CHAPTER 18

AN HOUR LATER they pulled into the parking lot of a two-story building at an office park in Loudon County.

"How'd you know where he worked?" asked Michelle.

"I'm a friend of the family." He paused. "And I snitched a business card from Tuck's bedroom."

"So one of the kids was not Pam's? Only which one?"

"Pam's a redhead and Tuck has blond hair. Willa has really dark hair. The other two kids are towheads."

"So even though it's a recessive gene maybe the red hair was relevant."

"And of interest."

Inside, Sean and Michelle strolled up to the receptionist's desk.

"I'm Sean King. This is my partner, Michelle Maxwell. We're representing Tuck Dutton in this awful business with his family."

The receptionist, a young woman with short brown hair and wide sad eyes, said, "Oh, God, I know, we've all heard. It's horrible. How is he doing?"

"Not that well, actually. He asked us to come by his office and pick up some things."

"I hope he's not concerned about work at a time like this."

Sean leaned in closer. "I think it's the only thing keeping him going, actually. We just came from the hospital."

"You say you're representing him?" the woman said slowly. "Are you lawyers?"

Sean flashed his credentials. "Private investigators. We're working to find out who did this and also to get Willa back."

"Oh, God, I wish you luck. Willa came in here a few times. What a super little girl."

"Absolutely," said Michelle. "And in kidnapping cases time is of the essence. That's why Tuck wanted us to look at anything he was working on that might tie into the case."

She looked uncomfortable. "Oh, I see. Well, a lot of things Mr. Dutton's working on are sort of, well, confidential. You know, proprietary stuff."

Sean smiled. "I understand that completely. He told us as much. Maybe there's someone here who can help us?"

The woman smiled, obviously grateful to pass the situation on to someone else. "Absolutely. Let me call Mr. Hilal."

She picked up the phone and a few minutes later a tall, thin, balding man in his forties came into the lobby. "I'm David Hilal. Can I help you?"

Sean explained why they were there.

"I see." Hilal rubbed his chin. "Come on back and let's discuss this."

They followed him to his office. He closed the door and sat across from them.

"How is Tuck?"

Sean answered. "Physically, he'll recover. The emotional part is a different story."

"It was horrible. I couldn't believe it when I heard."

"I know your firm is involved in some sensitive biodefense work. Tuck said you were in the middle of trying to get a big government contract in that field?"

"That's right. We're a subcontractor on the bid. But if we win it, it'll be huge for us. Several years' worth of business. Tuck was devoting a lot of time to it. As we all were."

"And that's why he was down in Jacksonville on the day it happened?"

"That's… right," Hilal said hesitantly.

Michelle added, "Well, was it or wasn't it?"

Hilal looked uncomfortable. "This is really Tuck's company. I'm only his partner."

"We're working with Tuck," said Sean. "We just want the truth to come out. And we want to find out who killed Pam Dutton. And we want to find Willa. I assume Tuck wants that too."

"This is awkward," said Hilal. "I mean, it's not really my place."

Michelle leaned forward and tapped her finger on the man's desk. "We're talking about a little girl's life."

Hilal slumped back in his chair. "Okay, I think Tuck was down in Jacksonville with someone."

"Someone? He said he was down there at the office the company maintains to work on the project. Is that not right?"

"No, we do have an office there. It's staffed with only one person, though. A woman."

Sean and Michelle exchanged glances. "This woman have a name?" he asked.

"Cassandra. Cassandra Mallory. She was working on the proposal. We hired her about six months ago. She has incredible contacts at DHS. Lots of people wanted her."

"Because she could help get them business?"

"Government agencies are like anything else. Winning contracts is built on relationships and trust. The Feds like comfort and familiarity. Cassandra being part of our proposal would help us immeasurably."

"And Tuck was down there with her. Are you saying in something other than a professional way?"

"She's a very attractive woman. Very bright. Blonde, nice tan, favors short skirts," Hilal added in an embarrassed tone. "She and Tuck really hit it off. Her expertise wasn't on the technical side, it was in sales. And the lady could sell. Pretty much anything."

Sean leaned forward. "Was Tuck having an affair with this woman?"

"If you're asking if I have any proof, I don't. It's just little things. Like him going down there so often. Things I've heard."

"So nothing concrete?" asked Michelle.

"There were some credit card charges that came through about a month ago. I'm sort of the unofficial CFO here. I review the bills, sign the checks."

"What were the charges?"

"It was just something weird about Tuck's expenses down there."

"Some flowers, candy, or lingerie for sexy Cassandra?" Michelle asked.

"No, you misunderstand me. It wasn't what he charged, it's what he didn't charge."

"I'm not following," said Sean.

"He didn't have a charge for a hotel room on his corporate card."

Sean and Michelle exchanged another glance.

"Maybe he used another credit card," suggested Michelle.

"He always uses the corporate card. In government contracting you have to be very meticulous with expenses and charges. We only use that card for work. Plus Tuck gets all his points on that card. He uses it for plane tickets, upgrades, we all do." Hilal hurried on. "And he always stays at the same place down there. It's a nice hotel, but not too expensive. And he gets all the point perks with that chain. But this time he was gone for three nights and had no hotel charges on his credit card."

"And Cassandra has a house down there?"

"A condo right on the water. I hear it's very nice," he added hastily.

"And there wasn't anyone else Tuck would've stayed with?"

"He didn't know anybody else down there. The only reason we opened that office was because Cassandra lived there and didn't want to make the move up here and didn't want to work out of her home. I think there were covenants in her condo building docs that precluded that. Plus, Jacksonville is a big defense area and we might want to go after other work down there. So it made sense to have a footprint."

Sean sat back in his chair. "What did you really think when you'd heard about what happened to his family?" he asked. "Truthfully."

Hilal let out a long sigh. "It's no secret that he and Pam weren't the closest couple in the world. He had this business and she kept the home fires burning with the kids. But murdering his wife and kidnapping his own daughter? Tuck's no saint, but I can't see him doing something like that."

"Do you think Pam suspected something was going on?"

"I honestly don't know. I didn't have that much interaction with her."

"If he wanted out of the marriage there're easier ways to do it," Michelle pointed out.

"Right. Why didn't he just divorce her?" asked Sean.

Hilal tapped his fingertips against the desk. "That might've been problematic."

"Problematic how?"

"I said that we hired Cassandra about six months ago. Before that she'd been working for the Department of Homeland Security in their contracts department. That's the same agency we're trying to win the contract from. That's what I meant when I said she had great contacts."

"So if Tuck tried to divorce Pam then maybe the affair would become public?"