat in the passenger’s seat of his and Patrick’s patrol car. They had a long ride up to Atlanta now that Patrick had managed to track down the pimp who had gone to jail the same night as Edgar after the incident involving the hooker. Jack had been hiding out in the parking lot of the Senoia station while Patrick had been inside doing some groundwork in search for names and information on Edgar. Now that they had a name, the two partners were headed up to the big city.
Patrick smirked as he drove, and once they hit the highway, he passed Jack a file. “You’re not going to believe this, but I know the pimp,” Patrick said. “That will make this interview significantly easier.”
“You know him?” Jack asked, flipping open the folder and looking at a mugshot of a young man in his twenties. “Got into the pimp game pretty young,” Jack said.
“He’s a good guy now,” Patrick said. “Got out of that life and now he runs a battered women’s shelter and works out of a boys and girls home downtown.”
“The guy with the teardrop tattoo throwing up a gang sign in his mugshot runs a battered women’s home?” Jack asked.
“People change, Jack,” Patrick said. “Last time I spoke to him, he had been working toward a more straight and narrow lifestyle, and I was glad when I looked him up today to see that he was still going strong and four years sober.”
“So, how do you know him?” Jack asked again.
“He was an informant for a guy I worked under back in my rookie days in Atlanta,” Patrick said. “He was pretty seedy back then, but like I said, he’s changed.”
“You really think he’s changed?” Jack asked.
“From what my old partner tells me, yeah,” Patrick said. “Put all the money he had set aside from his pimping days to start a battered women’s home that specifically caters to women from that lifestyle. Helps women get out of it. Sets them up with job interviews. Does fundraisers to help rent out interview attire for them. And, he’s part of a big brother program now. Guess he decided it was time to better his community instead of continuing to trash it.”
“Is this guy even going to know where to find his old hooker?” Jack asked.
“I don’t know,” Patrick said. “But he wouldn’t talk to me on the phone. He was at work at the boys and girls home, and he didn’t want someone snooping in on the landline.”
“Who uses a landline anymore?” Jack joked.
“Him, apparently,” Patrick said. “The guy’s name is Sonny. I remember back in the day being pretty intimidated by him, but I don’t think he ever noticed. I got pretty good at hiding that working up in Atlanta.”
“Man, you never talk about your job as a cop in the big city,” Jack said. “With a crime rate like what Atlanta’s got, I bet you have some stories.”
“Stories I don’t like to talk about,” Patrick admitted. “But, the ironic part of it all, is that I came to Senoia to get away from the intense action of working in Atlanta. Never got shot in Atlanta, but some rich clown in little old Senoia shoots me when I go to arrest him.”
Jack certainly hadn’t forgotten that. Patrick had been out of commissions for weeks. “Just goes to show you that there’s really nowhere you’re completely safe,” Jack said.
“Not in this line of work,” Patrick said.
“Did you get the name of the hooker we’re looking for?” Jack asked.
“Yeah, she’s in the file,” Patrick said. “But I only have a first name. Lilly. Might not even be a real name. That’s just the name she gave officers when she first reported the incident.”
“Is Sonny even going to know who we’re talking about when we ask him about Lilly?” Jack asked. “How big of an operation did he run back in the day?”
“It wasn’t particularly huge,” Patrick explained. “He hustled about eight women, but that’s all. Working in Atlanta, I saw a lot larger prostitution rings than what Sonny ran. He was a serious creep back then, though.”
They pulled up outside a downtown diner, and they waited in the patrol car for a moment to visually scan the area. Nothing seemed out of place or suspicious, so Patrick figured Sonny was good on his word about a casual meetup. “I still don’t like that he had us drive all the way up to Atlanta to have a conversation that could have been had over the phone,” Jack complained.
“He’s trying to keep his old life and his new one separate,” Patrick said. “He’s on his lunch break; he didn’t want anyone overhearing our conversation. I can’t really blame the guy for not wanting the kids he works with to know about the sort of crap he used to do. He’s supposed to be a role model. Last thing he probably wants is them finding out their role model used to pimp women out.”
“I guess,” Jack griped and climbed out of the passenger’s seat. The burger joint they had pulled up in front of was considerably large. Most places in Atlanta were meant to accommodate a crowd, particularly places like this that were so close to a busy off-ramp.
Patrick got out, and Jack let his partner lead him up to the diner. Jack felt uncomfortable out of his uniform; he was technically off duty, but he had arrived in a patrol car with his partner. It didn’t quite feel right, and he was still pretty annoyed at the chief for refusing to allow him to work Monte’s case. They entered the diner, and Patrick immediately waved awkwardly at a gentleman seated in a corner.
