Kate nodded quietly. “Very true. Now go on and take care of yourself. Keep the doors locked, just in case this asshole does come around to start doing damage control over his temper fit.”
“Oh my gosh.” As she raced to the front door, she called back, “Please let me know what happens.”
Kate nodded. She didn’t dare tell her that she wouldn’t share unless she had something to say—and, of course,something to saywas likely to mean bad news. She could only hope that Chelice’s body still had life in it when she found it. Kate turned, walked back to the car, then hopped into the front passenger seat, and started fussing with Chelice’s phone.
“Now where?” Rodney asked.
“I’d planned to go by her work next, but now I want to meet Prince Charming first.”
“Do we know where he works?” Rodney asked.
“According to the police report that the girlfriend put in, he’s a mechanic.” She stopped, thought about that, and whispered, “And there’s another car connection.”
He looked at her. “But a mechanic is a long way from somebody who works in those drive-through oil change places.”
“But it’s still a connection. With the muscle car thrown in, car clubs, maybe? I don’t know,” she admitted. “My mind is drawing a blank. But car dealership, car salesman, car hobbyist. I mean, who knows at this point?”
“Well, it’s something,” Rodney admitted. “Let’s get to the garage and see if he’s there.”
It took another fifteen minutes to cross town and to pull up to the address.
“Well, he’s making good money if he’s working here,” she noted, as she studied the Volkswagen dealership.
“Sure, but that doesn’t preclude him from being an asshole.”
“No,” she agreed, “it doesn’t seem like anything does that.” As she walked around and found the service department, the service manager smiled, then frowned when she explained who she was and who she was looking for.
“That’s interesting. He didn’t show up for work today.”
She stared at him. “Has he done that before?”
He shrugged. “Not that I remember. I mean, I guess it can happen to anybody. So I haven’t seen him today, but he did call in sick, I understand.”
“Do you have an address for him?”
He nodded and pulled it up from his file. “Is he in any trouble?”
“It depends, although we were told that he beat up his girlfriend pretty good.”
He winced at that. “He does have a temper,” he muttered. “I’ve warned him about it a couple times.”
“Has he ever had an altercation here at work?”
The manager shook his head. “No, we won’t tolerate something like that here, but he does have a tendency to lash out at people anytime he’s thwarted, to be honest.”
“Well, apparently he got thwarted, and he beat her up. Unfortunately she’s missing right now, so we’re trying to find her.”
The manager looked at Kate in surprise. “Chelice?”
“Obviously you’ve met her.”
“Yes, and I, for one, was under the impression they were deliriously happy.”
“Well, they were, until they weren’t, I guess,” she said in a dry tone.
He nodded. “And that is what Henry is like. He’s a really nice guy, and then, all of a sudden, he’s not.”
“As in scary?”