Laced In Lies

by Colleen Helme

  The door opened and Jodie’s assistant, Kristin, came in. “Jodie said you were staying for the concert?”

  Ramos nodded. “Yes, but she was going to find Dusty so I could talk to him right away. Did she tell you that?”

  Kristin’s brow puckered. “Uh… she told me to call him and have him come here. Maybe that’s what she meant. I’ll give him a call.” She pushed in his number and shook her head, thinking that she was too busy to babysit Dusty all the time. After five rings, he finally picked up.

  “Hey Dusty, Jodie wants you to come back to the arena. There’s someone here who wants to talk to you.” Kristin glanced at Ramos, and I picked up that Dusty was describing him and asking if he was there. “Yeah, that’s him.”

  He said something else and she rolled her eyes, then handed her phone to Ramos. “Here. He wants to talk to you.” Ramos took the phone and held it to his ear.

  “Yes.” He listened for a moment, then his gaze caught mine, and he shook his head. I only picked up a small part of the conversation, but from what I could tell, Dusty was asking for Ramos’ help, and he sounded kind of frantic.

  Ramos closed his eyes and inwardly groaned. “I’ll come.” Then he handed the phone back to Kristin. “Thanks.”

  “No problem. So… are you staying for the concert?”

  “Yes,” Ramos said. “We wouldn’t miss it.”

  “Okay. Give me a few minutes and I’ll come back to take you to your seats.” At Ramos’ nod, she left.

  As soon as the door closed, I turned to him. “What’s going on?”

  “Dusty’s begging me to help him, and he says that Lacie might be in trouble, too. He wants me to meet him by the storage trucks and equipment behind the arena. He said there’s a couple of motorhomes there, and he and Lacie are in one of them.”

  “Why?”

  “He didn’t say.”

  I shook my head. “Of course he didn’t. I don’t like it. How do you know it’s not a trap?”

  “I don’t.” He was thinking that he didn’t trust Dusty past the end of his nose, but since he had Lacie with him, he wasn’t sure he could risk not going.

  “How can we even be allowed back there?”

  “He told me there was an exit on the south side of the building. We just need to go left when we leave this room and keep left until we come to an exit.”

  “This seems way too contrived to me,” I said, my stomach churning with tension. “First, he lures you here to talk to Jodie, then, once you’re here, it’s no big deal to ask you to meet him in the parking lot. Then, if you go out there you’re totally at his mercy with no one on your side to help.”

  “I know what it looks like,” Ramos said, clenching his jaw. “And maybe it is a trap, but Dusty was more concerned about Lacie than himself. How can I chance it? Even if she’s not my daughter, she’s just a kid.”

  “Well… I guess you can’t. But, hey… at least you’ll have me. I just wish I had my stun flashlight or you had your gun handy.”

  Ramos mentally agreed with me. He also wasn’t sure that he wanted me to help him, but it was only because he worried for my safety, and not because he thought I was incompetent. At least that was positive.

  “Come on,” he said. “We’ve got to go before Jodie’s assistant comes back.”

  “Okay.”

  He opened the door and checked the hall, then motioned for me to follow him out. I held my breath, worried that at any moment the assistant, or even Jodie, would come around the corner and catch us. We came to another hallway, and Ramos stopped to glance in both directions. To our left were several people wearing black t-shirts and carrying equipment, like they were part of the stage crew.

  To our right, the hall opened into more of a concrete lane that sloped down into the bottom of the arena. Ramos straightened and turned toward the people, walking with purpose, and thinking act like you’re supposed to be here for my benefit.

  He nodded at one guy but, for the most part, ignored everyone else. I followed his lead and let out my breath as we reached the end of the long hallway without any trouble.

  We turned left again to find an exit sign over a double-door at the end of the hall. Ramos hesitated at the doors while I caught up with him, then he pushed them open and we stepped out.

  The sun was still shining, but on its way toward dusk, and we could see most of the semi-trucks from here. I was amazed at how many trucks it took to run a big show like this. I counted at least eight, but there were probably three or four more. At least there weren’t any people around. They were probably all busy with the concert.

