Roll the Dice (Vegas Series)

by Author Mimi Barbour

  “What do you think?”

  She sized him up. The lounging whiner now replaced with a man on a mission. “I think you need my cell number.”

  Chapter Thirty-five

  Plain clothes and uniformed officers were in the meeting room with Cory in charge at the front. He paced back and forth only stopping to point a finger when he intended his message to be taken seriously. “We have every cop in the state following up on this kidnapping. If we don’t find Rhondo first, the FBI will be called in. And I want him myself, no sharing." His finger slashed the air leaving no one to wonder about his meaning."

  Aurora spied a few rookies wiggling in their seats but the old-timers wore steady expressions of support.

  "As we speak, officers are picking up Big Mike. We’ll get him on an illegal gambling charge. Morelli noticed some of the men playing cards when they were there earlier, and there was money on the table. Lawson checked and his bar hasn’t got a gambling licence. They pulled it last year because of the constant fights. It’s good enough to question him.” Cory’s voice, hoarse from being on the phone for hours, grated. The man exemplified grim with no give at all in his attitude.

  "We have a new lead." He turned to Aurora and asked once again, “Rhondo’s father lives here? In Vegas?”

  Aurora perched on a chair at the side of the room. “That’s what Eddie said. Somewhere in Vegas. He didn’t know the exact area. I let him go so he could try and get a conversation started at the bar once we pull in Mike. We’re hoping the scumbags will open up if the big guy isn’t staring them down.”

  “Good idea. It’s worth a try.”

  She nodded at Ham who had appeared at the doorway and gave her a nod, then stood to leave.

  “Where are you going?”

  “To see the tapes. Ham says the techs have set them up.” She got tiredly to her feet and balanced for a few seconds before moving.

  “Hold up Aurora…Hampton.” Cory’s old bellow was back.

  Ham answered from two feet away. “Yes boss?”

  “Order some food— pizzas or sandwiches—and coffee. Get some decent coffee in here.”

  “On it.” Ham left.

  Cory slapped his hands together. “Okay, everyone our priority is to find my wife and son. So concentrate on whose vehicle Rhondo borrowed and hope the officers are alive in order to tell us what went down. And we need to find the poor sucker who fathered this loser. Everyone works this case, and no one leaves except to use the bathroom till I say so. That clear?”

  ***

  The crowd thinned rapidly, not one face looking pissed at having to work overtime. When it came to a cop needing support there were none better than the people behind the badge.

  Cory moved to take Aurora’s arm. “I’ll go with you. I’ve seen the tapes before they worked their magic, but you have good instincts and good eyes. Who knows, maybe something will pop.”

  They hurried down the various hallways, then up the short flight of stairs to where the computer geeks hung out in their land of flickering monitors and virtual reality. Never satisfied, they always wanted newer and better toys, but the budget only stretched so far. Hopefully what they did have was enough to edit the videos to where they'd get a break.

  "Where’s Kai?"

  “He’s gone to pick up Veronica Marks. They should be here soon. BTW, you know we never got to check out Debbie's room at the hospital after she'd left? The staff had started cleaning it for the next patient before we could stop them."

  "I heard." His fingers tightened on her arm.

  "I meant to ask. Has the hospital sent over the rest of her belongings, her purse for instance?”

  “Yes, got it a while ago. Thanks for arranging it.”

  “Did you get a chance to see if her charger was in her purse?”

  “Never thought of it.” His stance stiffened and he yanked her to a stop. “Why?”

  “Cause the last time I visited, she had the phone plugged in and it sat near her pillow… I thought to call her but I hesitated in case her ringer was on and he found the phone. ”

  “You’re right. God how could I have forgotten? She always kept it near her on the bed. I’ll go now and see if it’s in her purse.” He hurried away in the direction of his office—his faltering steps a caricature of his old bounce.

  IT had every surface littered with older computers, monitors and equipment that spilled over in the corners and onto the floor. They'd set up a screen on a large desk littered with hard-drives, headphones and various types of cables. Maybe not the best-of-the-best stuff available on the market, nevertheless they'd done wonders with the video's picture quality.

