Chapter Thirteen
Sebastian spent an hour making notes on his laptop and trying to sort out what he had learned from Kristy Robinson. He wanted to get it all down on paper, including his experiences with the three thugs, before he went to sleep. He slept until nearly four in the afternoon and then woke, washed his gasoline soaked clothes in the shower and then made a few more notes before he called Kelly.
Kristy Robinson had shed some light as had the big guy Mike but although some of it cleared things up, some only made it muddier. Kristy obviously cared for Paul Vail and Sebastian felt it was more than just simple admiration but she also gave the impression that Vail was committed to his family. Sebastian was convinced that Vail was not cheating on his wife, at least not with Kristy. Could there be someone else?
He wondered about Cam Starr. From the beginning this was the person who had gained the most from Paul's death. Starr was involved with Teddy Arsenault who was importing drugs. He had been given a plumb job by Jessie Vail now that Paul was gone. Starr had done well since Vail had been murdered and Sebastian knew that Starr was a petty criminal. Kelly had sent Sebastian to find out what Pezzo's role was in this murder but Sebastian was increasingly interested in Starr.
Pezzo had come to town to buy a business and he had nothing to show for it and apparently it was even worse , he had lost some money that he had been given by his Uncle in Denver to close the deal. Now Peter Rappelo's men were coming in to town to find out what was happening. It was Rappelo who had tried to have Sebastian killed. Could it be Rappelo who had Vail killed?
When he was interrogating Sebastian, Mike had been very clear that Pezzo's friends in Denver didn't think that Pezzo had killed Vail and he had said that Peter Rappelo had lost money in this deal. Who had the money? Did Pezzo give it to Paul Vail as a down payment? Then Jessie Vail would have the money.
Sebastian needed to try and see if Pezzo had been applying any pressure to Vail's widow. It certainly didn't seem that way. Jessie didn't seem like a woman who was under any pressure. She was grieving her husband's death but she didn't seem to react when Sebastian had asked about the deal with Pezzo. She implied that she was okay with the sale. She had said it was a good offer but she knew her husband wasn't ready to sell.
Sebastian wanted to talk to Jessie Vail again and find out if she had any contact with Pezzo recently. If Pezzo had given the money to Paul Vail as a down payment then Jessie had it now and Pezzo would be pushing her hard to close the deal or return the money. If Jessie Vail was sitting on money that belonged to Peter Rappelo then she could wind up the same way her husband did.
The other option was Cam Starr. Maybe the money had gone to Starr to kill Vail. Starr was living the good life. He was buying cars and boats. Maybe the money had gone to Starr to knock off Vail so that Pezzo could close the deal with Jessie. Maybe Sebastian needed to talk to Starr again and maybe he needed to find out more about Starr's behavior. Starr had purchased a pretty corvette from Tim Black. Sebastian would visit Tim Black and see if Black was able to shed some light on Starr's behavior when he was on his shopping spree after Paul Vail's death.
Sebastian also wanted to talk to Paul Vail's daughter Morgan but he wasn't sure how to do it. Some things that had been said about the Vail family were not adding up. There was the story Black told about over hearing Morgan Vail screaming at her father about cheating on her mother.
Approaching the widow was difficult but approaching Vail's daughter would be even more awkward and asking her why she had accused her father of sleeping around and who he was sleeping with would be impossible. He thought maybe Grace could help. Shore had said something about Morgan running around with a bad crowd. Maybe there was some police involvement that would open a door. Grace felt she owed Sebastian a favor and this could be it.
Sebastian closed the laptop and called Grace and asked if she could help him connect with Morgan Vail.
At seven o'clock that evening Grace and Sebastian were meeting at the county sheriff's office with Steven Keon who was Morgan's advocate from Children's Services. Grace hadn't been able to set something up with Morgan directly but she did arranged for Keon to come in and share whatever he could about the Vail family that could help with the investigation into her father's murder. Keon felt he could answer a few questions but he was uncomfortable with Sebastian being present in the interview. As a children's advocate with Children's Services he was very careful with confidentiality, even when it was a murder investigation
"Of course this conversation is confidential. I can speak with the police and I assume the FBI but it needs to be private and you need to assure me that this is directly related to an investigation," Keon said.
"We are investigating the murder of Morgan's father," Grace reminded him.
