“Maybe it’s the same dealer.”
“Can’t be. Sheriff Davis caught the guy and sent him to prison.” JB spoke like a man proud of the outcome. “I was part of that sting before I left town and joined the FBI. Got a lot of bad stuff off the streets that night.”
“He could have got parole by now. Old haunts are hard to leave if he’s dealing again.” Cain pulled a small notebook from his back pocket. “If you give me his name, I’ll check him out.”
“That won’t be necessary.” JB glanced at Betsy.
“Why?” Cain asked.
Breathing in deep, she realized he really didn’t know her past. Of course, not everyone knew, but she figured he’d have pulled up her profile on the Internet. Evidently not. For some reason that made her feel good. He’d given her privacy and asked her out no matter what.
The past hadn’t been easy, but she’d survived. And she wasn’t ashamed of what she’d done. Not one bit. Now she needed to be the one strong enough to tell him her secrets…or at least one of them.
Betsy cleared her throat. “The man died.”
Cain turned to face her. “How do you know?”
“His name was Phillip Carrington. Papa Carrington’s son.” She sat up straighter in her chair. “He was also my husband.”
The elephant in the room landed on Cain like a two-ton brick. He didn’t know what he’d expected, but certainly not that Phillip had been her husband. “I’m sorry, Betsy. I didn’t know.”
“Nothing to be sorry about.” Betsy pushed an escaped curl back behind her ear. “Life is what it is. Now tell me about this plan you and the police have devised.”
“We may need to rethink this, since your informant has mentioned Phillip,” JB said. “Especially when you couple it with the info you got dropped on you the other night.”
Cain nodded.
Kennett reached for another slice of pizza. “I would not make light of this clue. In the drug arena, names, dates, places, everything means something.”
“I agree.” Cain grabbed the last slice. “I’ll try to get more info, but sometimes passing info is risking your life. How long has Phillip been dead?”
“Almost two years.” Betsy sighed. “In fact, after his death, Papa Carrington started stopping by the Peyton’s more and more. Guess it finally sank in that he didn’t have much left in life, so he turned back to the business he’d previously owned.”
A light went off in Cain’s head. All along there’d been something throwing him off when he thought of Peyton’s Automotives. The place had opened when he was still in grade school, just two or three years before Sadie, Marcy and Betsy moved to Crayton permanently, after her own dad had been killed.
Used to be called Carrington & Son New and Used Cars. He’d always found the original name strange since there’d been three partners in the beginning. Started small. Stayed small. And then suddenly expanded into an overnight success.
“What do you mean?” Playing one of his who-do-I-trust questions, Cain just wanted to make sure everyone was on the same page of information. He noticed she’d returned to staring at the beach picture, just as she had been a few minutes ago.
“He still owns a tiny percentage of Peyton’s, but not enough to make business decisions” She turned her attention back to him. “And he still has keys to the service center and this building. That way he can come and go whenever he wants. I think it gives him something to do. Of course, when he does stop by, he spends most of the time in his old office or tinkering in the service center. He’s big on walking around the lot and inspecting the car trunks, also.”
“Anything else?”
She shook her head slightly in aggravation. “Always carries a trash bag with him because, and I quote, ‘Never know what you’ll find in the crevices of the trunk. Just consider me your double-check cleaning valet’.”
Cain got the impression she didn’t appreciate the intrusion. “So how?—”
The three cops’ pagers vibrated at the same time. Within seconds they were all on their feet and headed to the door.
“There’s been a major accident out on Highway 54. We’ll have to do this another time.” JB shook his head. “A hell of a lot going on around here for it being winter and no tourists.”
Cain motioned to get the man’s attention before he left, then stepped into the hallway with him. “Why don’t I fill Betsy in on the plan? I’ll give her the layout. See if she’s still willing to help after she knows all the details. If so, you can call her later to finalize the arrangements.”
“That’d be great. I appreciate all the help you can give us on this.” JB cocked his head to the side. “And yeah, I know I should have told you about her and Phillip. But…”
“Anything else you’re not telling me about Betsy?”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
