Page 55 of Gem Warfare

“You used to for nothing.” Maddox winked.

“You’re incorrigible!”

“You like that about me. Handsome, charming, witty,incorrigible… and that’s before we get to the good stuff.”

I swatted him with my menu, then continued to browse it as I said, “You love taunting me.”

“I love all kinds of things about you but taunting is definitely one of my favorites.” Maddox waved for the server and we placed our orders, distracting me from closely examining what he said. “You could have picked a dive but instead, we’re at this romantic, little setting.”

“It’s the nearest nice café to your building.”

“I know. It’s my regular spot now. Beats the dive nearest the police station in my detective days. Anyway, stop playing around with my heart, and tell me what you want to know.”

“Do you remember Ben Rafferty?”

“Name rings a bell. Who is he?”

“One of your cases when you were a detective. He was one of my targets at a high-end dating agency where our client suspected someone was targeting women for their cash and valuables, not their hearts.”

Maddox nodded, smiling. “I remember. You were parading around town in a Ferrari as a super-rich, hot, single woman in need of a man. Did you keep any of the stuff?”

“Did you see me drive up in a Ferrari?”

“No.”

“There’s your answer.”

“You have a terrible job.”

“Says the man in government service. Although you do get trips to Europe.”

“Currently postponed.Again. So Ben Rafferty?” Maddox sipped his coffee thoughtfully. His eyes widened and his eyebrows rose, and I knew that had to be the exact momenthe remembered the case clearly. His lips hovered over the cup before he put it down. “Shit! He was the guy who escaped our custody!”

“That’s him.”

“Aided by a woman posing as his lawyer.”

“The same woman who was a plant in the dating agency’s office. Madeleine, his accomplice.”

“Yeah, I remember now. What’s he got to do with your case?”

“He might be well acquainted with our dead man.”

Maddox blinked. “I can’t even fathom how Ben Rafferty and your dead guy are connected.”

“I’m not sure either but with the evidence as it stands, I’m leaning towards father and son. I wondered what happened after he escaped your custody? Or if you discovered anything about him after that?”

“I wish I had more to tell you but Rafferty was a slippery bastard. We searched his apartment and it was scrubbed like a professional. Not a scrap of information and no fingerprints. There was literally nothing we could use to find him. Of course, we had a decent photo and prints from booking him into custody and we sent that out to the agencies but we didn’t get anything for a while. Then a hit came in that he might have been involved in a love scam in Phoenix.”

“A love scam? Like the dating agency scam?”

“Very similar. In Phoenix he was courting rich, older women, then swindling them out of their cash.”

“That’s horrible.”

“And something he has form for so not unexpected. I spoke with Phoenix PD and they told me they didn’t have anything concrete, only the complaint from one of the women that he’d made off with at least a hundred thousand dollars.”

“A hundred grand!”

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