by Beverly Long
Abigail rolled her eyes but didn’t argue. The phone in Seth’s pocket buzzed and he glanced at it. “Our car is here,” he said. The memory of getting shot at while exiting the cab outside the Periwinkle was still too vivid in his mind so he’d arranged for a car service that Wingman Security regularly used in Vegas to pick them up and take them to the party. They would exit the hotel from a side door where the car would be parked at the curb.
He led the way down the hotel corridor, to the elevator and then out the door. The limo driver opened the car door and the three of them slid into the back seat. They pulled away from the curb without incident and he let out a breath. So far, so good.
When they got to the building, the company Megan had hired to valet park cars was already in place. The limo pulled in to an open space. “I’ll text you fifteen minutes before we’re ready to be picked up,” Seth said.
“Very good, sir,” the driver responded.
Once they were out of the car, Seth moved them quickly inside and into the elevator. When the doors opened, he saw that the space looked totally different than it had earlier that day. The lights were dimmed and there had to have been a hundred candles burning. All but a few chairs had been removed and tall bar tables had been brought in. There was music playing and two bartenders were already behind a portable bar that had been moved into one corner.
“It’s gorgeous,” Megan said. “Thank you so much, Abigail, for pulling all this together.”
“It was the least I could do,” Abigail said. “And I could do it all from my computer and my phone. I didn’t have to go traipsing all around the country.”
“It was a lot,” Megan admitted. “But I think we did it the right way. I wouldn’t change a thing.”
Did that include him? He sure as hell hoped so. Hoped he could convince her that she should keep him around another forty or fifty years.
He’d told his partners to come early and they did. Royce and Jules were first, followed quickly by Trey and Kellie with his mom, and Rico and Laura. Abigail, Kellie and his mom declined the immediate offer of chairs but promised that they’d be careful to not overdo it.
He wanted to know what Royce had learned about Nadia Vitron but he didn’t want Megan to hear him ask the question. She had plenty on her mind tonight.
He waited until other guests started to arrive. Then he found an opportunity to approach Royce. “Any luck this afternoon?”
“I went to Nadia Vitron’s address but there was no one there. Her SUV was also not there.”
That was disappointing. “Thanks for trying,” Seth said.
“Yeah, well, I decided to pay her ex-husband a visit. He lives in North Vegas, not that far from your mom’s place. And that was interesting.”
“Why?”
“Malcomb and Nadia Vitron divorced over a year ago. He said that Nadia had an affair with her old boss, which precipitated the end of the marriage.”
“Boss at the bank?” he asked.
“No. The boss years before that.”
He waited. Royce was leading up to something.
“Her boss was Stout Precco. He owns Precco’s Fine Antiques.”
Seth could feel his heart rate accelerate.
“Evidently, six years ago, Nadia worked for Mr. and Mrs. Precco. At some point, Precco and Nadia had an affair and when Mrs. Precco found out, Nadia was out of a job. At the time, Nadia told Malcomb that business was down and they were cutting back on help. Malcomb said he didn’t think much about it. Nadia got a new job and life went on.”
“Fat, dumb and happy,” Seth muttered.
“Exactly. Precco evidently swore to his wife that the affair was over. Except Malcomb now doubts that. He suspects they continued on, just a little more carefully. But evidently not carefully enough, because Mrs. Precco hired a private detective to follow her slimeball of a husband. And lo and behold, he’s still ducking into hotel rooms with Nadia. Mrs. Precco blows a gasket, calls Malcomb to tell him what a bad girl his wife is and hires a divorce attorney.”
“What did Malcomb do?” Seth asked.
“Hired his own divorce attorney. So both couples split up. I asked him if there was still a relationship between Nadia and Precco and he said that he wasn’t sure but that Nadia was driving an expensive car after she wrecked her previous vehicle, and he was sure somebody else had paid for it.”
The car she’d wrecked running into the side of Megan. He was more confident than ever that the accident wasn’t simply bad luck. “Mr. Precco is on the guest list for tonight. All the tenants are,” Seth said.
“I’ve got a fairly recent photo of him on my phone,” Royce said, pulling his cell from the inside pocket of his tux jacket. He pushed a couple buttons and then handed the phone to Seth. The man was early fifties and losing his dark black hair in the front, making his forehead seem unnaturally large. “Malcomb said he didn’t understand the attraction because Precco is a kooky crook. He laughed when he said that, like it was funny to call somebody that.”
“‘Kooky crook,’” Seth repeated. “Did he elaborate?”
“Nope. I asked but all he would say is that if I was interested, I should follow the money.”
“What money?” Seth asked.
“I don’t know. But the man warrants a closer look, especially given that he’s one of Megan’s tenants. And...” Royce hesitated.
“And what?”
“I don’t know,” Royce admitted. “I was confident that Malcomb Vitron was telling me the truth and I did have time afterward to verify both divorce transactions, and that all checked out. But there was something not quite right with the explanation. I can’t tell you what it was, but I left there thinking that there was more to the story.”
Royce had a very good gut about these kinds of things. “Keep thinking on it,” he said.
“I will.”
