Hidden Deception: A Shelby Nichols Adventure

by Colleen Helme

  We went through the whole signing-out ritual before I’d decided what to do. “Is this where I buy tickets for the play?”

  “It sure is,” she said, happy to know that someone from Miguel’s family was finally getting involved in his life. He was the star of the play, for goodness sake, and not one person from his family had bought a single ticket. What was wrong with us people?

  “Great. Then I’d like… um… let’s see…” I did a quick tally in my head. Uncle Joey and Jackie, Carlotta and Jack, me and Chris… and maybe a few of Uncle Joey’s friends? “I think I’ll need at least six tickets, but maybe more. Can I come back and get more if I need to?”

  “It depends. What night do you want?”

  “Saturday.”

  She glanced at her computer and clicked on the seating for the auditorium. “We have reserved seating for those who purchase the more expensive tickets. They’re the best in the house, center stage, a few rows from the front.”

  “Okay. I’ll take six for now.”

  “Great.” She held out her hand for my credit card. “That will be two hundred and forty dollars.”

  I inhaled sharply, but I managed to keep from gasping out loud. What the freak? This was a school play, not a Broadway production. Of course, this was a private school; that had to figure into it somehow. I swallowed my reservations and handed over my card. Uncle Joey would reimburse me, right?

  After signing on the dotted line, I was given six tickets worth their weight in gold, and I hoped the secretary hadn’t just pulled a fast one on me. That rarely happened to me anymore, but not everything came through as well as I’d like.

  “Can I go to the auditorium and see where they are?” I asked.

  “Uh… you’ll have to put your badge back on, but sure. You’ll also have to have an escort, but I have a student here for things like that.” She handed the badge back to me, then heaved herself out of the chair. “I’ll be right back.” She disappeared through the door to the faculty offices.

  A few minutes later, she came back with a student in tow, who dutifully took me to the north end of the school and showed me my seats in the auditorium. I had to admit that the seats were really great, especially taking in the size of the place. This school, and the amenities it provided, seemed more like a performing arts university than a high school. Pretty swanky, was all I could say.

  I left the school with a heavy heart, knowing I had my work cut out for me. I had to tell Uncle Joey the truth and hope he didn’t get too upset with me. Or Miguel… well, mostly Miguel. Then there was also the two hundred and forty dollars for the tickets. He’d reimburse me, right? Unless he refused to go, but would he really be like that? I had no idea.

  Still, I found myself singing the songs from the musical. They were so addicting, that once they got into my head, I couldn’t get them out.

  I pulled into the parking garage of Thrasher Development and took the elevator to the twenty-sixth floor, trying to decide my best approach. Maybe I could leave out the part about how good Miguel was, along with the talent scouts, and tell Uncle Joey that this was a fun thing for Miguel to do before he graduated and went off to college. How could Uncle Joey be upset with that? It wasn’t the whole truth, but it still worked.

  “Hi Shelby,” Jackie greeted me. “How did lunch go with Miguel?” Her genuine concern for Miguel softened my heart, especially when she believed he tried too hard to please Uncle Joey. Ever since he’d come to live with them, he’d done everything Uncle Joey had asked. She almost hoped he’d let go a little and have some fun in his life… as long as it didn’t get him into trouble.

  “Really well. Miguel’s a great kid.” I smiled, and my spirits lifted. If I could get Jackie on my side, this could all work out.

  She let out a breath. “That’s good to hear.”

  Voices from the conference room drew my attention. I recognized Ramos’ voice right off the bat, but the other was harder to place, even though it sounded familiar. “Who’s in there with Ramos? He sounds familiar.”

  “Oh, it’s someone Ramos asked to come in. I don’t know him, but I think he’s a retired police detective.”

  All at once, it hit me who it was, and I hurried into the conference room. Geoff Parker stood beside Ramos, laughing about something. He glanced up as I entered, and a broad smile creased his face. “Speak of the devil,” he said. “We were just talking about you.” He closed the distance and gave me a quick hug.

