Page 35 of You Can Leave Your Hat On

They left at the same time the next morning. The only thing Aaron had mentioned during breakfast was his court appearance, so Maisey wasn’t too worried. He’d be busy, and she’d be able to carry out her plan without him ever knowing, unless she found Alan. Then she’d have something to crow about?the social worker who beat out the deputy sheriff to find the missing person and flush out the person of interest.

But first, she had two appointments to go to, and she wasn’t looking forward to either of them. The first one went exactly as she expected, with the mom swearing that she prepared three meals a day and the child looking like he hadn’t had anything to eat in weeks. While Maisey was there, he tried to climb onto the cabinet to reach a box of cereal, and when he hit it with his little fingers, a roach ran out from under it. She offered the mom additional counseling, but she knew she’d be talking to her supervisor about the situation later.

But the second was a surprise. The lady opened the door, and Maisey could smell cinnamon. When she stepped inside, it was like being in a completely different apartment than the one she’d visited two weeks earlier. Instead of the mess she’d seen on her earlier visit, the apartment was neat and straightened up, and every surface was clean. The woman was beaming as she showed Maisey around, pointing out the clean bathroom, then took her to the child’s bedroom. In the middle of the floor, the little girl was playing with plastic blocks and dolls, and she was clean. Even though her clothes didn’t match, they were clean too, and her unmade bed had clean sheets on it. It was a far cry from theshape it had been in two weeks earlier. When Maisey questioned the mom, the woman said, “I was just so depressed, but I cleaned up the living room and I couldn’t believe how much better I felt, so I kept going. Now I’m excited to get up in the mornings, it only takes about an hour to maintain, and I feel healthier. And I feel like a better mother.”

Maisey told the mom that she’d be back in a few weeks to see if there were any services she could offer them, and asked the woman to make a list of things she could use to make her life and parenting easier. When they parted, Maisey slipped behind the wheel of her car, drove two blocks, parked, and sobbed. Most days, her job was harder than anyone could imagine, dealing with people in poverty and filth. This woman had taken the initiative to make her life, and the life of her child, better. That was rare. Most just blamed everything on someone or something else, but she’d shouldered the responsibility, and for the first time in a long time, Maisey felt like she’d actually made a difference in someone’s life.

When she’d finished with her crying jag, she pulled out onto the street, stopped at the fast food restaurant down the block, and got herself a milkshake. Then she headed for the area she’d been hoping to get to all morning.

The roads out near the airport were quiet, and there was no traffic, so she had no trouble slowing down to look around. Based on the location Aaron had explained to her, she looked at the two little houses. Neither of them looked like anyone had been around them in ages. She’d learned a lot from Aaron, and she scrutinized. There was no grass pushed down anywhere as though someone had walked or driven on it, and there didn’t seem to be a back way in, so no one had come in that way. She was about to pull away when her phone rang, and she smiled just before she hitDECLINE. Why was he calling her? He was supposed to be in court. Had he forgotten something? If shedeclined his call, he’d just assume she was with a client, so when it rang a second time, she did the same. He’d be furious if he found out where she was and what she was doing.

Maisey kept driving, but there was very little else out there. The old cement plant loomed up ahead, and she drove straight toward it. There was a parking spot across the road, so she stopped there and took a good look around.

Weeds were everywhere, and there were no signs of life. As she surveyed her surroundings, she noticed that there were no other structures anywhere… except about a hundred yards from the cement plant. There, almost invisible, was a shed of some kind, and something about it made her want to go and take a look inside. Before she could stop herself, she was out of the car and headed toward it on foot, looking around as best she could as she walked.

The door to the shack wasn’t on the front, so Maisey quietly skirted it, then stepped up to the door on the back. A broken padlock lay a few feet away, and the door was scratched and scarred from where someone had worked to cut the lock. It only took a few seconds for her to make her decision, and she grabbed the handle on the door and peered inside.

Instantly, a hand grabbed her hair, fingers winding tightly into it, and dragged her inside. She heard the door slam behind her, and a male voice hissed, “Who are you and what are you doing here?”

“Wait! Wait! It’s okay! I’m not going to hurt you!” Maisey cried out, and he let go of her hair. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Who are you?” the man demanded. It was dark, and Maisey was having trouble seeing his face.

“My name is Maisey. I’m trying to find AlanVanderboegh.”

“What do you want with m… him?”

“I just want to talk to him. Just for a minute. Do you know where he is?” she asked, knowing full well it was him. Even with the scraggly beard, the unkempt clothes, and the dim light, it was obviously him. Maisey willed her heartbeat to calm. “I just want to talk. That’s all. I have news of his girlfriend.”

“Hazel? Is Hazel okay?” he whispered, and she could tell he was afraid of the answer just by his tone.

“No. Hazel’s not okay. Hazel’s dead.”

“What? How? When?”

Maisey was feeling bolder. “The mayor killed her.”

“What? Are you serious? Why Hazel?” Alan whined.

I’m not sugar-coating this bullshit, Maisey told herself.He needs to understand the ramifications of his actions.“Because he was looking for you and she couldn’t tell him where you were.”

“Oh, god. No. No, I never meant for that to happen. I knew he was angry, but not that angry.”

Play stupid, she thought. “Why would he be angry?”

“Because I took all that money. It wasn’t supposed to happen like that. I really did intend to open the data mining operation! Really, I did! But it kept getting more and more expensive to do, and cryptocurrency rates were growing more volatile, and I finally just decided to cut my losses and run with the money. Hazel was supposed to join me, and I wondered what happened to her.”

“How in the world are you living out here?” Maisey asked.

“I wait until it gets really dark and I go to the convenience store about twelve miles away. Plus I gave a guy my car in exchange for his old beater, so nobody knows what I’m driving. I was waiting for Hazel, hoping she’d be here any day… Now what do I do?”

“I think you should turn yourself in to the police, because the mayor is looking for you, and he already killed Hazel. If he?”

Bright light flooded the little building and a menacing voice said, “Uh-huh. Thought I’d find you here.”

Maisey wheeled toward the voice, but before she could say anything, she heard Alan ask, “How did you find me?”

“Followed this psychic wannabe. I knew she’d lead me straight to you. Before you say anything, stupid,” he said, pointing toward Maisey, “let me tell you that I checked and your husband is in court today, so there’s no way out of this. And now, Alan, you’re going to tell me where my money is.”

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