by Curry, Edna
Last week’s robbery, which had ended in a murder, had tested his limits. Police had swarmed all over the place and he’d even had some FBI guys here asking questions. They’d taken his security tapes and had been furious to find the most important ones blank. Supposedly well-hidden hall security cameras on the elevator and the floor where the robbery had taken place had been covered.
Someone obviously had told them the location of his cameras—insider knowledge. The agents had questioned his key staff and even him suspiciously. As though they thought Allen would sabotage his own lucrative business by engaging in illegal activities.
Or allow his employees to do so. He’d give a lot to know which employees had cooperated with the thugs. If, no when, he found out, he’d fire them immediately. With a staff of hundreds, he had his work cut out for him to ferret out the guilty party.
Life had calmed down for the moment and he hoped would stay peaceful for a while.
Allen’s gaze swept the room. He suspected a few people lurking here were Feds. They blended in with the crowds, but their eyes were constantly watchful and they drank only soda instead of liquor like most of his patrons. Like the older guy with the scowl sitting by the poker table. He watched far more games than he played and Allen’s bartender said the guy often nursed one coke for hours.
Another suspicious character was Smiley, the guy in a dark suit who sat at the bar. He had a constant, wide smile and flirted with a scantily dressed redhead. He bought drinks for her, but drank coke himself and kept one eye on the guys at the poker table. The woman didn’t seem to notice he gave her less than his full attention, something obvious to Allen.
Why hang around Vegas hotels if they seldom gambled? Oh, yeah, they were up to something. He bit his lip and his stomach begged for more antacid. He bought the stuff in supersized bottles these days. Keep calm. Nothing to worry about if they were Feds. If not—.
Allen had had to deal with the other kind more than once. He rolled his stiff left shoulder. Just remembering taking a bullet there made it ache. But they’d gotten the jerk who’d pulled the trigger. He wouldn’t be packing heat in jail.
Allen glanced up at the discreetly hidden cameras his security team used to monitor activity at the tables. Trained spotters watched the monitors in an overhead office area and could instantly alert their people downstairs of any suspicious activity they noticed.
He walked on to the next room where several scantily clad women hung onto players’ arms at one of the roulette tables. One buxom blonde in a sleek red silk dress coaxed her fat, bald partner to give her more chips. The man, another regular customer Allen recognized as Sam, a sucker who paired up with some woman and lost a bundle every few months, then went back home to nurse his wounds until the next trip.
Who was he to tell men how to spend their money? Whatever made the old guy happy was okay with him, and was certainly good for the Top Notch Hotel’s coffers.
Satisfied with his inspection, Allen made his way back to the elevators.
“Making your usual rounds, Sir?” a uniformed guard asked as he punched the up button.
“Yes, John. Goodnight.” Allen went up to his penthouse apartment, relishing the sudden quiet and smoke free air. Exhausted after a very long day, he wanted a hot shower and his bed.
After only a couple of hours of sleep, the phone woke him. Dread sent a cold lump to his belly when he heard his head of security’s voice. More trouble.
Another rich guest robbed of expensive jewelry. “I’ll be right there,” he said, hanging up the phone and reaching for his pants.
Thank goodness the local police department cooperated by discreetly coming in a side door to investigate, so the guests wouldn’t be upset. He gave a large donation each year to insure that little favor. If only he didn’t have to involve them at all.
No such luck. He couldn’t possibly pay off the claims for the expensive items stolen in this series of robberies himself. And naturally, the insurance companies wouldn’t pay without the police investigations and reports.
At least the robbers were spreading their ‘favors’ around. His wasn’t the only hotel being targeted. Several others had had trouble earlier. He hoped they’d make their fatal mistake and get caught soon. If not, maybe they’d move on to another hotel or town. He didn’t want to wish them on anyone else, he only wanted them to go away.
***
When Jessie woke and demanded attention hours later, Candi was glad for a break. Her shoulders ached from sitting at the computer. She peeked outside. Luke and the workmen talked by the garage.
