Lie or Die: A Shelby Nichols Adventure

by Colleen Helme

  He kept his lips pressed together, but I heard the answer clearly.

  “Not going to tell me?” Ramos said. “Then how about this. Where are you from? Why are you here?”

  Again, he kept his mouth shut, but I heard his answer. Ramos glanced at me, and I nodded. His brows drew together on a frown. How could he let this guy go when he hadn’t answered any of his questions?

  “What’s in it for you?” Ramos asked. “Is it worth your life? Or prison? Tell me what you know, and we won’t press charges. You can leave a free man. You see…I’m not after you. It’s the big guy I want. Just tell me what you know, and I’ll let you walk out of here.”

  “No,” he said. “Either take me to jail or let me go. I’m not telling you anything.”

  “Cut him lose,” I said, knowing what I needed to do. I walked over to him and leaned into his face. “You think you’re so smart, but you listen to me. We’ll be watching you. Every move you make. We’re going to take your boss down, and when we do, he’s going to think it was you who ratted him out. How’s that going to go for you?”

  Fear shuddered through him loud and clear. I’d hit a nerve. He was thinking it didn’t matter, because he was leaving this place. The free drugs, the money…all of it just wasn’t worth getting mixed up in this war. The cops had no idea, and he was alive because he’d always known when to check his losses and move on.

  I straightened, glancing at Ramos. With reluctance, he undid the cuffs and hauled the dealer out the door by the scruff of his neck. As soon as his feet touched the ground he was up and running. I knew we’d never see him again.

  “Did you get the answers?” asked Ramos.

  I glanced at him. Until now, we’d been dancing around my secret without admitting it. Once I told him the answers, it meant something would change between us. But since he’d already figured it out, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. I decided to trust him…out loud anyway. “Mostly,” I said.

  “Is it Kate?” he asked.

  “Nope, at least not that I could tell. Remember the security guy Uncle Joey hired while you were gone looking for Kate?”

  “Yeah,” he said. “Doug Carter. He’s the one that left all those bugs.”

  “He’s part of it,” I nodded. “But there’s more. There’s someone else, but that’s where it gets tricky. I didn’t get a name, but whoever it is scared the crap out of that guy.”

  “Huh,” Ramos said, thinking he had his work cut out for him. “At least we have a name. What about the dealer? Do you think he’ll warn Carter about the cops?”

  “No. He’s leaving town. Unless Carter gets to him first.”

  Ramos rocked back on his heels. This was serious. “We’d better get back.”

  This time, I got on the motorcycle before I put on the helmet. Ramos still had to help me snap the strap, but at least he didn’t have to haul me over the seat. I started out holding onto his waist with gentle pressure until he sped up, and my gut reaction was to squeeze for all I was worth. I felt the wiggling of his stomach, and knew he was laughing again. He’d sped up on purpose. I shook my head, but couldn’t help the smile that creased my lips.

  We got back to Thrasher intact, and I found that I liked riding a motorcycle. I was almost disappointed to have it end. As Ramos punched the call button for the elevator, I checked my watch, surprised to find it was just after three-thirty.

  “Shoot! I’ve got to go,” I said. “Tell Uncle Joey to call me if he has any questions. Okay?”

  Ramos frowned, unhappy I was skipping out on him. “I really think you should come with me.”

  “Why?” I asked. “You can tell him everything I know.” He hesitated, so I went in for the kill. “It will really help me out. Please?”

  “Where are you going?” he asked.

  “To the bank. I have to talk to the manager about the case of the missing money I’m working on. If I leave now, I won’t be late getting home.”

  Ramos shook his head. Manetto wasn’t going to be happy. It always made him mad when I did stuff like this. Why couldn’t I just work for Manetto, and not take all these side jobs? He could still hardly believe I worked with the police. Of course, it could come in handy down the road. Maybe the police had a record on Carter. Could I check that out? Manetto would be a lot more understanding if I agreed to do that.

  “Sure,” I said. “But probably not until tomorrow. Bye.”

