Roulette

by C. D. Bradley

  The pin! The room suddenly felt arctic. Olivia gasped. “I think so. It’s not the one the victim was wearing at the restaurant. I know because I commented on the one she had on. At the crime scene I noticed it was different. That’s the reason I started freaking out.” Olivia took a shaky breath. She began tapping nervously on the desk. “This pin is older. I think it belonged to my sister.” She watched Shaver’s mouth fall open in disbelief. Dr. Mattis sat quietly and waited for her to finish.

  “Hell, I didn’t even know you had a sister,” Shaver exclaimed in disbelief. “How could you be sure that’s the same pin?”

  “My sister was murdered during her senior year of college. Her body was found in the same way as this victim and Gwen Robertson. Her name was Grace Wilson and she was in the Lambda Delta Sigmas too. I know that is her pin. It’s missing the same ruby.” She briefly told them about the riding trip when the ruby was lost. “The date is the same as hers too. 2006. It’s the year she should have graduated.” Olivia paused and placed her fingertips to her mouth to keep from crying. She needed to keep her composure now more than ever. “Grace wore that thing everywhere. She was so proud of that stupid sorority. Police said it might have been motive for a robbery as it had real stones.”

  “That was ten years ago,” Shaver insisted. “There have to be hundreds of pins like that around the country.” She could see in his eyes he didn’t believe her. She had to make them believe her. This was related to her sister somehow. She knew it.

  “I know you think I’m crazy,” Olivia answered but Dr. Mattis interrupted.

  “Actually what you are saying makes sense.” She looked from Shaver to Olivia.

  “Are you fucking serious?” Shaver blurted and slapped his notebook down on the desk.

  “Quite.” She began arching a disapproving brow at the hotheaded detective. “I found a partial print on the pin.”

  “Do you have a match?” Shaver asked impatiently.

  “This isn’t TV, Danny. There are over fifty-three million files in that database and as I said this is only a partial print, so we still have some work to do. However I do have two potential matches that stood out.” She turned the computer screen around so they could see. Shaver and Olivia sat back, their jaws nearly hit the desk. There on the split screen was a background clearance photo of Olivia Wilson Hastings for the Norfolk DAs office and on the other side what looked like the exact same girl just a tad younger in a mug shot from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.

  “Holy. Shit.” Shaver stared at the screen for a moment and then turned to Olivia. “Where did you go after the restaurant last night?”

  OLIVIA COULDN’T BELIEVE Mr. Davis had taken her off the case. She had waited ten years for this chance and now she had to sit on the sidelines. This was exactly why she didn’t want them to know about Grace. Damn it! She smashed the accelerator with her foot lurching the Audi forward. Hell with that finger print she was a fucking suspect. She should have stayed with Dominic or Piper that night, then at least she would have an alibi. I am never giving up. She fought back tears.

  Jesus, what the hell was going on? The pin definitely belonged to her sister. There was no question about that now. If the killer really held onto it all this time why give it up now? Was someone trying to frame her or send a message?

  Olivia tried to reach Dominic again as she drove. Where was he at? Maybe he wasn’t supposed to talk to her anymore now that she wasn’t involved with the case. She gripped the steering wheel and let out the loudest yell she could manage. This was some kind of fucking nightmare. How could her sister have been involved with these people? How could she have been so blind to her sister’s activities? Olivia kept picturing the mug shot. She must’ve blocked out that Grace had been arrested! Fuck, and in Vegas. What the hell was she doing in Vegas? The arrest record was for a misdemeanor drug possession and public intoxication but the charges had been dropped. Shaver had promised to do some more digging and keep her informed the best he could. Olivia couldn’t wait for them, she needed more information. She hadn’t worked her ass off her entire career to give up now.

  She made it home and pulled into her assigned space. Olivia let herself into the apartment. The darkness startled her. She felt the walls closing in. Ever since her sister’s murder Olivia had a fear of the dark. She needed to see what was around her. Quickly she turned on the light and scanned the room. Nothing was out of place. Stop this. You are going to drive yourself insane. She willed her heart to slow to a human pace. Fear had no place here. Olivia went straight to the kitchen and pulled out the biggest bottle of merlot she could find and grabbed the painted SaSS wine glass she had just bought with Piper. Hell she was off duty now. She poured the glass as far to the top as she could. She was going to need it for this.