In the meantime, if Seth could prove that the car accident hadn’t really been an accident, he was going to make sure that Nadia Vitron was charged with something a whole lot more serious than a traffic violation. “Can you pass his photo around to Trey and Rico so that they can also be watching for him? I want to know the minute he arrives.”
“Of course.”
Seth leaned casually against a wall. Because Wingman Security had done work for many of the community notables, Seth knew a lot more people at this party than the previous ones. When they came up to chat, it made it a little harder to watch the room without appearing rude.
But he managed to mostly keep one eye on the door, one eye on Megan and to make sure that his mom seemed to be having fun. And as the hours flew by and the guests finally dwindled down to a handful, he was hopeful that everything was going to go fine. Maybe Megan had been right. There’d been no trouble in Colorado Springs and maybe that meant the person responsible for creating it had gotten tired of the game or scared that he might get caught.
A couple times he’d seen Megan approach Abigail, who had taken a seat alongside Kellie at the edge of the room, likely to see if she wanted to go home. But across the room, he’d seen Abigail shake her head. He suspected she and Kellie were having fun catching up on the missed years.
Finally, it was just the ten of them in the room—Royce and Jules, Trey and Kellie, Rico and Laura, Megan, Abigail, and his mom and him. Even the servers and the bartenders had cleaned up and gone home. He texted his car service to let them know to come.
All in all, it had been a good night. No Weston Marberry. No Logan or Ross Lewis. Unfortunately, no Stout Precco. Tomorrow, he was going to find the man, come hell or high water, and get him to answer some questions about Nadia Vitron.
“Thank you so much for being here,” Megan said to the group. “It was perfect having all of you with Abigail and me for this final event.”
“Happy to do it,” Royce said. “You need anything else before we take off?”
&n
bsp; “No. We’re done here,” Megan said. “Just need to lock up.”
“Thank you for inviting me,” his mom said to Megan. “It was good to be out. I caught up with an old friend who works with the visitors’ bureau. They’re looking for some volunteers so we’re going to chat next week.”
His mom would be great at that. “I’ll call you tomorrow,” he said and hugged her.
Trey, Kellie, his mom, Rico and Laura went first, taking the elevator to the first floor. That left Royce and Jules, Abigail, Megan and him to bring up the rear. When the elevator returned to the second floor, they all got in. They got to the first floor and were five feet from the elevator when Abigail grimaced.
“I hate to do this but I really should use the restroom one more time before the ride home,” she said.
“I’ll open the store. You can use the one in there.”
“I’ll just run back upstairs,” Abigail said. “Because I think I really have pregnancy brain. I pulled my phone from my purse to text Evan that I was getting a ride home and not to bother stopping here,” she said, holding up her phone in her right hand. “But then I forgot to put it back in my purse and I left my purse in the room. My house keys are in it. Normally, Evan’s parents could let me in but they are out of town.”
“I’ll go with you,” Megan said.
Seth motioned that Royce and Jules should just keep going. “You two get home to Grace. I’ll wait for these two and we’ll be right after you.”
“You’re sure?” Royce said.
“Definitely. Good night.”
They got back into the elevator and went upstairs. Abigail put a hand on her belly. “Pregnancy brain and an aching back,” she said. “This baby cannot come too soon.”
“Did you stand too much tonight?” Megan asked.
“I don’t know. But my back does feel like somebody is kicking it every once in a while. I’m sure once I stretch out in bed, it will be better.”
He saw Megan grip the door keys that she carried. She was worried about Abigail and trying not to show it.
They got off the elevator and he stood in the hallway, his back braced against the wall. Abigail and Megan were in the restroom for just minutes. As they passed by him to once again open the doors of the big room, Megan made eye contact with Seth and smiled. “Two seconds,” she said. They stepped into the dark room.
Seth waited. Heard something light hit the floor. “Everything okay?” he asked, his voice loud enough to carry.
There was no answer.
A chill went up his spine. He reached for his gun. Edged around the corner of the room.
Saw Megan and Abigail, against the back wall, a purse on the floor.
Saw the man, gun in his right hand, pointed at the two women.
It was Stout Precco.
“Put your gun on the floor, Mr. Pike,” Precco said, his voice high for a man. “And kick it toward me. Otherwise I’m going to shoot them.”
Could he take the chance? His aim was generally good but there was a possibility that the man would get a shot off and his bullet would find a target. Too risky. He’d disarm the man another way.
“Okay, Precco,” Seth said, bending forward. “I’m putting my—” He caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Whirled. But when a bullet knocked him back, he knew that he hadn’t been fast enough.
He heard Megan’s scream as his knees buckled and he went down.
Chapter 21
He fought through the searing pain in his right arm. The bullet had entered about three inches above the elbow. He was pretty sure it had cracked the bone but did not have any idea whether it had exited his body. However, based on the amount of blood that was spurting out, he was pretty confident that he had some arterial bleeding going on.
He searched out his attacker. Nadia Vitron. She was in the far corner, still with her gun pointed at him. A blond-haired man stood next to her. He also had a gun.
Unfortunately, Seth did not. He’d dropped his.
“Oh, Nadia. Do you always have to go too far?”
