Page 104 of Blood Moon

“Indicating that the ‘stuff’ must have been really weird,” John said. “Do you think he influenced the crescent moon tattoo?”

“I asked. They didn’t know, because they didn’t even know about the tattoo. But it’s possible.”

“Did you get his name? Is he still around?”

“Yes to the first, and he lives in Beaumont. He has two priors. Both for stalking, which resulted in restraining orders. He was never even looked at because we had Dobbs naked and stoned and Larissa’s DNA all over him and his boat. Which brings me to the best part.”

John said, “The stalker has a boat.”

“Yes, sir. I’m going to get Beaumont PD to keep an eye on him, but not to spook him until I can get the log books from every marina along at least one hundred miles of coastline, Texas and Louisiana. Let’s see if his boat launched from one of them on May sixteenth of ’22.

“And before you ask,” she continued, “I already checked your date in November. This guy was serving thirty days in jail for harassing one of his stalking victims. He’s not Crissy’s abductor. But I think you’re on to something, John. It’s multiple perps. They’re the common factor, not the women.”

“Gayle, I can’t thank you enough.”

“Don’t thank me. If this is the guy who took Larissa, we completely dropped the ball and made a suspected murderer out of Patrick Dobbs. I’ll keep you updated, but right now I gotta run and get busy. You asshole, you just doubled my workload.”

She hung up before he could form a comeback.

He clicked off and looked across at Beth. “What do we do with this?” she asked.

“First off, call Roberts in Jackson, report this, and urge him to take another, closer look at the dark web guy who gets his jollies exposing himself.”

John quickly demolished his burger. While Beth wasfinishing her salad, he called Roberts and fortunately caught him at his desk. John related what he’d learned from Gayle Morris, and, as he’d anticipated, the information was galvanizing. “I’m on it,” the detective said.

“Go back to the wife, too. Words like aiding and abetting, complicity, and conspiracy may alter her memory of that night.”

“Will do. Thanks, Bowie.”

He clicked off. Beth stuffed the last of their trash into the sack. “Now what?”

He gave her a slow and suggestive grin. “Want to get a room?”

She looked at him with surprise and answered with smoky eyes and a sexy smile. “Yes.”

“And rid each other of clothing?”

“Definitely. As quickly as possible.”

“God, don’t I wish,” he groaned. “Another time.”

He slid his pistol from its holster. “But we have a tail, and I recognize the car by the hail damage on the hood. It belongs to one of the men the ogre uses. So kiss me. Good. Make it look like the kind of kiss that counts. I’ll take it from there.”

Chapter 29

Frank, who are these incompetents? Mitch Haskell shook the tail you had on him, now Bowie has given his the slip. Where did you scrape up these imbeciles?”

The only reason Barker didn’t bellow the questions was because it seemed that everyone who worked in the CAP unit was currently trying to look busy mere feet beyond his office door. “Where did Bowie shake him?”

“He told me that Bowie and the Collins woman were in a municipal park, in a car—not his truck—making out.”

“Making out?”

“Like teenagers, he said. Anyhow, all of a sudden the car started up and shot outta there before my man could get his Big Gulp back into the cup holder.”

“So they just sped away?”

“Basically. He went after them, but never spotted them again. He’d gotten the license plate, though. I ran it. The car is registered to a Charlie Lamont. So either Bowie stole that car, or borrowed it, or… you know.”