  Ramos smiled, and stepped into the elevator. “See you tomorrow,” he said.

  I wasn’t sure who won that round, him or me? I had a feeling it was him. I caught a fleeting thought from him before the doors closed, and reached up to touch my hair. Yes, it was a tangled mess, just like he’d been thinking.

  By the time I got to the bank, I’d run my fingers through my hair enough times that it was presentable. Just not looking the best. I’d have to remember to stash a brush in my glove box for times like this.

  Blaine stood when I entered his office, and motioned to the chair in front of his desk. His smile was brief, and I remembered the hostility I’d sensed from him over the phone. “Hi Shelby, thanks for coming. Have a seat.”

  He was thinking it would sure be nice if I had something good to tell him. Especially since Rob Felt had called to say he was close to finding the money. Blaine wondered why I hadn’t told him anything. I was the investigator he’d hired. I should really keep him in the loop. Plus, he really didn’t want to pay Felt the finders fee. He’d much rather pay me for my time since it would be a better deal.

  “How’s the case coming?” he asked.

  I was still reeling from that bit of information and didn’t respond right away. “Um…good. I’ve made some really good progress.”

  “Wonderful,” Blaine said, relieved and eager to hear my side of the story. “What have you found so far?”

  “Just so you know,” I added, “Felt’s been following me everywhere. The leads I’ve had, everything I’ve done, he’s been right behind me. Yesterday he caught up with me and we sort of staked out a store together. I haven’t seen him since. Have you heard from him lately?”

  “That’s funny you should ask. He called me just before I called you today, and said he was real close to finding the money. Do you know what he’s talking about? Is it true that he’s close?”

  “He can’t be any closer than me,” I answered, hotly. “Let me tell you what I’ve found, and we can go from there. First of all, there’s an underwear shop called Novelty Creations that Keith’s Aunt Dottie owned, and where Keith was working prior to the robbery.

  “The aunt died right around the same time Keith got arrested. Her daughter owns the shop now, so I’ve been following up with her. During the police investigation, the police checked out the shop, but they never found anything. They did confiscate two crates of underwear, but I don’t know exactly what happened to them. They may have been put up for auction or they’re still somewhere in the evidence room. The daughter has no record of them being taken, so it seems to be a dead end, although I’m not so sure.

  “I did trace a couple of shipments that Keith sent to another underwear shop the year before he was arrested. This shop is called Betty’s Bra Bar, and it’s the store I staked out with Felt yesterday. Betty mostly sells bras, but I think something else is going on there. Every once in a while, she closes the shop and people go in. A few minutes later, they come out, and she opens the store again. I don’t know what’s going on there, but I think it might be tied to the stolen money.”

  “How? You think the money might be in her shop?” he asked.

  I sighed. “I’m not sure. All I have so far is the link to Keith Bishop. I can’t prove she has the money. But besides that, I think she’s doing something illegal.”

  “Like what?” He was thinking she was probably a hooker.

  “I don’t think she’s a hooker…if that’s what you’re thinking,” I quickly added. “Mostly because of the people she meets with. There’s something different about them. I just wish I could fi
gure out what it is. Yesterday, I was watching the shop when Felt showed up. We saw three men go inside, and when they came out, he followed them. I haven’t heard from him since. It’s possible that he thinks they have the money hidden somewhere. But I don’t believe that. I think it’s got to be somewhere else.” I decided not to tell him about Betty meeting up with Dimples until I had a chance to talk to Dimples first. That was my next step.

  “Hmm…” Blaine said. “Well he must be okay since he called to tell me about his lead.”

  “Did he say what it was?” I asked.

  “No,” Blaine said. “He didn’t explain anything, except for saying he thought he knew where the money was. He also said that I shouldn’t believe anything you said because you have ties to some suspicious people with whom you could arrange to keep the money for yourself. He implied that these people would help you, for a fee of course, to launder the money so it couldn’t be traced back to you.”

  “What?” That arrogant jerk was trying to set me up. “And do you believe him?” I asked.

