Tracks of Her Tears (4 page)

Travis looked at the ground. “I caught it in a car door.”

Liar.
“I’m not in the mood for games.”

Travis’s eyes narrowed in insolence. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. You have no right to handcuff me.”

“You’re on parole, Travis. You should play nice, or I’ll start looking for a reason to put you back in prison.”

Travis glared.

“Where is Amber Lynn’s new boyfriend?” Seth prompted.

“The dude that threatened me yesterday?” Travis looked truly confused. “Why would I know where he is?”

“What about Amber Lynn?”

“What
about
Amber Lynn?” Travis shouted. “The selfish bitch wouldn’t help me. No point in going back to see her.”

“Wouldn’t help you with what?” Seth wanted to punch this kid in the face so badly his fists ached.

“I just needed a little cash to tide me over. I started a new job, but I ain’t got paid yet,” Travis complained. “I know she has some money put aside. Always does. She don’t spend money on anything.”

Amber Lynn had been smart enough not to give it to him, thought Seth. “She’s dead, Travis.”

His mouth opened, but a few seconds passed before he emitted a squeaky, “What?”

Shock wasn’t the reaction Seth had hoped for.

Phil caught up with them. Seth led Travis back to the house. When they reached his brother’s yard, Luke White was waiting outside, arms folded over a brawny chest.

“Did you kill Amber Lynn, Travis?” Seth asked as they marched toward the patrol car.

“I didn’t kill anybody!” Travis yelled, panic raising the pitch of his voice as if, now that he was getting close to the police car, he suddenly comprehended the seriousness of the situation.

“Let’s see. You were seen arguing with Amber Lynn yesterday, and you’ve already done time for aggravated assault. Murder doesn’t seem like a big stretch,” Seth reasoned. The sheer stupidity of criminals never ceased to amaze him. It was the big element that TV crime shows got wrong. Most thugs weren’t evil geniuses. They were dumbasses like Travis.

“I didn’t kill her,” Travis insisted. “I didn’t even know she was dead.”

“If you aren’t guilty, then why did you run?” Seth asked.

Travis shrugged. “I panicked. I don’t want to go back to prison.”

“What have you done to get you sent back to prison?” Seth asked.

“Nothing,” Travis mumbled.

Seth pushed harder. “Where were you last night?”

“I went for a drive.”

“No one saw you?” Seth asked.

“No.”

“You didn’t stop for a burger or anything?”

“No.”

“I’m supposed to believe you drove aimlessly around all night without seeing another person?”

“I can’t make you believe anything. I don’t know anything about what happened to Amber Lynn.” Travis clamped his jaw shut and looked away. “The last time I saw her she was fine.”

Frustrated, Seth turned to Luke. “Do you know where Travis was last night?”

“He wasn’t here.” Luke shook his head. “Will he go back to prison?”

Seth blew out a hard breath. “Not right now. I don’t have anything on him.” He spun Travis around and removed the handcuffs.

“Damn.” Luke propped his fists on his hips. “The only reason I let him stay here was to keep him away from our parents. They keep taking in his sorry ass. In return he drained their checking account. Last week he took a power drill from my garage and pawned it. I’m a carpenter. I can’t work without my tools.”

“I told you I didn’t take your drill,” Travis whined.

“That doesn’t mean much since I already know you’re a liar.” Luke looked like he wanted to smash his brother’s face. Seth knew exactly how he felt.

Luke pointed to the house. “Go pack your stuff. I want you out within the hour. And don’t you dare go to Mom and Dad’s house. I’ll find you and beat your sorry ass if you take one more thing from them.”

Travis slunk off toward the house.

Luke took a breath. “What happened to Amber Lynn?”

“Someone killed her.”

Luke’s mouth flattened. “That’s not right. Did Travis do it?”

“I don’t know,” Seth answered. Travis had seemed genuinely surprised by the news, but he was also a practiced liar. “You knew her?”

“A little. She was sweet, way too nice for my brother.” Luke’s mouth went tight. “I’m sorry she’s dead. Where’s the kid?”

“Social services has the baby,” Seth said. Even after he’d heard about Amber Lynn’s death, Travis hadn’t asked about his own child. His only thoughts had been about himself.

Frowning, Luke gave Seth his contact information. Seth and Phil got back into their cars. It was after noon. Bruce had been missing for twelve hours.

What now?

C
HAPTER FOUR

I
t was after two o’clock in the afternoon by the time Carly drove the baby out to her mother’s house and started the search for relatives. She’d promised Seth she’d wait to ca
ll Travis White, but her initial phone calls investigating his background didn’t make him sound like a good candidate. According to his parole officer, Travis’s job at the car wash didn’t pay enough to support him, let alone a child. He also doubted that Travis was responsible enough to provide care for a young child.

Seth had given Carly the address and phone number of Amber Lynn’s parents, but no one answered when she called. The sheriff had performed the death notification that morning.

