“All you’re concerned about is the money. I’m concerned about my sister.”
“I don’t know where she is. If I did, I would have gone to get her.I just don’t know.”
The last sentence came out like a whine. Lainie wanted to get up and run to where Vine was and squeeze answers from him. But there was more information she needed to get from Stan. “What happened to Efren?”
“Efren?”
“Don’t be stupid. He worked at the car wash. He was undercover FBI.”
He dropped his head and covered his eyes. “FBI? He just detailed cars. I don’t know what you mean. Has something happened to him?” His cloying tone was disingenuous.
“He’s missing.”
He shrugged. “Crystal didn’t say anything to me about him.”
“You have his badge and gun.”
Stan shook his head. “I don’t know how that got in my car. Maybe Crystal put it there. Maybe she knows where he is. If she knew that he was FBI, she probably killed him. Crystal is evil. Now I’m her fall guy.”
“She’s in the hospital.”
“What?”
“Coma. She was in a car accident.”
“No. I just spoke to her.”
“When?”
“Yesterday. She warned me that the cops were after me. She told me to run and not stop or the boys would be in danger. I didn’t know where to go. I got as far as Ventura.”
That took Lainie by surprise. They knew for a fact that Benton hadn’t been talking to anyone for at least three days. Why would he lie about it? Then she recalled training she’d had on artificial intelligence. It would be a simple thing for Vine or anyone to fake a phone call using AI. Telling Stan to run away and try to hide would certainly make him appear guilty.
There was no doubt in her mind that Stan was guilty of a lot. But of being a criminal mastermind? As angry as she was with him, she still couldn’t see that.
“The paperwork in your car indicates that you were behind all of this. That you sent money to two hit men to kill Martin Straight a couple of months ago. Nothing in there incriminates Crystal.”
His face screwed up in distress and his voice squeaked. “Straight? What motive would I have to kill him? They’re framing me. Come on, Lainie. Do you really think that I’m such a monster?”
“My sister is gone, Stan, and you are more concerned about what has happened to you than where she is or what’s happened to her. Iwouldn’t put anything past you. At least have the decency to tell me where her body is so my family can have some closure.”
He raised his voice. “I had nothing to do with what happened to Evie, I swear. I had an affair with a liar, I admit that, but that’s all I’m guilty of.” Tears fell anew.
She stared at him for a few minutes, bile rising in her throat.
“What about all the stuff we found in the safe at your office? Money, IDs, and paperwork for offshore bank accounts?”
“All Crystal’s idea.” Then he seemed to perk up a bit. “You found all of that?”
“Yeah, we did.”
“The bathroom floor safe. That was the only thing I did on my own. Right before I left for Hawaii, I set it up.” A slight smile emerged. “At least I put one thing over on Crystal. The money was in case we had to flee from Vine. She pretended that we would flee together. But when he took Evie, no way I could leave. I love my boys; I couldn’t lose them as well. Crystal made it sound like the shark attack would work. I really thought that would save Evie and solve all my problems.”
“All your problems?” Disgusted, Lainie stood. “I suggest you lawyer up. The evidence all points to you. Not Crystal, not Vine.”
The expression on his face was so lost, so perplexed, Lainie almost felt sorry for him.
Almost.
