Page 57 of Justice for JoElla

“Yes, Officer…” She stared at his name tag. “Stephenson. I’m most definitely sure that’s the message I want to send. Oh, and seal it with this.” She flipped him off and heard Quint snicker on the other side of the car. “Do I need to write all this down, or can you remember it?”

“Oh, I think I’ve got it just fine. I’ll pass along the message, MissTompkins.”

“That’s DetectiveTompkins to you, Stephenson. Make sure you get that message out because if more of you stop me, I’m absolutely calling KDCI to tell them you’re harassing me. Oh, and as for the message, here’s one of your own.” She flipped him off too, and he gestured back at her as he got in his car. “Asshole.”Well, here it comes…she told herself.

“What the hell was that all about?”

“You, officer, have gotten yourself paired up with Enemy Number One of the chief of police in this town, LanceMargolis. He and I have a history, and yes, it’s a sordid one. Before you ask, make sure you really want to know.”

“Do I want to know?”

JoElla shook her head decisively. “If I were you, no. I would not want to know. Ignorance is bliss, and I’d stay blissfully ignorant until I managed to get out of town.”

“Good enough for me. And I’m getting hungry, so when you get ready to eat, I’ll be ready too.”

“I’m not far from it. Where’s our next destination?”

“Looks like Happy’s Mobile Homes.”

“Five minutes away.” JoElla pulled her car back out onto the street and looked behind her in the rear view. The officer was still sitting there, talking on the phone, and she was sure he’d called Lance, or at least his secretary, to report that he’d seen her.

“What’s KDCI?”

“Kentucky Department of Criminal Investigations. They handle things the state police don’t. Lots of forensics.”

“Oh, like the bureau.”

“Yeah, we don’t have a KBI. That’s what they do. They handle unscrupulous officials too, hence the threat.”

“Gotcha.”

“Here we are.” JoElla pulled into the lot and they couldn’t even get out of the car before a man strode out of the office and made a beeline for them.

“Well, hello there, folks! Y’all in the market for a new home today? We’ve got some beauties here.”

JoElla pulled out her badge and flashed it. “No thank you. I’m DetectiveTompkins and this is LieutenantAxton. We’re looking to ask some questions, if you’ve got a few minutes.”

“Look, if this is about that woman who said?”

“Sir, we wanted to ask you about a former employee. Do you know an AntonWarmuth?”

The man rolled his eyes. “Yeah. Why?”

“So when was the last time you spoke with or saw Mr.Warmuth?” JoElla asked.

“When I told him to get the hell out of here and never come back.” The man pressed his hands onto the tops of his hips and straightened his spine. “He didn’t show up half the time and when he did, he was high. Kept telling clients they had nice asses or trying to get them to go out with him. Several of them complained. I finally told him I’d had enough, and he threatened me.”

“Did you report that?” JoElla asked, surprised she’d found nothing about that.

“No. I just wanted him gone. I cut him a check for the end of the week and sent him on his way. Told him I’d call the cops if I saw him again. Several times after that I think he was following me and watching my house, but he eventually disappeared.”

“Do you know anybody here that he knew? Friends? Family?”

“He had family here.”

That was the closest to a tip that they’d gotten. “So who is this?”

“I have no idea. Never saw anybody, and he never mentioned them by name. Didn’t say what the relation was either. I assumed it was a parent, but I have no idea.” JoElla was about to ask something else when he said, “He made it sound like it was somebody with connections.”

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