Page 49 of Go Alone

"He was a deadbeat. He didn't have a job, a bank account, or a Social Security number. I remember he used to brag about that, like he was some sort of badass because the government couldn't find him. My mom married him because he was handsome and she…" Her lips trembled a bit. "Well, she liked being the smart one. My dad was… is… successful. He owns a logistics company, and he does very well for himself.

“My mother was a stock trader and a good one, but my dad was still more successful. I think she resented him for that. Linus, on the other hand, was about as much of a loser as you could get. I think he was living with his brother at the time. He married my mom, and she took care of him.”

“So what happened with Martin Cole?”

Linda scoffed. "I think she thought she could fix Linus. It was weird. She wanted to date a loser, but she wanted to turn him into a winner instead of just staying married to a winner. I'm guessing it didn't work out, so she found another loser." Linda shook her head. "I kept telling her not to keep doing this, but of course, Martin was different; Martin really loved her, and it was going to work this time."

Behind Kate, Marcus’s camera clicked as he took pictures of the cipher carved into the coffee table. Outside, news cameras flashed, though with the curtains drawn, they would see nothing but the exterior of the home and their silhouettes inside.

“I’m guessing it didn’t work,” Kate said.

“No,” Linda replied. Her upper lip curled. “Martin was different from Linus. He did work hard. He learned how to trade stocks too. He became successful. Mom thought she had finally found the man of her dreams.

“Then he left her. Divorced her and paid lawyers to ensure she had to accept a thirty-percent-market-value payment for the house. Somehow, he’d convinced her to make him the primary owner on the mortgage, so when he left her, she had to take that payment or try to fight in court and maybe win even less. God only knows how he got all that to work.”

Kate nodded, wheels turning like mad in her head. “Did she ever mention a woman named Deborah Holt or a man named Howard Greer? What about Raymond Brannigan?”

Linda shook her head at all of those names. “No, those don’t sound familiar.”

Kate nodded. She could follow up on that. They had a motive now. Martin might not have been Beverly’s neighbor precisely, but he definitely coveted her home. And maybe his neighbor’s wife too, depending on whether he ever had any desire for her or just wanted the house.

The door burst open, shocking Kate out of her thoughts. She turned to see Anita rushing toward her, eyes wide.

“They found the van,” Anita said.

Kate’s eyes popped open. “They did?”

“What van?” Linda asked.

Remembering her, Kate said, “That’s it for now, Miss Marsh. Please leave the scene. If we need anything else, we’ll reach out.”

“But what van?”

Kate ignored her and asked Anita, “Where was it?”

“The Hoover Reservoir. It’s a lake on the north side of the city. They traced the registration to a man named Curtis Dalby.” Anita grinned. “That’s him, Kate! That’s our guy!”

Marcus, who had trotted over when Anita ran in, frowned and said, “But Curtis Dalby is in prison in Florida.”

Anita frowned. “What? What are you talking about?”

“Marcus and I looked him up last night. He left Ohio after Brannigan forced him from the squatters’ community next to his house. He got a year in Florida for intent to distribute. Besides, he doesn’t match our description at all.”

Anita fished her phone from her pocket and held it up to Kate. “Are you sure? This is what the DMV sent us.”

Kate's eyes popped open when she saw the driver's license for Curtis Dalby. The name, height, weight, and date of birth were all correct, but the picture didn't show a Black man with a shaved head.

The picture on the license was a Caucasian man of forty with blond hair, blue eyes, and broad shoulders. His midsection wasn’t shown, but judging by the shape of his chest, it was a little soft above the belt line.

“Oh my God!” Linda cried out. “That’s him! That’s Linus Varne!”

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Marcus bit into a breakfast sandwich and yanked his head sideways to tear a piece of it off. He chewed hard, not tasting the food but consuming it because he needed the fuel.

He was angry with himself. He’d swept his eyes right over the lead they needed, looked away before he saw the connection. He’d canceled his records request with the DMV before they could have told him that Curtis Darby’s name was currently being used by Linus Varne, who, as Anita had predicted from the beginning, was the key to this entire case.

She was working with the DMV now, trying to trace Varne’s movements over the past several weeks and figure out where he was staying. Since he had apparently reverted to homelessness after losing his sugar mama to Martin Cole, that could prove to be impossible.