Enemies Closer (7 page)

“Of course not. You’re way too busy, but you’ve actually been really helpful already, Kris.” The girl’s eyes perked up. Carlisle could always make a kid feel better. “When you brought the check, was she there?”

Kris considered for a moment and then positively lit up. She was about to make Detective Carlisle proud. Kincaid had to hand it to his partner. “She wasn’t there and there wasn’t a single bite missing from the pie,
and
the ice cream was totally melted in the bowl. And he looked upset and just handed me a credit card without even looking at the bill!”

Kincaid and Carlisle got as much out of the waitress as she had to give and they left shortly afterward, asking the restaurant staff to please call them directly if anyone remembered anything. It was closing in on noon and they decided to head back to the station.

“Kris was a lot more helpful than she thought,” said Carlisle.

“She was a lot more helpful than
I
thought she would be. Now the big question is, did Ben Radcliffe follow Madeline after she left?”

“And, did Madeline tell him where she was going?”

“We need to find out who this Ben Radcliffe guy is.”

“Let’s go,” said Carlisle. And they did.

Chapter Six

C
lara went back to her hotel and checked out. She wanted to move her things to Maddy’s apartment before she met Ben at noon. The taxi ride was quick and oddly relaxing. Giving up control over traffic and time for a few minutes seemed ridiculously luxurious and she felt good by the time she got to the apartment, unpacked a few things, and went to the kitchen to find something to eat.

With Bea curled up around her feet, she ate a piece of toast with peanut butter and drank a glass of orange juice. Checking her watch, she changed into a crisp white button-down shirt and wool blazer, left the jeans, slipped into her motorcycle boots and headed back out the door.

The peanut butter had done her good. Back on the sidewalk with a breeze at her back, Clara felt rejuvenated. She had a plan. It wasn’t a complete plan, but at least she knew her next few steps: meet Ben, shake him down, call Detective Carlisle. She also wanted to go back to Gigi’s and find Harry, the manager who had been on duty when Maddy ate there Monday night.

Clara turned off of Pine Street and hurried down First Avenue, reaching Manny’s Café fifteen minutes early. Sitting at a small table on the first floor of the lofted café, she ordered a bottle of still water with lemon and waited, beginning to appreciate that she hadn’t really thought this through. For the first time it occurred to her that Ben could actually be a danger to her. He might even be the one responsible for Madeline’s disappearance. Confronting him had seemed like the quickest way to find that out, except that now, sitting here waiting for him, she considered that his response to her questions might be violent. Had she really thought that he would say, “Yes, I abducted your sister. She’s at my apartment; I’ll show you the way.”

What she really hoped he’d say was that Maddy had a fight with Michelle or Eddie and took off to Vancouver for a few days
.
Or something to that effect.

The waiter arrived with a large bottle of chilled Evian and two glasses with ice and lemon. As Clara was thanking him, a figure in a dark blue suit over a white shirt appeared at the waiter’s shoulder with a confused smile.

“Are you Clara?”

The waiter backed out of the way with a knowing smile. “I’ll come back for your order,” he said, probably thinking they had chatted on an online dating site and were now meeting for the first time.

Clara didn’t respond right away and Ben raised his eyebrows. “Clara Gardner?”

“Ben? Yes, have we met?”

He sat down with a pleasant grin. “Maybe I should be asking you. This explains the East Coast phone number. Is Maddy joining us?”

Clara was relieved to hear him ask after her sister, but she had a question. “How do you know who I am?”

“You’re featured pretty heavily on Maddy’s Facebook page,” he replied simply. His eyes hadn’t left hers since he’d arrived, and his smile hadn’t wavered.

Clara poured water into both glasses just to escape his gaze. She had seen his pictures on Maddy’s Facebook page and inexplicably had not noticed how handsome he was. But even fear for her sister couldn’t blind her. The guy was gorgeous. “Sorry about misleading you. I wanted to make sure you would meet with me.”

He was still smiling at her. “I’m glad you did, but why?”

Ignoring his question, she said, “I know that you had dinner with Maddy on Monday night. Did she seem okay to you? Was anything troubling her?”

Now his smile faded. “We had dinner at Gigi’s, just a few blocks away. Why are you asking? Is she okay?”

Clara asked again, “Was there anything unusual about my sister that night?”

“Every hair was in place, but I don’t think that’s what you mean.” He paused a moment, and when Clara didn’t respond, went on, “She was good company, but something was bothering her. And she left early.”

“Did she tell you where she was going?”

“No, she didn’t, Clara. Why don’t you ask her? What’s going on?”

“She’s missing.”

