“I trusted you.”
“Actually, Ben, it had nothing to do with trust. You came to me for information, and assumed I wouldn’t say anything. And I haven’t. But that will change if you keep hacking into systems.”
“I haven’t hacked into anything.” Ben was furious, but George seemed oblivious to his anger. He was in his own world.
Finally, he said, “Let me poke around . . . see what I can dig up.” He turned to Ben. “Stop doing what you’re doing.”
“I’m not doing anything illegal.” Ben pulled into a parking space at the Pie House.
“Well, you didn’t get these names by picking them out of a hat.” George patted his stomach. “All this talking to you isn’t good for my waistline. June is right. I’m getting pudgy. Let’s go see if we can find something sugarless.”
He pulled on the door handle and Ben followed him to the shop. There were quite a few sugarless fruit pies. George chose cherry and Ben went for the sugarless apple.
George said, “You’re as skinny as a stork. Why are you buying a sugarless pie?”
Ben said nothing. He didn’t know why. Perhaps it was because “sugarless” was an apt description for the better portion of the last three years.
Chapter 5
“Whoa. Finally! I know where I’ve seen Kevin Barnes.” Ro stopped typing on her computer, looked up, and waited for Ben to continue. “The night of the equinox . . . while I waited for you to finish up at the Jackson . . .” He hit the image. “He bumped into my shoulder in the parking lot.”
Ro got up from Ben’s bed. “Are you sure?”
“Positive. I even asked you about him. You were going to look him up the next day.” No response. “Do you remember this at all?”
“I do remember your asking.” A deep sigh. “I’m sorry, Ben, I forgot to do it.”
“’S’right.”
“No, it’s not all right. I could have gotten his room key when he turned it in and we could have tested it for DNA.”
“Dorothy, if he’s the one, I guarantee you he didn’t turn in his room key.” Ben continued to stare at the picture. “The guy was heavier . . . older.” He closed his eyes, trying to revive a memory. “He was smelly . . . no, not smelly. Sweaty . . . the kind of musty odor you get when you’re nervous or you’ve done physical labor.”
Ro was already going down the list of hotel guests on that date. “There’s no Kevin Barnes.”
“Can I see the list of patrons?”
“Of course.” She handed it to him.
Quickly, Ben’s eyes scanned down the names. “Nike B. Ravens is an anagram of Kevin Barnes.”
“Nike’s a girl’s name.”
“Did you say anything to him when you checked him in?”
“I didn’t check him in, Vicks, but I would have noticed the name.”
“Well, maybe your coworkers aren’t as astute. And if I were looking for a sexual psychopath, I wouldn’t be looking for a girl. It’s a good dodge.”
“Then why use an anagram of the name when he’s used his real name before?”
“Because if you’re using aliases, it’s good not to stray too far from your real name. Otherwise you forget who you are. As for using his true name, the guy is keeping it real once in a while. Probably to confuse the police if they were looking.” Immediately he fished out the names that were registered at the Jackson around the time of Ellen’s abduction. “Holy shit! Here it is! Karen Bevins.” He regarded Ro. “He’s using girls’ names. I’ve got to tell George Tafoya—”
“Ben, you’ve got to tell Shanks.”
“And say what, Ro? That you’ve been hacking the Jackson Lodge registration database?”
“I haven’t hacked into anything.”
“Not technically, but all this information was illegally obtained. You’ll get into trouble. It’ll ruin your life. We can’t tell Shanks unless we can come across it in some other way.”
“You bumped into him on the night of the equinox, right?”
“How would I know his name? He didn’t introduce himself.” Ben was frantic. “Let me think . . . I should talk to George Tafoya . . . wait. I can’t call him.”
“Why not?”
“Because his phones are bugged.”
“He told you that his phones are bugged?”
“Yes, and probably his house and his car. Maybe even his cell phone.”
“Is Lilly’s phone bugged?”
“I haven’t the slightest idea. But that’s a very good plan.” He called up Haley. “Hi, is Lilly with you? Do you know where she is? No, never mind, it’s not important.” He looked at Ro. “Lilly is at the library. Maybe I’ll go down there.”
“Can you at least wait until JD arrives here so you don’t abandon me since I’m helping you out? Unless you want me to leave.”
“No, no, no. You’re right. Let’s see what else I can find out about this dude or Karen Bevins or Nike B. Ravens.” Ben paused. “You try to figure out how we can get this name to Shanks without having you arrested.”
She said, “How about . . . I noticed him . . . that he was coming in very late on the equinox . . . and it got me thinking. So I looked him up—”
“No, you can’t look him up.” He thought a moment. “You would have to know who he is . . . his name. And like you said, you didn’t check him in. Furthermore, he was registered under a different name.”
She blew out air. “Fiction writing was never my forte. I’m a terrible liar.”
“I know that firsthand.”
She threw a pillow at him. That was her usual behavior when she became frustrated with him. When the doorbell rang, Ben checked his watch and Ro checked hers. She said, “JD isn’t due for another hour.”
“Be back in a moment.” Ben opened the front door. Lisa Holloway was wearing her usual black dress with an irregular hemline and combat boots. She had dyed a purple streak in her hair. Her nails were painted black. Her eyes were ringed with dark eyeliner and her lips were bright blue.
“Hey.” He stepped outside rather than invite her in. “What’s up?”
“Not much.”
“You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Her eyes furrowed. “Do I look not okay?”
“No, you look . . . like you always do. What’s up?”
“I was just wondering if you’d like . . . to get a cup of coffee or something.”
“Ro’s here. We’re working on some stuff together. Then I’m going down to Albuquerque. I have work tomorrow and classes at UNM.”
“Okay.” She dragged her toe across the porch. “Some other time.”
“Sure.”
“You wanna go to prom together?” she blurted out. When Ben didn’t answer right away, she crossed her arms over her chest. “Don’t feel obligated. Josh Martin has already asked me but . . . I’d rather go with you.”
“I’m taking Ro.”
Her face was confused. “So who’s JD taking?”
“He’s taking Ro too.”
“You’re both taking her?”
“Yeah, that was the deal when she started dating JD again, that we’d both take her to prom.”
She nodded. “Two dates . . .” She nodded again. “Sweet.” She shrugged and started to head to her car. “See you.”