Page 38 of Sor

“Then that’s where we go tomorrow. Get some rest. You’re gonna need it.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

The team knew that Beck wouldn’t be on-base. He wouldn’t be allowed, considering his history. After doing some research, Hiro and AJ were able to confirm that Joshua Beck had indeed been in the Air Force and, after an incident with the colonel’s daughter, was politely asked to leave.

According to records, sealed, of course, the colonel’s seventeen-year-old daughter met Beck in the PX while shopping one Saturday. He invited her to take a ride in his new Mustang, and she gladly accepted.

What happened after that seems like the tagline for a movie. Speeding through backroads, they were chased by local sheriff’s deputies for nearly an hour. When they finally pulled over, the car was searched, finding two televisions, stereo equipment, five guns, and more than a million dollars in fraudulent gift cards.

All of that alone would have been enough to put him in jail. But when the good colonel’s daughter admitted that they’d also stopped at a local motel and had sex, his biggest fears came to life. Although Beck could have and should have been jailed, the colonel was more concerned about his daughter’s reputation than her health, so he silenced it all.

Seventeen, pregnant, and regretting ever going to the PX that day, Beck was given a pass for his indiscretions but would need to marry the girl. Fortunately for him, she lost the child in the first trimester, and he was literally off the hook while she battled depression and loneliness.

“Well, he just sounds like a helluva guy,” frowned Frank.

“He’s the guy always looking for a deal,” said Sor. “He always wanted something for free, something extra. I didn’t know the whole story of why he exited the service, but it all makes sense to me. He looks younger than he is, which probably attracts teenage girls.”

“That’s his condo,” nodded Ben toward the attractive red-brick building. “Nice. Looks like he’s doing just fine. That’s probably a million-dollar condo. I don’t see a car, but there’s a garage attached.”

Sor stepped out first, hoping that Beck might recognize him. He knocked on the door several times but didn’t hear anything or see anything. Ben looked in the window of the garage and didn’t see a car.

“You looking for Josh?” asked a man next door.

“Yeah. We served together. Just thought I’d say hi to him,” said Sor.

“Well, if you find him, let him know two other guys were looking for him as well, and they didn’t look as nice as you. They, and I quote, want their fucking money.”

“I see,” said Sor. “Well, Josh always likes to push the limits, doesn’t he?”

“Push the limits? Dude, if you’re a friend of his, don’t come around here. I have a nineteen-year-old daughter, and I’d like to keep her off the pole, if you know what I mean.”

“No, we don’t know what you mean,” frowned Frank.

“Are you a good friend?” he asked.

“Nope.”

“Alright. The guy recruits girls to strip down at the strip joint Baby Dolls. Mostly high school seniors, barely legal, if that. My stepdaughter is nineteen, and he tried to get her to go with him to the club to see how much money she could make. She’s a good kid, goes to the junior college studying nursing. I wanted to kill him over that stunt. Told him if he so much as looked at her again, I’d put a bullet between his eyes.”

“Can’t say that I blame you at all,” said Frank. “Any clue where he might be?”

“Well, the kids are out of school this week for the Thanksgiving holiday, so I’d check the mall or, better yet, that high-end strip mall with all the luxury shops down off Fifth. Dude likes his fancy shit. I don’t know how he does it, but he gets girls and grown-ass women to buy him all kinds of stuff.”

“Luxury items? Like leathergoods?” asked Frank.

“Yeah, you know the fancy handbag brands? He gets them to buy him something for his ‘mother’ or even a man-bag for himself, and then he turns around and sells the shit for a profit. He’s a creep. I’ve called the police a number of times, but they come out and say he hasn’t done anything illegal. Yet.”

“Yet is the key word,” said Sor. “Thanks for your help. We’ll see if we can’t talk some sense into him.”

“If you ask me,” said the neighbor as he opened his truck door, “he’ll only listen when there’s a baseball bat involved.” He slammed the truck door and left.

“That’s what I had in mind,” smirked Frank.

They decided that the most likely place they would find him would be the upscale outdoor mall. Every store with an Italian, French, or British logo was in this mall. Young women and their mothers strolled through the stores, arms laden with huge packages, pushing their credit card limits to their heights.

“Do you know how much that fucking bag costs?” whispered Ben, nodding toward a woman and her daughter. The woman had an orange leather bag hanging from her arm. The two narrow strips that held the clasp closed were hanging loose, not even in place.

“I have no clue,” said Sor. “I couldn’t even tell you what color Nell’s purse is.”

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