Ben didn’t say anything but the muscles in his neck tensed and his brown eyes widened. A few seconds passed; the waiter came back to take their order for coffee and departed. Finally, he asked, “Where is she? Sorry. Obviously you don’t know. When?”

Clara regarded Ben and thought his shock seemed genuine. “She never showed up at Dovetail on Tuesday, and I haven’t found anyone who’s seen her since your dinner together.”

“Then something is wrong. Maddy would never just disappear. She would absolutely never miss work. It’s her life. Have you called the police yet?”

“Michelle called them on Wednesday evening and I’ve spoken to them a few times. Detectives Carlisle and Kincaid are in charge and I gave them your name, so they’ll probably be in touch. Everyone agrees that she would never just run off, but you’re the first person who has even admitted that something was bothering her.” She shook with frustration and tears brimmed at the corners of her eyes. “I feel like everyone is holding back and I don’t understand why. If everybody loves Maddy, and nothing was troubling her, then where is she? Now is the time to think about subtleties. You know what I mean?” Now there were tears streaming down Clara’s cheeks and before she knew it, Ben took her into his arms and held her tight.

“I’ll do anything I can, Clara. We’ll find Maddy and bring her home.”

It felt good to be in this man’s arms, and though she tried to remain reticent, Clara could feel her body melting into Ben’s broad chest. “Thank you,” she murmured, finally pulling away to search for a tissue. The tears had stopped but she could still feel them burning her eyes. Her nose was running, her long ponytail was a mess from being crushed under Ben’s strong arm and there was a little smudge of mascara on his white shirt. She finally gave up and blew her nose into a napkin.
What a disaster.
After a few deep breaths, she asked abruptly, “Who are you, anyway? How do you know my sister?”

Their cappuccinos arrived and the waiter, clearly uncomfortable at the state of his diners – evidently there was more to their relationship than a Match.com first date – scurried away without a word.

Ben pushed his coffee away, set his elbows on the table and leaned forward. “We met at Dovetail when I asked her to cater a party.” Clara nodded. “I’d just had dinner there with my business partner, Jack, and we were impressed. Our company was having a cocktail hour followed by a sit-down dinner for about twenty investors and I asked the waitress if they catered. She went off to find out and before I knew it Maddy came to the table to tell me they didn’t cater, but she was really flattered. You know Maddy, always gracious. Anyway, she brought us a dessert sampler to make up for it, and Jack began flirting mercilessly with Maddy until she had to go back to the kitchen. That was that until the following week, when my partner told me he had been wooing her by eating at Dovetail nearly every night since and she had finally agreed to go out with him.”

Clara could feel the smile spreading across her face in spite of the situation. “That’s Maddy. It takes effort to get her attention. When was this?”

“Fall. September, I think. The love story between Maddy and Jack was short-lived, but in the meantime she and I became pretty good friends. We live a block apart and had drinks or dinner once or twice a month. Recently she also had some business concerns and we got together to talk about that.”

This was a surprise. Maddy had never mentioned business concerns to Clara, but she let the details slide for the moment.

“She must like you; once or twice a month is a big commitment for my sister. Did you ever date?”

Ben smiled again. He had a great smile. “No. We didn’t have that kind of chemistry at all.”

Embarrassed to feel relief, Clara could feel her cheeks grow hot. She was attracted to this guy!
Even though every instinct was telling her Ben had nothing to do with Maddy’s disappearance, she couldn’t believe she was distracted by lust at a time like this.

“In fact,” he went on, looking down at his empty coffee cup, “she said that one day she would introduce me to you and we would sail off into the sunset.”

“Oh,” said Clara, realization dawning, “
that’s
how you know what I look like. She showed you pictures.” When he saw her, he must’ve thought Maddy was finally setting them up
.

“A few,” he admitted, changing the subject by waving down their waiter and ordering more coffee. While they waited, the awkward pause lengthened. “Anyway, that’s neither here nor there. Maddy and Jack fizzled out around Halloween, probably. He was disappointed and I think she was too, but she didn’t talk to me about it, I think because Jack is my friend and business partner. Didn’t want me to feel uncomfortable.”

“How disappointed was Jack?”

“Not that disappointed, I promise.”

Clara decided she would make that determination herself. “What’s his last name?”

Ben studied her. Finally he said, “Duvall. Jack Duvall. Our company is called RD Investments for Radcliffe Duvall – not very clever, but easy – and I’m sure you’ll find that he is totally above suspicion.”

She shrugged. “Gotta rule everyone out.”

“Shouldn’t the police be ruling people out?”