  He and I had shared a close brush with death in the basement of a serial killer. Lucky for us, Ramos had showed up in the nick of time, and saved us both.

  “I’m glad to see you in one piece after hearing about your trip to Paris. So… how are you doing anyway?” He was thinking that I just couldn’t stay out of trouble, no matter where I went, or what I did. It must be my premonitions. Of course, if they really worked, why didn’t I know about the trouble ahead of time? It was just so confusing.

  “I’m good. So… what brings you here?” I could hardly believe that he was cavorting with a mob-boss and his hit-man. Did Uncle Joey coerce him into working for him too?

  “My watch quit working,” Ramos answered for him. “Geoff was kind enough to fix it and drop it off to me.”

  “Oh!” Relief washed over me. “Now I get it.” Geoff’s favorite past-time was making clocks and watches, and I’d given Ramos that watch after he’d saved my life. It even had a special engraving on the back.

  “Hey, how’s your watch doing?” Geoff asked. Just last Christmas, Chris had surprised me with this treasure from Geoff. I glanced at Ramos, who lifted a brow, thinking he didn’t know I’d gotten one, too. But it made sense.

  “It’s great. I love it.”

  “Mind if I take a look at it?” Geoff felt bad that Ramos’ watch had quit, and he wanted to make sure the same thing didn’t happen to mine.

  “Not at all,” I agreed, undoing the clasp and slipping it off.

  “I’ve got my tools with me, so I can just look at it here, but it will probably take me about fifteen or twenty minutes.”

  “That’s fine. I’m just here to see Uncle Joey. I’ll come back when I’m done.”

  “Okay.” Geoff opened his case of tools on the table and sat down, pulling out a headpiece with a magnifying glass to get started, but his astonishment that I’d called Joey “The Knife” Manetto my uncle came through loud and clear. Although he’d known I was involved with the mob-boss, he’d had no idea we were related.

  Oops. That wasn’t too bright of me. Ramos thought the same thing. He caught my gaze and motioned with his head, thinking that I should go see Manetto before I said anything else. It kind of hurt my feelings but, since he was right, I let out a big sigh and left.

  Uncle Joey’s door was open, so I hurried inside to find him sitting at his desk. “There you are,” he said, glancing up with a gleam of anticipation in his eyes. “Shut the door and tell me what you’ve found out.”

  I closed the door and took a fortifying breath, determined to put the best spin on Miguel’s secret that I could. This was a good thing, and Uncle Joey would appreciate how talented his son was.

  I turned, giving Uncle Joey my biggest smile. “Well, you’ll be glad to know that there’s a reason for Miguel’s secrecy. But before I go any further, I have to mention that he asked me not to tell you what it was.”

  Uncle Joey raised his brows, surprised that I’d gained Miguel’s trust so quickly. Then he hoped I wasn’t trying to bargain with him over it. This was not up for negotiation.

  “Oh… No. I’m not going to do that,” I said, licking my lips. “I just wanted you to know. I’m going to tell you, but if Miguel finds out, he might not trust me anymore.”

  “Shelby… get to the point.”

  “Sure. First of all, he’s a great kid, and he’s not into anything bad. He’s had to work extra hard to keep his grades up after coming from Mexico, but he’s a really good student. You should be proud of him.”

  Uncle Joey sighed, wonderin
g what had me so rattled. “Hmm… whatever it is, you must think that I won’t like it.”

  “Actually that’s not quite true. Miguel thinks you won’t like it. That’s why he’s kept it to himself. He doesn’t want to disappoint you, because he knows how much you’re counting on him to take over the business. And he’s planning on doing that, he just needs to get this out of his system first.”

  “What the hell?” Fear that something was wrong with Miguel caught his breath, and he started thinking about all the things Miguel could possibly be ashamed of.

  “Oh… no, no, no. It’s nothing like that. It’s just that he’s… he’s in the school play.”

  “Huh? That’s it? He’s in the school play and he’s worried I won’t like it? What’s wrong with him?”

  “Exactly! There’s nothing wrong with that, right?”

