“He sounds like a shithead.”
Holt laughed. “Apt description based on the feedback. He wasn’t around much when Violet was small, but as was his MO, Harold returned a year and a half later and got Daphne pregnant again.”
Simon shook his head in disbelief. He didn’t understand why anyone would put up with someone like that.
“Harold was in and out of their lives. Deadbeat, too. Always coming up with an excuse for why he couldn’t pay child support. It’s my understanding that’s how Violet came to own thebuilding that houses the bookstore. Her uncle held on to various properties to ensure those girls weren’t left destitute because of their parents’ choices.”
“That was generous of him.”
“You have no idea.” Holt chuckled. “After Honor was born, Harold attempted to do right by them. Mostly. It lasted a few years. Then he was out the door again.”
“Exactly how long’ve you lived here?” Simon asked his friend.
“Twenty-nine days,” Holt answered proudly.
Simon stopped walking. “Seriously?”
Holt turned to face him, nodding.
“How the hell’d you get that much information in less than a month?”
“People here like to talk.” He lowered his voice, grinning like an idiot. “A lot. Provided they aren’t talking about themselves.”
That sounded like an understatement.
“To my knowledge, Daphne and Harold are still legally married, but he’s been gone for years.”
Simon fell into step when Holt started walking again. “Gone as in…?”
“Not dead, no. I think he’s got a girlfriend who’s got kids.”
“His kids?”
“Don’t know. Not sure he knows. The guy’s a jackass. It doesn’t surprise me that the town rallied to help care for the girls.”
“Not everyone has a fairy-tale family,” Simon told Holt.
“Funny you should bring that up,” Holt said with a bark of laughter. “Ever readRapunzel?”
“Not sure I’ve read it, but I get the literary reference. Girl stashed away in a tower for safekeeping. She’s trapped there with no way to get out, right?”
“Those four girls have metaphorically spent their lives trapped in that tower. Only they weren’t put there by a sorceress who wanted to keep them for herself. Their many male cousins and uncles are responsible for that, forming a protection circle around them to keep them safe. They look after them. And they don’t hesitate to intervene whenever they think someone might be getting too close.”
“Because they had a crappy father?”
“In theory, yes.”
“Someone needs to look into what these people are drinkin’,” Simon joked.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Sniff around her too much, and you just might find out for yourself.”
“Who said anything about sniffin’ around?” he countered, refusing to look back at the bookstore. “I’m married, and unlike good ol’ Harold, I don’t stray.”
“Married.” Holt snorted. “Saying you’re married to your work does not make you married.”
“If you believe it, it’s true. I’m here for one reason only. To dig into this wild ass tale you’re spinning and see if there’s any truth to it.”
When Holt had called him yesterday to tell him his theory about a potentially missing woman, he’d first thought the guy had lost his mind. But before the call ended, Simon couldn’t deny he was intrigued by the idea that a mafia family in Dallas was ultimately responsible for a series of events that had affected a family in Coyote Ridge. The mystery behind it was far too intriguing for him to pass up, so here he was, hoping to get a firsthand account of the events in question and how they could relate to an incident that happened twenty years ago.
