Finding Andrew Fletcher

 

~ 1 ~

His name was Dexter Fox. He was born in Atlantic City New Jersey. His father, Jonah was a Blackjack dealer and his mom, Viv, was a cocktail waitress. A fairly common pairing in that town. 

Dexter was raised by a series of Mexican and Puerto Rican nannies who looked after him at night. From the time he was about five, he pretty much took care of himself, walking then riding his bike to school. What his parents couldn’t provide in terms of actual parenting they made up for with cash, which was fine with him. He always had plenty of money and learned to respect it as he grew. He had a couple of friends who lived close by and they were in the same sort of situation, so they kind of all raised each other, with the help of the odd big brother or sister.

It was a pretty good life. His friends were good friends. His parents were as good as could be expected for casino people.

When Dexter was about seven, which most religions will tell you is the age of reason, things began to change. All his life he had heard voices in his head. Since he didn’t know better, he figured everyone did so it was no big deal. But at around the age of seven the voices changed from a dull murmuring to clear language.

It took Dexter about three years to figure out what the hell was going on in his head. But what was going on was that he could hear what people were thinking. The voices were only clear and understandable when the people were talking to him or were very close by. Otherwise, they were muddled and low volume.

 After a year or so, he started to figure out that if people were thinking what they were saying he didn’t hear what he called their inner voices. He only heard what they were thinking if it was different from what they were saying.

Even though he was only eleven, he instinctually understood that there were probably more dishonest ways to use this talent than there were honest ones, and being in Atlantic City he was genuinely afraid that if the word ever got out, he could be putting himself in a good deal of danger. So he kept it all to himself. Because Dexter was no dummy.

~ 2 ~

When Dex was about sixteen and halfway through high school he started to think about what this ability could actually do.

One night he even sat down and made a list of the things he could possibly do. It wasn’t a very long list because he was still pretty young. But one thing he realized quite clearly was that if he figured out how to use his talent he would always be able to make some sort of living. 

Atlantic City basically a casino town. Half the The kids he knew had two working parents and the other half half of them had just one parent who worked two jobs. There was very little to do there except read, swim in the ocean in the warm weather, and make out with girls. In his teen years, Dexter was fairly adept at all three of these pastimes. The making out with girls part was the best, because he could hear their thoughts, and could respond to their feelings and draw himself close to them because he really ‘understood’ them. It felt a little dishonest at first, but Dexter figured that as long as he didn’t do anything for which he could be arrested, everything was fair game. And besides, he reasoned, it was good practice for adulthood.

As Dex continued to grow, his control over the voices he would hear became more focused. Eventually, he was able to simply tell what people were thinking just by tuning into them and listening as long as they were close enough to him.

Dexter finished high school at eighteen, but gave no thought to higher education. He figured the world would teach him everything he needed to know. His parents loved him but both suspected that he was a little bit different from the other kids they knew in the neighbourhood. They had saved up fifty three thousand dollars which would have gotten Dexter through a third rate college and into some sort of career. But after a lot serious talk, they simply gave him the money, told him to buy a half decent used car and go see the world.

Three days later, and just two weeks after his 19th birthday,  Dexter loaded up a three year old, low mileage Volkswagon Passat, which he had purchased for twenty two thousand dollars, kissed his mom and slapped his dad’s hand and headed off for parts unknown, specifically Canada, with thirty thousand US dollars, which he reckoned was almost forty thousand in Canadian money safely stashed, and a very definite plan in mind.

~ 3 ~

Two nights later Dexter was in a motel on a road called Lundy’s Lane in the small city of Niagara Falls, Ontario. Niagara Falls was a huge tourist attraction and the home to a couple of casinos where the legal age was nineteen. He had exchanged ten thousand of his American dollars at a Royal Bank of Canada branch in Niagara Falls. Here at these casinos he would be able to test his abilities and see just how good he actually was when he was sitting across from a professional dealer. 

His father had taught him the games of Blackjack and poker and considered his son to be what he called a ‘dangerous’ player. He had no idea that Dexter was actually reading his mind. He just thought the kid had inherited some of his card sense.

That evening, he put on a pair of nice slacks, a black T-shirt and a light sports jacket and headed to The Fallsview Casino. He walked around the casino for a while taking it all in. He stopped by each the several Blackjack tables, watched the players and listened to the dealer’s thoughts. 

He knew he would have to be careful because the casinos monitored the playing tables for any sort of suspicious activity and any player winning a lot of money would be classed as such.

He finally found a table and purchased $500 worth of $50 chips. The dealer wore a name tag that just read ‘Charles’. Charles was your typical dealer. Mid thirties, white shirt, bow tie and slicked back hair and professionally manicured nails. He was obviously not a novice and handled the cards with smoothness and confidence. He had no tells that Dexter could notice but the thing that Dexter called his ‘inner voice’  was clear as a bell. 

Dexter was careful to build his winnings slowly, even make the odd amateur bet, but two hours later, he was up more than $3000. He gathered up his chips and pushed a $50 chip across the table to Charles who was happy to see the ass end of him as he walked away to the cashier’s window. Streaks were part of the game and Dexter’s raised no red flags in the back room. 

Dexter treated himself to a nice dinner in the Casino’s buffet and sat watching the poker tables. The players at these tables were older and better dressed than the Black Jack players .

After he finished his dinner, he wandered through the tables, listening to the players as they thought through their games. After about half an hour he sat down at a fifty dollar table and bought two thousand dollars worth of chips. There were three other players and the raise limit was a hundred dollars. These were the amateurs and their inner voices were all crystal clear. He had decided beforehand that he would spent no more than three hours at a table. This would give him a modest amount of winning. And he needed to do enough early folding to avoid raising the suspicions of the dealers, who, if they were anything like his dad, were all pretty damn sharp.

When his three hours were up his three thousand dollar winnings ballooned to more eleven and a half thousand. He looked at his watch and then gathered his chips and took them to the cashier. 

Fourteen thousand for the night was a pretty decent haul, he reckoned. He went to the lounge and sat at the bar nursing a beer and just watching all the action. He figured that two nights in each of the three casinos would net him enough money to buy into a high stakes poker game where he could probably take down several hundred thousand or more. 

~ 4 ~

Dexter stayed in Niagara Falls a little longer than he had anticipated, because once the word got around that there was a ‘kid’ who was winning big at the casino poker tables, he found himself being invited to more private games in parts of the hotels that no tourist would ever see. These were the big money players. Scary looking people with intense focus and burly bodyguards. But they accepted their losses gracefully, and the three nights he spent in these games added much more to his stash than he could have imagined in his wildest dreams. 

