“Yeah, that’s why I took it in the first place,” Benton said. “It would have given me charge of the whole operation. You have it, you should know that.”
Mark advised her of her Miranda rights.
“I understand and I’ll talk to you. I’ve got nothing else to lose. It’ll take some getting used to, not feeling anything below the waist. I don’t want to worry about being knifed in prison. You guys will have to keep me safe.”
“As per the agreement, we will.”
“What happened to Efren?” Ben asked.
She sighed and toyed with her food. “I knew Stan never should have hired him. My instincts are usually spot-on.”
“You knew he was an agent when he was hired?” Ben asked.
“Not an agent. I just knew he didn’t fit in at the car wash. Proving my suspicion, he ruined my plans. I got Plug to steal the book. He’d hidden it in the SUV Raphael was supposed to detail. Somehow,Efren got it first. I knew it was missing right away. He wouldn’t tell me where he put it. Plug got a little overzealous.”
“Where is Efren now?”
“Weighted, in Big Bear Lake, not sure exactly where. Plug took care of it.” She relayed the information coldly, dispassionately. Ben was sick to his stomach and let Mark continue.
“It’s easy to blame a dead guy.”
“Blame me. I don’t care. I’m going to need medical help for the rest of my life. Right now, there isn’t much I really care about.”
“What about Evangeline Moffit? Who abducted her? Was that you as well?”
She laughed a weak laugh. “No. Stan angered Dallas, that’s why he snatched Evie. I was pretty much over Stan by then. At first he was useful. He helped me in a lot of ways. I’d never kill over him; he wasn’t that important. I’d spent months siphoning money; Dallas had no clue. Mostly, I needed Stan because he was a convenient scapegoat if Dallas ever found out.”
“None of the money would ever go to Stan?”
“I’d give him a hundred here and there.” She waved a hand dismissively. “He was easy to manipulate. Then he did something stupid.”
“What was that?”
“He took money that wasn’t his and then spent it all for a Hawaiian vacation. Dallas put two and two together. Stan didn’t make that kind of money, and it was a blip on the radar. Dallas saw the money was gone, and Stan might as well have put a sign on his chest:I did it.So he snatched Moffit’s wife.”
“Where did he take her?”
“Probably to his place in Big Bear. I hate that place. Not a decent restaurant in the whole dreary village.”
“You had nothing to do with the abduction of Evangeline Moffit?”
“No. No reason for me to lie about that. Why Dallas kept her alive, I have no idea. Maybe he’s getting soft in his old age.”
“If you had nothing to do with her abduction, why help Stan cover it up?”
“I keep telling you, I was desperate for the book. The longer it was out there, the sooner Dallas would discover it missing. My helping Stan pull off a con was a way to keep Dallas distracted.”
“How can that be true?” Ben tried to keep the anger out of his voice; he wasn’t sure if he’d succeeded. “Evangeline Moffit had your purse, your ID. If you had nothing to do with her abduction, how can you explain that?”
“That’s where my purse was?”
“You want us to believe that you didn’t know?”
“I didn’t. I had her passport—that was still in the house after Dallas grabbed her. Stan gave it to me. Maybe he knows more than I thought. Maybe he was trying to pin that on me.”
“There was an attempt on her life in the hospital,” Ben said.
“I had nothing to do with that.”