  She took the bottle and the glass to her study and opened the large closet. Olivia paused, she hadn’t looked in here since she moved in. The final resting place for all things Grace. Six plastic totes were all that remained to show her beautiful sister had ever existed. She sat cross legged on the berber carpet and opened the first box. Olivia laughed as she saw her sister’s room decor, various posters of Marilyn Monroe, Bob Marley, and The Cult, a folded world map on which Grace had pinned all the places she dreamed of going. Olivia traced her fingers over the pin marks. So many dreams cut short. They were living their adventure. What happened to you Grace? She pulled out another Bob Marley poster with a cigarette and an old black light. Oh shit she had forgotten how they had written on the walls with a tide pen. A Hello Kitty alarm clock with one broken ear came out next. Why hadn’t she thrown any of this stuff away. Piper had gotten wasted on fireball and nearly assaulted the boy down the hall with poor Kitty when she thought he stole her Playgirl mags. She pulled out a picture of Grace with her bat shit crazy roommate Amy on that stupid purple saucer chair from Target. That thing was fucking uncomfortable. An empty bottle of White Diamonds. She opened it up. Whew, it was still potent enough to induce a headache. In the bottom of the box was the stupid green beer bong Grace had almost drowned her with. It was like opening a time capsule on her life. Her sister had been so happy and vibrant. She was the rainbow at the end of a downpour and now she was gone.

  She moved the tote aside, no time for a trip down memory lane, Olivia was on a mission. The next tote was almost all pictures. Maybe this would shed some light onto Grace’s secret life. That smile. Olivia picked up a picture of her sister wearing a white tank top and Guess denim shorts, standing between two hunky guys in the quad. That smile lit up the whole campus. Everywhere Grace went she was the center of the universe. She was the sunshine in a crazy world. Olivia held the picture close for a moment and closed her eyes. I miss you Grace.

  There were pictures from sorority events, formals, football games and in her dorm room but nothing to do with Vegas. Olivia flipped through pictures like watching a heartbreaking old movie, one that she knew would end tragically but she couldn’t bring herself to turn it off. Maybe she should take these to the lab and ask one of the techs to take a look. They might see something she was overlooking. Olivia knew she was officially off the case but she still had friends who were on it. She wanted to do everything that could possibly help. She sent a text to Julie from the lab and asked to meet her in the morning to turn over potential evidence.

  The next three totes were just filled with clothes. She pulled out sorority shirts, and her puffy North Face jacket. Olivia dumped the clothes out into a pile. It was time to wash these up and take them to the Salvation Army. A dark green fraternity T-shirt landed on the top of the pile. Olivia couldn’t remember seeing her sister wear it. She giggled. It probably belonged to some poor guy who was madly in love with her sister. She picked it up. Kappa Alpha. When she got it close to her face she could still smell some cologne on it. Olivia put it up to her face and inhaled. It was faint, hell it was ten years old but very familiar. Something about it stirred her. If she had known him she definitely would have crushed on this boy.

/>   She refilled her wine glass and pulled the last tote over. Olivia said a silent prayer this one would hold something that would be helpful. Carefully she removed the lid as if valuable evidence might spill out. This one was all sorority related. Piper had done a great job of packing everything up. After Grace’s funeral Olivia had been unable to help with any of the tasks of cleaning out her dorm. She hadn’t even been able to set foot on that campus. She knew Piper had stepped up and helped her mother. Guilt came swimming back up the river of regret. She had let them all down. It was easier to just pull away than to face them. It was cowardly and she was not proud of it. What she wouldn’t give to be able to talk to her mother and tell her how sorry she was.

