CMM01 - Without Any Evidence Read online

  "When are y’all leaving to go back there?" Carly asked, feeling her heart sink just a little at the thought.

  "We are probably going to leave in a day or two. Rosa has been there by herself while we have been here. I know she’s 22, and technically an adult now, but she has been so sheltered that I still don't like for her to be by herself with us so far away."

  Carly hadn't really talked to Miguel much about personal things. She wondered how he and Rosa had dealt with the death of their parents. She felt a kind of bond with them, having been without her father most of her life and losing her mother so early in her adult life.

  Just as she was getting ready to open up to Miguel, Bill came walking toward them.

  "Chief wants us back downtown. He's getting ready to hold a press conference and I think we should get outta here before he makes any kind of announcement." Bill said as he stuck out his hand to shake Miguel's hand.

  "I'll be right there, Bill. Give me a minute. I have a couple of questions I'd still like to ask Mr. Alvarez."

  “Don’t be long or I’ll leave your ass,“ Bill said as he turned and walked back to the driveway leaving Miguel and Carly alone again.

  It was pretty dark under the canopy of trees where the gazebo was located, and there was an awkward silence between the two of them. Carly and Miguel both knew there was a chemistry between them, but because of the circumstances, neither could bring themselves to admit it. And now time was almost out. Miguel would be leaving and Carly would be trying her best to find evidence that would put his surrogate father's son in jail for the rest of his life.

  Life is never easy, Carly thought, but why did the one guy that she's ever felt this way about have to be involved in one of her investigations and why did he have to live in another country!

  "Please let me know if you find out that Jerry is leaving the country." Carly said, sticking her hand out to shake Miguel's hand.

  "I will detective. And, if you ever get to Mexico, please, call me. I'd love to show you our town. It's not much, but it's home."

  Miguel put his other hand on top of hers as he held it. As their hands touched, there was a tingle that went through them both.

  "Damn," they both thought simultaneously. Carly turned and walked back to the car.

  Chapter Twelve

  The press conference went smoothly. Chief Smith had made the announcement that Jerry Booth wasn’t a suspect but was a “person of interest” and told of what little evidence the police did have. Not much, but it was a start. Carly and Bill still felt something would turn up.

  As soon as she could break away, Carly went back to her office. She was sitting at her desk finishing up the paperwork that goes along with a case like this, when the phone rang. It was Julie Simon.

  "They're gone!" she said sobbing.

  "Who's gone?"

  "Bella and Teddy. Jerry has sent them to Mexico with his father. We went down to file a court order to keep him from taking them, but he was already gone."

  "I'm really sorry, Mrs. Simon. I wish there was something more I could do. But, Mr. Booth, Wade, seems to be a very nice man. I'm sure he'll take good care of the children." Carly said, truly sorry that the children were gone.

  "You don't understand. Now that they're out of the country Jerry will use them to get what he’s always wanted from us…money. I think that's all he's ever cared about." Julie sighed, paused for a few seconds and continued, "Thank you for everything you've done so far, but keep working on it please. I just know he did something to her. Please help us find her."

  As Carly hung up the phone, she turned and told Bill what had happened. She was now more determined than ever to find out what happened to Claire.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Bill left the office that day with a strong urge to see his kids. It wasn't his day to have them, but his ex-wife, Terry, was pretty good about letting him see them whenever he wanted. So, Bill hopped on I/40 and drove the fifteen minutes to Bellevue, a suburb of Nashville. His son, Tyler, who was 8, was probably at football practice. He was a Bellevue Steeler. Bill's daughter was a cheerleader for her brother's team. Kayla was 6, and a spitfire from the word go.

  Sure enough, Terry was sitting in the stands when Bill got to the football field.

  "Hi," Bill said as he sat down next to her.

  "Hey, what's up?" Terry asked.

  Terry was an attractive, 30ish, natural blond. She was a real estate broker and did quite well at it. She and Bill had only been divorced for about a year and she was building a good reputation in the real estate world. Terry always did seem to want more from life than Bill could offer. And she didn't like being married to a police officer. There wasn't much future in being a police officer in Nashville. Even with the promotion to detective, the pay wasn't that great and there was still a lot of risk. One of Bill's friends had actually had a gun fired at him while driving down the interstate one morning.

  Bill sat there in silence for a while and Terry let him. She could always tell when he needed time to get his thoughts together.

  "How are the kids doing?" Bill finally asked.

  "There doing great. I'm sometimes amazed at how well they are doing." Terry answered back looking directly into Bill's eyes.

  Bill and Terry still cared deeply for one another, they just didn't think marriage was right for them. They fought all the time. And that wasn't good for Tyler or Kayla. Not to mention Bill and Terry. So, they divorced. It was all very civilized and friendly. Bill moved into an apartment on Highway 70 South, which was the main road through Bellevue. Terry lived in a very nice subdivision only a couple of miles away. They both doted on the kids and Tyler and Kayla liked having two homes. So most of the time, things were fine in Bill's life.

  "What's wrong, Bill?" Terry asked after watching him for a few minutes.

  "Nothing really. Just this case I'm working on. I guess it's just getting to me a little."