  “Run that tape again, Pat. But this time slow it down and zero in on her hand holding the baby blanket. There’s something going on that I couldn’t see clearly on the other monitor. There, hold it.”

  The hospital’s video system, obviously not state of the art, had a grainy sequence of shots that showed a uniformed officer whose hat hid his face. He moved in on room 505 and then reappeared seemingly helping a woman who carried a tightly wrapped baby.

  “See her hand by the blanket? Get closer. There! Her fingers. It’s the phone sign.” Debbie’s thumb and baby little finger fleetingly formed the signal that her and Debbie used all the time for “call me”. Excitement lit up Aurora’s face just as Cory burst into the room.

  “Cory, she’s got her cell! Does it have GPS?"

  "The brat wouldn't let me change her phone to update. Said it took her long enough to learn the old system. By God, she'll get one now if I have to buy it for her birthday."

  "Look here." They rewound the tape and Aurora pointed out the Debbie's symbol. Gladness filled her at the thought that Debbie might be able to contact them. They certainly couldn't take the chance to text her. Her old partner loved knowing every time an e-mail came through and had set her ring-tone with an annoying set of bells. Drove Aurora crazy most of the time. If she hadn't had the opportunity to shut that option off, Rhondo would find the phone. Nope, they couldn't take the chance. Just had to pray she'd get a message through to them.

  Eyes glued to the image of his young wife being led away by a rapist had Cory visibly shuddering. “Can’t believe he wouldn’t have checked and taken it away from her.”

  “Yeah. Seems kind of sloppy to me also. But then again there was a lot going on. Who knows, maybe she lied and said she didn’t have one. She can fake anyone when necessary.”

  Cory huffed loudly, and the tension that had held him together seemed to loosen slightly.

  “That she can!” Pride rang in his voice.

  Chapter Thirty-six

  What seemed like ages after they left the hospital, but wasn’t that long by the car’s clock, a call came over their radio. Rhondo stared Debbie down and showed her his gun. “Not a word.”

  He angled his mouth to the left and spoke into the microphone attached on the shoulder of his uniform. “LVPD 2-Queen-4 go ahead.”

  The radio operator gave the message about the hostage taking and Earl replied with an affirmative. Debbie knew he had to have gotten instruction from the vehicle's officer. She only hoped the poor soul was still alive.

  Satisfied that he'd slid under the radar, he clicked off then turned to her. “The game is on. Give me your phone.”

  “What phone?” Debbie played dumb. Meanwhile hidden inside the baby’s blanket, her fingers were wrapped around the device and clinging—hard.

  “Don’t mess with me. Hand it over. I won’t ask again. If I have to take it from you, someone might get hurt.” How could a voice be so cold—no inflection, no warmth, just a deadly promise?

  He pulled to the curb and held out his hand. She glanced out the passenger window and saw no one. The rundown neighbourhood looked to be full of depressing buildings, which housed the poor and uncaring.

  Slowly she pulled her hand out while her thumb caressed her girlie pink companion. This phone had become her best friend over the last while, her connection to everyone she
loved. Giving it up equalled passing over the link to her life, her world…safety.

  Scorn filled his voice. “Thought you could pull a fast one, hey? Don’t underestimate me, Deb.”

  Skilful acting kicked in and stopped her tears. She threw it towards him and watched as he leaned out of the window and dumped it into a garbage can. The knowledge that Aurora would have seen her call-me clue had kept her sane. It would have given them hope that she could get them a message. Now there was no hope. She was on her own. Oh God!

  Back on the road heading out of town, Rhondo drove like one possessed. She became lost once they left the city limits and took the first few turns to nowhere. He’d used roads that could only be called tracks, and that would have been a compliment.

  Jostled and sore, Debbie clamped her lips shut and prayed the baby wouldn’t cry—that he’d stay sleeping.