  “Where are the motorhomes?” I asked.

  “Let’s try that direction.” Ramos nodded toward the right, and we circled that way. “Be on the watch for security. There are probably a couple of guards around here somewhere, and we don’t want to get caught.”

  I nodded, picking up that he didn’t want to hurt anyone, but he would if he had to. Hearing that got my heart racing a little, and a knot of fear curdled my stomach. I let out a quick breath and managed to keep up.

  We rounded one of the trucks and stopped short, finding two motorhomes parked next to the building. “Which one is Dusty’s?”

  “I don’t know,” Ramos said, ushering me out of sight behind the truck. “He said he’d be here waiting, but since he’s not, let’s sit tight and watch before we make a move.”

  I nodded and stepped out of sight behind the truck, letting Ramos do the watching. I kept my senses open for movement of any kind in case someone approached, but so far, things stayed quiet. Then I heard a door open, and Ramos stiffened.

  “That’s him. He just came out.” He caught my gaze. “Can you pick up anything from here?”

  I concentrated on Dusty and picked up a few words, but I needed to get closer before they made any sense. I shook my head. “Not really.”

  “Okay, let’s go.”

  I followed Ramos around the truck and picked up a blast of relief from Dusty. He met us half-way. “Thanks for coming.” He glanced at me and his brows puckered. What had happened to my black hair?

  “It was a wig,” I answered.

  “Oh.” The fact that I answered his thoughts threw him a little, but he didn’t have time to waste. “Uh… come inside and I’ll explain everything.”

  We got to the steps of the motorhome, but I didn’t want to go in there if it was a trap, so I grabbed Ramos’ arm to stop him. “I think you can tell us out here. I’d rather not go inside if that’s all right with you.”

  Dusty paused before opening the door and turned to face us. He let out a breath and came back down the stairs, ushering us toward the back of the RV.

  “Fine.” He glanced at Ramos and swallowed. “Look man, I know you’re probably thinking that I set you up the other day, but I had no choice, and it didn’t work anyway.”

  He glanced around the area, hoping no one could see us, and rubbed his nose. “I did it all to keep Lacie and Jodie safe, you have to believe that.”

  “Where is Lacie?” I asked, suddenly worried.

  “She’s fine, she’s in the motorhome.”

  “What did you do?” Ramos folded his arms and sent Dusty a hard glare.

  Dusty swallowed, thinking that we only had a certain amount of time to stop Luke, and if it was going to work, we needed to leave now.

  “Who’s Luke?” I asked, just to get things moving along.

  Dusty’s eyes widened, and his mouth dropped open.

  “Answer the question,” Ramos said.

  “He’s been… he’s the one who’s behind this mess I’m in. He’s been forcing me to sell his drugs.” At Ramos’ narrowed eyes, he continued, “I thought if I made it look like you had agreed to sell the drugs, but double-crossed him, he’d come after you and you’d kill him. But I’ve run out of time and he’s… well, he’s out of control. He’s already killed one person, and the contacts we’ve made in the city have all dried up. It’s like nobody will do business with us except for a few
gang members.”

  I picked up that there was a lot more to it than that. “Is he threatening Lacie… and Jodie?”

  He let out a breath, surprised that I’d picked it up so easily. “They don’t know anything, but he’s holding that over my head if I don’t do what he wants.” He shook his head in disgust. “Lacie’s fine for now, but I could use your help to stop Luke before he follows through on those threats.”

  “You mean like kill you?” I asked, since that’s what he was thinking.

  He nodded. “Yeah… something like that. Look, I know this is all my fault.” He shook his head in disgust. “But I want to make it right.”

  “Is he the one who’s been following you?” I prodded. “And the one who threatened Ramos the other night?” Dusty lowered his eyes and nodded. “Where is he now?”

  “He went to do a drug exchange, and I know where he is. If we don’t go after him now, we’ll miss our chance. He’ll come back here, and who knows what he’ll do then.” He sent a pleading gaze to Ramos. “Will you help me?”