Jack got his first good look at this guy named Sonny. He was still fairly young, though he had aged a bit from the mug shot Patrick had shown him earlier. The man was clean-shaven, and as they drew closer, Jack could see he’d had his teardrop tattoo removed—though it could still very subtly be seen if one knew to look for it. The man smiled and stood, reaching a hand out to Patrick to shake. “Officer Patrick,” Sonny said politely. “Sure has been a while.” He sat back down in the booth, and Patrick scooted in on the opposite side. Jack sat down by Patrick and held his hand out to Sonny, offering a proper handshake and introduction.
“So, Senoia?” Sonny asked. “Isn’t that kind of a step down from a big shot cop from Atlanta?”
“I prefer the quiet,” Patrick said. “But, it hasn’t been too quiet lately.”
“Yeah, you told me over the phone about Edgar,” Sonny said.
“Did you know Edgar fairly well?” Jack asked.
Sonny
shrugged. “Not really. He only hired a girl once, and if it wasn’t for the fact I spent the night in jail because of him, I probably wouldn’t have even known or met him.”
“Can you get us Lilly’s information?” Patrick asked. “We would like to talk to her about the incident that took place between her and Edgar.”
“Yeah, that’s one of the reasons I wanted to talk here,” Sonny said, lowering his voice slightly. “I went looking for Lilly a while back. I was going to tell her about the battered women’s shelter I’m a part of. Most of my old girls have gone through rehab there at some point or another. I wanted to offer the same to her, but she’s been missing for years. I wound up going to the Atlanta police about it when I couldn’t get in touch with her, and they told me there has been a missing persons case on her for a while. No one knows what happened to her.”
“That’s…alarmingly suspicious,” Patrick said. “Especially after what happened this weekend with Edgar.”
“I doubt Lilly’s involved in all that,” Sonny said. “It’s not like she never took a beating from a client before. Edgar wasn’t special in that way.”
Jack shook his head. Sure, Sonny had put that life behind him, but he had still put Lilly in a dangerous situation to begin with. “That’s a shame,” Jack said, having to bite his tongue to keep from saying something worse. Sonny read through him, though.
“I know,” Sonny said, his eyes lowered. “Believe me, man, I deserve whatever you’re thinking. Just trying to make up for it all now. That’s why I tried to find Lilly. You could talk to the Atlanta police, but they’re not going to be able to give you anything more than what they gave me. Lilly was a hooker. She wasn’t exactly on the top of their list of priorities, you know? Not only that, she was a hooker reported missing by another hooker. I wish I had gone looking for her a while back…maybe then whatever situation she got herself into wouldn’t have happened. For all I know, she’s dead. Not exactly uncommon for women in that lifestyle to go missing and never be found. Especially here in Atlanta. Human trafficking has gotten pretty big around here.”
“Believe me, I know,” Patrick said. “Maybe you could give us some insight on what happened that night with Edgar. We don’t have any leads, and the man’s record is pretty clean. He doesn’t exactly fit the stereotype of a man who’d hire a prostitute.”
“You know as well as I do that men who hire hookers come from all walks of life,” Sonny said. “But I can tell you I only ever saw him once. He was not known around here, so I suspect it was his first and probably last time hiring a girl. A night in jail probably made him realize it wasn’t for him.”
“Tell us what happened that night,” Jack said.
“Not what’s in the police reports, I can tell you that much,” Sonny said, and Jack raised a brow.
“How do you mean?” Jack asked.
“Well, for one thing, Edgar never laid his hands on Lilly,” he said. “The whole thing was my fault. Edgar showed up saying he wanted to buy Lilly for a couple of hours. I knew she had a regular coming in soon, but I thought I’d send her off with him anyway and make some extra money. When her regular showed up early wanting to take Lilly for the night, I told him he had to wait. The man lost his mind and went upstairs where I told him Edgar and Lilly were. Edgar didn’t hurt Lilly, he defender her. The guy’s name was Tommy, by the way. Tommy beat up Lilly. Another one of my girls called the police, and when they got there, Lilly lied and said Edgar had done most of the damage.”
“Why would she lie?” Jack asked.
“Because she was scared of me,” Sonny admitted with a saddened expression. “Tommy was a regular. My girls knew better than to get one of my regulars in trouble. I was surprised the other girl even dared to call the police. Tommy, Edgar, and I all got carted off to the station. Lilly too and the rest of my girls who were at my place that night. Edgar got slapped with a soliciting charge and assault. Tommy walked away with nothing, and I was a happy man that I managed to slip off with minor charges myself. I never saw Edgar again. Like I said, I would have forgotten about him if it wasn’t for the fact I spent the night in jail. That’s the only reason I knew who you were talking about when you called, Patrick.”
“What are the chances that Edgar had something to do with Lilly going missing?” Jack suggested. “Lilly went missing a few years ago, you said? After the incident where he got busted soliciting a prostitute, his wife left him. Maybe Edgar blamed Lilly and got rid of her…and someone who cared about Lilly finally figured it out and took out Edgar?”