  Uncle Joey nodded his head, but stopped to catch my gaze with narrowed eyes. “There’s more, isn’t there? What aren’t you telling me?”

  Damn! How did he know? I covered my chagrin with a shrug. “He’s the lead.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means that he’s really good since he’s the lead in the play. You should be proud. He was afraid you wouldn’t approve, so he wasn’t even going to tell you about it. That’s just sad. I’m sure you’d want to be there to see him perform. Right?”

  “Of course. Where did he get the idea that I wouldn’t like it?”

  I shrugged. “Yeah, exactly. So the play is this weekend. Dress rehearsal is Thursday. Then the performances are Friday, Saturday, and Monday. So I went ahead and bought tickets for Saturday while I was there. He hasn’t even told his mother, because he didn’t want her to tell you. How crazy is that? So it’s a good thing I went today, otherwise, no one in his family would be there to support him in his shining moment. That would just be sad, and it would look pretty bad for you guys, too.”

  “Yeah, it would. So how many tickets did you buy?” Uncle Joey’s voice was soft but calculating. I couldn’t pick up anything sinister from his thoughts. Still, I didn’t quite trust that tone.

  “Uh… six, but I want two of them for me and Chris, since I really want to see the play. In fact, it’s one of my favorites.”

  “And which one is that?” Uncle Joey’s gaze pierced mine, and I knew he’d caught me.

  “Uh… it’s… um…” I sighed, knowing I had to tell him now. “It’s ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.’”

  As comprehension washed over him, he sat back in his chair. “He’s singing?”

  “Yeah. His friends told me that he’s amazing. He tried to play it down, but he must be really good. I guess the director of the play is a professional. Nothing but the best for a private school, right?”

  “What do you mean by professional?” His eyes narrowed with suspicion.

  Dang. He’d picked that up pretty quick. I swallowed. “He’s invited some friends from New York to see it on Saturday night. That’s why I got tickets for that night. Listen, I picked up that Miguel loves singing, and he just tried out on a whim, mostly because he wanted to do something he loved before he started working for you. But he’s not planning on leaving you high and dry or anything. So you don’t have to worry about that.”

  “What else did he say?”

  “Nothing really… only that the reason he didn’t want me to tell you was that it was supposed to be a surprise, and that Jackie was in on it, and she had bought tickets and everything.”

  “Wait, what? She knows about it?”

  “No… she has no idea. That’s just what he told me, but he was lying about it, about everything. He’s grown out his hair for the part and stayed late for practices. That’s where he’s been and what he didn’t want you to know.”

  “So there’s a possibility these “professionals” are talent scouts? Is that what you’re saying?” After I nodded, he continued. “And they might think he’s good enough for what? To sing on Broadway? In musicals?” His voice went a little high on that last word.

  “Uh… maybe… or maybe they just want to support their friend?”

  He sat there with his eyes glazed over, picturing what this might mean to him and his plans. It shocked him a little to find out that Miguel could sing. He didn’t know. He’d never heard him around the house or anything. Did Carlotta know he had a good voice?

  “So Carlotta doesn’t know about this either?”

  “Nope.”

  “Huh.” He sighed, thinking it was time he got to know his son a little better. “Well, it looks like we’re going to a musical.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Give the tickets to Jackie and have her reimburse you. You can keep two, and I’ll figure out what to do with the others.” He was sure Carlotta and probably Jack would want to be there, but this was such a surprise and new territory for him.

  To have a son who was the star of the school play. It was so unexpected. “I won’t tell Miguel we’re coming, or that we know anything about it. Unless you think it would throw him off?”

  “It might. I don’t know. Maybe you could send a note backstage before the performance to let him know you’re there in the audience. You could say something about how proud you are of him. Then it should be okay.”

  He nodded absently, thinking that it had only been a year since he’d found out he had a son. He’d been so excited to have someone who could follow in his footsteps. Now his son might be destined for something else.

  No, it couldn’t be like that. Miguel was going to take over the business, and that was final. Then he remembered his own father giving him an ultimatum and how much he didn’t like it. Did that mean he had to give Miguel a choice? What if he made the wrong one?