She changed Jessie and took her to the kitchen with her to warm a bottle and give her thin cereal. Jessie happily downed her meal, bouncing and making gurgling noises. Candi found herself grinning back to her.
“You like that, do you snookums?” Jessie waved her arms, kicked her chubby legs and grinned. Candi leaned down and kissed the soft downy hair on Jessie’s head. “Oh, you do, don’t you? Oh, you are such a cutie pie!”
“Snookums? Cutie pie? Are those real names?” Luke’s deep voice asked from behind her.
Candi swung around. Heat climbed up her face. Ye gods, she’d never used such silly words in her life.
Luke stood grinning at her, bits of sawdust in his hair. He looked virile and capable, a strong working man. She swallowed as her heartbeat sped up. She didn’t need this attraction to the man now. She had enough to distract her from her work without that. She pushed it aside and raised her chin defiantly in answer to his taunt.
“I suppose your family never uses baby talk?” she challenged.
He laughed. “Of course we do. But I didn’t think a proper English major and writer did.”
“Ha. Jessie likes it.” She shrugged and turned back to wash Jessie’s face and take off her bib. She sat and fed Jessie her bottle. “How’s the security system coming along?”
“We’re getting there, but we’re thirsty. I came in for something cold for everyone to drink.”
“Oh. Help yourself. I think there’s water, juice and several kinds of soda in the refrigerator.”
“Thanks.” He pulled out cans.
“Did you guys get lunch?”
“Yeah, I picked up burgers for everyone at noon.” He pushed the refrigerator door shut with his elbow and went back outdoors.
She burped Jessie and put her down in her playpen for a nap. Jessie contentedly sucked her thumb. Glancing at the clock, Candi realized noon was hours ago and she’d missed her own lunch.
Then she opened the refrigerator to fix a sandwich and saw the beef roast she’d bought when they’d gone shopping.
Time she did her share of the cooking. She put the roast in the oven for dinner and ate her lunch. Then she peeled potatoes and carrots, and then sliced onions to put in the pan with the meat. The simple meal was a family favorite and would need no watching while she worked.
With Jessie asleep, she settled at her computer. Her hero had been searching out clues with his attractive heroine for several chapters. Both were way past wanting each other. Time to reward them with seriously hot lovemaking.
As she worked out the scene, she found herself visualizing herself and Luke as the hero and heroine. Oh, yeah! She typed away, imagining Luke’s hands on her skin, his lips making her seriously want him to ravish her and—. Could she taste him later to see if he was really as delicious as she imagined her hero to be?
Yikes. What was she thinking? She didn’t have time to waste dallying with a man who might be trying to make big trouble for Jolene. What kind of loyalty to her sister was that, to be lusting after him? She should be thinking up ways to get rid of him.
Except maybe the guy who had tried to break in was really after Jessie. If so, he was far more dangerous than the FBI guy.
So, shouldn’t she choose the lesser of two evils?
***
Deciding she had to move again, Jolene took a cab from the motel, telling the driver to head west to the suburbs. The cabbie shrugged and obeyed. Sh
e watched the scenery as they drove, and finally told him to stop when she saw a chain restaurant. She ate a meal, walked a few blocks, and hailed another cab at an intersection.
Again she had him drive aimlessly, until she spotted a small motel that looked clean but inexpensive and had a lit vacancy sign. Down the street, she saw several fast food places. Perfect. She checked into the room using a second false ID and cash to pay for several days.
That evening, after eating a burger, Jolene used the pay phone to call her unhappy sister, who demanded, “What are you mixed up in this time, Jolene? Do you know the FBI followed you here to Grandma’s house?”
Jolene swallowed. “Really? How do you know that?”
“How do you think? The agent came here, asking questions.”
“What did you tell them?”
Candi’s sigh echoed loud over the phone. “Only that I hadn’t seen you in years and didn’t know where you were or what you’d been up to.”