  Ramos glanced my way, silently asking if Dusty was telling the truth. Unfortunately he was, so I nodded. Ramos’ mouth turned into a grim line before he answered. “All right, I’ll help you, but what about Lacie? Is she safe here?”

  “Yeah, Stephanie’s with her, so she’s fine for now.”

  “Are you sure?” I asked. “It seems like you have a love-hate kind of thing going on with Stephanie. Why is that?” I needed to know before I agreed to leave Lacie there.

  “I never said that.” Dusty sent a suspicious glance my way, then took in Ramos’ scowl and decided to answer the question. “Okay. She found out about the guy Luke killed, and she’s just as freaked out as I am. We don’t exactly agree on what to do about it, but neither of us wants to go to jail.”

  “So… you’re together?”

  He shook his head and let out a deep breath. “It’s complicated. But she’s great with Lacie.”

  I shook my head, something didn’t add up. “So who’s Luke? Is he part of your road crew?”

  Dusty closed his eyes and shook his head. “He’s Jodie’s… boyfriend.”

  “What?” I could hardly believe what I was hearing. From the swearing going on in Ramos’ mind, I knew he thought the same thing.

  “I told you she doesn’t have much luck with men,” he said, glaring a little at Ramos. “Look, I know where he went. If we can stop him from coming back here, it will all be over. I know I’m asking a lot of you, but you’re the only person I know who could kill someone and pull it off.”

  So that’s what he’d wanted all along. He knew Ramos was a killer, and he thought that if he brought Ramos into the picture by setting him up, Ramos would kill Luke, and his troubles would be over.

  “What does he have on you?” I asked.

  Dusty shook his head. “Look, it doesn’t matter, and we don’t have a lot of time. If you’re going to help me, we need to go now.”

  Ramos turned to me, thinking there were all kinds of ways to take care of a person like Luke, and I didn’t need to know about any of them. “Why don’t you stay here and make sure Lacie’s safe? I’ll come back for you.”

  “I’ll tell Stephanie you’re staying,” Dusty hurried to the door and bounded inside, elated that Ramos had agreed to help him, and thinking that maybe he could get out of this alive after all.

  I caught Ramos’ gaze. “I don’t like this. It’s all happening too fast.”

  “Is he telling the truth?”

  “Yes. I just wish I knew more about what was going on.”

  “I know… I do too.” Ramos shook his head. “But I’d better check it out. I’m not saying I’ll kill the guy, but I’ll handle it.” He was thinking there was plenty of time to get to the bottom of it once Luke was incapacitated.

  “Okay. Be careful.” He nodded with a reassuring smile, just as Dusty came back to the door of the motorhome and motioned me inside.

  The super luxurious space was just what I’d expect for a star of Jodie’s caliber. Dusty quickly introduced me to Lacie, who sat at the table coloring a picture. He told her I was a friend and would be staying with her for an hour or so. She glanced up shyly, then went back to her coloring.

  “Stephanie’s in the bedroom,” he said, thinking that Stephanie wasn’t too happy with him. He’d told her about his plan, and she hadn’t liked it much. He basically shut her down, telling her that he didn’t have time for her objections, and now she refused to come out and meet me.

  “I’ll be back soon,” Dusty said, loud enough for Stephanie to hear.

  Just then, Stephanie opened the door and glanced at Dusty, then noticed me standing beside him. Her lips turned into a tight line, and she slammed the door shut. Dusty sighed and turned to me. “Sorry about that. Uh… I’m sure she’ll be fine.” He kissed Lacie on the top of her head. “Hey kiddo… I’ll be back soon.” Lacie nodded and he left.

  I let out a breath and sat beside Lacie, a little worried about Stephanie. The only thing I’d picked up from Stephanie was that she was furious, so I hoped she calmed down soon. Or… she could just stay in her room… that would be fine with me.

  I turned to Lacie and asked her about her coloring book. She was a little shy at first, but eager to share her passion for art. Behind that, she seemed relieved for the diversion from the constant bickering between Dusty and Stephanie. She hated that they fought all the time, so having me there came as a relief.