This, in turn, led him to other ‘private’ games in Toronto and Montreal, which he found out about through table conversation with the other players he was taking money from. His plans to head off to the reservation casinos, were nullified by the opportunity that the big money games represented, and he carefully and slowly built his winnings far beyond his anticipation. 

By the time he had made his way to the border crossing that would take him home, he reckoned he had won the American equivalent of more than seven million four hundred thousand dollars, which included a big win at the Poker Stars Tournament in Montreal and several very lucrative private games, following that.

He left Montreal heading south on Highway 87 which would take him directly into New York City, a place where he had actually never been. 

Once he had gotten through the border crossing and was just starting to pick up speed, he noticed someone standing at the side of the road with their thumb out. The closer he got the more he realized it was a female. She was wearing tight jeans, some sort of  T-shirt and and a denim jacket. Her hair was brown and tied back. Her sunglasses were perched on her head. On her feet she wore a pair of white Nikes. He wasn’t sure why, but he pulled over about thirty yards past the girl. She picked up a large bag and slung it over her shoulder and ran toward his car. He opened his window. 

“Where you heading?” she asked.

“Atlantic City by way of New York City.” He said. 

She looked him over carefully. and nodded. “Sounds good to me.”

“Toss your bag in the back seat.”

She walked around the car and opened the passenger door, pulled the seat forward and tossed her bag in the back. She climbed in, putting her smaller bag on the floor in front of her, then fastened her seat belt.

“What’s your name?” Dexter asked.

“Roxanne. Roxanne Doyle. But everybody calls me Rox.

Dexter laughed as he pulled the car back out onto the highway. 

“That’s funny. My name is Dexter, Dexter Fox but everybody calls me Dex.”

“That is funny. A Dex and a Rox. Whoda thunk.”

“Where you heading, Rox?”

“South.”

“That covers a lot of territory.”

“No, I’m actually heading to New York City. What about you?”

“Heading home to Atlantic City.”

“You’re a long way from there, Dex.”

“Yeah I came up to Canada to make some money.”

“Doin’ what?” Roxanne asked.

“Gambling. Blackjack and poker. Mostly poker.”

“No shit. You any good at it?”

“I do OK. Just getting started. Had to go to Canada because I’m only nineteen and everywhere I want to play in the States, you have to be twenty one.”

“So you’ve been up in Canada playing poker and Blackjack. You win anything?” 

“Yeah I did pretty well.”

“What does that mean? ‘Cause I know nothing about gambling.”

“It means about seven and a half million.”

“Holy shit.”

“Yeah. So what about you, Rox? What’s your thing?

“I just graduated from McGill University. Computer Sciences.”

“So why are you comin’ to the States?”

“Bigger companies. Bigger money. Bigger challenges. I’m gonna try New York. If that doesn’t work out I’ll head west to California. Silicon Valley.”

“You must be pretty good if you’re aimin’ that high.”

“Well, that’s what I’m gonna find out.”

Dexter turned on the radio to an oldies station and they sang songs together all the way to Albany, where they stopped for dinner. Dexter found himself extremely attracted to this girl. She was a little on the wild side and nothing like the stereotypical computer nerd. She liked him too. And he couldn’t hear her inner voice at all.

They decided to stay in Albany overnight and then make the drive to New York City the next day. They found a nice motel and both had showers then laid on separate beds watching the news. 

About half an hour after they turned out the lights, Rox slipped off her double bed and crawled in with Dexter. He was pretty sure that would happen and so there was no surprise when it did. They didn’t make love they just did a bit of necking and touching and then both of them fell asleep.

~ 5 ~

The next day they drove into Manhattan and checked in at the Pierre hotel in midtown Manhattan. Dexter had made a reservation from the motel in Albany. They arrived at the Pierre at around four in the afternoon and then after checking in and changing, headed down to the street to walk around and take in the city. 

Roxanne had never been out of Canada. Montreal was the biggest city she had ever been to, because she grew up in a smaller city called Cornwall which was about halfway between Toronto and Montreal. They were both overwhelmed at the population density in Manhattan. They walked around in Central Park, then headed down 5th Avenue all the way to 42nd Street. They saw all kinds of different people along the way. And it seemed like almost everyone was walking much more quickly than they were  Since they weren’t in any hurry they just ambled down the street taking in all the beautiful stores, and staring up at the massive buildings on the neighbouring streets. 

When they got to 42nd Street, it was about 7 PM and they were getting hungry. Dexter checked out the Google Maps app on his iPad and saw a place called Dave & Busters, a sports bar just three blocks west on 42nd. They went in and took seats at the bar. The Yankees were playing the Boston Red Sox tonight so the place was crowded. They ordered beers and roast beef sandwiches with fries, which came in less than two minutes, and was pretty damn good. While they ate, they watched the game on one of the large flatscreen monitors above the bar. 

“Atlantic City has no major sports teams, so the team everybody there rooted for were the Philadelphia Phillies, which were a National League team, unlike the Yankees and the Red Sox who were in the American League,” Dexter said.

“My dad likes the Toronto Blue Jays, but they have been sucking lately.”

 “What does your dad do in Cornwall?” Dexter asked.

Roxanne laughed. “He’s the fuckin’ mayor.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah, he also owns a hardware store and likes that job a lot better. What about your folks?” Roxanne asked.

“They work in the casinos. My dad’s a Blackjack dealer. Mom’s a cocktail waitress. If you can believe it she makes more than him. They’re nice people but I always got the feeling the never wanted a kid. But they tried real hard to be good parents. It just wasn’t in their nature I guess.”

After dinner, they took a cab back to the hotel. They were too beat to do anything. Roxanne really liked it that Dexter wasn’t all horny like most of the boys she had known. And because Dexter could hear what she was thinking, he deliberately held back, although he had to admit that making love to her wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.

That night as they both lay in bed together lost on their own thoughts Dexter wondered if he should talk to her about his gift. It was unlikely he would ever see her again after the next day. So he figured he had nothing to lose. But he was really taken with her and something inside him told him that together, both of them could do some amazing things. He wasn’t sure what they were just yet. It was just a feeling he had, since she seemed to always say exactly what she was feeling. She was the only person he had met so far that he could say that about, other than a couple of friends from high school.

The next morning, they packed up and had breakfast together.

“So do you have any idea where you are going to stay?” Dexter asked her. 

“No. But it sure as hell won’t be here. It’s a little on the pricy side.”

