Jingle of Coins

by C. D. Ledbetter

  Glen stepped out of the bathroom. “What were you saying?” he asked. “I couldn’t hear you—”

  “Kate’s hurt!”

  He was beside them in an instant. “Let me have her.” He glanced at Emily as he checked Kate’s pulse. “Did you call 911?”

  “Yeah.” The blare of sirens sounded in the background. “I’ll get the paramedics.” Emily raced barefoot to the parking lot. “This way,” she shouted as the ambulance screeched to a halt. “Hurry.”

  “Don’t try to talk,” Glen whispered as Kate opened her eyes. “The ambulance is here.”

  “Sorry.”

  He squeezed the soft fingers wrapped around his hand. “It’s okay, Kate. You’re going to make it. The ambulance is here. Just hang on for a few more minutes. You can do it Kate, I know you can.”

  “Can’t. It…hurts. Tell…tell Emily I’m sor…”

  “Don’t give up,” Glen said. “Hang on, Kate.”

  The paramedics crowded into the doorway and motioned for Glen to step back. Emily sidled up next to him. “Will she make it?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know. She’s bleeding pretty badly.”

  The paramedics worked frantically for a few minutes, trying to keep the tiny spark of life within Kate’s body alive. Finally, one of them shook his head and stood up. “I’m sorry,” he said. “We did everything we could, but she lost too much blood. She’s gone.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Emily slumped against Glen’s side as tears streamed down her face. “She’s can’t be dead,” she whispered. “Check again. Please.”

  The paramedic shook his head and slowly covered Kate’s body with a sheet. “Why don’t you wait inside?” he suggested.

  Glen kept his arm around Emily’s shoulders as they stepped into the apartment. He guided her to the couch, then walked over to the liquor cabinet and poured two glasses of brandy.

  “I can’t believe she’s gone,” Emily said as pushed away the proffered drink. She glanced down at the dark red stains etched across her hands. “There’s so much blood. I’ve never seen so much blood.”

  He guided the glass to her lips. “You’re in shock. The brandy’ll make you feel better. Please. Just take a sip.”

  She glanced at Glen. “Did you see how she was dressed? Do you think one of her customers did that to her?”

  He shook his head. “Maybe. I don’t know.” He looked up as a uniformed police officer came to the doorway.

  Glen pushed the glass into Emily’s hand. “I’ll be right back. The cops want to talk to me,” he announced as he stood up. “You okay?”

  She took another sip of brandy, trying to ignore the dead body in her doorway. “I’ll be okay. I just need a minute.”

  By the time he returned, Emily drained the glass. “Do you feel up to talking to the police?” he asked.

  She nodded and walked outside, being careful not to glance at Kate’s shrouded body.

  “I’m Detective Walgren. This is my partner, Detective Monroe,” one of the men said as she joined their small group. “We have a few questions.”

  “What do you want to know?”

  Three men dressed in suits joined their small group.

  “Everything. Any details you can give us will help our investigation.” Walgren glanced at the crowd of interested on-lookers, then shook his head. “Just tell us what happened.”

  Emily struggled to find a way to explain what had happened without telling the cops that she and Glen had been in the middle of making love. The detectives listened and scribbled notes while she spoke.

  “How well did you know the victim?” Detective Walgren asked, once she’d finished.

  “Not very well. I just moved here a month ago.”

  “Do you know if she had any enemies who might have done this?”

  Emily shook her head. “No, I didn’t know her well enough to know her friends or her enemies.”

  “You sure you didn’t hear any gunshots?”

  She shook her head. “No. She just came to the doorway and collapsed.”

  “Did you see any strangers in the parking lot?”

  “No. I was in my apartment when this happened. How could I see anybody in the parking lot? Look, I’m sorry, it doesn’t sound like I’m being much help, but I really don’t know anything.”

  Detective Walgren stared at her for a moment, then handed her a business card. “Thanks. Here’s my card. If you think of anything else, give me a call.”

  Once the coroner finished his preliminary examination, two men stepped forward to transport the body to the morgue. Emily looked away as they lifted Kate’s body off the floor and eased it into a body bag. Tears flowed nonstop when the gurney carrying the bag rolled past.

  Detective Walgren gently tapped her shoulder. “Why don’t you wait inside while the forensic team finishes up?”

  “I think I’ll do that.”

  He waited until Glen and Emily went inside to address the crowd of nosey on-lookers. “Okay, everybody. Show’s over. There’s nothing else to see. Why don’t you all go back to your apartments?”

  The noisy throng of residents disbanded, and the only people left outside Emily’s apartment were the cops and three men dressed in suits. Walgren looked around to make sure nobody was listening before he addressed them. “Well, well. If it isn’t Agent Curtis,” he remarked. “What brings you here?”

  Curtis sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Kate Avrill was working with us on a big case.” He glanced at Walgren, then ran a hand through his hair. “Do you mind if I ask the woman a couple of questions?”

  Walgren rocked back and forth for a moment, then nodded. “I guess it’s all right.”