  “Not at all,” Blaine assured me. He was thinking that the only person who could do that around here was Manetto, and since he owned most of the bank, that notion was ridiculous. But Felt’s implication made sense if he thought I worked for Manetto. On one hand, Blaine couldn’t be too mad at Felt for that, but he would hate to have to pay him the finder’s fee. Especially now that he knew Felt was following me all this time.

  “He wouldn’t have anything to go on without you,” Blaine continued. “I don’t know why he would say those things about you, but I’m sure they’re not true. I just wanted to give you a heads-up about what he told me. He might act like he’s being helpful, but I think he’d leave you high and dry in a flash if he could.”

  “Yeah, I get that. I’ll just have to see if I can use his ‘helpfulness’ to get him off my back.”

  “Good luck with that,” Blaine said. Now that he knew what was going on, he felt much better. “So…how many hours have you used up so far?”

  “Let me see.” I checked the time-card app on my phone. “About eighteen.”

  “That’s not bad. I’ll authorize another twenty hours. How does that sound?” he asked.

  “Works for me.” I stood to leave, and Blaine extended his hand.

  “Keep me in the loop,” he said. “I’d like to know if you catch a break, or if there’s anything at all I can do to help.”

  “I will.” We shook hands, and after pulling away, I hesitated. “There is one thing you can do. If Felt calls you again, will you let me know?”

  “I can do that,” Blaine agreed.

  “Good. Thanks so much. I’ll see you later.” I left his office, working to get control of the anger simmering beneath the surface. And I had been concerned for Felt? Ha, that was a joke. And now he thought he knew where the money was? Is that why I hadn’t seen him today? I’d show him, that worthless piece of crap.

  By telling Blaine that I was involved with Uncle Joey, he’d gone too far. I couldn’t let that go unchallenged. Thank goodness Blaine knew better than to believe him. Then I realized that as much as I didn’t want to talk to Felt again, it was the only way to find out his plans, but after that, sending him off on a wild goose chase would be sweet revenge.

  I got in my car and tried to decide what to do next. My first thought was to find Felt and beat him up, but I should probably save that for later. I also needed to talk to Dimples about Betty, and find out what he knew about her. I could check on Doug Carter at the police station for Ramos at the same time, but now that Uncle Joey knew about him, he’d probably have more success finding him that I would.

  My stomach chose that moment to growl, and I realized I’d missed lunch. I rummaged around in my purse until I found a granola bar that had probably been there for a few months. The wrapper was smudged, and the bar was smashed on one end, but I was too hungry to care.

  The most important thing right now was probably Chris. I’d kind of ditched him this morning, and I was feeling a little guilty that I’d left without a word. I could go back to the courthouse and see how the trial was going. By now, if it looked like he wasn’t purposely losing the case, the bad guy might make his move. He’d probably forget about writing another note, and just go straight for the jugular. I’d better get over there and protect him.

  In a state of growing panic, I started the car and took the quickest route I could find. Instead of wasting time trying to find a parking space, I parked in Chris’ garage. I jumped out, hurrying up the stairs, through the square, and across the street. Huffing and out of breath, I took a seat in the back of the courtroom, relief coursing over me to see that Chris was all right.

  I relaxed into my seat and caught my breath, realizing the stress of the day was getting to me. Too much was going on, and I wasn’t sure I could handle it all. Was this how I wanted to live my life? Not really, but I couldn’t think about that right now. I needed to focus on helping Chris. I could figure everything else out later.

  Calmer now, I closed my eyes and concentrated on listening to the thoughts swirling around in my brain. Picking and choosing which ones might mean something, and pushing out the others. I heard plenty about the case, along with others who were hungry, tired, and more than ready to go home.

  Nothing threatening Chris. From what I could pick up though, it sounded like he was winning. Was anyone mad about that? I kept my mind open, and the constant barrage brought the beginning of a headache. Then I heard it. A woman’s familiar voice thinking, why isn’t he losing? I thought for sure my note would work. It was Kate!