  During this whole time, only once had the man’s face softened, the meanness faded. Looking at the sleeping child, he’d almost seemed human. Then he said the first thing that gave Debbie any indication of why the crazy bastard had broken into her hospital room and kidnapped her and Alec.

  “He has my chin.”

  Thoughts and images battled for supremacy. She hated reliving those moments when he’d beaten her, broken her spirit and possessed her body. Worse of all, she detested having to spend even a split second letting him have room in her head. Months ago, she’d worked hard to obliterate the animal from her mind.

  Except now the animal had forced his way into her life again. This time she’d be damned if he’d win whatever battle he intended. Not when the life of her son was at stake. This time, she’d kill him or be killed.

  Promise made, she relaxed the stiffness in her back and stomach and arched her neck to release the painful stiffness. She couldn’t let her emotions rule. Now she needed her smarts to work for her. Being a savvy cop gave her an advantage, one she’d use with the last breath in her body.

  “You think so?” She cleared the acid eating at her throat.

  Rhondo glanced at her quickly then turned back to the road.

  She watched the play of expressions on his face and knew her answer had unnerved him. Liking the power, she added. “I named him Alec.”

  “Why Alec?” Tentative interest had flared, and the words burst from him as if he had tried but couldn’t contain it.

  “Don’t laugh, okay? I figure the kid will probably grow up to be a smart-aleck anyway, and I liked that the word smart would be connected - a kind of mind transference thing. You know. If people call him smart, he’ll have to live up to it.”

  “It’s good…a good idea. Alec’s a man’s name…not sissy. I like it.”

  He slowed the car and swerved onto a lane that came out of nowhere. Dirt and dead bushes surrounded the car as they slowly headed to a dark and dilapidated building in the distance.

  Chapter Thirty-seven

  Veronica Marks was a stunning woman in her late forties who had a lot of initials after her name. Short brown hair styled to behave, and intelligent brown eyes that saw more than most people hoped to divulge, she impressed Aurora right from the moment Kai made the introductions.

  Cory appeared shortly after she arrived. His tie lost long ago, his sleeves rolled to half-mast and the creases in his suit pants proved to those who knew him that all was not well with his world. If his appearance didn’t warn one, his nervous manner and the crazy glint in his eyes did the trick.

  “Mrs. Marks. Thank you for making time to help us. Our normal profiler is sick right now and the others on his team haven’t the expertise for such a case.”

  “Everyone, please call me Veronica.” She made eye contact with all three of them. I’ve ready the preliminary reports and have a fairly good idea of Mr. Rhondo, but Kai mentioned you have a few videos featuring the suspect. It helps when one can actually see the person live.”

  “Come with me.” Cory lead the way to the monitor now set up in the privacy of his office. Again they all watched the various videos taken of each incident in the hospital. At the end, silence hovered over them like a thick encroaching mold.

  Finally, Veronica shuffled the files in her briefcase and extracted the one with Earl Rhondo’s name in the tab. “You understand that I haven’t had the time to work out a complete social and psychological assessment of the offender. From the files you sent copies of, I feel I have a fairly good idea of his motivation and after watching the tapes, I’m almost certain they’re somewhat accurate.”

  “Anything you’ve come up with can only help at this time. This dirtbag abducted my wife and child for reasons unknown to us. If you can tell us anything about his motivation, it might help us solve the question as to his intentions and even his whereabouts.

  “Veronica extracted a pair of reading glasses from a leopard-skin case that matched the colouring on the frames. Fancy glasses didn’t fit in with the look of the professional, Aurora thought, but they were kind of endearing.

  Cory burst out again, words spilling from him as if talking kept him sane. “Earlier, it came to our attention that my wife most likely concealed her cell phone. Aurora noticed Debbie’s clue when she left the hospital under duress.”

  “Yes, you pointed it out and I thought it quite resourceful. Obviously, your wife is a woman who doesn’t panic easily and who keeps her cool.

  “My wife is a woman who has an infection that needs medication and she’s also a new mother who will do anything it takes to protect her baby.”

