Page 34 of Wild Frost

Her eyes rounded and she nodded. “Called the house. Came by one time. Harassed the new tenants.” She thought for a moment, putting all the pieces together. "This had to be him. Can’t be anybody else.”

"Do you know what kind of car he drives?"

Lena thought about it for a moment. "The time he came to the house, he was driving a black four-door.”

"A Dominator GT?”

"What's that? I'm not really into cars," she said, a convertible Maserati sitting in the driveway.

"We’ll check with the DMV," I said.

I thanked her for the information, gave her my card, and told her I'd be in touch as things developed.

We walked back to the Revenant and climbed inside. I ran background on Ray through the online portal. He was shaping up to be a suspect, especially after what I found.

Ray served five years for aggravated assault. He had gang affiliations. According to the records, he turned a wrench over at Randy’s Garage. Ray’s current address was listed as the place he got evicted from.

I called Randy’s Garage. A receptionist with a delightful Southern drawl answered after a few rings.

“Is Ray working today?”

“He's not in today.”

"When do you expect him back?”

"Don't. Ray got fired.”

I lifted a curious brow. "What did he get fired for?"

She hesitated for a moment. "Well, I'm not really supposed to discuss employee business with the customers."

"I'm not really a customer," I said, then introduced myself as a deputy sheriff.

"Well, in that case, I really shouldn’t be talking to you.”

I laughed. "This sounds too interesting. Now you’ve got to share. You have my curiosity piqued."

"It's not all that scandalous. Ray kept showing up drunk and high. I know he was going through some hard times, but that ain't no excuse. Randy had to fire him.”

"When was this?"

"Oh, I’d say three or four days ago. It’s a shame. Ray was a good mechanic. He’d only been working here a few weeks. Maybe a month. I suspect he got fired from his previous job for the same thing."

“You know where he was working before?”

“Carlo’s Customs.”

"Thanks for the info," I said.

"Is Ray in some kind of trouble?"

"Could be.”

She laughed. "Now you’ve gotmycuriosity piqued.”

"Tell you what, if he's guilty, I'll give you a call, and you'll be the first to know."

"Well, thank you, darling. I look forward to your call.”