Closed doors led in three directions from the foyer. Spencer indicated the door directly across the foyer and as we passed the blond he said, “Kat, we’re going to my conference room.” Kat. That’s the nickname I had called Katharine during better times.
This doorway led us into yet another corridor that we took to the right. This place is a virtual maze. We walked by an open door on the left that revealed a typical executive office. Sign next to the door said Director of Security. The next door on the left opened into a conference room with an oblong conference table surrounded by twelve high-backed swivel chairs. After we were inside the room, I realized that it had a door connecting it to the office next door. It was the open door at the opposite end of the room that caught my attention. It opened into a large room with flat screen monitors covering three walls from a height of four feet to the twelve-foot ceiling. There must have been twelve monitors on a wall and each monitor had at least four pictures displayed simultaneously. In the center of the room was a crescent shaped counter with two swivel chairs. Each chair was occupied by a security officer wearing a soundproof headset with a curved wire microphone just in front of his mouth. Spencer turned from closing the door to his office and said to me, “Jack, please close that door to the Monitor Room. If we get time later I’ll give you a tour. We’re very proud of our security systems around here.”
We all got situated around the conference table and PJ opened the conversation, “Jeff, as I told you on the phone we believe that Sissy is the target of a contract put out by Yuri Muskof. We are working to verify our intel, but at this time we are treating it as a valid threat. We will come up with a long term solution but had hoped you could help us out for tonight. Give us a chance to get a plan together for something more long term.”
Sissy intoned, “What do you mean long term?” Turning toward me, “Jack you told me that I wouldn’t need to go away and start another identity. I don’t want to do that.” Back toward PJ, “Can’t you stop these guys?”
PJ placed her hand over the top of Sissy’s hands clenched on the tabletop, “Sissy, of course we’re going to stop these guys. When I say long term I mean a few days. I’m not talking about permanent relocation. I’m talking about staying out of sight for a few days. I asked Jeff if he could put you up here for tonight. Just to give us a chance to come up with a plan for the next few days. That’s all. Don’t worry, we’ll stop these guys.” Sissy shrunk back into the high backed chair and sighed. She suddenly looked small and frail.
With an upbeat tone Spencer asserted, “I have already talked to the GM. We have a room for tonight and could probably stretch to a second night if needed. Sorry that we can’t do longer, but we’re overbooked going into the weekend. We have great security coverage. We’ll have the camera in the hallway of Sissy’s room monitored constantly. Anywhere she wants to go on the property I’ll assign a security officer to accompany her.” Turning directly toward Sissy his weathered face softened, “We’ll take care of you Sissy, I promise you.”
PJ replied, “We really appreciate your help Jeff. I know that Sissy will be safe here so that frees me up to see what we can do to stop these guys.”
Suddenly, it was starting to sink in that Sissy was in the midst of a real threat involving real criminals and that I was right in it with her. This is not reading about events after the fact in simple direct police reports. This is living the events. Hopefully, living.
A knock at the door preceded Kat entering the conference room carrying a hotel key card folder. She looked even better standing than sitting. Tight white cotton blouse with button down collar, black pleated skirt just above the knees, and black patent leather sling back heels. All wrapped over a tight athletic body. Damn. I wonder if they’re hiring around here.
Kat handed the key card folder to Spencer and said, “I got two keys. Room is on ten. Registered under an alias. Monitor Room says they have camera views of the room from both ends of the hall. Can see anyone going or coming the entire length of the hall. Same area we put the Governor when he’s here.”
Spencer smiled and replied, “Thanks much Kat.”
As Kat was leaving, Sissy stood and asked her if she could show her to the ladies’ room. When the door closed PJ turned to me and said, “I didn’t want to say anything in front of Sissy, but Tim has been to Cap’s talking to people about Allison. He found one of your regulars who recalled Allison talking to some guy at the end of the bar. She seemed to be laying it on pretty heavy about her bartending. The regular said at the time it sounded to him like she was as much as impersonating Sissy. He thought it humorous at the time. Tim remembered that you said your outside cameras were not working, but wondered if the ones in the bar are working. Maybe we have a picture of this guy.”
I was surprised and asked, “When did you learn all of this?”
“Tim called just as I was walking into the casino. I haven’t had a chance to talk without Sissy around. I think she’s about as strung out as need be already. Trying to keep the situation with Allison from her at the moment. Nothing to be gained, but additional stress for her.”
“Sure. Sure. That makes sense. Yes, the cameras inside do work fine. They record, and don’t record over for seven days, so I shouldn’t have any trouble finding this guy. Unfortunately, Sissy and I are the only ones who have ever learned how to operate the playback. I don’t think Marge has a clue, so I’ll need to go there myself.”
“Let’s do this. While I get Sissy settled into her room, you run back to Cap’s. I’ll have Tim meet you there. How does that sound?”
Just as I was agreeing, Sissy came back into the conference room. PJ took the initiative, “Sissy, Jack is going to run back to Cap’s to check on things. Jeff will send an officer to bring your suitcase up before Jack leaves.”