  "Are you working on the Claire Simon Booth case?"

  "That's the one."

  "I heard from a client that the children have gone to Mexico with Jerry Booth's father, is that what this is all about?" Terry asked knowing what the answer was, whether Bill would admit it or not.

  "I guess. I just don't know what I'd do without Tyler and Kayla," Bill sighed. "And I don't understand how a man could do something to his wife, the mother of his kids."

  "So, you really think he did something to her?" Terry asked perking up. She didn't like Bill being a police officer, but she did like being on the inside track of information he had.

  "Yes, I do. But without any evidence there's not much we can do except hope that something turns up. We've had dogs out sniffing, we've checked dumps, we've turned the place upside down and can't find anything. This guy's a fucking Houdini and he's made his wife disappear. And it's my job to find her."

  Chapter Fourteen

  The police had carted the computers at Jerry's house out the door straight to Metro‘s tech guy. Jerry was really unhappy about it, but not as unhappy as you would have thought, and Carly was just about to find out why.

  The phone rang at her desk.

  "Detective Malone."

  "Hey, Carly, this is Mike. I just got Booth's computer and you're not gonna believe this. The son of a bitch has taken out the hard drive. The outside of the computer looks fine, but the inside is virtually empty."

  Carly couldn't believe what she was hearing. After all the trouble they went to in order to get a search warrant and it didn’t’ get them anywhere. She was fit to be tied, but there wasn't much they could do about it now. Booth had left for Mexico right after the police took off with his computers.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The drive from Brownsville to Wade's home was long and dusty...and very hot...even with the air conditioner running. In Mexico in September you can still fry and egg on a sidewalk most days. But Jerry looked cool as could be as he pulled up the driveway to his dad's house. He was nicely dressed in a designer suit and looked very impress
ive.

  Rosa was in the garden cutting some fall flowers to take inside when Jerry pulled up. They hadn't seen each other since Rosa was still a kid. She was all grown up now. Her long dark hair fell over her bare shoulders and down her back. Rosa was only about 5’1” and couldn't have weighed more than 95 pounds. She wore a halter top that showed every curve of her well endowed breasts, and a loose flowing skirt that swayed as she walked. When you think of a woman-child, Rosa is what comes to mind. She was built like a woman, but still had the innocence of a child. Trusting and full of love.

  Rosa had a local boy who liked her. But he was just that….a boy. They had grown up together and Ramon used to follow her around like a lovesick puppy. He was a nice looking young man and he had a steady job working on cars at a garage in town. Wade and Miguel figured that one day soon he would be asking them for Rosa’s hand in marriage.

  Wade's house was a four bedroom home that wasn‘t huge, but it was large enough for Wade, Miguel and Rosa. It was a U-shaped one story stucco that fit well with the surroundings. His place had a pool and gardens and about a hundred acres of land for his horses to roam. Jerry's kids had fallen in love with the place and with Rosa. She shared her room with them and told them bedtime stories about growing up in Mexico.

  "Well, when did you grow up?" Jerry asked Rosa as he walked toward her from the car.

  "It has been a while since you saw me last, hasn't it?" Rosa said as she kept walking and opened the door to the house.

  Jerry watched her from behind as her skirt swayed back and forth as she walked. He liked what he saw. And when Jerry Booth wanted something, he spared nothing to get it.

  During dinner that night, Jerry made sure he paid lots of attention to Rosa. He treated her like an adult, which was something Wade and Miguel didn't do. To them, she was still the little girl that played with dolls and loved her horses. Even Ramon treated her like a child. But to Jerry, she was much more. He loved the chase and the fact that she was so young was very attractive to him. After all, Rosa had never been around many men, so she was still inexperienced where they were concerned. Jerry figured he could be her mentor, her teacher, he could teach her to love and to be completely devoted to him and do whatever he said. Unlike Claire, who spoke and did as she pleased.

  "Rosa, show me your horses," said Jerry looking for an excuse to get Rosa away from the house.

  "Sure, come on and I'll give you a tour of the new barn," she said excitedly as she headed for the door.

  Jerry grabbed a bottle of wine and a couple of glasses as he headed through the back door tucking the glasses in his back pockets. One of Jerry's favorite movies was “Sabrina” with William Holden and Audrey Hepburn and he could never resist the temptation to recreate scenes from the movie. Especially when a young woman was involved.

  As they walked past the pool, through the garden and down to the barn, Jerry reached over and took Rosa's hand. At first she wasn't sure what to think. She had never had this type of attention before and Jerry was being very attentive.

  "This is my favorite," Rosa said as she leaned on the fence watching a beautiful appaloosa run across the paddock.

  "Horses are very sensuous animals," Jerry said as he pulled the wine glasses out of his pockets. He handed Rosa the glasses and poured the wine from the opened bottle. Putting the cork back in the bottle, he leaned over and sat the bottle on the ground leaning it up against a post.

  "I've never really thought about it," Rosa said feeling a little funny talking to Jerry about such things. But she knew exactly what he meant.