“Good.”
“Good? What’s going on?”
“I—I had to leave George. He didn’t want me to go.”
“I don’t like this, Jolene! It’s too scary. Last night, someone took the screen off the bedroom window where Jessie was sleeping. The agent chased the man away. What if he’d taken her?”
“Oh, God. She’s okay, isn’t she?”
“Yes. The FBI guy is staying here with us for now. And I had a new security system installed.”
“He’s staying with you and Jessie? Candi, are you sure he’s someone you can trust?”
“I saw his credentials.”
A hollow laugh popped out of Jolene. “Candi, fake ID’s are so easy to get, it’s not funny. George and his friends get them all the time.”
“Yeah. But I’m pretty sure these are legit.”
“All right. Thanks, Sis. I owe you. Again.” A sob escaped. She put her hand over the mouthpiece and leaned against the wall of the phone booth until she got herself under control.
“You okay, Jolene?” Candi sounded worried.
“Yeah. Promise me you’ll be careful.”
“I will. You be careful. Luke, the FBI agent, thinks you might be in danger.”
“I know. I’m being careful, Sis, I promise.”
“Jolene, please come back and stay with me.”
“No, I can’t lead them to Jessie.”
“Then let the FBI put you in protective custody. It’ll be safer.”
A wave of claustrophobia clutched at her throat. She croaked, “You mean, let them arrest me?”
“Protective custody isn’t arrest.”
“To me, it is.”
Candi sighed. “Okay. I love you, Jolene. You know that, don’t you?”
“Yeah. You too.” Jolene hung up and struggled to hold back the tears. She shouldn’t have defied George. Why hadn’t she stayed in the hotel with him? She might have known he wouldn’t let her go.
Had he found Jessie already? Maybe she should have asked Candi to go somewhere else for a while. Jolene closed her eyes, fighting a wave of nausea. What was she going to do? She couldn’t run forever. Maybe she should go to the police and tell them what she knew. They would arrest George and his friends.
Jolene swallowed back tears of defeat. Yeah right. No matter who the police picked up, they wouldn’t stay in jail long. Their high priced lawyers would have them back out in hours. She’d seen it happen before. And then they’d come after her for ratting on them. Even in jail, they’d send one of their friends to get her.
No, she had to stay out of sight for a while. Reassured of Jessie’s safety for the moment, Jolene walked to a drugstore and bought a couple of novels to pass the time. Hiding in a motel gave her way too much free time to spend thinking and worrying.
Not a good thing. She hated leaving her baby and missed the little one so much already!
***
Hours later, Candi set the table in the dining room for dinner. Gram had always insisted on going formal for dinner when she had company, rather than eating at the kitchen table as they did when the two of them were alone. She’d used the good china and her good silverware. So Candi only followed tradition by doing the same tonight.
Luke was technically her company, wasn’t he? Even if he’d sort of invited himself to stay with her rather than in the apartment he’d rented across the street.
She found herself obsessing over whether everything looked nice, if the white linen tablecloth and little centerpiece of red silk roses were too fancy for only the two of them. Will he think I’m coming on to him? Well, I am. I’ve been thinking of him off and on ever since I first met him. The darned guy is hard to ignore, that’s all. It’s not my fault, it’s just hormones. Writing love scenes always does this to me. Luke looks too much like the hero in my book.
She heaved a sigh. How could she have known a guy with dark, wavy hair, tight buns and washboard abs just like she’d described when she started this book months ago, would appear on her doorstep and insist on protecting her? Like she’d conjured him up or something?
She’d given her hero a similar protective nature. Well, he had to be like that to save the heroine from the killer at the end of the book, didn’t he? She could hardly have made him a wimp.
So, of course he resembled an FBI agent, even if she had never met one before.
She jumped when the door opened behind her and Luke walked in. A motor roared outside and the sound muted again when he closed it and turned to punch in the security code.
“Are they finished?” She turned from the stove to eye Luke.
