A Dark Mind by T. R. Ragan Page A

eighteen years ago. Lizzy would like this case solved pronto.” Jessica handed Hayley a file.
    “What’s the urgency?”
    “The woman recently married a politician. I’m assuming she wants to bring everything out into the open before her husband runs for office. She wants Lizzy to find her quickly and discreetly, and she’s willing to pay more for faster service.”
    “If she lives back East, why would she hire Lizzy?”
    “An investigator in Manhattan already located the adoptive parents. According to the report, their adopted daughter, Adele Hampton, who is also our client’s daughter, ran away from home when she was sixteen. Although her adoptive parents haven’t seen her since, Adele took a few things that didn’t belong to her when she left, including their credit card. The charges that went through before they closed the account were all made in the Sacramento area. The statements and receipts are all in the file. The investigator in New York referred her client to Lizzy since they worked together before.”
    “I’ll read through the file, do a search, and then make a few calls if I need to,” Hayley said. “What else do you have?”
    Jessica grabbed another file, but before she opened it, she said, “Has Lizzy told you much about the Danielle Cartwright case I’m working on?”
    Haley shook her head.
    “Danielle Cartwright is thirty-nine, but she’s been married and divorced three times. I’ve met with Danielle once already and I’ve read the files. If what Danielle says is true, all three husbands were douche bags. The last husband was into pornography; he even did some of the filming himself. After she found videos with his name as director and producer, she kicked him out of her house.”
    “Where was she when he was making movies?”
    “Danielle is a personal shopper. Her business is booming. She spends half her time in New York City, London, and Paris.”
    “So it makes sense that she might not know everything these guys are doing.”
    Jessica nodded. “She also tends to go for flashy, good-looking guys.”
    “Men who easily attract the attention of beautiful women.”
    “Right again.”
    “So what’s the story?” Hayley asked. “I’m assuming you brought her up for a reason.”
    Jessica nodded. “Dominic Povo, her newest fiancé, is up to something, but I have no idea what. He works in construction and he has a crew of guys working for him.”
    “So, you’re sitting in the car watching these guys hammer nails all day?”
    “Yes, because that’s what they do,” Jessica said, using her hands for emphasis. “They’re in construction. Dominic Povo is good-looking, too, easy on the eyes, but that’s not the problem—”
    “Jessica, get to the point. What do you think Povo is up to?”
    “I don’t know, but during my last visit to the construction site, I saw a van pull up to the side of the house they were working on. Two men transferred big bulky garbage bags from the van to a wheelbarrow. If they had loaded the wheelbarrow with bricks or paint, I wouldn’t have looked twice, but big bulky garbage bags?”
    “Are you insinuating that they were getting rid of bodies?”
    Jessica looked behind her as if to make sure the construction workers weren’t standing in Lizzy’s kitchen. “I don’t know, maybe,” she whispered as she turned toward Hayley again. “Crazy, huh? Do you think I’m being paranoid because of everything that’s happened in the past?”
    “Yes, that’s exactly what I think.”
    “That’s not all…before I could drive away, one of Povo’s guys knocked on the passenger window of my car. He asked me if I needed any help.”
    “What did you do?”
    “I told him I was looking at model homes and getting a feel for the neighborhood.”
    “You didn’t give him your name, did you?”
    Jessica winced. “I told him my name was Kat Sylvester.”
    “That’s the stupidest name I’ve ever heard.”
    “I know.”
    Hayley sighed.
    Jessica pulled a