They didn’t say anything for quite a while just picked at their breakfasts. Finally, Dexter said. “How much do you think you could make here if you got the right job?”

“You know, I really don’t know for sure. It would have to be at least one fifty, because the rents here are off the charts and then there’s food and getting around and clothes. But I know I wouldn’t start at that price. I’d have to work my way up to it for probably about a year.”

“Here’s what I’m thinking.” Dexter said. “Why don’t you come and work with me. I’ll pay you a hundred twenty thousand a year, and we can find our own house, somewhere on the ocean.”

“But what would I do?”

“This is the leap of faith part. Because I can’t tell you that until you agree and we’re on our way to New Jersey. But I will tell you that your skills could come in very handy.”

Roxanne took a sip of her coffee. She thought this was all pretty weird. What did she really know about this guy except that he was a gambler? Did he really have all the money he said he did? And what the hell would he need her for? Pretty major league concerns. But in spite of all that she found herself incredibly curious about what this was all about. And the only way she could find out was by saying yes.

So she did.

They finished their breakfast, went up to their room and got all their stuff. Before they checked out Dexter called his bank in Atlantic City and talked to one of the managers there. He gave the man his account number and asked him to prepare some cheques and a Visa Card, with a fairly high limit, which the manager was more than happy to do. He told Dexter he could pick up the cheques before the close of business that day.

Half an hour later they were on the Garden State Parkway heading toward Atlantic City.

As they drove through Atlantic City, Roxanne’s only comment was, “It’s really not much to look at, Dex.”

“Yeah I know. But we’re not gonna live here. We’re going further south. I just want to pick up some more of my stuff.”

“It was mid-afternoon when they arrived at Dexter’s house. His parents were having breakfast after which they would leave for work.

Dexter introduced Roxanne to them and they had some coffee and chatted for about half an hour. Dexter made up a story about driving Roxanne down to Virginia Beach, which was where she was headed and that he was gonna stay there for a while and check it out. His parents just smiled, cleaned up the dishes and were out the door. Dexter spent the next few hours doing laundry and packing up the car,

As they were leaving, Dexter said. ‘You know what, I think we need a bigger car. Roxanne looked at the folded-down seats filled with clothing, computers and a few pictures. and said. “I think, you might be right. 

After stopping at his bank to pick up his cheques and Visa card, they headed west to Wilmington Delaware and got on to Highway 1 Heading south. Then they switched over to 13 and rode it all the way down to Norfolk and Virginia Beach.

Along the way, through the lush Delaware farmland, Dexter explained his talent to Roxanne. She tested him a few times and was astonished at how he was, quite literally, able to see her thoughts and play them back to her.

They talked a lot about what Dexter could do with this talent. Dexter wasn’t all that concerned. He knew it would take some time. But he had more than enough money stashed away that they could find a really nice house on the ocean and then figure out how to move forward. After that Roxanne thought she could create a suitably vague web site that would put them in the personal investigation business. She got that idea because Dexter had thought that he could use his skills to help people with missing relatives or friends. There was certainly no shortage of those people in America. And from what he had learned about it so far, anyone who disappeared usually did so at the hand of or through the help of a relative or close family friend of some sort.

Roxanne, who was basically travelling with about ten thousand dollars that she had saved up for the trip to New York was happy that she didn’t have to touch any of that money. Dexter insisted on paying for everything, And she had to admit that this was a genuine adventure they were on, and that appealed to her on a whole other level. Roxanne was three years older than Dexter, but it didn’t feel that way at all. Dexter was extremely intelligent and intuitive, but most of all, he exuded a great deal more self-confidence than any nineteen year old had a right to have.

~ 6 ~

It was early evening when they got to Virginia Beach. They checked in at the Hyatt Hotel along the strip and then drove off in search of some dinner. 

They got back around nine and Roxanne got out her computer, hooked into the hotel’s server and together she and Dexter began to search for beachfront houses to rent or lease. They found three likely choices, which Roxanne noted. They would call them in the morning. 

They both had showers and then laid in bed and watched a movie on the large flat screen TV. The movie was kind of boring and so they started fooling around. Pretty soon, they were doing a whole lot more than that, and about half an hour later they collapsed from the exhaustion of the lovemaking and the long day’s drive They slept in each other’s arms and it felt pretty good.

The next morning, after breakfast in the hotel’s dining room, Dexter started calling real estate agents. They saw the three houses they had found online, and eventually settled on the one with the best and easiest access to the beach. The houses were all unoccupied and nicely furnished and it was simply a matter of signing the lease and giving the agent a check for the first six months. The agent told them that it would take a day for the cheque to clear, so they stayed at the hotel for another night. 

The next morning they met the agent at the house on Ocean Front Avenue. There they were given the keys and a list of all the utility providers. 

They unpacked the car and hung up all their clothes. When they were done, they made a shopping list and, two hours later, had a house full of food, some beer and a couple bottles of nice wine. They ordered a pizza and then sat out on the spacious back deck and watched the ocean while they ate. 

“I’ve got to tell you, Dex, Roxanne said. “This is light years from where I was headed when you picked me up at the border.”

“Yeah, well, sometimes life works out that way. As long as you’re happy with what we’re doing.”

“I think I will be once we actually start doing it. Right now it feels like we’re on a holiday.”

“Yeah, we need to do one last thing before we get started. We need to get a new car.”

The next day they drove over to a Chrysler Dealership in Norfolk and traded the Jetta for a new Chrysler Minivan. Dexter figured that they could get some high density foam and have it in the back on the nights when they had to watch a house or something. Roxanne just liked it because the seats were higher and she could see more of the road ahead. But she could also see that the gears were turning in Dexter’s head.

That evening they barbecued some steaks and ate them with a Caesar Salad. And they talked about what Dexter was thinking. “We would kinda be like an unlicensed detective agency.” he said. “We could think up a cool name for it and you can design us a web site and let people know we exist. After that, we can see what happens. I already have an idea for how we could write the site. Then we’ll put it out there and you can goose the SEO on it and we’ll see if we can generate some leads.

“What would we charge for this service?” Roxanne asked.

“I can make all the money we need playing poker. We don’t need to charge anything. Now if someone wants to gift us something, well that would be up to them.”

“Okay.” Roxanne said but she sounded kind of iffy to Dexter.

“You’re thinking that people won’t take us seriously if we don’t charge them.”

Roxanne just smiled. “Yeah, that’s what I was thinking.”

Dexter took a deep breath. “How about this? We play it by ear. If the people were are talking to are rich then we charge them. If they’re not so rich, we charge them less. And if they’re poor we just do it for free.”