Seth heard Precco’s words, tried to make sense of them. But the man seemed very far away. Seth was sitting, willing his legs to cooperate so that he could stand.
“Stop,” he heard Precco yell.
Stop what? he thought. Bleeding? Dying? All good ideas.
“I’m not letting him bleed to death.”
It was Megan. And she was running toward him. He stared at her. “Sorry about this,” he managed.
“Shut up,” she said gently. Then she yanked up the wide skirt of her long dress, separated one of the layers from the others, ripped it upward at a seam, then tore off a wide strip. She quickly folded it a couple times.
He looked past her, watching Precco, who had moved, likely so that he could continue to still have a shot at both Abigail and Megan. But he didn’t look as if he intended to put a bullet through the back of Megan’s head. Nadia had also moved, so that she was standing next to him. Precco was shaking his head at the woman, as if he was very disappointed with her.
Yeah, well, so was Seth. He didn’t like getting shot.
And if Megan could help him get the bleeding stopped and he could get his damn head to clear, he was going to rip both of them apart. With his teeth if he needed to.
“Stay alive,” he hissed. “I’ll take care of the rest.”
Megan didn’t answer. She moved his arm so that she could wrap the homemade tourniquet around his biceps and he saw stars. “I love you,” he said when he got his breath back.
She looked at him. Her eyes were very dark. Fierce. “Then you stay alive.” She tied the tourniquet very tight. “And I love you, too,” she whispered. “I don’t care that you fly your own plane. None of that matters.”
“Stop talking,” Precco said. “The two of you need to come back over here. Right now.”
The man was getting agitated. Seth didn’t want him or Nadia firing off any more bullets. “Is the other guy your stalker?” he asked.
She nodded.
“Okay, help me up,” he said.
It wasn’t graceful but he managed to get to his knees. Then with her arm around his waist, he stood. Leaned heavily on her as they walked across the room. Once his back was up against the wall, he let go of Megan’s shoulder, but not before giving it a squeeze. Then he rested. The damn room was spinning and he felt as if he might throw up at any minute. He could smell his own blood and he didn’t like it.
“Sit down,” Precco said. “All of you.”
He slid down the wall, grateful to have a solid floor underneath him. Megan did the same. He glanced at Abigail, who was still standing. She was coming in and out of focus.
But when he heard Megan’s gasp, he knew something was terribly wrong.
“Oh, my God,” she said. “Your water broke.”
“It’s okay,” Abigail said.
“It’s not okay,” Megan yelled. “She needs a doctor. Now.”
“No doctors,” Nadia said.
It was the first time Seth had heard her speak. She had an accent, maybe Eastern European, he wasn’t sure. He saw Megan’s head jerk up and knew that this was the woman she’d heard talking below her second-story window. The woman had been talking to a man and Seth was willing to bet his last dollar it had been the blond-haired man who was standing next to her. Megan’s guy.
Megan had scooted close to Abigail and was helping her sister down to the floor.
He was going to need to get the three of them out of here sooner rather than later. Knew very little about babies being born or how soon it could happen after the water broke but he thought that it could be quick.
“I want your cell phone, Mr. Pike,” Precco said.
He considered lying, telling the man he didn’t have one. But they’d probably search him and he wasn’t ready for that yet. When he went
after these three, he needed to make sure that Megan and Abigail knew what was going on so that they didn’t inadvertently get in the way. “I’m going to reach into my pocket and get it,” he said. He used his good arm to do exactly that. Tossed it on the floor so that it landed a couple feet in front of Precco.
“This is all your fault, Mr. Pike,” Precco said. He kicked both the cell phone and the gun that Seth had dropped toward the blond man. He didn’t pick up either one. Precco didn’t seem to notice.
“How so?” Seth managed. He felt clammy and thought he was likely going into shock.
“Well, yours and Nadia’s,” the man said, as if he was willing to throw him a bone. “Nadia can be...impulsive.” After he said the words, Precco leaned forward and kissed the woman on the lips. “Like when she rammed into Ms. North.”
Mr. Pike. Ms. North. Precco was being awfully formal, considering that he was holding them at gunpoint.
But why? What had Megan done to put herself on the man’s radar, other than buy the building where Precco rented space? She said that she’d made a point to meet the tenants, to express her hopes that they continued to be tenants. Had been disappointed when the tea shop had abruptly moved out.
“When Malcomb called,” Precco said conversationally, as if Seth had come in to buy a lamp and they were simply passing the time, “and said that your partner had been to his house, I realized that you were getting close.”
The husband had called Precco. Why the hell had he done that? Precco had been screwing his wife. That generally wasn’t the basis of a good friendship. “You two tight?” Seth asked. There was a buzzing between his ears and it made his voice seem odd.
Precco and Nadia exchanged a glance. “He despises me. But,” Precco added, “we both love the same woman. He saw your partner as a potential threat to Nadia and when push comes to shove, that trumps everything else.”
Nadia giggled, like a young girl.
Royce’s gut had been spot-on. Whatever was going on with Precco, Nadia and her ex, it wasn’t right. Malcomb Vitron had spewed some venom about Precco and then picked up the phone to warn the man that somebody had been asking questions about Nadia.