  “This is an adult coloring book,” she said, wanting me to know she wasn’t a little kid. “Have you ever heard of them?”

  “Yes. My daughter has a few, but I’ve never seen markers like those before.”

  “These are totes awesome. I’ll show you how they work.”

  “Great.”

  We spent the next few minutes coloring together, and I had to admit, the markers were amazing. They worked with tips that would turn the colors lighter or darker so the color would look shaded on one side and totally professional. I decided then and there that I needed to get Savannah some.

  Seeing my enthusiasm, Lacie handed over another book, and I got to work coloring. It was kind of nice to focus on something creative and forget about dirty drug dealers for a while. About five minutes later, I totally understood why Lacie and all kinds of people liked it so much. Maybe I’d get one for me?

  The bedroom door popped open, startling me out of my happy place. Stephanie stepped out. Her face was a little splotchy like she’d been crying, but the gaze she sent my way held nothing but ice. A shiver of pure dread rolled down my spine. She held a gun in front of her and pointed it straight at me.

  Chapter 12

  “L acie, honey,” she said. “This is a bad person. I need you to come over to me.”

  Lacie’s eyes widened. She’d never seen Stephanie holding a gun, or seen that crazy look in her eyes before. There were times Stephanie scared her, but never like this. She glanced at me. I was a lot like her mom. I didn’t seem dangerous at all. What was going on?

  “I’m not a bad person,” I blurted. “I’m here to watch out for you Lacie, and to protect you.” I turned my gaze to Stephanie. “You should be protecting her, too. So why are you doing this?”

  “Don’t listen to her Lacie. She’s lying. She’s only saying that to confuse you. I’ll keep you safe, but I need you to get up and go into the bedroom and lock the door. Don’t come out, no matter what happens, or what you hear. I promise I’ll keep you safe.”

  Lacie glanced at me with widened eyes, and slowly slid out from behind the table. She didn’t think I was bad, but Stephanie had a gun. Scared out of her mind, she could hardly walk. With quick breaths, she slipped past Stephanie and scurried into the bedroom, then closed the door and locked it.

  Stephanie visibly relaxed once Lacie was out of the room. She glanced at me, trying to figure out what to do. She couldn’t take the chance that I’d sit quietly while she followed Luke’s instructions. So she needed to put me someplace where I couldn�
�t make trouble.

  Or she could just shoot me and be done with it. She’d tell everyone I’d tried to kidnap Lacie. But could she actually kill me? Maybe not like this. But if I made any trouble, she could pull the trigger. Raising the gun to point at my head, she said, “Get up.”

  She was thinking I’d fit into the space under the seat just fine. It only held a few blankets and pillows, but she could take enough out to carve a place for me. The tricky part would be getting me inside without a struggle. But if I made a fuss, she’d just shoot me in the leg or something. That would work.

  Yikes! I tried to keep the panic from consuming me and raised both hands. With shallow breaths, I slowly stood, then inched my way out from behind the table.

  “Hey! I never said to move.”

  I froze in place and swallowed, hardly daring to breathe. She examined me, noting that I had a purse slung over my shoulder, and thinking it could have a phone in it.

  “Put your purse on the table.”

  With a sinking heart, I pulled my purse over my shoulder and set it down.

  “Now empty your pockets… nice and slow.”

  “There’s nothing in my pockets.” I patted them down to show her I was telling the truth. “See?”

  “Fine. Now lift up that seat cushion, and take out whatever’s under there.”

  I nodded and moved in slow-motion so I wouldn’t startle her. With trembling fingers, I lifted the cushion off the seat. For a moment, I contemplated using the cushion to take a swing at her gun hand, but with her twitchy fingers, that probably wasn’t a good idea. Instead, I set it down and pulled a couple of blankets out of the top, and set them to the side.

  Knowing that she wanted me in there, I made sure to leave a blanket in the very bottom, along with a small pillow for my head. Still, I wasn’t sure I’d fit. I might be small, but that space was tiny.

  “Get in,” she ordered, motioning with the gun.