“I can live with that.”

“Me too.”

For a self-professed computer nerd. Roxanne turned out to also be quite a capable creative person. After only a few minutes of thinking she came up with a name for their enterprise: DR Lost & Found. Once she had that and all the content that Dexter had already drafted she was able to put together a web site using some stock shots he purchased online. When she had finished she went to a site called GoDaddy and bought the URL for DRLostandFound.com. 

After the site was set up, she then emailed a friend of hers from school who specialized in search engine optimization. He sent her back a quote and she got signed up using Dexter’s Visa card. He explained that he would send her weekly reports on the amount of traffic he would generate. 

Now all that was left to do was wait. 

~ 7 ~

It was was early August and though the temperature was high, the ocean breeze seemed to keep things a good ten degrees cooler.

They spent pretty much a whole day driving around the Norfolk, Virginia Beach and Chesapeake area looking for cool restaurants and places where they could sit outside and have a glass of wine. In the evenings they would watch old movies together or just sit out on the back steps and watch the waves roll in.

“You know, at the rate the Polar ice caps are melting, we won’t be able to stay here for a long time. Some of the lowlands in Florida are already flooding.” Dexter said. “We have a bit of elevation here, so maybe ten years if we’re lucky.”

“I didn’t know you were paying attention.” Roxanne said.

“I grew up in Atlantic City, that’s sitting pretty low too. It’s just something you pay attention you’re aware of when you live there.”

Roxanne grew up in a small city on the shore of Lake Ontario and she had to admit that never once did it cross her mind that the lake would overflow. She supposed that living on the ocean was a totally different thing. And as she looked out and could see literally forever, she shivered involuntarily.

“It’s gonna take a few days or maybe even a week before the SEO kicks in and we start to get any real interest.” 

“Yeah, well that’s what I figured. But, you know, there might be a better way to go about this.”

Dexter opened up his computer and began to search Google for child disappearances. He was amazed at what he saw. He went to a site that gave the statistics for child abductions. It was pretty depressing. 

He and Roxanne spent a good hour looking at stories until they came across one that was close to home. It was an hour away by car in the city of Richmond. The story came with an email address attached to it that the mother had set up. Looking at the date they noticed that the post was more than a year old. This meant that the authorities had probably stopped looking. 

Dexter opened his email and pasted in the address. He titled the message. ‘We would like to try and find your son.’

He and Roxanne then composed a brief email, explaining what they were about. 

‘We are an independently wealthy couple and we both have highly developed intuitive skills. We would very much like to try and find your son, Andrew. We are not professionals, but have chosen this area because it matches many of our skills and is an opportunity for us to give back for the good fortune life has bestowed upon us. 

If you are interested, please let us know. We would really like to try and help.’

Roxanne signed the note with her email address and phone number and they sent it off.

And again, all they could do was wait.

Two days later Roxanne’s phone rang. 

“Hello, this is Roxanne.”

“Hello Roxanne, my name is Elaine Fletcher. I believe you sent me an email a couple of days ago.”

“Oh yes, Mrs Fletcher, we did.”

“You were right about one thing. The police have given up on searching for Andrew.” her voice sounded sad and exhausted.

“I can only imagine what you are going through, Mrs Fletcher.”

“Thank you…So I guess what I would like to know is how exactly are you going to be able to help me.”

‘My partner, his name is Dexter Fox, has, I’m not sure what you would call it. I call it a gift. He’s able to get a handle on what people are thinking even when they are saying something completely different.”

“That sounds pretty strange. You know we have had experience with spiritualists and the like. They all turned out to be con artists of one kind or another.”

“Dexter and I, as I said in the email, are independently wealthy. This is not about money, Mrs Fletcher.”

“Well that’s certainly a departure. As you can tell, I’m a bit cynical about calls out of the blue.”

“You may be cynical, and I can understand that, but you were curious enough to call.”

“I haven’t given up hope you know. It’s just the more time passes the more you start to believe you’ll never see him again.”

“I don’t know if we can help you. But we’re willing to try. The skills that Dexter has are pretty formidable.”

“How is it you are independently wealthy, as you said?”

“Dexter is a professional gambler. He’s very good at it.”

“And what would happen if I said yes?”

“Well, he would want to talk to you and everyone involved, and see what they tell him.”

Louise Fletcher said nothing for quite a while and then finally said. “You sound very sincere.”

“We are. We have no reason to be otherwise. This is something that Dexter has chosen to do. If we don’t do it for you, we will eventually do it for someone else. We have created a web site with very powerful search engine optimization. It’s just a matter of time before we start getting calls. But we chose you, because Dexter had a very strong feeling about your case.”

“There’s really just a small circle of people.” Mrs Fletcher said. 

“OK well, why don’t you get a list together and we’ll come over to Richmond and meet with you. We’re in Virginia Beach.”

“It will have to be on the weekend. I have a full time government job.

“The weekend is fine.”

They worked out a time and Mrs Fletcher promised to put a list together of people they could talk to.

Just as she hung up, Dexter came up to the house from his run on the beach.

“Guess who I just  got off the phone with?”

“Elaine Fletcher. And she wants to meet.” Dexter said. “You’ve very excited so it just bubbled over.”

“Guess Christmas and birthdays must have been a real drag for you.”

“As a matter of fact they were. So when do we meet with her?” 

On Saturday. In Richmond. I’ve got all her info. And she’s gonna give us a list of names of everyone involved.

“Good. If we solve this we should be able to spin it into some very good PR.”

Roxanne laughed. “Would you please stop doing that?”

“Sorry, Rox. Force of habit. Let’s go out for dinner to celebrate.”

~ 8 ~

Elaine Fletcher lived in a bungalow on the south side of Richmond. There was an older Ford in the driveway and a couple of other cars parked close by on the street. Roxanne and Dexter got out of the van and walked to the door. Louise greeted them and invited them in. She was a good-looking woman, but there was a sadness that made her look pale and drawn.

The living room was small but neat. There was a box of toys in the corner and a small teddy bear on the couch. They walked through to the dining room. She offered them some coffee which they both accepted. Then they sat down at the dining room table.

Dexter started the conversation. “Mrs. Fletcher. First of all, I want to tell you how sorry we are for your situation. I’m not 100% sure we can help, but we’re willing to give it a try. In some of the research I have done regarding missing children, in a great many of the cases the abductors were someone who was known to the child.”

“Yes, that’s what the police told me and they questioned everyone who had anything to do with my family.”

“I understand you are a single mom. Why is that?” Roxanne asked.