  I scanned the crowd, looking for a woman with red hair. Nothing matched. Maybe she was wearing a hat? Or her hair was pinned back. She had to be somewhere nearby.

  Suddenly, the judge slammed down his gavel, adjourning court for the day. Everyone stood as the judge left, cutting off my view. I heard something about tonight, but lost it in the bustle of people leaving.

  I rushed out the door and followed the crowd to the elevators. Most of them continued on to the stairs, and I hurried in that direction, figuring that if I couldn’t hear her in the crowd, I could beat the elevators and pick her up as she got out. I got as close to the middle of the crowd as I could, but couldn’t pick up her thoughts.

  I continued out through the main doors and lingered nearby, listening to everyone who was leaving. Focusing outward, I heard her. She was off to the side, and halfway across the square. This time she was wondering why Chris hadn’t taken the bait. It wouldn’t have been that hard to lose the case. Was Chris in Manetto’s pocket? She never thought that would happen. Regardless of her feelings, she’d have to let her partner take care of him. Better do it tonight.

  I spotted her about fifty feet ahead of me. She removed a hat, shaking out her fiery red hair. It fell down her back in all its glory. I clenched my teeth. Seeing her shot a wave of hot anger through me. As she neared the street, a black car pulled up, and she quickly opened the door to get in. Turning her head, she shot a glance in my direction. Finding my gaze pinned on her, she slowly smiled, stopping me in my tracks. Gotcha. Her thought blazed through my mind like a siren. Then she was gone.

  Chapter 11

  My hands started to shake, and I couldn’t seem to catch my breath. Gotcha? Had she been playing me this whole time? Did this mean she knew about me? I thought back to the shoot-out in Uncle Joey’s office the last time I’d seen Kate, and tried to remember exactly what I’d said.

  Had I actually told her I could read minds? Oh no! I had. I remembered it was the only way I could think to distract her or Walter from shooting me. But I never thought she’d believed it. Maybe she hadn’t. Until now. I’d just confirmed it, and she gloatingly let me know with that one word.

  I staggered, turning back to the courthouse, hardly seeing what was in front of me. Were any of her threats against Chris real? Or just meant to draw me out? I couldn’t risk Chris’ safety, no matter what. So that brought me to the big question. Why had she do
ne it? What did she have to gain? Did she even care about the case? Was it all an act to find out the truth about me?

  With these thoughts swirling through my mind, I entered the courtroom, hardly remembering how I got there. Chris and David stood at the table, talking in quiet tones, the only people left in the room. Chris glanced at me, his words coming to an abrupt halt, and his eyes widening with concern.

  “Shelby…what’s wrong?” He hurried toward me. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost. What’s happened?”

  “I…um…it’s Kate,” I sputtered. “I saw her leaving. She’s the one who’s been sending you those threats.”

  Chris frowned. That didn’t surprise him, since it was something we’d already suspected. So why was I so upset? I should be happy to know who it was. What was wrong with me?

  “Here.” David handed me a bottle of water. “Drink this. It will help.” He’d seen people in shock before, and I looked just like them. What was going on? What had me so rattled?

  I took the water and noticed my hand was still shaking. The first swallow seemed to settle me down, so I drank a little more until I felt better. Wiping my mouth with the back of my hand, I handed the bottle back to David. “Thanks,” I said. “That helped.”

  “Keep it,” he said. He was thinking about the threats and figured that if I’d seen Kate here, it was a pretty safe bet that she was behind everything. “I wish we knew what her plans were.”

  “Tonight,” I said. “I think she’s planning something for tonight.” David’s brows rose questioningly. “I…um…heard her talking on her cell phone to her partner. She said something about making her move tonight.”

  “Oh,” David said. “Okay. That’s good to know.”

  “What else,” Chris said. He glanced at me shrewdly. “Did she spot you? Is that what has you so upset?”

  “Yes,” I said, latching onto his explanation. “I guess I blew it.” I’d never told Chris the whole story about what happened that day with Kate. He didn’t know I’d told Kate I could read minds. “Do you think the fact that I heard her will make a difference in what she has planned for tonight?”