  Knowing Uncle Joey needed to be alone, I left his office, shutting the door quietly behind me.

  As I reached Jackie’s desk, she took in my solemn expression and frowned. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. Everything’s fine.” I pulled the tickets from my purse and explained what was going on. It took her a moment to digest it all, but once she did, she was filled with excitement and pride.

  “That’s incredible! I never would have thought…” Her excitement faded. “How did Joe take it?”

  “Pretty good, considering.”

  “Take what?” Ramos asked, coming in from the conference room.

  I glanced behind him, but I couldn’t see the retired detective anywhere. “Where’s Geoff?”

  “He had to go, but here’s your watch.” Ramos held it out to me. “He did something to it then said it should work great for a long time.”

  I slipped it around my wrist but had trouble with the clasp.

  “Here,” he offered. “Let me help.”

  Ramos’ warm fingers tickled my skin. Standing this close, I picked up his clean scent and tried not to inhale so deeply that he’d notice. “There.”

  “Thanks.” I opened my eyes and rubbed the skin where he’d touched me. Ramos caught my gaze, knowing exactly how he’d affected me. With a guilty flush, I turned back to Jackie. “Uh… where were we?”

  “Miguel,” she said, raising her brows.

  “Oh, yeah.” I explained the whole thing to both of them, finishing with the tickets, and telling her that she needed to pay me two hundred and forty dollars less eighty for the two I wanted. She promptly wrote out a check for the whole amount and handed it to me.

  During my explanation, I’d heard sounds of the elevator doors opening and closing. Because I expected someone to come into the office, I dismissed it as nothing to be concerned about. It wasn’t until Jackie had given me the check that I realized no one had come in, and the doors were still opening and closing.

  Ramos realized it at the same time, and he poked his head around the door to check the elevators. He cursed and took off out the door. Alarm ran down my spine, and I followed him to the elevator with Jackie trailing behind. Before I could reach it, Ramos held his hand out to stop me.

  “Stay bac
k!”

  “What is it?” I stopped in my tracks. Fear tightened my stomach. From here, I could see a bloody hand and arm that kept getting caught in the doors. “Is it Geoff?”

  “No,” Ramos said, sparing me a glance. Then he looked behind me at Jackie. “Get Manetto.”

  She left, and I considered going with her, especially since the sight of that lifeless arm had started to turn my stomach into a nauseous lump. Before I could go back in, Uncle Joey rushed past me and stopped beside Ramos. “Who is it?” he asked.

  “I think it’s Zack.”

  “Is he dead?” I asked with a squeak. “Should I call nine-one-one?”

  “No,” Uncle Joey said, turning my way. “You need to go. Now. Take the stairs to the twentieth floor, and then take the elevator to the parking garage and leave.”

  “What if whoever did this is still there?”

  “They won’t be,” he said, wishing he could have stopped this from happening. “Now go.”

  Swallowing my fear, I nodded and turned away, heading for the door down the hall with the exit sign above it. I pulled it open and started down the staircase. It took me twice as long to reach the twentieth floor since my legs were wobbling so bad.

  Once there, I entered the foyer with the elevators and pushed the down button. An elevator on the opposite side of the one with the body opened, and I gratefully stepped inside. I pushed the parking level button and tried to breathe normally. As the doors opened, I held my breath with worry that someone might be there, but I was alone, so I hurried to my car.

  I’d picked up from Uncle Joey that he was sure that whoever had left Zack’s body would be long gone, but seeing that arm had spooked me. He’d also thought that leaving Zack’s bullet-riddled body at his office was a message.

  It had sent rage through his blood, along with determination to get to the bottom of it, even if it meant going to war. Because if someone named Yuri thought he could double-cross Uncle Joey, Yuri and his crew were dead.

  I got in my car and locked all the doors, hardly daring to breathe until I was someplace safe. But before I started the car, my phone rang, so I rummaged through my purse to grab it in case it was something important. The caller ID said Capitol Realty, and I quickly answered.