“Andrew’s father and I have been divorced for two years now.”

“Does he have a relationship with your son?” Dexter asked.

“No. He’s an alcoholic and a gambling addict. He manages it pretty well, enough to work and keep up his child support payments. But he’s not a good person. So I was actually pleased when he did not petition for visitation.”

“Would he have any reason to want to harm you or Andrew?” 

“I don’t think so. He’s not a very aggressive person.”

Dexter could sense something odd about her response. Like she did not believe what she was telling them. He didn’t want to press it. But he definitely got the feeling that there was more to the husband than she was willing to tell him.

“Where does your husband live?”

“He lives down in Chester, which is a suburban area south of here.”

“And what does he do for work?”

“He drives a truck for a concrete company down there that his two brothers own. He makes pretty good money, but he drinks and blows a lot of it on gambling. Mostly sports betting.”’

She reached for a piece of paper on the table and handed it to Dexter.
“This is a list of everyone I could think of who would have anything to do with Andrew. It’s the same list I made for the police.”

Dexter scanned down the list. There were a couple of pre-school teachers, a swimming instructor, two babysitters, a few friends, the husband and his two brothers, and the names of two of the police detectives who handled the case.

“What about your parents and your husband’s folks?” Dexter asked.

“All gone I’m afraid.”

Dexter put the list down. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but my feeling is you’re not telling me everything, specifically about your husband. I think you suspect he had something to do with this.”

Louise Fletcher buried her face in her hands for several seconds. Then she took a deep breath. 

“You’re right. I do. A few months before Andrew was taken, he called me and told me he had turned the corner and kicked both the drinking and the gambling. But I didn’t believe him. I was afraid to let him back into my life for fear he would start stealing from me to finance his addictions.”

Dexter knew she was telling the truth. But there was something else. Something strange and jumbled, possibly because of her mixed emotions. He couldn’t figure it out. But he knew two things, He had to talk to the husband. But first he needed to talk to the cops.

“Is any of this helping?” Louise asked. 

“Yes it is.” Dexter said. “If you would like us to carry on we will need a picture of Andrew. The most recent one you have.”

“This gift, or whatever talent you have, how does it work?” Louise asked.

“I honestly have no idea. It’s just a feeling I get when I talk to someone who is telling me one thing and thinking something else. I have had this facility since I was born, but really didn’t start to understand it until I was about nine or ten.”

“Your partner tells me you make a lot of money playing cards. I’m curious as to why you have chosen, you know, situations like mine.”

“I’m not sure either. Maybe it’s because I was raised by nannies. My parents never had time for me. Maybe I’m just trying to help the parents  who do have time for their children.”

Louise got up and walked to a small hutch. She took a picture of young Andrew out of the frame it was in, and laid it down in front of Dexter. She put her hand on his shoulder.

“Please find him if you can.” she said and there was a genuine sadness in her voice.

“We’ll do our best, I promise you that.”

~ 9 ~

The detective who was in charge of  Andrew Fletcher’s abduction was a man named Farley Klein. He lived in the next neighbourhood east of Louise Fletcher. He had recently retired and was sitting on his front porch reading a book when Dexter and Roxanne walked up to the house. He looked to be in his early fifties, but tall and fit looking. His hair was just starting to show grey. He was wearing reading glasses.

“Mr Klein?” Dexter asked.

“Klein put down the book, took off his glasses and looked Dexter and Roxanne over. “Who wants to know?”

Dexter and Roxanne climbed up onto the large porch. “My name is Dexter Fox. This is my partner, Roxanne Doyle. We’re investigating the abduction of Andrew Fletcher for Mrs Fletcher”

“Well, you must have shot her a pretty good line, for her to have hired you. That lady is not dumb.”

“We haven’t been hired, Mr Klein. We’re doing this on our own dime.” Roxanne said.

“Huh. Well that’s pretty fuckin’ strange.”

“We’re wondering what you could tell us about the case.” Dexter asked.

Klein gestured to a love seat. “Have a seat. There’s not much to tell really. Kid was playing in his front yard. Mom was sitting on the steps watching him. She went inside to answer the phone. When she came back, just a few minutes later, according to her, the kid was gone. We canvassed the entire neighbourhood. Nobody saw anything unusual. Nobody saw any strange cars. There was really nothing to go on. So we started interviewing anybody involved with the family in any way, Everything checked out. We got great press coverage, offered a reward, tapped all our sources, the whole nine yards. Nada.”

Dexter could feel that Klein was telling him the absolute truth.

“What about the husband?” Roxanne asked.

“Oh he’s a real piece of work, a genuine scumbag, gambler and functioning alcoholic.‘Course he was working for a company owned by his brothers, so they probably cut him a whole lot of slack. But he alibied out. He was at some company shindig at one of his brother’s houses. The Fletcher boys are working class rich.”

Dexter was starting to get a weird vibe from Klein “But you had your suspicions.” he said.

“Yeah. I did that job for a lot of years. Most of the time, it’s the husband or the wife. They get to hate each other and want to hurt each other. It’s never pretty.”

“Mrs Fletcher told us her husband did a lot of gambling.”

“Yeah, mostly sport betting. Lost way more than he won. Fortunately, his brothers were there to bail him out of it most of the time. But, you know, there’s a limit to everything.”

“Did you interview them?”

“Yeah. They’re both assholes. But they own the gravel pit and even an asshole can get rich with one of those.”

“Sounds like there was very little to like about any of them.” Dexter said.

“They stayed on the right side of the law. Unfortunately there’s no law against bein’ an asshole. But I’ll give you some advice right now. They are meaner than junk yard dogs. I’d stay away from them if I were you.”

“So you worked the case for a whole year and nothing.”

“That’s generally how it goes. Postponed my retirement by four months to stay on the case.” Doyle said.

“So what does your intuition tell you about this?” Dexter said.

“Hmmm. Well, you know as cops we tend to deal mostly with facts. But I can see a scenario where the husband, Rolland, took the kid and sold him to pay off some big gambling debt.”

“Wow. That’s pretty harsh.” Dexter said.

“Yeah well, you do this job long enough you’ll see just about every fucked up thing one person can do to another person. Trouble is, of course, you need evidence and we simply didn’t have any. Not a smidge.

Dexter and Roxanne found a comfortable place in downtown Richmond and had a late lunch. The plan was to follow Rolland Fletcher from his job and see where he went. If he went to a bar, maybe Dexter could get close enough to him to start a conversation of some sort. If he could do that, he figured that he would be able to get into the guy’s head and find out something, anything to do with his son.

