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I started to tell her that I don’t handle cases like that.
But I didn’t.
With my eyes now focused, I could see her face. I wanted her to stay.
Mrs. Childers, huh
?
The way she said it, with so much attitude about it. So I decided to have some fun with it. "How long has he been missing, Mrs. Childers?"
"About two weeks."
"Any possibility that he could have just gone out of town? Took a vacation and not told you?"
"It’s possible, Mr.?"
"Simmons, Nick Simmons." I liked the sound of her voice. It was soothing. "Please call me, Nick."
"Okay, Nick. It’s possible, but it’s not like Jake to be gone like this. Neither me, nor my sister, Chésará, have heard from him. Jake is kind of — well, anal. You know, everything in its place, all about details."
"Have you gone to the police, Mrs. Childers?"
"No. I haven’t gone to the police."
"Mind if I ask why?"
She looked at me for a while. She had pretty eyes, but they weren’t soft. They were cold and distant. But there was something enchanting about the way she smiled. She shifted around in her chair and crossed her legs.
She dug around in her purse and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. "You mind if I smoke?" she asked, almost as an after thought.
"Please, be my guest."
She lit up. "I think my husband might be involved."
"All the more reason to go to the police."
"I don’t want to go to the police until I’m sure that he’s involved. That’s why I want to hire you to prove that he’s involved in it."
"Are you afraid of your husband?"
"Yes," she said quietly and looked away. Her fear came through loud and clear. "My husband is a very dangerous man, Mr. Simmons."
"Nick. Please, call me, Nick. What’s your husbands name?"
"Alvin, Alvin Childers."
I laughed to myself, thinking how dangerous could somebody named Alvin be? "What makes him so dangerous?"
"He’s involved in drugs. If he even thought I was talking to you about him or his business he’d —"
"Has he hurt you before?" I asked, and she dropped her head a little. I had taken notice of the dark circles under her eyes that her makeup didn’t quite hide.
"I don’t see what that has to do with anything." The fear in her voice quickly gave way to attitude.
But I like a woman with a little attitude.
"Look, you want me to prove that your husband is involved in your brothers disappearance, and prove it to the police at that. You have to tell me everything."