Sandra Marton - Raising The Stakes

“Her father didn’t raise her?”

“Ben Lincoln? No. He lit out for Alaska in ‘53, died up there in a blizzard a few years later. The kid—”

“Orianna.”

“Right. She grew up, got herself into a little trouble. Nothing much, just some shoplifting, a little grass, a couple of prostitution convictions.”

“Sounds like a sweetheart.”

“Right. NCIC—the National Criminal Investigation Center—has her getting busted for petty crap all over the southwest. Eventually she ended up with some bozo in Fort Stockton, Texas. He walked out on her and the next record we have shows she set up housekeeping in a trailer park in a place called Queen City, up in the mountains in northern Arizona.”

“Alone?”

“Yup.” Ballard speared another tomato and grinned. “But that didn’t keep her from leading a full life, if you get my drift.” The detective took a sip of water, swallowed and leaned over the table. “The lady believed in an open door policy. One man in, another out, no stopping to take a breather in-between. No kids to slow her down until 1976, when something must have gone wrong with her planning. She gave birth to a girl she named Dawn.”

Gray raised his eyebrows. “Classy name.”

“Yeah, and I figure that was all that was classy in the kid’s life. Dawn lived in the trailer with mama until she was seventeen. Then she married a local name of…” Ballard reached into his breast pocket and took out a small leather notebook. “Name of Kitteridge. Harman Kitteridge.”

“In Queen City?”

“Yup, Queen City. Two traffic lights and half a dozen cheap bars. And local branches of every whacko political organization you ever heard of.” He grinned. “Plus some you’re lucky you haven’t.”

Gray put down his fork. “It sounds like heaven.”

“You got that right. Two days there, I was ready to grab a rifle and go looking for black helicopters. Kitteridge lives on the outskirts of town, on top of a mountain. He’s got a cabin up there. Apparently his grandpappy built it with his own hands.” Ballard put down his notebook and turned his attention to his salad. “You can almost hear the banjoes playing in the background.”

Gray nodded, picked up his fork and poked at his antipasto. Just what he needed, he thought glumly, a trip to the ass end of nowhere for a stimulating conversation with Dawn Lincoln Kitteridge. If he’d thought about her at all during the last weeks, he’d imagined a more up-to-date version of that defiant, almost beautiful woman in the photo, but this conversation had put things in perspective. He could almost envision Dawn Kitteridge, country twang, lank hair, bare feet, gingham dress and all.

“Lucky Dawn,” he said, “she got to trade her trailer for a shack.”

“Yeah, she got herself a shack, and a hubby ten years older than she is.” Ballard paused as the waiter cleared away their appetizers and served their main courses. “But she got tired of both,” he said, tucking into his spaghetti carbonara. “She left Kitteridge and the mountain almost four years ago.”

Gray looked up from his pasta alla vongole. “She missed the trailer park?”

“If you mean, did she go back there, the answer’s no.”

“Damn,” Gray said with a little grin, “and here I was, happily anticipating a trip to a sophisticated metropolis called Queen City.”

“Well, actually, I don’t know where you’re going to be taking that trip to meet up with the little lady—that is still your intention, isn’t it? ‘Cause the thing is, she didn’t exactly leave a forwarding address.”

Gray put down his fork. He’d been telling himself this was all over, that he’d go to Arizona, spend an hour talking with Lincoln’s granddaughter, then fly to Espada and end his unwanted obligation to his uncle.

“Are you saying you don’t know where she is?”

“I’m saying I haven’t located her yet, but I will.”

“Damn.” Gray shoved his plate aside. All at once, he had no appetite. “How much longer will it take?”

Ballard shrugged. “I can’t say for certain. Four years is a long time and when the lady left, she seemed determined to cover her tracks.”

“Kitteridge doesn’t know where she went?”

“I didn’t talk to him. Not yet, anyway. He was out of town but from what I picked up from local chitchat, he has no idea what happened to her.” Ballard patted his lips with his napkin. “Hey, don’t look so sour. I promise, we’ll find her. I’ve got three men looking for her.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Gray sighed, sat back and rubbed his hand over his forehead. “I just don’t want this to drag on forever.”

“You said money wasn’t a problem.”

“It isn’t. Time is my concern. I want to get this done with.”

“Gray, my man, don’t I always deliver?”

It was true. Gray had no doubt that Jack would find Dawn Lincoln Kitteridge. He just had to be patient.

“Yeah, you do. Look, put another couple of people on it, okay? Do whatever it takes to locate the lady.”

“Absolutely.”

“Meanwhile, what’s this Harlan Kitteridge like?”

“It’s Harman. I told you, I didn’t meet him, but I did some checking. He’s got some stuff on his record.”

“Such as?”

Ballard opened his notebook again. “Some DWIs. Two bar fights. He broke up a guy pretty bad in one of them but witnesses said it was self-defense so, you know, case closed. An assault on a woman he’d been living with. Beat her up and she called the cops but when it came to the courtroom, she said she’d hurt herself taking a tumble down the stairs and all she wanted was Harman out of the place.” Jack looked up. “Nothing once he married our girl. Dawn either swings a heavy bat or she reformed him.”

“Yes,” Gray said lightly. “They sound like a real nice couple.”

The bus boy cleared their places. The waiter stopped by. Gray ordered espresso; Ballard ordered a cappuccino and cheesecake.

“So,” Ballard said, “the next thing I’m going to do is fly on back to Queen City and have a chat with Mr. Kitteridge. He’s on his mountain again.”

“I thought you said he doesn’t know where his wife is.”

“I said that’s what the town says. Besides, even if he doesn’t, maybe he can give us some clues. Maybe she talked about wanting to see someplace special. Maybe she has friends in places outside Queen City.” The investigator peered at the slice of cake the waiter put in front of him, then dug into it. “At the very least, he can probably fill in some blank spaces while my guys look for her.”

“That sounds reasonable, I guess.”

“Trust me, Gray. It is reasonable. Just tell your client to keep his pants on, okay?”

Gray laughed. “I’m sure he’ll love the advice, Jack. Anything else?”

“Nope. Oh. Yeah, before I forget…” He patted one breast pocket and then the other. “Here,” he said, and held out a small white envelope.

“What’s this?” Gray opened the envelope. Inside were the photo of Jonas and Ben, and the one of Nora Lincoln. “Ah. The pictures. You don’t need them anymore?”

“Not really. Besides, I made copies. I figured your client might want these back.”

Gray nodded and pocketed the photos. “You’ve done fine, Jack. To be honest, I didn’t think we had a chance of coming up with anything, but you’ve managed to find the girl.”

“Not yet. I found where she lived and who she lived with.” Ballard took a sip of his cappuccino. “She’s still among the missing.”

“Among the…” Gray looked up. “You think something happened to her? That Kitteridge did something?”

“Hell, no. Jeez, you’ve been associating with lowlife too long. No, Gray. I just mean I haven’t located her yet. But I will.”