It was a long shot, and Dexter hoped it wouldn’t go south on him. But he was committed to try, because his intuition was telling him that Rolland Fletcher was the key to the whole thing.

~ 10 ~

Louise Fletcher had told him that Rolland usually got off work about five then went home to change and have a sandwich or something then head out to any of half a dozen different bars where he could make bets by phone on various games. It was July, so he would probably be betting on baseball.

They drove to the Fletcher Brothers stone quarry and waited on a side road facing the entrance. At five o’clock, a whistle sounded and a few minutes later several cars started to leave the lot and got onto the main road heading back into town. They spotted Rolland Fletcher’s pickup. He was one of the last to leave.  They gave him a few seconds and then started to follow him. About five minutes later, they saw him turn into the parking lot of a small apartment building. They pulled into the visitors’ parking area and waited. They had both brought their Kindles and spent the time reading.

About ninety minutes later, Rolland Fletcher came out of the building. He was wearing jeans and a white T-shirt. He got into the pickup and headed further into town. He zig-zagged his way across town to a place called Pop’s Bar and Grill. Not a bad-looking place. They pulled in and parked. Dexter got out of the car and entered the bar. He spotted Fletcher sitting at the bar, looking up at a flat-screen monitor. There was a baseball game just getting under way. Fletcher was on his phone. The bartender put a beer down in front of him. He took a slug. The restaurant was only about half full, mostly with diners sitting at tables. He went back out and got Roxanne. 

As they walked back to the bar Dexter said, “He’s sitting alone with his phone and a beer. Probably betting on baseball.”

Dexter and Roxanne sat themselves down at the bar, one seat away from Fletcher. The bartender came over and Dexter ordered a Bloody Mary for Roxanne and a beer for him. Dexter spoke loud enough for Fletcher to hear., He turned and stared at them for a while, mainly Roxanne, then he turned back to the game.

It was a Baltimore/Tampa Bay game. They sat quietly for a while sipping their drinks. Even from a distance of a few feet, Dexter could feel the tension in Fletcher’s head. “This guy is reasonably fucked up,” Dexter said in a low voice. “All kinds of weirdness going on in his head. A lot of it is pretty dark.”

“Is he dangerous?” Roxanne asked

“No. It’s not menace or anger. It’s something else.”

“Guilt?”

“Maybe.” Dexter said as he looked up at the screen. Then he said to Roxanne in a voice just slightly louder than he needed to.“That Tampa Bay is a hard to beat team. I don’t think the O’s have a snowball’s chance.”

That did the trick. It got Fletcher’s attention. He turned to Dexter and said “You’d be surprised by this O’s team.”

“Well, if you say so. But I’d definitely put my money on the Rays. They hit left-handed pitching better than any team in the AL East.”

Roxanne didn’t know what the hell Dexter was talking about. Just then a roar came from the TV. Baltimore had just hit a three run homer. Fletcher swivelled in his seat “See what I mean?”

“I stand corrected” Dexter said and held out his fist which Fletcher met with his own. Dexter was in. “Ricky Jameson,” Dexter said. “This is my wife Judy.”

Roxanne just nodded to Fletcher. 

“Rolland Fletcher.” Fletcher said. “You folks from around here?

“Greensboro. On our way back from Atlantic City.” Dexter said.

“Did a little gamblin’?”

“Yeah. I play poker.”

“That’s all you do?”

“It’s more than enough.”

“You’re pretty good then.”

“We do alright.”

“What about the Missus?” Fletcher said gesturing to Roxanne.

“Let’s just say I make the money. She spends it.”

“Well. Hope you have a safe trip back.” Fletcher said and he turned his attention back to the game.”

They finished their drinks and left the bar. As they were walking to the van, Dexter said. “Guy was an open book. Even coughed up a name. John Romano, Charlotte North Carolina.

They found a hotel and stayed in Richmond. The next day they went back to visit Farley Klein. This time he was cutting the front lawn.

“Mr Klein.” 

“What brings you folks back?”

“A hunch.” Dexter said. You have any connections in Charlotte, North Carolina?”

“I might have. What’s this in aid of?”

“We’re hoping to get some help there.”

“What kind of help?”

“We’d like to check someone out. And we would prefer to have a police officer with us when we do.”

“Sounds like you have some information that nobody else does.”

“Just a hunch. But I have a pretty good batting average when it comes to hunches.”

“You think you’ve found the Fletcher kid?”

“I don’t know. That’s why we want to play the hunch.”

“Come on and sit on the porch. I’ll get my phone.”

Klein went into the house and a few minutes later he came out carrying his cell phone and a small notebook. He sat down in his rocker and dialled a number.

“Willis Peterson, please.” he said then waited. “Willis, hi it’s Farley Klein up in Richmond….Yeah things are fine. Willis, I take it you’re still working missing persons. Good. I’ve got a lead on the Fletcher case for you…Couple of young people who are working for Mrs Fletcher…Guy name of Dexter?” 

He looked at Dexter. “Fox.” Dexter said. 

“Dexter Fox.… 

Klein looked at Dexter “Tomorrow around eleven….OK thanks Willis. He’ll meet you at the central precinct in Charlotte tomorrow. You can make it easily by nightfall if you leave now.”

“Thanks for this Mr Klein.”

“I’m takin’ a flyer with you kids. I hope you’re right. Give me your phone.”

Dexter handed Klein his phone. He punched in Willis Peterson’s number and name. Here you go. Call him in the morning, and make sure he’s not out on a case or anything.”

They shook Klein’s hand and got into the van, heading south.

The trip to Charlotte took a good six hours with a stop just outside of Greensboro for a late lunch. They checked into a Holiday Inn in the suburbs of Charlotte, then had a swim, which was really more about goofing around than any kind of workout, found a cool restaurant called Cajun Queen, then headed back to the Holiday Inn where they watched a movie, fooled around a bit and then crashed. 

The next morning they went for breakfast at a Stuckey’s near the hotel and called the number Farley Klein had given them. 

Willis Peterson sounded like a pretty good guy. But he did tell them he was going to call Louise Fletcher so that he could confirm that they were for real. They agreed to meet at eleven at the Charlotte-Mecklinburg police headquarters building if everything was cool with Mrs Fletcher.

They didn’t check out of the hotel figuring they might have to hang around for another day to wait for Louise Fletcher, if indeed her son was with the Romanos. 

~ 11 ~

They had an hour and a half to kill so Roxanne got on the computer and searched for John Romano in Charlotte. She only came up with one and found the address. She checked it out on Google Maps and they got in the van and drove to it. 

