"Did he have a criminal record?"
"No. But he had tried rehab twice before during our marriage. It was a documented part of our divorce.”
"What do you think instigated his drug use initially?”
She exhaled a hopeless breath. "I don't know. I think in high school and college, it was just fun. Recreational. Everybody dabbled here and there. But something happened. Wes changed. I saw it even before we got married. I kept thinking that marriage would straighten him out. Then, I thought kids would straighten him out." She shook her head. "I was wrong. Some people you just can't fix."
I thanked her, offered our condolences once again, and gave her a card. I told her to get in touch if she needed anything or remembered any details that might be helpful. But I was ofthe mind that this was open and shut. Wes had made poor life choices and overdosed. Just like Whitney Hollingsworth. Two senseless deaths in the span of 24 hours. It was enough to make you think there was an epidemic at hand. And perhaps there was.
We left and set out to find Tad Vickers. According to the DMV, he lived in the Nautilus. It was a luxury high-rise with all the amenities and a private marina. It was a nice place, and the units didn’t come cheap.
Jack pulled up to the valet, and the kid jogged to grab his door. “Keep it up front,” he said as he slipped a few bills in the kid’s palm. “We won’t be here long.”
“Nice car,” he replied, ogling the classic beauty.
We walked to the main entrance, and I flashed my badge at the glass doors. The doorman let us in. I didn’t see the concierge. JD and I strolled across the opulent lobby to the elevators and zipped up to the 15th floor. We marched down the hall, and I rang the video doorbell at unit #1517.
There was no answer.
I rang again, and we hung around another few moments with no response. If Tad was inside, he wasn’t answering.
We left and made our way back down to the lobby. I asked the doorman if he’d seen Tad lately.
“I think he left early this morning.”
“Did he say where he was going?”
The doorman shook his head.
I thanked him, gave him my card, along with a wad of cash, and asked him to get in touch when Tad returned. I wasn’t holding my breath that I’d hear from him.
The valet pulled the Porsche around, and we climbed in. I texted Isabella and asked her to track Tad’s phone.
She texted back a few minutes later.[He doesn’t have a cell phone listed in his name. He’s probably using a prepaid, and he’s smart enough not to use it from his condo.]
[Thanks.]
Tad had been in the drug game long enough to know how to cover his tracks. Never sell to people you don’t know. Never do deals over devices that can be linked to you. Never handle product directly if you can avoid it. I’m sure at this stage, he had runners.
We headed back to Diver Down and grabbed lunch. Teagan greeted us at the bar with a cheery smile as we took our seats. Somehow, she seemed to make all the troubles of the world fade away with that smile of hers.
Afterward, we went back to theAvventura, got into costume, and set out for the children’s hospital. I pulled on a pair of sweatpants over the elf tights so I didn’t look like a total idiot as we traveled between here and there. I carried the jacket, cap, and shoes, and brought a change of clothes.
Jack donned the wig and beard. He looked pretty jolly in the red suit, but he'd already worked up a sweat by the time we got to the Porsche. A little cool weather might be a welcome relief.
We drove to the hospital and took a moment to get into character in the parking lot. Game face on, I climbed out of the car, put on the jacket and cap, and followed JD into the lobby.
“Ho, ho, ho,” Jack bellowed as we entered.
Jasmine greeted us with a warm smile in the lobby. With bright eyes, she said, “Oh my God! You two look amazing!” In a soft, sincere tone, she added, “Thank you for doing this. The kids are going to be thrilled.”
Jasmine was a heavenly creature with raven hair, tan skin, and smoldering dark eyes. She was a Christmas package JD was just waiting to unwrap. If he played his cards right, she might just be under the tree on the big day.
“So, I figured we’d just go room to room and greet the kids. I’ll keep a watch on the time and try to keep it moving so we can get to everyone.”
“We’ll get to everyone,” JD assured. “Doesn’t matter how long it takes.”
Jasmine smiled, already melting.
