“I wasn’t buying his act.” His voice was gruffer than he would have liked. It wasn’t Meiling’s fault that he was so edgy or that Slayer was. He didn’t know what it was exactly about Hawkins. He couldn’t put his finger on it. The man was a legend in his field, yet Gedeon couldn’t quite believe him.
“It was an act, yet quite a lot of what he said was true,” Meiling stated.
He glanced at her. “You agree that he mixed lies with truth.”
“He did, but I couldn’t tell what was true and was the lie. I tried to follow a strand of truth, but the lie was woven through it or vice versa. He made it difficult to tell which was which.”
“She’s missing for certain,” Gedeon said.
“Yes,” Meiling agreed. “And he wants to know where she is. That much is true.”
“The bipolar?” Gedeon asked.
Meiling took her time thinking it over. He could tell she was replaying the way Hawkins had told them about his wife’s illness. Weighing his words. Trying to discern the truth amid his lies.
“I believe she is bipolar,” Meiling finally concluded. “I’m not certain I believe everything else he said. Or that things happened the way he said. Certainly a manic cycle can drop into a suicidal one. I’ve tried to analyze his voice and decide whether he was telling the truth when he told us about that part of her cycle, but honestly, I couldn’t.”
“I know we don’t have to like a client to take the work,” Gedeon ventured aloud. “I just have this feeling he’s up to something shady.”
“I have that same feeling, Gedeon. We can find Laverne and make certain she’s fine.”
“I don’t like being used,” Gedeon objected. “He’s got an ulterior motive.”
“We don’t have to tell Hawkins we found her. Not at first, not until we figure out what he wants.”
Soft music flooded the car as they made their way back to his house. He easily drove the car into the garage. He turned off the ignition and they sat listening to the insects rather than the soft strains of instruments.
“He isn’t in love with her,” Gedeon announced abruptly, turning toward her in the close confines of the car. “He was all over you. A man who is desperately worried about his missing wife, the one he loves more than life itself, doesn’t stare with lust at another woman.”
Meiling drew little circles on top of her thigh. “Gedeon, the truth is, neither one of us knows that much about love. How do you know whether a man can love one woman and lust after another? We don’t.”
“That’s not true, Meiling. You don’t remember your family, but I do. I remember my parents. I remember my siblings. My mother. The beauty of her. The softness in her eyes when she looked at me. The softness in my heart when I looked at her. I know what love is.”
Her dark eyes went liquid—that melting chocolate that turned his insides to mush. She shook her head. “Honey, that’s the love for family. It isn’t the same as love for your woman. You haven’t experienced that. For all you know, Hawkins can love his wife and still crave other women. Look at all the men who have affairs. Do you think that none of them love their wives?”
“No, I don’t think they do. I think they love themselves,” Gedeon replied. “It’s an ego thing, at least when I’ve worked cases involving cheaters. That’s been the case every time whether it’s been a man or a woman doing the cheating.”
“Maybe they aren’t cut out for a relationship,” she ventured.
“Then they should have been honest and not gotten into one,” he answered instantly. “No matter how you twist this, Meiling, something isn’t right about this case. Hawkins wants us to find Laverne, but he’s got reasons other than what he’s giving us.” Gedeon was certain he was right, so certain he stated it as fact.
“Sadly, I believe you’re right. I don’t want you to be, because that could mean Laverne is in more trouble than she appears to be.” Meiling pushed the door open. “Let’s go figure out where she might have gone.”
“He’s going to have us followed,” Gedeon cautioned.
“He’ll try,” Meiling agreed. “I was certain he’d do that from the time we entered his office. He’s that kind of man.”
Gedeon’s smile was a little cruel. “I should have said he’d try to have us followed.”
* * *
* * *
MEILING was exhausted after spending the entire afternoon and most of the evening with Gedeon, working on uncovering a single thread to a trail to Laverne. It was very clear that she hadn’t suddenly gone off her medication and taken off. She had planned for months to leave. No one could disappear without a trace the way she had without careful planning.