The Romano home was more of a mansion than a residence. There was a massive two story house and an iron gate around the entire place and a four-car garage. It was professionally landscaped and looked absolutely pristine. It was on a short street of similar houses. Looking at the house, it became obvious to them that this Romano guy was either an uber-successful businessman or a high-level crook. Since Roxanne found no other presence of him on any of the major social media sites, they concluded that he was probably a crook with political connections. This was going to make the work of verifying Andrew Fletcher’s identity a real pain in the ass.

They showed up for their meeting with Peterson right on time. He looked to be in his late thirties and in pretty good shape. He was dressed cooler than most cops would dress and his hair was a bit longer too. 

Once they were seated in one of the conference rooms, Peterson said. “Well, you check out with Miz Fletcher and Farley up in Richmond, so what’s on your mind?”

“We believe that Mrs. Fletcher’s son, Andrew, was kidnapped, about a year ago and sold or given to a fellow named John Romano. Are you familiar with him?”

“Every cop in the city knows him. Big time operator. Gambling mostly. Thing is nobody’s ever been able to pin anything on him. The second thing is that he grew up with the mayor, so he’s kinda protected. Helping the city get a casino licence. Lot of jobs. Lots of money. You know the drill.”

“So are you saying you can’t get to him, even you wanted to? Dexter asked. 

“No but I’m the only cop in this whole damn town who’d do it.” That’s why Farley called me. We were partners in Richmond. I worked the Fletcher case with him. When he retired I decided to move down here, where I could work on my own. I worked that case with him for nearly a year, and to tell you the truth, that’s one angle we never considered.”

“So you’d be willing to go after him.”

“Damn straight. But there’s one thing. I’m gonna need probable cause. You two just showing up based on Farley’s reco ain’t enough. I need to know how you found out about this in the first place.”

“Before Dexter had a chance to make up some bullshit story Roxanne said.“I hacked his phone. We were in a bar with him. He got up and went to the can, so I opened up his phone and checked out the call log. Lot of calls to Romano dating back to a little over a year ago.”

“You some kind of professional hacker?”

“No.” Roxanne said. “But I know a lot about it. And I have a photographic memory.” Roxanne figured that story was a lot more credible than Dexter telling him he read the Fletcher’s mind.

“Okay. That’s still pretty circumstantial.”

“Not when you figure that Fletcher is a gambling addict who may have run up too big a bill with Romano’s organization.” Dexter said.

Peterson chuckled. ‘You got this private eye thing down pat, don’tcha?”

“Mrs Fletcher is more than willing to do whatever she has to do to get her kid back. She will sue Romano if she has to and get Romano to produce a birth certificate and have the child do a blood test.”

Peterson leaned back in his chair and absently pushed back his hair. “You know, I’ve only been here for less than a year. And I have to tell you, the fuckin’ criminal element in this town has way more political clout than they have a right to.”

“So what’s the best way to go about this?” Dexter asked.

“Well. Miz Fletcher needs to swear out a complaint against Romano. Then we’ll see how much heat comes down on the case. She needs to get herself a good lawyer here and then put as much pressure as she can on the Romanos. It’s a little complex because it’s not just about the Romanos, it’s about the kidnapping too. This could cost her a lot of money.”

“Don’’t worry about money. Who’s the best lawyer she can get here?”

From my experience here so far I say a lady name Julianna Faraday. She got her own practice just down the street. Deals with a lot of custody issues, divorces, and marital assault. She’s pretty damn scrappy and she knows all the angles.”

“Sounds like you know her pretty well.”

“Sounds like I do, doesn’t it? You tell her you’ve been talkin’ to me and she’ll make time for you. Once that gets going, I can get involved if need be.”

“How do we know it will be you?”

Peterson just chuckled. “Nobody else in this building would want to cross swords with John Romano.”

Peterson disappeared for a moment and then came back with Julianna Faraday’s business card. “Give her a call and mention my name.”

They both shook hands with Peterson and left the building. They spotted a coffee shop on the corner and walked over. 

Dexter called Louise Fletcher, who had he cell phone with her. 

“Hi Mrs Fletcher. It’s Dexter Fox. Yeah, we’re in Charlotte and just had a great meeting with a cop named Willis Peterson. He put us onto a lawyer who apparently is a real killer at this sort of case. We’ll talk to her this afternoon I hope and if she agrees to take the case, you’re gonna need to come down here and meet with her.” Dexter listened for a while. “I understand. Don’t worry about the cost. It’s all part of the service. You’re most welcome….I’ll be in touch.”

Dexter disconnected and then dialled the number that Peterson had given him. On the third ring, Julianna Faraday answered. “Mr Fox.”

“Julianna Faraday?”

“Yes. How can I help you?” Julianna said in a voice that sounded southern but not too much so. 

“I assume you have talked to Detective Peterson.”

“Yes I have. I have some time around four today if you’d like to meet. I understand he gave you my card so you know where I am.”

“Yes ma’am, I have the address right here.”

“Good. It’s a one-woman show, so just walk right in. See you at  four.”

“Okay” he said and disconnected. 

He turned to Roxanne. “Four o'clock.”

OK. So let find some place we can have a long lunch.”

~ 12 ~

Julianna Faraday, in addition to being a beautiful red-haired woman was one of the best connected lawyers in Charlotte. This was because for five years before opening her own practice, she worked in the public defender’s office and got to know and go up against almost every lawyer in the city, which was great because she dealt with them all the time, even got referrals from a few of them.

Her office was in one of the older buildings downtown, and was essentially a one-room affair, very tastefully decorated. Julianna did all her own paperwork, and there really wasn’t that much of it since a lot of her cases were settled out of court.

After Dexter laid out the story they had told Willis Peterson, she simply shook her head. “You don’t have a case.” she said, quite bluntly. “But that doesn’t mean you can’t get what you are looking for.”

“You’ll have to explain how that works.” Dexter said.

“OK, well everybody knows that John Romano is good buddies with the mayor. His name is Chris Bidwell. Bidwell and Romano are leading the crusade to have a casino built out on the south side of town, near the Interstate. Guess who will own the casino?”

“I’m assuming it will be Romano.”

“Yep. with a hefty regular kickback to his buddy the mayor. So what you’re looking at here is a massive scandal, if it’s true that Romano bought the child from a debtor. If that ever were to become public knowledge the city council would have no choice but to take the casino away from him. Now, you don’t know John Romano, but I do. And he is the greediest bastard God ever let live. And frankly, legit or not, if he was confronted with the possibility of it going public, he would do whatever he could to squash it.