“Sounds like a bit of a stretch,” Patrick said. “But, it’s something. Felicity is talking to the ex-wife; other than her, we don’t really have any other suspects, so that’s a possible angle to look into.”
“Only problem is no one has heard from Lilly in years,” Sonny said. “Like I said, I think she’s dead, and she didn’t exactly have a lot of friends back in the day. Just other hookers. After I got out of the pimping game, she took off. Haven’t heard from her since.” Sonny paused and pushed his half-eaten meal aside. “Listen, I got to get back to work.”
“No problem, Sonny,” Patrick said and shook the man’s hand. “Thanks for meeting up with us.”
“Thanks for understanding about me not wanting to chat while at work,” Sonny said. “I got to keep a low profile. I work around kids, you know? If word got around about what I used to do…well…”
“How is it that you are able to do that?” Jack asked, raising a brow. “You said you got slapped with a charge that night too? Wouldn’t working as a pimp have gotten you registered? How is it you are able to work with kids?”
“I got the charge dropped,” Sonny said. “Only thing on my record is some drug stuff, and being a former dealer who’s seen the light is a good backstory for an employee working with at-risk kids. I’m a walking warning label.”
“I see,” Jack said.
Sonny said his good-byes and headed out.
“What are you thinking?” Patrick asked as Jack stood and sat down across from Patrick, taking Sonny’s seat.
“I got a funny feeling about Sonny,” Jack said.
“I know,” Patrick said. “But things are different up here in Atlanta than in little old Senoia, Jack. You’re dealing with inner city people. Pimps are role models around here; they’re businessmen.”
“I don’t like it,” Jack said. “He shouldn’t be working around kids. He’s a sex offender.”
“Unregistered,” Patrick said. “And, like he said, a warning label. He can relate to the kids from the hood better than you or I could. He can tell them what that sort of lifestyle does to a person. Keep them on the straight and narrow and keep them away from following the same path.”
Jack nodded, but he still didn’t like it. “All right, well, unless you’ve got any more old informants who could be useful to us, I think we should just head back to Senoia.”
“No, I think we ought to eat,” Patrick said. “I’m starving.”
Jack shrugged. “We are at a burger joint.”
Patrick waved a server over, and he went ahead and ordered. Jack just asked the server to bring him whatever Patrick ordered because he had never been there before and the order sounded good. “You think Felicity is getting anything from Edgar’s ex?” Patrick asked.
Jack nodded. “Knowing Felicity, she’s got something.”
Chapter 7
Felicity left the event shop with her mind going in a million directions. She was feeling bad about leaving Jefferson to watch the shop by himself that morning, but she reminded herself that the new hires would be there soon. Her mind occasionally went back to the offer Agent Ryan had sent her about training at the FBI Academy, but that had some incredible complications. Sure, she had an obvious knack for detective work, but was that really something she wanted to do? She had just opened her shop a year ago, and it was doing great; she questioned how she could even consider leaving the event shop for something like that. Not to mention, Jack didn’t exactly ma
ke law enforcement of any sort sound appealing after being pulled from a case yet again. And, the cherry on top to her ice cream stress Sunday, was of course Monte. The wedding was a week away, and the groom-to-be was sitting in a jail cell as a primary suspect in a murder.
She took a breath, forcing herself to pay attention to her GPS that was leading her to the home address of Edgar’s ex-wife, a woman named Valerie. The home was a double-wide trailer, but you wouldn’t have noticed right away. It was done up nice, and part of the siding had been redone in brick. The elaborate yard out front with the cute fairy garden, the nicely cut grass, and the equally nice homes in the neighborhood didn’t exactly scream trailer park. There was even a pleasant little wooden swing hanging from a large oak in the front yard that felt very inviting for a trailer home.
Felicity knocked on the door, and a woman in her mid-fifties opened up. She looked at Felicity curiously, probably wondering why a stranger was knocking on her door so early in the morning. “May I help you?” the woman asked.
“I’m looking for a Valerie Uldridge?” Felicity asked.
“It’s Valerie Sams now, but that’s me,” she said. “Can I help you?”
“I don’t know if you’ve been informed, ma’am, but your ex-husband—”
“Dead, I know,” she said. “An officer came by here last night. I’m supposed to go into the station here in a bit to answer some follow-up questions about his case. Are you an officer?”
“No, I’m…” Felicity thought for a moment. She had been hired once before as a PI, but she certainly was not a professional. “I’m Felicity Overton, and I’m looking into your ex-husband’s case on behalf of the gentleman who is being accused. He is pleading his innocence and is having me follow up on the police’s investigations.” That sounded professional enough, Felicity thought with a bit of pride.
“Oh, I see,” Valerie said. “Would you like to come in? We can talk inside so we can sit. I’ve got bad knees, so I’d rather not stand in the doorway.”