"We opened a file on Morgan Vail a year and a half ago," Keon explained, "She was at a party that evening and neighbors called the police when things got somewhat raucous. There were drugs and drinking going on and there were some adults at the party. Morgan was in a bedroom with a fellow who was twenty three years old. She was just sixteen at the time. There was a small quantity of cocaine in the room. They both agreed it belonged to the guy that she was with. He was charged and Morgan was released but was assigned to our care as a follow up."
"Can you share anything about Morgan's family?" Sebastian asked.
"Morgan was very close with both parents when she was younger but since becoming a teenager she has had some issues with them. Her father worked too much and wasn't always around and her mother was a perfectionist, at least that is how Morgan saw them. She seemed to be pretty happy as a young girl but developed some problems when she entered high school. I think Mom had certain expectations for her. She wanted her daughter to be the popular girl and Morgan just wasn't exactly the cheerleader type. Teachers reported that she has a quiet somewhat brooding personality. Eventually she hooked up with the wrong group. She uses drugs and is involved in casual sex, she is self destructive.
The death of her father is going to cause her a great deal of torment. I think this girl is going to get herself in a lot of trouble."
"Did she ever say anything about her father cheating on her mother?" Sebastian asked.
"If he was it never came up in the conversation. She only spoke well of her father except of course the issue of his not having time for her. Dad worked too much and mom pushed her to join sports at school. Ms. Vail was quite an athlete as a kid and I think it disappointed her that Morgan just didn't like competitive sports but Morgan felt dad supported her, as much as he could when he worked twelve hour days. She didn't feel the pressure to perform from her father that she did from her mother."
"Can I meet with her?" Sebastian asked.
"Interestingly, Morgan will turn eighteen shortly. At that point she can talk with whoever she wants. Until then I will need to get mother's approval for you to speak with her," Keon said, "and our office would want me to be present, at least until she is legally an adult."
"Well we can get continue to do it with you present for the time being. We hope this thing is wrapped up before she turns legal. I would appreciate it if you set up an interview then," Grace said.
Keon got up to leave and assured them he would do what he could to help.
Grace and Sebastian drove together to pick up Chinese takeout and then headed back to Sebastian's motel.
"Have you forgotten your promise?" Sebastian asked.
"Not at all. I'm looking forward to thanking you," Grace said as they walked up to the room. "There is a deputy retiring and a promotion coming up. I'll be applying for it and the arrest of Ted Arsenault sure put me in the sheriff's good books."
Sebastian placed the paper bags onto a small round table and started to remove the small boxes of food.
Grace picked up the novel that Sebastian had left on the dresser beside his bed.
"What's the book?" She asked.
"It's an older book. Camus was a French writer who admired the hard boiled books that American's were writing back then. He liked books that lacked emotion. I have been reading a lot of his stuff. I like to read all of an author's work before I move to the next writer."
Grace found Sebastian intriguing.
"Most of the men I met don't even like to read a menu. They certainly don't have and opinion on French novelists."
Grace was certain that she had never discussed books with a man.
Grace put her hands on Sebastian's chest and pushed him towards the bed.
"Let's eat later," she said.
She pushed Sebastian to the side of the bed. She knelt in front of him and slipped his jeans down to the floor. Without a word, she stroked him gently, first with her fingers then her tongue.
Sebastian reached down and pulled her up to the bed. He kissed her as she lay on her side beside him.
"See it's pretty good and I only have one tongue," Grace said and then she kissed him again.
"Let me see."
She reached into his mouth with one finger and stroked his tongue.
'It looks like a scar. Are you sure you were born with it. Your tongue has a funny jagged line down the middle."
Sebastian lay on his back and decided right then that he would tell her about his life.
He had never shared the truth of his experiences with Deacon Hill with another soul but he was alone with someone who he already knew he could trust. It seemed wrong to lie and so for the first time he allowed himself to share the burden of truth that he carried.
"I didn't run away as a kid. I was taken."
Grace sat up on the bed. "Taken? What do you mean taken, like you were kidnapped?" Her voice sounded disbelieving. She was waiting for a punch line. She expected some joke to follow.
"You may not believe but in fact I was."
Then he told her the beginning.
"A man named Deacon Hill snatched me off the streets of Las Vegas when I was thirteen and kept me imprisoned for nearly four years."
Grace then learned that there was no joke. There was just an ugly truth.