“That sounds interesting and maybe a little bit dangerous.”

“For you two maybe. But John Romano doesn’t scare me. The cops here all hate him and he knows it. If he ever tried anything hinky with me they would be all over him.  

So I’ll tell you what. I’ll take this case for ten thousand dollars, talk to Romano’s lawyer, who just happens to be my old boss in the DA’s office and see how tightly we can turn the screws.”

Dexter reached into his shoulder bag and pulled out his cheque book. “Who  or what do I make the cheque out to?” he asked. 

The next day, Louise Fletcher arrived in Charlotte. She met with Dexter and Roxanne at a downtown restaurant. At around two o'clock Dexter’s phone rang. He mumbled something into the receiver and hung up. They finished their lunch and walked down the street to Julianna Faraday’s office. Her son, Andrew was sitting at a table drawing something with pencil crayons. He looked up stared at his mother for a good fifteen seconds. His face was a picture of confusion. Then suddenly he dropped the crayons and ran to her.

Louise thanked Juliana profusely and then hugged both Roxanne and Dexter. 

While Louise Fletcher was sitting with her son at the table, Dexter and Roxanne sat down opposite Julianna. On the desk beside her were two briefcases. On the desk in front of her were two sheets of paper.

“As you probably know, everything in life comes with a price” Julianna said. ”The price for this is yours and Mrs Fletcher’s silence. This casino deal is too important to for the economy of the city to be scuttled. So I’m afraid I have to ask you to sign these letters of agreement that you will not disclose any of the details of this entire incident. Since Mrs Fletcher is your client I will leave it to you to persuade her to do this.”

Roxanne signed the paper in front of her and passed it to Dexter. She then picked up the other paper and walked over to the table where Louise Fletcher was sitting with young Andrew. 

She sat down next to Louise and explained the non-disclosure agreement. Louise looked over at Dexter who sadly just nodded his head. Louise Fletcher then signed the agreement and walked it back to Julianna’s desk herself  

“The saddest part of all of this is that nobody got to suffer but me, and now I can’t even have any justice. But I understand.” she said.

“Justice.” Julianna said, “Always has a way of winning in the end Mrs Fletcher. And with that, she passed her one of the briefcases. “There’s one hundred and fifty thousand dollars in there. Call it a college fund for your son.” she said. 

Louise Fletcher didn’t say a word but took the case and said thank you to Dexter. On her way out she hugged Roxanne and she was gone.

Julianna then passed the second briefcase over to Dexter, who simply stared at it for a moment.

“There a hundred and fifty in there for you too. But you owe me something else.” Juliana said.

Dexter looked at her curiously. “What else?”

“I talked to Willis last night, after you guys left. He didn’t buy your story and neither did I. So what you owe me is the truth. How the hell did you figure this out?”

Dexter looked at Roxanne who simply shrugged, then he said. “You probably won’t believe this but all my life I have had the ability to hear what people are thinking. When we talked to Willis’ old partner back in Richmond, he had a strong feeling that it was the husband who took the kid and traded him to pay off a gambling debt. He never came right out and said it, but I heard him thinking it. 

So we followed Rolland Fletcher and got next to him at a bar he goes to, and I was able to, I don’t know how to explain it…I was able to feel what he was thinking. He felt very guilty about it, so it was always on his mind. After that, it was just a question of finding this John Romano. You did the rest.

“Julianna just looked at him trying to discern whether or not she was being bullshitted. 

“That’s a little hard to believe, you know.” Julianna said.

“You wanted the real story, you got it. Give me your hand. Then close your eyes and think about something other than this case.” Dexter said. 

Julianna held out her hand. Dexter took it lightly in his then let it go. He closed his eyes and after a few seconds he said., “Willis asked you to marry him…last night… you were having dinner at some Mexican restaurant. The tacos were too hot. He gave you a ring. You haven’t put it on yet, because you’re still thinking about it. But I think you want to marry him, because you’re thirty four and want to have a couple kids before you’re too much older.”

“Jesus Christ.” Julianna said.

“Nope nothing about Jesus.”

“I’ve never heard of anything like this.”

“There are hardly any people on the planet who know about this. I would appreciate it if you would keep it to yourself. If you promise me that, I’ll owe you a favour. OK?”

“Deal.”Julianna said but she was still a bit stunned.

Dexter and Roxanne got to their feet. “Thanks Julianna. You’re an amazing lawyer. Marry Willis. He’s good people and you love each other.”

~ 13 ~

After they were in the car and heading out of the downtown area, Roxanne said.“I’m not sure you should have done that, you know.”
    “Me too. But life’s a gamble and I had a good feeling about her. She’s not gonna need me. She gets too big a kick out of figuring things out for herself.”

“There’s always that.”

“Let’s have some Steely Dan.” Dexter said. Julianne reached down to the CD binder in the well between the seats and dug out the CD entitled Aja.

“Perfect.” Dexter said as he reached across and rubbed Roxanne’s thigh.

As they approached the city limits a large Lincoln limo pulled in front of them and forced them to stop. The back door of the Lincoln opened up and a small man in a dark suit climbed out. He walked over to the driver’s side of the van. As he got closer Dexter could see that he had a very serious expression on his face. 

Dexter rolled down the window. 

“Mr Romano, I presume.”

“That’s right, kid.”

“What can I do for you, sir?” Dexter said, knowing exactly what was going on.

“I just wanted to let you know, that if it wasn’t for the casino deal, your life wouldn’t be, what do they say in the gangster movies, worth a plugged nickel.”

“I admire your restraint, sir. A lesser man would have, what do they say in the gangster movies, ‘punched my ticket.’

“I just want you to know that I know who you are and if you ever get up in my business again, it won’t end nicely for you or pretty little partner in crime over there.” he said gesturing to Roxanne.

“We’ll take that under advisement.”

“I don’t know how you found out about all of this. But if I were you, I would stay as far away from this city as you can.”

“Fair enough.” Dexter said. 

With that, Romano turned and walked back to his limo, which did a U-turn back into town.

“Well that was interesting.” Roxanne said.

 Dexter just chuckled and dropped the car into gear. 

They got home at close to midnight. Both of them were drained from all the driving, and too much restaurant food and drama. So they just decided to go to bed. Before they did Roxanne opened her laptop, which she hadn’t brought with her, and noticed there were 14 messages from people she had never heard of. 

As she climbed into bed and snuggled up to Dexter she said, “There were fourteen messages on the site’s email.”

“I know.” He said and she gave him an elbow that almost knocked the wind out of him. 

FIN