Not wanting to wait for a callback, Carly decided to drive over. She got out of her Jeep in front of the trailer.
Forlorn.
That’s the word that sprung into her mind as she studied the rusted metal single-wide. A broken picket fence enclosed the tiny, weedy lot. Metal steps folded down to a cinder block. She went up to the door and knocked.

Amber Lynn’s apartment was small and sparse, but it was a huge step up from where her parents, Tony and Dana Cooper, lived. From her quick background check, Carly knew that fifty-year-old Dana Cooper worked in a nail salon. At fifty-five, Tony was unemployed.

A bald man answered the door. He was stocky, with muscular shoulders over a beer gut. He gave Carly a suspicious look. “What?”

Carly presented her credentials. Anger lowered his brow, and he tried to shut the door on her.

“Wait.” She pressed a palm to the aluminum. “I’m here about your daughter, Amber Lynn. Are you Tony Cooper?”

“Yeah.” Anger ebbed to curiosity. He scratched his stomach through a stained T-shirt. “We already know about Amber Lynn. The sheriff stopped by this morning.”

He didn’t look brokenhearted. The sound of a woman crying carried through the open door.

“Who is it?” a shaky voice called.

“Social worker. It’s about Amber Lynn,” Tony said over his shoulder.

The woman bawled. “Let her.”
Sniff.
“In.”

He moved back, giving Carly room to enter. Barely. She squeezed through the opening, pressing flat against the wall to avoid touching him. He smelled like stale beer. Passing through a tight galley kitchen, Carly stopped at a Formica table where a woman sat, crying. Amber Lynn’s mother looked nothing like her, but she probably had once, before hard living etched deep lines in her face. She tucked a strand of bleached-blonde hair behind her ear. The movement revealed the side of her jaw, where Carly could see a purple bruise still visible despite a thick layer of concealer.

“Are you Dana Cooper?” Carly asked.

Nodding, the woman sucked on a cigarette and sobbed. She waved at the seat across from her, blew out a plume of smoke, and rested her cigarette in the ashtray notch while she snatched a tissue from a box at her elbow. A trio of beer cans was lined up on the table. Tony grabbed them and deposited the empties into an already full garbage can.

“I’m sorry for your loss.” Carly eased onto the wooden chair.

“I can’t believe it.” Dana crumpled the tissue, then stabbed out her cigarette in the overflowing ashtray. “I thought I had plenty of time to make up with her.”

Carly hadn’t gotten over her father’s death last spring, and thinking of her own young daughter at home, her heart ached for the grieving mother. “It must have been a terrible shock.”

Dana blew her nose.

Tony hovered next to Dana’s chair. “Why are you here?”

“Social services has taken custody of Charlotte,” Carly said. “Is she your granddaughter?”

“Not really.” He shoved his hands into the front pockets of his baggy brown pants. “Amber Lynn wasn’t mine.”

“I married Tony when Amber Lynn was fifteen,” Dana said in a flat voice. “Tony adopted Amber, but he’s her stepfather.” Dana lit another cigarette with a shaking hand. “Where is the baby now?”

“In a foster home.” Carly did not want to give Tony any more information than necessary. Something about the man made her skin itch. “When was the last time you saw Amber Lynn or the baby?”

“We only seen the child once.” Tony went to the small fridge and took out a can of Coke. He inclined it toward Carly in offer.

She smiled. “No, thank you.”

Tony popped the top. “Amber Lynn moved out right after she graduated high school. She came back after she had the kid, looking for a handout.”

Carly couldn’t blame the girl for running out of that home at the earliest opportunity. Tony couldn’t fully conceal the mean glint in his eye.

Staring out the window, Dana flicked her cigarette ash hard but remained silent. Something in her expression led Carly to think she’d seen her daughter but hadn’t told her husband.

“What did you tell her?” Carly glanced around the trailer. The space was tight. She couldn’t imagine a young woman and her baby crammed in here too, though she’d seen families who managed with less. Some were grateful to have a roof over their heads. Tony didn’t seem like the grateful type.

“We’re not rich.” Tony shrugged. “Baby was her problem, not ours.”

“So you haven’t seen the baby since she was a newborn.” Sadly, Carly thought that was probably for the best.

“Right.” Tony drank from the can and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Do we get money if we take the kid?” He tried to make the question casual, but the sharpness of his gaze told Carly his interest was keen.

As much as she wanted to, she couldn’t lie. “Amber Lynn’s child might be eligible for Social Security benefits.”

“How much?” Tony took a cigarette from Dana’s pack. He reached for a lighter on the table. As his arm brushed Dana’s shoulder, she flinched. He lit up and took a deep drag.

Carly leaned away from the smoke. “I don’t know.”

All he wanted was the money. That was clear.

“What do we have to do to git her?” Tony leaned in, his eyes registering too much enthusiasm.