  But that would never happen. Her mother and father were buried next to Grace in Brighton Cemetery. Years of heartache and loneliness had been too much on her mother. The girl’s dad had died of cancer when Olivia was too little to remember. Her mom always said they were all she had. Losing Grace ripped her mother apart. Olivia knew that if she hadn’t been so wrapped up in her own self-pity and guilt she could have been there for her mom. She would solve this for them both. This was her chance to make up for every selfish move she had made. The sorority box contained her Lambda Sigma Delta paddle, flask, clothes, endless pics and her pin box. There were three shoe boxes each containing a killer pair of designer shoes and matching mini bag. Olivia knew she had never seen her sister wear these. How had she afforded these?

  There was no way her sister could have bought a Dolce and Gabbana or Gucci purse. Yet here they were. She set the shoe boxes aside and pulled out a small wooden box painted Tiffany blue. The sorority pin box, her sister was so proud of that thing. Olivia opened the box slowly as if she expected it to be there. She stared at the vacancy. She no longer had to wonder where it was. Downtown in a drawer, it lay bagged and tagged in a murder investigation. She started to put it away when a car backfired on the street and scared the holy pee out of her. Olivia dropped the box on the floor. Idiot. She scolded herself and picked it back up. She started to put it away but the lid wouldn’t close right. She opened it again and saw the edge of a piece of paper sticking out of the false bottom. Olivia pried the bottom loose and retrieved a folded piece of paper wrapped around a black and white Harrah’s poker chip and a hotel room key and a folded stack of cash. The paper read simply. 702-555-1212 Forever yours, D. Who the hell was D? The money was in a silver clip with the monogram GW. She opened the clip. Holy. Fuck. They were all thousands. Fucking thousands. There were ten of them folded neat as you please. Were they real? She turned them over and inspected both sides. They looked fucking real. If she searched her whole apartment she would be lucky to come up with three hundred dollars. God Grace. She wanted to yell at her sister and shake her for ever getting mixed up in this.

  She stared at the evidence. Well, there it was, her sister had gotten herself into some deep shit. However at the moment she couldn’t say too much for herself either. In the course of a week she had gone from prosecuting attorney to a person of interest in a murder investigation. There was only one thing to do, she needed to go to Vegas and find out exactly what Grace had been up to. Olivia knew that under no circumstances would they approve of her leaving town. She should call Shaver. The safe bet would be to turn over everything she had found, sit tight and let the police do their jobs. That was the smart move. She was an attorney. Her job was to make the safe calculated bet.

  She picked up the chip and turned it over in her fingers. An image of standing in a casino tapping nervously on the Roulette table hit her like a brick. In front of her was a stack of hundred dollar chips like the one in her hand. Her heart was racing. There was no turning away now. She fought the nausea and pushed the stack to seven red. All in. She closed her eyes as the wheel began to spin.

  Playing by the rules hadn’t gotten her very far. She was sitting alone on the floor of her apartment digging through the life of her sister whose life had lit up the sky like a comet. Something inside her snapped. Years of pain and regret came crashing down and released a fury that she had never let herself experience before. Olivia stood up and threw her wine glass at the faux hearth. She was done playing the victim and living on the defensive. Tonight she was going to take the safety off. She was jumping in with both feet no holding back. Olivia went to the closet and picked out a black lace dress that accentuated each curve. She opened the shoe boxes and selected the bright red strappy Vince Camuto heels and Gucci purse.

  She jumped in the shower and embraced the hot water. The excitement of what she was about to do coursed through her. For the first time in a decade she wasn’t letting fear drive every move. She pushed aside the fact that she was scared shitless. No matter what happened in Vegas she was going to get the answers she had spent the last decade looking for. No one was going to stand in her way.

  She thought of Dominic. Even the hottest water couldn’t match his touch. She closed her eyes and moaned remembering him standing in this very shower with her. Fuck that man knew her body better than she did. She let her hands move over her breast and squeezed the nipple, thinking of his teeth. She leaned against the cool tile wall and let her other hand move in the soapy water down to her throbbing clit. She remembered him flicking with his tongue and taking her sensitive flesh in his mouth. She rubbed furious circles working herself into a frenzy. She wanted to lose control with him all over again. She could still see his rock hard body wrapped around hers. Fuck, when he picked her up with those muscular arms . . . the wave of orgasm crashed over her so hard she almost didn’t hear her phone ring. Olivia tried to jump out of the shower and slid hopped across the bathroom floor. She grabbed a towel on the way and made it to her phone just before voicemail kicked in.

