Page 158 of Blue Moon

“How long ago did he stop taking his meds?”

Silence.

“We want to help him as well as the missing woman.”

“He wouldn’t hurt anyone, I swear. He’s sort of… Well, he always thinks he knows best, but he isn’t cruel or anything.”

This time, it was my turn to stay quiet, and as I hoped, that made her uncomfortable enough to fill the gap.

“He made up stories, and I thought that’s all it was: stories. Like role playing?” Carole-Ann blushed, and I wondered if he’d called her Cleopatra in the bedroom. “But the Army said he wasn’t right in the head. Dissociative personality disorder, they called it. And they tried to fire him, but he appealed and they let him keep his benefits. All that legal stuff really upset him.”

“How long were the two of you together?”

“A little over three years. Three and a half? Look, I can’t help you. I don’t know where he is.”

“We’re fairly sure he has another place somewhere. Not his apartment in Vegas. Did he ever mention a second property to you?”

She shook her head. Then, “Do you think he might come here?”

“Honestly? No, we think he’s holed up elsewhere, but we can’t rule anything out.” Fuck, I was shit at this touchy-feely stuff. Dan did it better. “Can you tell me more about him? We just want to get everyone home safe.”

Carole-Ann gave a slightly hysterical laugh. “Tell you about Anton? I never really knew him that well. We met when he was on leave, the condom broke, and he tried to do the right thing. But he wasn’t an easy man to live with.”

“I’m surprised you never married. Being a military wife is easier than being a military girlfriend. Support network, benefits, that kind of thing.”

Her cheeks went a shade redder. “I was already married, and my husband was messing me around with the divorce.”

“Soon-to-be exes have a habit of doing that.”

Carole-Ann sank onto the sofa and began fiddling with Lego bricks. “I sure do pick ’em. Anyhow, we fought a lot, Anton and me. Always over stupid stuff—there was never enough money, and I was trying to be a mom, and work, and keep the house nice while he was away doing Army stuff. I guess I resented his freedom. And then he lost his job.”

“That can’t have been easy.”

“We’d settled in South Carolina by then, but he decided he wanted to move to Vegas.”

“And you didn’t?”

“I hated the idea. All those tourists?” She shuddered. “I’d found a job as a teaching assistant, and I liked it. So he left. He promised to send money, but of course he never did.”

I got the impression that money had been a big bone of contention between them. Perhaps the biggest. It couldn’t have been easy trying to do everything herself, and when the dishonourable discharge came, that was the end.

“But then he found this place?”

“Nobody was more surprised than me when he offered to pay the rent. He said someone left him money, and he wanted to use it for Marcus. I figured it was the woman he used to live with. Julia? He said she stepped in when his mom couldn’t, so I guess she thought of him as a son.”

“We believe so. Do you know Julia’s surname?”

“I don’t remember him ever telling me that. She was just Julia.”

“Did you meet her?”

Carole-Ann shook her head again. “No, but sometimes he used to go visit.”

“Where did she live?”

“I’m not sure. When we lived in South Carolina, they met in New York, but I think she was just on vacation, or maybe there on business? One time, he talked about meeting her for dinner at the Ritz-Carlton, and I’m sure he mentioned she was staying there.”

“Do you remember when that was?”

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