“Yeah… do you figure she hid it for his family?”
“I thought so too at first, but I know Betsy Simmons is living much more frugally than she used to as J.R.’s wife. Once the Feds seized their property and bank accounts, she went to live with her parents. She’s since remarried a lawyer in Little Rock, but their home is more modest than the mansion they had in El Dorado.”
“And his son?” I asked hesitantly.
“Joe Simmons never got a dime. He was living with his mother when the Feds showed up and was pretty much kicked out of the house. He went back to Fenton County. He’s currently married and living in a farmhouse that needs updates while employed as the sheriff of one of the poorest counties in Arkansas. He didn’t get any money.”
“Are you sure he’s not hiding it? Maybe it’s his retirement plan.”
He shook his head. “Neely Kate says he doesn’t have it.”
So he’d asked. “Maybe she doesn’t know.”
“Trust me. She knows.”
I wanted to ask more questions but let it go. “So you think Natalie kept the money for herself?”
“That’s my suspicion, but I just asked Carter to look into her spending habits over the past decade.”
“Decade? Simmons was killed four years ago.”
He shot me a grin. “He’s lookin’ for any changes in her spending habits. I’m surprised you didn’t think of that, Detective.”
I made a face. “I would have looked for changes. I just wouldn’t have gone back that far.”
“You were also constrained by things like search warrants.”
He had a point. “Do I want to know how you’re going to get access to her bank records over the last ten years?”
“Probably not.”
I sat back in my seat, once again evaluating my integrity. Maybe it was better if I didn’t know how he accomplished some things, but willful ignorance wasn’t necessarily a good defense in court. Not that this would ever find its way into a courtroom. None of this would be obtained legally, and James’s HSI contact would be a fool to try to use any of it in court.
“So where do you want to go now?” I asked.
“I was thinking we head up to some of the truck stops at the I-30/I-40 interchange.”
“Really? During the day?” I wasn’t surprised he suggested the truck stops, just the time of day. They were known as a hot spot for prostitution.
“Might as well get the lay of the land for when we go back later.”
“Are you hoping to get a name from Razor?”
“I don’t know yet,” he said. “If we press him for it, he could set us up or alert Knox’s guys that we’re comin’.”
“Or both.”
“Exactly,” James said.
“You don’t want to go see Razor?”
“Not yet. It’s still too early for him to crawl out of his hole.”
“Do you know where to find him?”
“I suspect he’ll be at his usual haunt.” He shot a quick glance at me. “I saw him there back in December.”
I narrowed my gaze. “Why were you lookin’ for him in December?”