  “Hello . . . Hello . . .” she said breathlessly.

  “Wow don’t tell me you were actually exercising Piper mocked. “No, wait, is Dominic there? Did I interrupt you and your super-hot book boyfriend?”

  “No.” Olivia laughed. “I was just getting a shower. Alone.” She stressed even though it was only a half truth.

  “How did your day go? Did you catch the bad guys?” Piper asked eagerly. Olivia knew Piper just couldn’t help her curiosity.

  “Not yet. Actually, Piper, can you keep a secret?” Olivia needed to let someone know where she was going in case something happened. If she failed they would need to know where to look for the body. “I’m going to Vegas to follow a lead. You can’t tell anyone not even Dominic. I just wanted someone to know where I was in case.”

  “You’re what?” Piper yelled into the phone. “You shouldn’t go out there by yourself. Who’s going to have your back if something happens.”

  “I’ll be fine, Piper. I’m just following up on a lead. I need answers,” Olivia blurted

  “Forgive me for saying this, Liv.” Piper began hesitantly as you would talk to someone standing on a ledge. “But isn’t that a job for the police?” Piper was right of course but Olivia couldn’t tell her about being removed from the case. She had to get to Vegas.

  “I have this covered. Have a little faith, Piper.” Olivia half laughed to hide her anxiety.

  After she hung up with Piper, Olivia slipped on the black dress. Carefully she opened the shoebox with the red strappy heels and put them on.

  Olivia stood and looked at her reflection in the full length mirror. They say you can’t judge someone until you walk a mile in their shoes. At least she was damn lucky Grace had some killer shoes. If she could live a day in the secret life of Grace Wilson perhaps she could unravel the mystery of her death. She knew this plan was crazy but she was running out of options and with the new developments in the case, she was running out of time.

  No more playing the game by the killer’s rules, it was time to take matters into her own hands. She put on lipstick as deep red as her shoes. Grace Wilson. She stared at her reflection in the mirror. Knock them fucking dead.

  OLIVIA KNEW THAT the silver haired man in the restaurant was the owner of th
e charter group they had been investigating. Shaver said his name was David Michaelson. Could he be the “D” from the note? There was only one way to find out. If nothing else, he might be able to help her get a flight to Vegas. At the restaurant he thought she was Grace maybe she could use that to her advantage. She was aware this might prove to be a suicide mission but that was a risk she was willing to take. Grace would never have backed down from this.

  She was going to have to move fast to get out of town. Olivia was quite sure that Shaver had put a tail on her partially because she was now a suspect and to keep her from doing anything stupid. He warned her when she left the morgue to stay close and forget the Nancy Drew bullshit. She laughed loudly to her empty apartment. He had no idea just how far she was willing to go. None of them did, but they would soon find out.

  Olivia couldn’t go out like this if she was being followed, so she put a lightweight trench style jacket over her dress. She needed to blend in. Then she slipped off the red shoes and put them in her gym bag and put on a pair of sandals. She packed all the cash, the key card, the note, and the poker chip into her purse. For the first time Olivia wished she had taken some kind of weapons training. In the years since Grace’s death she had considered it but felt with the episodes she had it wouldn’t be safe. Now she was walking into the lion’s den unarmed. What ever happened she wanted answers and to put an end to this nightmare.

  Before she left Olivia picked up her phone. She started to dial Dominic but hung up. Fuck she wished she met him at a different point in her life. He really was everything she would have asked for in a man and the connection she felt with him was undeniable. She squeezed the phone. Fuck! She couldn’t call. He would try to stop her and no matter how much she wanted him, she wouldn’t drag him into this. He needed to stay safely on his side of the law and she was about to cross every line she had sworn to protect. She tossed the phone in her bag and walked out into the Virginia evening.