Page 83 of Rocky Ride

“No.”

“Don’t matter. We’ll ask in the office anyway. We don’t want to miss anything.”

They went inside and Annie let Mason do the talking to the owner of the business. He asked all the right questions and the man behind the desk said, “I haven’t had a Freightliner on my lot for several months. I’d remember if one came in used.”

Mason dropped a card on the guy’s desk. “Thanks for your help, sir. Appreciate it.”

Reading Residence. Cut Bank.

I drove from Shelby to Cut Bank to our second interview. We’d talked to Petra Reading before when we questioned all of Sandra Ellington’s friends and I remembered her being the unfriendly one.

Virge rang her bell, and she wasn’t smiling as she let us in.

“I’m not a fan of being interviewed by the police.”

“This won’t take long,” I said. “What do you know about Sandra Ellington and Dan Darkers?”

“I don’t know him, but I know Sandra was fooling around with him on a regular basis. He wasn’t her type. Not a suit and tie guy. Darkers was rough and tough, and I think that’s what Sandra liked so much about him. He was married and they were strictly sex for fun—at least that’s what she told me.”

“Why didn’t you tell us about Dan Darkers the first time we talked to you?” asked Virge.

“You didn’t ask me.”

“Do you know of anybody else she was fooling around with?” I asked.

“No,” said Petra, “but there could have been more. Once Sandra got into the fooling around mode, there was no stoppingher. She loved it. Waiting until Bob was at work and then inviting one of the guys over. It was a game to her.”

“A game that she lost in the end,” said Virge.

J.T. Paint & Body. Nashville. Tennessee.

Next Mason tried one of the fake ID places he had on his list. An extensive list he’d compiled over time, giving him sources of information in cities from coast to coast.

“Let’s talk to this guy and see if he fixed Bobby up with a new identity.”

“Have you been here before?” asked Annie.

“Nope. Haven’t done many searches in Nashville, but J.T. Turnbull is on my list of verified ID guys. We’ll give him a shot.”

“Sure.”

Mason led the way into the body shop and spoke to one of the mechanics. “J.T. in his office?”

“Yeah, he’s back there. Not in a good mood.”

Mason laughed. “Is he ever?”

“Hardly ever,” said the guy as he wiped his greasy hands on a rag.

The office door was closed, and Mason knocked.

J.T. hollered, “Who are you and what do you want?”

Mason put a big smile on his face and walked in. “Hey, J.T. How’s the weather in Winnipeg, Manitoba?”

“How the hell should I know?”

Mason laughed and slapped a hundred on the desk. “Looking for a guy.”

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