We all stood and Spencer led us back through the maze to the casino floor. We shook hands all around and Spencer gave each of us his business card with his office and cell phone numbers. Sissy and PJ headed in the direction of the hotel, and with a security officer in tow, I headed back toward the skywalk and my car.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Traffic was light going back toward the beach. I turned into the lot at Cap’s and noted that we had a good turnout tonight with nearly every parking spot filled. Fortunately, no one had parked in my favorite No Parking spot in front of the dumpster. As I walked through the bar, I said hi to Marge. Telling her I was only going to be there a few minutes met with obvious approval. I told her that when Tim arrived she should send him to the office. I went to the office and began the process of cueing up the playback on the camera recorder.
A couple of minutes later the door to the office opened and I turned expecting to see Tim Donovan. To my utter surprise my doorway was filled with Moe. He grinned that lopsided grin of his and said, “Hi Boss. I saws your car in the lot. Marge said you was back here.” Moe looked down at me and a wave of concern washed over his broad black face, “What’s this about Allison missing?”
While I had hoped to keep the situation quiet until we could get Sissy tucked away someplace safe, I told Moe everything I knew about the threat against Sissy and our concern that Allison had been mistaken for Sissy. As I talked I could feel the intensity of Moe’s focus. He was more engaged in this conversation than at any time since I’d known him. The brash attitude was gone. He was completely focused on my statements, his questions, and my answers. I began to see a side of Moe I’d never contemplated. I wondered how many times Moe had weathered situations back in Detroit where people who were important to him were in danger. No doubt a hell of a lot more than I’d ever experienced.
Moe and I were talking about the need to keep Sissy out of sight when there was a sharp knock at the office door. Before I could even answer, the door opened and Tim took a step into the office, “The barmaid said you were back here. If you’re busy I can wait.”
Moe turned first toward Tim and then back to me, “No, no, we done. Don’t worry about anything Boss, Marge and I
’ll keep things running around here. You just do whats you need to do.” With that Moe and Tim did the awkward dance that big men do when they’re trying to maneuver past each other in a space too small to accommodate them. After several false starts, they were able to change places and Moe closed the door as he left the office.
“I was just starting to look for the playback. It might take me a minute because I don’t use this thing very often. What time are we looking for?”
Tim opened the portfolio he was carrying and flipped through the notepad inside, “Should be around ten or little after. How is Sissy doing? PJ said you were taking her to the Pinnacle?”
“Yeah, PJ was getting her settled into a room when I left. She should be safe tonight. Plenty of security around that place.”
“Was PJ going to stay with her tonight?”
“I don’t think so. I think she was going to get Sissy settled and then get back to trying to find out what happened to Allison.”
After a couple of tries I figured out the sequence of buttons to reverse and fast forward the playback. The recording has a date and time display at the bottom of the monitor so it’s a fairly efficient operation to locate something if you know the time-period you’re looking for. Sure enough at about ten-fifteen a guy sits down at the far end of the bar and Allison comes up to him and takes his order. We watch her mix him a gin and tonic, with a very long pour, and set the drink in front of him on the bar. Allison stays in front of him at the bar engaged in conversation. What appears to be casual conversation quickly evolves into obvious flirtation. There is no sound on the recording, but sometimes a picture is truly worth a thousand words. Allison was obviously laying it on heavy with this guy. We watched thirty minutes of recording during which the guy has a second drink and Allison only interrupts her conversation with him to quickly tend to the needs of the three other people scattered along the bar and fill orders for Sissy. After downing his second drink the guy says something to Allison while looking at his watch. She reaches behind her head and doffs her long blond tresses and nods her head up and down. He alights from his bar stool and goes out the rear door.
Tim leans forward toward the monitor and says, “Sure looks to me like they were agreeing to meet later. I think we may have a picture of our guy. Can you copy from this system?”
We went back and forth on the recording until we found the best view of the guy’s face and I copied that screen shot onto a flash drive Tim pulled from his pocket. The guy appeared to be in his early twenties, had blond medium length hair, a fashionable stubble of a beard, and a deep tan. He had on a loose fitting fishing shirt hanging out over cargo pants. The recording is in black and white so we couldn’t tell more than that his shirt and pants were light colored. He reminded me of a model you would see in an L.L. Bean catalog. That rugged outdoor casual look. From the shot of him leaving through the back door Tim estimated his height at 6 feet 2 inches.
Tim told me that he was going to contact Johnny at the marina tomorrow and see, if by chance, the marina camera had caught the guy in the parking lot. Maybe we could get a shot of his car. He said he would take the picture on the flash drive to the station and email it to the rest of the detectives to see if anyone could recognize him. The next step would be to put it out to the uniforms to see what turned up. We discussed the potential for this to be the guy Mrs. Feldman had described. Tim thanked me for all of my efforts and hurried out.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Sissy hadn’t wanted PJ to leave before Jack got back, but she knew that no one else had any idea where she was and after all she was surrounded by the casino security systems. Besides, the huge Jacuzzi tub looked so inviting. After PJ left, Sissy had filled the tub, opened one of the small bottles of Chardonnay from the mini-bar, and soaked in the whirling water until it was tepid. She felt every inch of her body turn to putty and for the first time since meeting with PJ at Cap’s earlier today, she felt herself relax. She wrapped up in one of the plush oversized white Pinnacle robes from the closet, and stretched out on top of the king size bed.