  Whoa!! Aurora heard Kai shift and felt the tension rise. She knew Cory didn’t mean to come off as an asshole, but his nerves were raw from relentless worry. Time to interrupt… XXX

  “We can't call her on the off chance that she hasn't been able to put it on vibrate. We won't e-mail her either for the same reason that her ring-tone would wake the dead. We're praying she'll be able to get a message through to us sooner or later. At this time we have no idea where they could be and very few leads to help us. We were hoping you might give us something concrete about his personality to work on.”

  Veronica smiled at Aurora as if to say, don’t worry. This kind of thing happens and I won’t take it personal. “I don’t know how much this will help, but I have a fairly good idea what’s driving this man. Let me give you what I’ve figured out so far, and we’ll see if you concur.”

  Both Aurora and Kai nodded and settled back. Only Cory crossed his arms and continued to stand.

  “Right! I feel Mr. Rhondo’s childhood comes into play here. A strict father, possibly a stepfather who demanded he be straight when his earliest tendencies were homosexual. He has empathy for young males, none for women he’s hurt, which leads me to believe that either he had a mother who died when he was young, or she deserted or maybe lived a reclusive life, uninvolved and uncaring of Earl and most likely his father. I’d go with the last one as it would feed his hate for the fairer sex. His father’s influence, the man he wanted to be proud of him, to love him, would be the driving force in his behaviour.”

  Veronica cleared her throat and looked to be uncomfortable until she shrugged her shoulders as if making a decision. Then she continued.

  “This would be why having a child of his own would be paramount to making him feel vindicated, a real man, a reason for his father to show approval. A child would be the one goal in his life that would prove his worth.”

  Not a whisper of sound could be heard until Aurora cleared her throat. Oh no! Like a Tetris game solving itself, everything fell into place. Of course! The baby—Rhondo believed Alec was his son.

  Cory glared at the visiting specialist, and in an intimidating way, he approached only to be cut off by Aurora. “I need to talk with you.” Her voice brooked no refusal and neither did the look in her eye.

  He stared her down and then seemed to deflate. “Let’s go.”

  Once into the hallway, they moved to the closest exit where Cory could pull up and park his car, then arrive in his office without going around to the front of th
e building.

  They sat together on the stairs and she watched as the man who was like a beloved brother to her bury his face in his trembling hands. “Tell me” His voice sounded raw from emotion barely held in check.

  “He raped her.” Aurora hated the words, hated the disgust the words produced, even hated having her vision blurred. She swallowed then tried to continue, except heightened emotion imprisoned her ability to speak without sobs. Until she pinched her arm and replaced some of the agony with ordinary pain.

  “Cory, she couldn’t admit that he’d overpowered her in the end. That he’d taken what she would never have freely given. In her heart, Alec has always been your child, a baby you made together. She’s never doubted it for a second. Never!”

  “Then neither will I. Come, we have work to do.” His arm encircled her shoulders for a quick hug and then he helped her stand. “We’ll find him, and when we do Aurora, god help me, I’ll have to kill the bastard.”

  Thinking of Kai, she said. “Yeah, well you’ll have to get in line.”

  Chapter Thirty-eight

  Kai found Aurora in their office, her arms wrapped around her middle trying to contain the grief she couldn’t show in front of anyone else. He moved up behind and his arms encircled her. “Babe, I’m sorry. That had to be horrendous telling a man his wife had been raped, especially Cory.”

  She leaned her head back against his strong shoulders and closed her eyes to hide the globs of moisture. “He took it well. Decided the baby was his, and knowing him, he’ll never change his mind. Alec is his son come hell or high water.”

  “I love that old saying. My mom used it many times. Hell or high water.” He shifted her and she saw the fierce need on his face. His kiss started out soft and tender, but within seconds, a groan escaped to warn her he’d been affected more than he’d intended. His erection gave notice of the influence her lips were having, and she knew the resultant dampness that gushed from inside her own body answered his need. She wrapped her arms around his back and loved the feel of his hard hands stroking her cheeks and burrowing into her hair.