Kingdom Come by Jane Jensen Page B

mother. For ’bout a year, I guess. Ain’t seen either of them in months.”
    Grady chewed his cinnamon gum, staring flatly at Charlie. The man shifted uneasily. I kept on my mild face.
    â€œShe’s a pretty girl, Jessica,” I said.
    Charlie shrugged. “Yeah.”
    â€œA flirt, am I right?”
    His eyes narrowed nervously. “What’s this about?”
    â€œWhere were you last Tuesday, Mr. Bender? Say from ten A.M. to four P.M. ?” Grady asked in a not-friendly voice.
    Charlie looked taken aback. “Right here. Why? I work Tuesday through Saturday. Ain’t been sick in months.”
    â€œLunch too?” I asked.
    â€œI eat in the lunchroom right inside. Only take half an hour so I can go home early.”
    I nodded, hiding my disappointment. “Can your boss verify that?”
    â€œHell yeah! Anyone in there can. Say, what’s this about?”
    I looked at Grady. He took the ball. “Jessica Travis was murdered.”
    â€œNo shit?” Charlie looked genuinely shocked by the news, and a little nervous.
    â€œWhat can you tell us about Jessica? Anything at all would help us out.” I shifted gears. We’d certainly check his alibi, but it would be pretty stupid to lie about it when it was so easy to verify. And if Charlie Bender was at John Deere all day, he didn’t kill Jessica Travis.
    â€œI dunno. I was dating her mother, like I said. Jess was wild. Saw her with lots of men.”
    â€œOh yeah?” Grady looked interested.
    â€œYeah. I saw her driving around town, always in a different car with a different guy. Sometimes with another couple in the back. Maybe one of those guys did it.”
    â€œYou recognize any of those guys? The other couple?” I asked.
    Charlie shrugged as if to say “Why should I?”
    Grady and I both waited, staring at him blankly.
    â€œPretty sure she was hookin’,” he continued bitterly. His lip curled. “But she was still too good for me.”
    Damn. The thought of Charlie drooling over Jessica made me want to lock him up and call it good. But unfortunately, I was pretty sure he hadn’t killed her.
    I forced a disinterested smile. “You ever give her a lift? Get a chance to chat with her?”
    â€œNah. Well . . . whaddya mean? When I was dating LeeAnn, I dropped Jess off at the farmers’ market in Paradise sometimes. She worked there over the summer.”
    Interesting.
“Yeah? You haven’t chatted with her since then? Anytime in the past year?”
    He shook his head. “Ain’t been over there. Me and LeeAnn—it didn’t end so well.”
    â€œUh-huh. So you saw Jess driving around with these other guys, and you offered to pay up too, but she still wouldn’t put out for you. Is that accurate?” I kept my voice neutral.
    He grew red with what looked like anger, but he kept his mouth firmly shut. He wasn’t stupid.
    â€œWas this before or after you and LeeAnn ended badly?” I pushed. “What age would Jessica have been then, Detective Grady?”
    Grady never stopped staring at Charlie. “Well, she wasn’t yet eighteen when she died, so she would have been seventeen or sixteen then.”
    â€œSixteen,” I repeated with a curious lilt. Huh.
    Charlie grew redder. “I never did nothin’ with Jess, not at any age or at any time. And I didn’t kill her neither. I ain’t even seen her in months, I swear.”
    â€œI’m going to go talk to your boss, confirm what you said about Tuesday. Detective Grady here will see if you know anything else that could help us out.”
    â€œDon’t—” he said as I started to walk away. I stopped and looked at him. His face crumpled. “Look, I didn’t do anything with or to Jessica Travis. Don’t get me in trouble, please. I really need this job.”
    Damn if I didn’t believe him.
    His alibi checked out.
    â€”
    When