Page 57 of The Last Grift
“It was beeping, probably from when you called just now. I found it stuck in the recliner.” Karne glanced up at him. “It’s not password protected, which I am currently thankful for. Iremembered that Elton said earlier he was going to make some calls. It looks like there are three outgoing calls since yesterday and two incoming. But I don’t recognize any of these numbers, of course.”
“Let me see.”’
Casey took the proffered phone but doubted he would recognize the numbers either unless they were his own or park headquarters. It didn’t hurt to look. Pressing the call screen so it lit up again, he scanned the calls.
“I don’t know them either, not off the top of my head.” He started to set the phone back on the charger next to Elton’s empty recliner, but something near his heart twinged and he had to look away from it.
Looking at Gabriel Karne was better than Elton’s empty chair. In spite of his flawed personality, it wasn’t a hardship.
He kept the phone in his hand.
“What do you think?” Casey asked him. “Should we redial and see who answers?”
“Are you asking me?” Gabriel asked. “I thought you didn’t trust me.”
“I don’t trust you,” Casey confirmed. “Absolutely not. But I’m willing to listen to your opinion.”
Karne shot him a glare. “I’m wondering what it will take for trust, but that’s a question for another time. Yes, I think one of us should call those numbers.”
The first outgoing number of the day turned out to be for the prescription refill center in Westfort. Casey disconnected as soon as he heard the robot voice telling him to enter his patient ID. No one answered the second, there was just a generic message that he’d reached blah blah number and he could leave a message after the tone. Casey did not leave a message; instead, he clicked to the third number.
“Hello?” Someone said after three rings. The voice was male and, Casey thought, older. “Mr. Cox?”
Not too old to check caller ID though.
“Hi.” He glanced over at Gabriel, who watched him closely, hands on hips. Maybe they should have rehearsed what they wanted to say. Maybe he should have let the charming asshole do the talking. “Actually,” he said, “this is Ranger Casey Lundin using Elton’s phone.”
“Ah, and why are you calling?”
Dammit, he still couldn’t quite place the voice. He decided to go with the truth, but not all of it.
“I’m looking for Elton, he’s not at home. He called you today and I’m wondering if he said anything that might give me a hint as to where he could be.”
There was silence for a moment.
“He didn’t call me for legal advice, if that’s what you want to know. I don’t practice anymore, but I still respect client confidentiality. Frankly, I’m a bit surprised to hear from you.”
Casey’s entire body went cold, as if someone had poured ice water down his back and also directly into his veins. He knew he should have recognized the voice, but he hadn’t heard the man speak for years. Since returning to Heartstone, he’d actively avoided him, which hadn’t proved to be difficult.
The man on the other end of the line was John Stevens, Esquire, and until a few years ago, he’d been the District Attorney for Twana County. John Stevens had played a large role in putting his brother behind bars. Why had Elton calledhim? Casey’s first instinct was to slam the phone down, but he didn’t.
“Can I ask why he called you if it wasn’t for legal advice?”
Stevens was silent again. Casey tapped Gabe on the wrist, raised his eyebrows, and shook his head questioningly.Do you know?
Gabe frowned and shrugged.No idea,he mouthed.
“I suppose it won’t hurt to tell you. Elton wanted to know who in the area practiced property law. Now, I know that everyone thinks lawyers all belong to a cult and are on a first-name basis, but we don’t, and we aren’t.”
“Did you refer him to someone?”
“No one he couldn’t find on the internet or get off a billboard along the highway.” Stevens rattled off several names that even Casey, who lived as much off the grid as he could, recognized.
“Did he ask you anything else?”
“No, that was the extent of the conversation. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to get back to what I was doing.” The line went dead.
“Probably interrupted his online class teaching baby lawyers how to properly line their coffin beds so sunlight doesn’t kill them,” Casey muttered, staring at the phone screen.
