Page 44 of Long Gone

“Could it have been Larkspur Limited?”

His face brightened. “Yeah. That was it.”

I’d already wondered if Larkspur Limited might have been the possible new investor, and this confirmed it. “Did your dad happen to mention anything about Larkspur Limited before telling you about the meeting?”

“Not really. I know he thought they could help turn Sunny Point around. He said they had a ton of money, and they were willing to put it into the project. Mom was worried that Dad’s profit was going to plummet and that he wouldn’t make much money if he brought in a huge investor, but he said he didn’t have a choice. That he was going to go bankrupt if the investor didn’t buy in.”

According to Anton, Clarice obviously knew more about her husband’s business than she’d let on to me or Detective Jones. I wasn’t sure what to make of that. It sure didn’t paint her in a good light. Neither did the way she’d coached her son.

“So you think your father was meeting someone from Larkspur Limited at Sunny Point before your game?”

“I don’t think. I know.”

“I’m guessing he would want to show them the property, but what would that entail?”

“He would take them on a tour. When he had someone out there, he’d take them around on the roads he’d put in, usually on the utility vehicle so he could go across the land too. That was probably how the tires got muddy.” He sighed. “He’d shown the land to enough people for me to know. I went with them on a few tours. Especially in those last few months. Dad really wanted me to get into the business, so he was showing me the ropes.”

The waitress arrived at our table with two plates. She set the food in front of us and gave Anton a huge smile. “Can I get you anything else?”

“Nope, I’m good,” he said.

“You sure?” she asked, batting her eyelashes.

“Yeah.”

She started to walk away, and I called after her, “Thanks, I’m good too.”

Anton cringed. “Sorry. She kind of has a crush on me.”

I could see why. He was a handsome guy and about her age. His gaze didn’t follow her, though, so I suspected it was one-sided. Or that he was much more interested in the topic at hand.

I took a sip of my water, then said, “So, if the investor took the tour and said no thanks, what would have happened to your father and the property, financially speaking?”

He swallowed hard. “My father would have declared bankruptcy. This investor was his last hope.”

“Did that scare him? Was he prepared to deal with that if it didn’t work out the way he was hoping?”

Fire filled his eyes. “Are you trying to suggest that he ran off if the investor said no?”

“No, not at all. Everyone says you and your sister were his entire life. He might have considered leaving Wolford and Lone County, but he could have just moved away. Why abandon his family, and why do it immediately after the investor meeting? Why not sell your house and move?”

He shook his head. “Mom would never leave. She loved it here.”

“But she wants to leave now.”

Confusion covered his face. “What?”

“She says she wants to move to Florida.”

His forehead creased as he set down his fork. “What are you talking about?”

“She told me she wants to move to Florida and that declaring your father dead will free things up legally for her.” No need to mention the life insurance money. At least not yet.

He was silent for several long seconds. “I’m not sure she’d do that. She’s queen bee here, and she’d have to start over somewhere else. You have to understand…” He paused and looked away for a few seconds before turning back. “My mother loves attention, and she got plenty of it when my father went missing. Sure, there was a scandal because so many people lost money, but no one blamed her or Mary Ann and me. Everyone said he took the money and abandoned us. She claimed she had no idea what my father was up to, which was a flat-out lie, but she knows my sister and I would never publicly call her out on it.” He shook his head again and picked up a fry. “My mother would never leave Wolford.”

“Your mother led me to believe she wasn’t privy to your father’s business dealings.” Not to mention she’d told Detective Jones the same thing.

His mouth shifted to one side. “I suspect she didn’t know everything, but she knew enough. We all did. Dad talked about it at dinner.” He took my silence as confusion. “We ate dinner together every night. My dad insisted we have family time.”

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