A knock at the door roused Sissy from her dreamy repose. Finally, Jack was back. As she headed for the door she called out to him. The answer startled her.
“No Miss. I am Officer Reinhardt with Security. Sorry to disturb you. We have a picture we need to show you. A guy we caught on one of our cameras in the casino. We need to know if you recognize him. It’ll only take a minute.”
Sissy looked through the peephole in the door and saw the officer standing in the hallway. He looked vaguely familiar, but that could be because they all looked alike. They were all big athletic looking guys wearing dark slacks, shirts, and jackets, except that a few were black and she had seen two females. Sissy unhooked the security swing bar and opened the door. The man in black burst through the doorway using his forearm to knock Sissy back onto the bed while pushing the door closed with his other hand. Before Sissy could utter a sound he was on top of her with his huge left hand clamped over her mouth. His right hand had drawn a suppressed Glock 9 millimeter from his waistband and jammed it against Sissy’s temple. Now his voice was but a growl, “Let’s keep quiet bitch or this’ll get very painful. No one said how you should die so that’s entirely up to me.”
Sissy was squirming like a fish out of water but his weight and iron strength kept her from freeing herself even the slightest. He looked down at her with cold eyes and noticed for the first time that as she landed on the bed her robe had gapped open spilling out her ample breasts. His clamp tightened on her mouth and he leered, “Damn, maybe I should take my time. Enjoy you a bit first.” With that, he tossed the Glock out of reach on the bed and grabbed her left breast as if he was going to tear it from her chest.
Sissy could taste the terror rise from the pit of her stomach as it spewed its acid up into her throat. Suddenly, her entire world had been reduced to this monster clad in black. She could not see beyond his bulk. His guttural sound was all that she could hear. The stench of his garlic laden hot breath was overwhelming. Her universe was imploding.
His grasp on her breast ended as suddenly as it had begun and he raised his weight from her body so that he could grab one side of her robe and tear it open exposing her completely. “Oh yes, I’m going to enjoy you first.” With that, he forced his knees between her legs spreading them open. For an instant Sissy was totally paralyzed in stark terror. He was going to rape her and then he was going to kill her.
He raised his upper body to reach and open his pants. The slight relaxation in force awoke Sissy from her paralysis and she began to flail with all of her strength. Her right hand bumped the lamp on the nightstand beside the bed and without thought Sissy grabbed the narrow base of the lamp and, with every ounce of force her adrenaline charged body could muster, smashed it against the side of his head. He uttered a deep growl and slumped onto his side pinning her left leg under his bulk. Sissy, still holding the lamp in a death grip, again smashed it into his head. Now, she saw blood spurt from just below his left eye. She dropped the lamp, planted her right foot in his side and wrenched her leg free. She rolled and fell to the floor, leaped to her feet, and ran out the door into the hallway. Sissy ran down the hall until she came to the stairway door. She didn’t even know which direction she had turned coming out of her room. She burst through the stairway door and started down with her bare feet slapping on the concrete steps. She was at the second landing down before she had the presence of mind to close and cinch the robe that had been sailing behind her like a cape.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
After Tim left the office, I closed and locked the door and went up the stairs to my apartment. Locking the office is only to keep tipsy patrons from wandering in. It certainly isn’t for security as there are about a dozen keys strategically located around the bar. I would imagine that Marge probably has three herself. Upstairs, I packed a small duffel bag. I didn’t know what the next couple of days had in store, but I wanted to at least have a change of underwear. I also took Mickey’
s old Smith and Wesson Model 910, nine millimeter, and the extra ten shot magazine from the drawer in the nightstand next to my bed. I have never even fired a gun anywhere except on a shooting range a couple of times and here I am worrying about having an extra clip of ammunition. I had to rummage around through several drawers but I found my concealed weapons permit. It had taken a bit of paperwork and patience with the bureaucracy, but I had transferred the registration for the gun and obtained my CCW permit as a business owner after Mickey’s death. At the time I had envisioned carrying the gun when I took my bank deposits. As it turned out I only go to the bank a couple of times a week, and it’s usually midday, so I really don’t think any stickup men are lurking in the bushes waiting to jump me. Under my ownership, the gun has spent its life tucked away in the drawer under the latest edition of Playboy. That is until tonight.
I called Sissy’s cell phone to tell her that I was about to leave Cap’s to return to the Pinnacle, but she didn’t answer. I was a little surprised but decided that PJ was likely still with her and Sissy didn’t hear her phone because it was probably buried deep in that oversized knapsack she called a purse. I left a short message on her voicemail. I had taken two steps toward the door when my cell phone buzzed. I looked at the screen and saw Sissy’s name. I knew it, she couldn’t find her phone in her purse in time to answer my call. What is it with women? Every time their cell phone rings they look bewildered and start digging around in their purse as if they had never received a call before. It would be like me keeping my cell phone in the trunk of my car under the spare tire. I answered, “Couldn’t get to your phone, huh?”
Cap's Place: A Jack Nolan Novel (The Cap's Place Series Book 1) Page 7