“I’m required to conduct a full investigation.” Carly opened her tote bag. “The child also has a father.” The fact that he was an unemployed ex-con with reportedly no interest in his child was irrelevant at this time.

“That’s bullshit.” Tony smacked the table.

Carly startled, and the narrow confines of the trailer suddenly felt like a trap.

Tony paced the parking spot–size kitchen. “The kid is Dana’s granddaughter. That should be enough.”

“I understand your frustration, but the system is a bureaucracy. There isn’t anything I can do about it,” Carly said, hoping to deflect his anger. “I have some forms you can fill out. I’ll need personal and professional references as well. The more you cooperate, the better your chances.”

“I’m unemployed. They can’t hold that against me.” Tony’s face locked in an insolent frown. “But Dana works, and me being home would be good for the kid. I’d be here to take care of her. We wouldn’t have to spring for day care.”

The thought of this man raising that sweet child made Carly ill. But she dutifully slid the papers across the table. The decision would be up to a judge. With more children than the system could possibly support, related caregivers were given preference.

“I need some air.” Dana stood and motioned toward the door. After sliding out of the bench seat, she shrugged into a jacket and shoved a handful of tissues into the pocket. Carly followed her outside. Dana walked out of the yard and stared down the gravel lane between lots. The rest of the neighborhood was a mixed bag of trailers. Some looked as dejected as the Cooper residence, but others were well cared for, with colorful awnings over the windows.

Flurries drifted through the air. The cold damp complemented Carly’s mood.

“When she moved out, Tony hit the roof. He was used to taking her paycheck. Amber Lynn was always a hard worker,” Dana said in a wistful tone. “Tony owes child support to another woman. That’s why he won’t get a job.”

And no doubt the reason he’d tried to shut the door on Carly when she presented her ID.

“The minute he gets a paycheck, they take the child support out. He says it’s the principle of the matter. No one has the right to take a man’s hard-earned pay.”

Carly didn’t ask why Dana stayed with a man like Tony, unemployed, lazy, selfish, and plain mean. Carly had seen it over and over. Dana was one of those women who couldn’t be without a man, even if he contributed absolutely nothing to her life but pain.

“He’ll try to get the baby but it would be the wrong thing to do. I’ll be at work, and as you can tell, Tony isn’t father-of-the-year material.”

“Did Amber Lynn have any sisters or cousins?” Carly asked. “What about her father?”

Dana shook her head. “Her daddy’s dead. He got drunk and ran his car into a tree when Amber Lynn was just a baby. And she was my only one. No sisters. I don’t know about cousins. I haven’t seen my family in fifteen years. Tony don’t like to share me.”

No doubt Tony wanted to keep the gravy train all to himself.

They’d circled the block and were standing back in front of the Cooper trailer.

“I have to go to work.” Dana shoved her hands into her pockets. “I’m a nail tech. I can’t afford to miss a day.”

“Thanks for your honesty,” Carly said as they stopped next to her Jeep.

“Please don’t tell Tony. I’ll just say that our chances aren’t good because we don’t have enough room for a kid, which is true enough. He’s gonna be mad.”

“You don’t have to say anything,” Carly said. “I’ll tell him later, if you want.” She didn’t want to think of Dana suffering any more bruises.

Dana shook her head. “It’d be best to get it over with, before he works himself up thinking about having more money.”

“Call the police if you need to.” Carly pressed a card into Dana’s hand, knowing that Dana wouldn’t call anyone. “I could help you if you want to leave him.”

“Where would I go?” Dana climbed the steps and went into the trailer.

Carly could hear Tony yelling before the door even shut. Years ago she’d have tried to convince Dana to leave him, but now she knew it was pointless. She rubbed her temple. When had she become such a cynic?

So Amber Lynn’s parents were not candidates for custody of Charlotte. Carly started her engine. A curtain in the window moved. Tony’s face appeared. He stared at her. Hostility shone through the dirty glass. His face disappeared and the door to the trailer opened. Dana must have told him they weren’t getting the baby, because his face was dark with rage as he came down the steps. He started toward the car.

Carly locked her doors, shifted the Jeep into drive, and stomped on the gas pedal as he lunged toward her vehicle.

“Hey, I got something to say to you,” he shouted.

But Carly wasn’t having another conversation with Tony without a police escort. She had no doubt that Tony would have a completely different attitude if Seth were standing behind her, glaring at him. Seth was exceptionally good at glaring.

Shivering, she drove away. She reached for the temperature control and cranked the heat on fully as she drove toward Solitude. Two miles down the road, after she was sure Tony wasn’t coming after her, she pulled over to check her messages. Seth had called and left one.

Please, let the message say that Bruce has been found safe.

But she had no such luck. Seth wanted her to meet him at home in an hour. A search was being organized for Bruce by the Solitude PD, but Seth had no leads.

She turned the defroster to high. Snowflakes melted on her windshield. The weather was deteriorating, and Bruce was still missing.