“Deb said that, according to Teddy, you threatened Ash.Apparently he picked up a young woman over in Lanesboro, brought her home, had sex with her, and then money was exchanged. And then you threatened Ash. Said if he ever told anyone about it, you’d kill him. And to be honest, Andy, it sounds like something you’d say. Straight out ofGoodfellas.”
“Nah…” says Kimmich. “I never said nothing like that.”
Clay leans toward Kimmich. “Then what did you say?”
Andy’s eyes dart from Clay to Zoey then back to Clay. “Wait,” he says. “What does this have to do with Teddy?”
“You buying time to come up with a good story?”
“No,” says Andy. “I just don’t see the connection.”
“We just told you the connection,” says Zoey. “According to Deb, Ash asked Teddy to deliver a message to you. It wasn’t a favor. It was in exchange for Ash forgiving the interest part of a loan he’d made to Teddy. So we assume Teddy delivered the message. Then he disappeared. I’m sure you can understand that from where we’re sitting, the message and the disappearance might be related.”
“You’re thinking I have something to do with Teddy disappearing?” says Andy. His voice sounds incredulous but his stupid, fake smile persists.
“We’re thinking,” says Clay, “that it’s worth asking you about. So that’s what we’re doing. And as you know, time is an important factor after someone goes missing. So the sooner you’re honest with us about what’s going on, the sooner we’ll be one step closer to finding Teddy.”
The smile fades from under Kimmich’s mustache.
“Who is she?” says Zoey.
“Who is who?” says Kimmich.
“Skye,” says Clay. “Or whatever her real name is. The young woman who insisted Ash pay her for sex. Is she your girlfriend? Either voluntarily or on the clock?”
“What?” says Kimmich, who sounds genuinely outraged. “I’m a happily married man. I would never cheat on my wife.”
“You say that like it’s an impossibility,” says Zoey. “Like there’s about as much of a chance of you cheating as there is you playing in the NBA. Or time traveling. But let me tell you something I know for a fact: Sometimes happily married men do cheat on their wives. You know, just for fun. It doesn’t mean anything. They still love their wives. They still want to be married. They just need a little excitement. Is there shame in that? Yeah. Probably. More like definitely. But we won’t hold it against you. Your private life is your business.”
“Is that why you threatened Ash?” says Clay. “You’re worried that if word gets out about Skye sleeping with older men, someone will put it together that she’s sleeping with you, too?”
Andy shuts his eyes, sips his Scotch, and shakes his head. “Did Deb really tell you all this? Or did that son of a bitch Ash talk?”
“Why?” says Clay. “You want to know if you need to make good on your threat?”
“This is…” Andy takes a healthy swig of Scotch. “This is not good.”
“No shit,” says Zoey. “I mean, it could be worse. And maybe it is. Because the way you’ve been acting, Skye is either your girlfriend or you’re her pimp. Or both. Not sure why you’d threaten Ash to keep his mouth shut if you’re her pimp because him talking would probably be good for business. Unless you’re worried aboutAsh being Teddy’s brother-in-law and you thought word of your pimping somehow got to Deb or Teddy and then to Judd. Because—”
“I’m not her pimp,” says Andy. His tone is firm and stern. “And I’m not her boyfriend. I’m her goddamn father.”
Neither Clay nor Zoey responds right away. They just look at each other as if they’re checking a truth barometer.Do you believe Kimmich? I don’t know—do you?And right then and there, communicating with just their eyes, they agree that they do. No cop would lie about that. Not when they know a DNA test could prove them wrong. Then their eyes swing toward Kimmich in a plea for more information.
“I would never cheat on my wife. Now. But there was one time I did stray,” says Kimmich. “I was up in St. Cloud with Aiden for a hockey tournament. Julie was here with the girls because they had activities of their own. Aiden’s team and the parents, we all stayed in one of those Holiday Inns with an indoor pool under a glass dome. The kids loved the hotel more than the hockey tournament. And the parents loved it because we could just turn ’em loose in the pool area while we sat at tables drinking cocktails out of plastic cups.
“There were a few teams there. One from Duluth. One from the cities. One from Alexandria. The kids got to know each other at the pool, and the parents got to know each other at the bar. There was a single mom there from Duluth. She was lonely and I was drunk and the next thing I know we’re in her room.” Kimmich drops his eyes. “A couple months later she calls me and tells me she’s pregnant and asks me to leave Julie. I say no way. It was a mistake. She says yes it was, and that’s the last I hear from her.”
“But you heard from Skye,” says Clay.
“Yep. About a year ago. She wants a relationship with me. I don’t want to mess things up at home so I say I can’t do that. And then Skye—that is her real name, by the way—starts pretending she’s a prostitute.”
“Pretending?” says Zoey.
“That’s not her real job,” says Kimmich. “It’s a cry for attention. Skye’s a nursing student at Winona State. It’s just that once in a while, she does what she did with Ash because she’s trying to, I don’t know, embarrass me? Get me to accept her and tell my family about her? I’m not sure. I just get these weird texts from her once in a while. I think… I think her mom’s not so mentally healthy and Skye’s had a rough go of it. She’s acting out. And I have not been able to talk sense into her. Looks like I’ll have to tell Julie and the kids. I don’t see any way to avoid it.”
“Then why did you threaten Ash?” says Clay.
“Because I want my wife to hear it from me. Not Ash Solbakken.”