  Girls and their horses. People always wonder what it is about girls and horses. But Jerry knew. He knew that girls loved the feel of a horse between their legs. Girls love the movement of a powerful beast underneath them as she is in complete control, and the feel of the wind blowing across her body and through her hair.

  They stood watching the horses and drinking their wine. Jerry finally reached over and put his arm around Rosa's waist and gently kissed her neck. She flushed at the feeling and took another sip of her wine.

  "Jerry, what about Claire?" she asked.

  "What about her? She left me and the kids. We haven't been happy for a long time," Jerry said very convincingly, "She shut me out and wouldn't let me touch her for months. It's been so hard on me, Rosa. I need a woman to love me, and she obviously didn't love me or the children,” he said chokingly wiping a tear away from the corner of his eye.

  Rosa actually felt sorry for him as she turned to him and tilted her head up toward his. She longed for him to kiss her. She had never been kissed, not really kissed and she was starting to fall for Jerry's charming side. But, Jerry knew what he was doing. He leaned over and kissed her on the forehead.

  "We'd better get back to the house," Jerry whispered to her.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Back in Nashville, Jerry Booth had been named the prime suspect in Claire's disappearance, but the police couldn't get him to come back to the states and answer any questions or take a lie detector test.

  Carly and Bill set up a meeting with Jerry's attorney to see if they could bluff their way into getting Jerry to at least come back and talk to them.

  "Mr. Hillman, we think we have enough evidence to bring your client in and charge him with homicide," Bill said. "But, we might be willing to let him plead to manslaughter. After all, she probably pushed him. They were both mad that night. Jerry's admitted that they were fighting. Who knows, maybe she hit him first. What do you say?"

  "I'll talk to my client, but honestly, I don't see it happening. He's adamant about the fact that he hasn't done anything," Hillman said to Carly and Bill as he got up and left the room.

  "So, do you think he might go for it," Carly asked Bill.

  "Not a chance," he answered, "But it was worth a try."

  In the month since Jerry Booth had moved to Mexico, Carly and Bill had found out a lot more about him. He had been having affairs and one night stands with women all over town. The police found a note that Claire supposedly wrote the night of her disappearance, but it was written more in Jerry's style than Claire's. Ted and Julie Simon had filed a petition for visitation of the children. So, when Hillman called Carly and told her he had talked to his client and his exact words had been "Fuck them. I didn't do anything and they can‘t make me come back," they weren't surprised.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The crisp fall air had Carly out walking even more and with those walks she found herself daydreaming more and more about Miguel and Bill was spending more time with his ex-wife. The more frustrating things became with the case, the more they looked for ways to release tension. Carly walked more. Bill, well, he and his ex had never had a problem when it came to sex.

  It was Halloween and Bill had promised Terry he'd take the kids trick or treating. Bill loved doing the dad thing, especially on Halloween. He always dressed up with the kids and took them out in the neighborhood. This year he was dressed like a gladiator and he had the body to go with the costume.

  It was a beautiful Halloween night. Not to warm, not too cold, just perfect in every way. A nice breeze was blowing occasionally, which Bill could feel very well considering his costume was essentially a sheet, a pair of boxers and sandals. After a couple of hours of walking and collecting candy, they headed back to Terry's.

  Terry had dressed up as a Greek goddess. She, too, looked the part. When Bill got back to the house with the kids, she suggested he stay and pour them a glass of wine while she put the kids to bed.

  "There's a bottle of Chardonay in the fridge," she yelled down the stairs. "I'll be right back."

  Bill went into the kitchen and opened the wine and got a couple of glasses from the cabinet. Then he went into the family room and turned on some music. It had been a while since he and Terry had been alone together. Neither of them had been seeing anyone else and Bill was feeling like he needed to be close to someone lately. The Booth case was really getting to him.

  "Bill, you've really been
acting low lately," Terry said as she sat down and put her arms around his neck. "What's up?"

  "I don't want to talk about it right now," he said as he pulled her close. "You look great and you feel even better."

  Terry slid her hand up the front of Bill's gladiator costume to find that he now had nothing on underneath, "So do you," she said as slid over and sat astride him.

  Her blond hair fell around her as she leaned in and kissed Bill hard on the lips. She could feel him get aroused. She nibbled at his mouth as Bill reached his hands around and grabbed her, pulling her closer to him. He pulled her tunic off her shoulders to reveal her full white breasts and he leaned in to kiss them as she arched her back in pleasure.

  It wasn't long before they ended up on the floor sweating and panting, wrapped in each other's arms. Both of them needed their occasional rendezvous.

  Carly, in the meantime hadn't been laid in so long she wasn't sure she remembered how. All she had were her fantasies...about Miguel. She would have been pleased to know that Miguel was having the same fantasies about her. At least, when he wasn't worrying about Jerry and his sister.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Jerry had been moving slowly with Rosa. It was almost as if he knew that by withholding himself, she would want him more. He was spending lots of time with her, but he never did anything more than put his arms around her and kiss her forehead or fingertips. And Rosa was falling for it. She loved Teddy and Bella and now she felt herself falling for Jerry, too.

  "You look lovely tonight," Jerry said as he walked up behind Rosa in the barn.