“They are, but I can’t just sit around and wait. My sister is missing.” Feeling her voice rising, she took a deep breath and a drink of water. “You mentioned she had business concerns. About Dovetail, I presume?”

“Maybe,” he said a little uncertainly.

“What does that mean?”

“Maddy didn’t confide in me completely. She gave me a few details but was really general about other things. So I’m extrapolating when I say ‘maybe,’ but I think the truth was yes, she was talking about Dovetail.”

“I thought the restaurant was doing really well.”

“I think it’s really busy. But success in the restaurant business is complicated. There’s a lot of overhead interfering with profits. So a place that gets rave reviews and is always busy could be going under because they spend too much on Kobe beef and fine bone china. But that’s just one example of how a successful restaurant can lose money. In this case, I think the only thing they spend an unusually high amount of money on is rent, and for that kind of high-end cuisine, the location is worth the extra cost.”

“Did Maddy say what she thought it was?”

“No, that’s where she got squirrely. I think she was trying to find out where the profits were going without causing too many waves.”

“So Dovetail is making money, but then losing it? Seems like Maddy would have gotten to the bottom of that pretty quickly. She must’ve talked to Michelle about it.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. Like I said, your sister wouldn’t even say it was Dovetail. It could have been the friend of a friend’s carwash in the Ozarks for all I know.”

Clara shook her head. “Did she say it was the friend of a friend’s carwash in the Ozarks?”

He smiled. “No.”

“Then it was Dovetail. The only other thing she owns is her apartment.”

“I know,” he agreed. “She never said outright that anyone was losing money. It was more like ‘hypothetically speaking, what are the most common ways a business loses money?’”

“And?”

“What are they? Like I said, high food and liquor costs, staff, rent, menu pricing, restaurant and bar business, including table turnover and average ticket.”

“But not at Dovetail. So what else could it be?”

Ben shrugged. “The staff is stealing, or giving away too many freebies.”

“Or?”

“Embezzlement,” he said simply.

Clara’s mouth fell open. “Well, it can’t be that.”

Ben nodded but didn’t say anything. Finally he looked at his watch, a stainless steel Rolex diver’s classic. Clara smiled to herself. She loved a strong wrist and a heavy watch. “I have a meeting in twenty-five minutes that I can’t miss, but after that I’ll take off for the day. What’s your plan?”

Ignoring the hint that Ben wanted to help her search for Madeline, Clara told him, “I want to talk to the manager who was working the night you and Maddy had dinner.”

“Harry.”

“You know him?”

“Only to say hello to. He came over to the table that night to flirt with your sister,” he said, smiling.

“Was he interested in her?”

“I didn’t have that impression, but he could have been. I think Maddy said he’s dating someone from Dovetail.”

Clara thought about that. “I guess I’ll ask him.”

Ben said quickly, “Don’t get yourself into trouble, Clara. Maybe you should tell the cops and let them ask. Especially about the finances. When money is involved, people get desperate.”

“I’ll let you tell the cops,” she replied. “I’m sure they’ll get in touch with you, but you might want to call them first.” She pulled out her cell and sent a text to Ben’s phone with Judy Carlisle’s contact information. “I’m going to keep asking questions until I find my sister and bring her home.” He didn’t argue and she said, “One more question – why did she leave early?”

If he was surprised that she already knew some of the details of their dinner, Ben didn’t show it. “She got a text message. We had just ordered coffee and dessert and Maddy checked her phone. Then she excused herself to use the restroom. When she came back she didn’t even sit down. Just took her purse, told me she was really sorry but had to leave. I asked her what was up, but she said she’d tell me later and ran out before I could say anything else. It was pretty weird, but I checked on her later and she said she was fine.”

“You checked on her?”

“After I left Gigi’s I sent her a text. I was walking home and ran into a friend who’d just been stood up. I told him I’d just been left at the table with dessert melting before my eyes. We got a drink and commiserated, and while we were at the bar I got a reply from Maddy saying that she was fine and really sorry. Dinner was on her next time. I wondered, but I wasn’t really worried. I figured she’d tell me…” He trailed off. “I can’t believe this.”

Clara wondered if Maddy was really okay when she sent the text, or if she was already in trouble, and from the look on his face, Ben was wondering the same thing. She had to find out who her sister talked to that night.

“Any idea who sent the text?”

“None, but the police can probably check her phone records. Whoever it was, it got Maddy in gear. She couldn’t get out of the restaurant fast enough. I might have been annoyed, but she’s so unerringly polite I knew it had to be important.” He checked his watch again. “I have to get going.”

She waved at the waiter to bring the check and opened her purse to find her wallet, but before she pulled it out Ben handed the waiter a credit card.