He slipped off the light jacket he’d been wearing and nodded. “Yep, all done. If anyone tries to get in again an alarm will sound. Come here, I’ll show you how it works.”
He went through the steps of activating the alarm before leaving the house and how to key in her code to deactivate it when she returned, and then to activate it again once she was inside. They went through the steps over and over, until she was sure she had the code memorized. “Got it now?”
She nodded. “Yes, I’m sure I’ve got it.”
“Good. I’m going to grab a shower.”
“Dinner will be ready in a few minutes.”
“Okay, I’ll hurry.” He stopped at the laundry nook and emptied his pockets, then grabbed a clean set of clothes.
She watched him stride on back to the bathroom, admiring the shape of his wide shoulders and the tight fit of his jeans over nice buns. God, she was pathetic, lusting after a man who was only in her life because of his job, not because he was attracted to her. In fact, she’d gotten enough suspicious looks from him to wonder if he still thought she was Jolene’s partner in some crime or other. Just why was he looking for Jolene anyway? Could she trust what he’d told her? Or would he lie to her to cover his real reasons?
She jumped when his cell phone rang, the sound vibrating loudly on the washing machine. She grabbed it before it could wake Jessie and answered it.
“Hello?”
She heard a gasp and a strained female voice asked, “Who is this?”
“Candi Lewis. Who are you calling?”
“Luke Mazinger.”
“You have the right number. He’s in the shower. May I tell him who’s calling so he can return your call?
“This is Janice, Luke’s sister. I wanted to say ‘happy birthday.’ I guess he’s having one. I sure didn’t expect him to have a new girl friend.”
“Oh, no. I mean, we’re only friends. I mean…” Candi stuttered, wondering what Luke would want her to say. “I mean, he’s on the job here with me.”
“Are you an agent, too?”
“No. I—I’ll have Luke call you and explain.”
“You do that.” The line went dead.
Yikes. Had she screwed up things for him with Luke’s family? Did he already have a girlfriend and now his sister would report he was cheating on her? What a mess.
Today was his birthday! She’d have done something special if she’d known. She remembere
d half of an ice cream cake in the freezer. She’d pigged on some and then pushed it out of sight so she wouldn’t eat all the rest. She hunted in Gram’s cupboard until she found the birthday candles always stashed there.
She put their food on the table, filled their glasses with water and was about to sit down when Luke appeared beside her. He surprised her by pulling out her chair and seating her.
“Thanks.”
“You don’t need to look so amazed, Candi. My mother did teach me a few manners, even if I seldom use them.”
She hadn’t meant to let her feelings show. Her cheeks heated. She ducked her head, making a big deal out of arranging her napkin on her lap. “I’m sure.”
He sat and she began passing him bowls and platters of food.
They ate in silence for a while, and then he said, “This is delicious. I don’t know when I’ve last had a home cooked meal. Yes, I do. It was last Christmas, at my mother’s house.”
She glanced at him and frowned. “You haven’t seen your mother since Christmas? That’s almost four months ago.”
“Yeah, I guess it is.”
“So, you’re not close to your family?”
“No.” His closed expression said he didn’t want to talk about that.
“Your sister Janice called. She wants you to call her back.”
He looked at her in surprise. “Oh? I’ll call her later.”
She said softly, “Happy birthday, Luke.”
He flushed. “She told you, huh?”
Candi nodded. “I have part of a cake we can use to celebrate. If you’d mentioned it, I could have ordered a real birthday cake.”
“No need for that. I’m not a partying kind of guy.”
“She wants to know who I am. I didn’t get you in trouble with a girlfriend or anything, did I?”
He grinned. “No. I don’t have a girlfriend. She’s just nosy.”
“Oh.” Candi ate another forkful of roast and wondered why he wasn’t close to his family. But she didn’t know him well enough to ask. Maybe she never would. She swallowed her food and sipped her water, debating whether to risk asking more about him.
