“Okay. So let’s follow this. Which one had the affair? The wife, and now that she’s gone, Hanson resents raising the kid that’s not his.”
Ben folded his arms across his chest. “I don’t think so. With the miscarriages Delia Hanson had? I have my doubts she could carry a pregnancy to term regardless of who the father was.”
“So Hanson had an affair. Or maybe they used a surrogate,” Luke added to the theory.
“A surrogate would make sense. Either way, let’s say Delia is not Caleb’s mother. So they moved around, so the people in their life wouldn’t know that Delia didn’t carry or give birth to Caleb. They had a birth certificate forged to support the lie. And the OB who signed the birth certificate is the one who put them in touch with the surrogate. Now that Delia is gone, Hanson resents taking care of a kid who isn’t his. Or maybe the surrogate heard about Delia’s suicide and is trying to get custody of Caleb away from Hanson.”
“That’s a lot of what ifs.”
Ben deflated and dropped back down on the mattress. “I know. Can you tell I’ve run out of leads?”
“You sure you’re not wanting some or all of this to be true because you can’t stand the guy?” Luke asked.
“It’s a strong possibility,” Ben admitted. “The guy is an ass. A big SOB, and any time I’ve seen him and Caleb together,I’ve gotten a bad feeling. Hanson never interacts with Caleb, but they’re always together, like he’s afraid to let Caleb out of his sight. The kid’s not happy. The visit from CPS tells us that. Caleb’s struggling in school. He has no friends, no extracurricular activities, nothing outside of his house and Hanson. Something is wrong there. I can’t let this go until I find out what it is. I can’t be another person who walks away from this kid when he needs help.”
“I get it.”
Ben scowled. “But you don’t agree?”
“Do I agree that Hanson is an asshole? Yeah. Do I agree that Caleb deserves better? Yeah. Do I think your theory has merit? Not really, man. Sorry. I think you’re reaching.”
“So what would you do if you were me?”
Luke swore under his breath. “Run it down anyway. You won’t let it go unless we do.”
“Thanks, man. I owe you.”
Luke guffawed. “Damn right, you do. And payback starts now. Who’s the “she” that you showed our picture to?”
“Nope,” Ben responded. “Not happening. Instead, why don’t you tell me how everything’s going?”
“It’s all good. English has checked in at the hardware store every day you’ve been gone. He said your managers have everything under control. Reagan said your monster of a cat is fine. I think Jax is trying to talk her into bringing the thing home with them.”
Ben chuckled. “I don’t think Ziggy will like that. He’s a homebody.”
“Reagan said she thinks he misses you. But he’s a cat, so who the hell really knows? How are you holding up?”
Ben’s hand reached up to lightly touch his nose, which had outwardly healed but was still a bit sore. “Other than getting into a fight, I’m good.”
“What the hell? I hope you kicked their ass,” Luke exclaimed.
“Not exactly.”
Ben explained what happened with Charlotte and how that led to a dinner invitation with her, Wally, and Mona. He found himself smiling as he relayed the story, realizing the evening had been one of the more enjoyable ones he’d had lately, topped only by the time they spent at Whimsy.
He was beginning to count any time spent with Charlotte as enjoyable and something worth repeating.
Luke whistled when Ben finished. “Damn. You met a girl. Let me guess. She’s the one you showed the family picture to. Wait until I tell Mel about this.”
“There’s nothing to tell. I’m here working a case. It’s not my fault that my path keeps crossing with this girl. It’s a small town. But speaking of Charlotte, think you could check into her for me?”
Luke chuckled. “Don’t tell me she’s one of your damsels in distress?”
Ben stiffened. He hated when his brothers gave him a hard time about his soft spot for women in need. It wasn’t his fault that “damsels in distress” found their way to Ben and trusted him with their stories of trouble. If he could be of assistance, he never hesitated to help.
He thought of the women in his life who had found themselves in difficult situations. First, there was their family friend, Becky Lathan, who was given what she needed for a fresh start by English. Then came Reagan and her mother, Melody and her sister, and then Bailee and her grandmother. He shuddered to think of what might have happened to any of them if English, Ben and his brothers hadn’t stepped in to help when they did.
“Look, I don’t know her story, but I think she’s in trouble. The people around here are very protective of her, and she’s evasive if you ask her anything personal about herself. Check her out and make sure nothing serious is going on? Like I said, our paths keep crossing, so I need to know what I’ve walked into, don’t you think?”