  “Thanks.” Curtis glanced over Walgren’s shoulder. Two men approached from the parking area. “I’ll be right back,” he promised. He moved to the front of Kate’s apartment and waited. “Did you find anything in the truck?”

  One agent shook his head. “No, but Mike’s men were here, combing the parking lot.”

  “Shit. They must have been looking for the recording. That means she had it with her when she left the villa. Did they find it?”

  The agent shook his head. “No. They were in the grass area as we pulled up, but as soon as they saw us, they split.”

  “Then it has to be somewhere between here and the villa. Retrace every inch of her route. We’ve got to find it.” He nodded to the two agents, then rejoined Walgren. “You ready?”

  “Yeah.” Walgren stared at Curtis for several moments. “You going to tell me why you want to talk to her?”

  Curtis shook his head. “Sorry, need-to-know basis.”

  “Well then, as long as I’m there to listen, you can ask her anything you like.”

  Curtis’ men departed for the parking lot as he and Walgren moved to Emily’s doorway. Detective Walgren knocked on the doorframe.

  “Yes?” Emily replied.

  “Mind if we come in?”

  She waved them inside.

  Detective Walgren motioned to the Secret Service agent. “Agent Curtis is working on the case with us. He needs to ask a couple of questions.”

  “Go ahead.”

  “Did you notice anyone in the victim’s apartment when you came home?”

  “No.”

  He peered at Glen, then swung his glance back to Emily. “Do you know what the victim did for a living?”

  Emily took a deep breath. “Kate was an exclusive call girl.”

  “Did she ever entertain clients at her apartment?”

  “Not that I saw,” Emily replied.

  He glanced at Glen. “You ever see anybody that looked like a client?”

  Glen shook his head. “No.”

  Agent Curtis closed his notebook and stuffed his pen back in his pocket. “That’s it. Thanks.”

  An hour later, the forensic team finished their work. Emily watched them pack up and walk away. “Are they really leaving?” she asked as Glen closed the door.

  “
Yeah.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “You’re coming home with me. This is a crime scene now. You can’t stay here tonight.”

  She shrugged out of his embrace. “I can’t think about sex.”

  “Sex has nothing to do with it. You’re not staying here until a cleaning crew sanitizes everything. You can sleep in my other bedroom.”

  Tears rolled down Emily’s cheeks. “I don’t know what got into me.”

  He squeezed her shoulder. “Why don’t you get your toothbrush? You can come back in the morning to change.”

  After she disappeared into the bedroom, he grabbed a paper grocery bag off the counter. It didn’t take long to round up the films of Emily in the casinos, plus the close-up he’d made, and shove them into the bag. Emily emerged from the bedroom a few moments later. “Ready?”

  She nodded and handed him her keys. He locked the door and guided her around the pool of blood that started in her entryway and spread onto the cement outside. “Tomorrow’s going to be a better day,” he promised as he unlocked the door to his apartment.

  Emily looked back toward her apartment and sighed. “I hope so. Nothing could be worse than what happened tonight.”

  Dozer waited until his men entered the parking lot to emerge from his car. “Well?” he demanded. “What did you find out?”

  The agent who’d spoken to Emily shook his head. “Nothing. Kate must have ditched the recording before she got here. She collapsed before Emily could talk to her, and it wasn’t on her when the coroner picked up the body.” He stared at Dozer for a minute. “Mike’s men were here, searching the parking lot. As soon as they saw us, the split.”

  “Damn it to hell,” Dozer replied. “Do you have any idea how much territory we’re going to have to search? There’s got to be at least twenty miles between here and Mike’s villa.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “We’ve got to find that CD. Start tracking her route from the gate. You know what to look for. Maybe we’ll get lucky and find it.”

  He watched his men disburse and trudged back to his vehicle. After pausing a few moments to rehearse his speech, he punched in his boss’ cell phone number.

  “Patrick? It’s Dozer.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  Dozer swallowed the lump in his throat. Damn. This wasn’t going to be easy. “We’ve got a problem. A big one.”

  “What?”

  “My informant died before she could hand over the recording. We know she had it when she left the villa, but she didn’t have it on her when she died.”

  “That’s just fucking great, Dozer,” Patrick replied. “What the hell are you going to do now?”

  Dozer chose his words carefully. “We’ve gotta have more men, boss. Now. Mike’s got to know about the recording by now, especially since Kate died. We’ve got to find it before he does.”

  There was a long silence before Patrick spoke. “I’ll see what I can do.”

  Dozer gritted his teeth. “I’m sorry, but we don’t have any other choice. There’s too much territory to cover. If Mike gets his hands on that recording, all our work and my informant’s death will be for nothing.”

  “Any chance she might have hidden it in her vehicle?”

  “No. Mike’s guys were here, which means she didn’t leave it at the villa.”

  Patrick sighed. “I’ll call around and see what I can come up with.” He paused for a long moment. “You know there’ll be hell to pay when my boss hears about this, right?”

  “I know. I’ll take the heat; it’s my fault. But we gotta find that recording before Dragonisi does.”

  “Right. I’ll get back with you.”

  Dozer snapped his cell phone shut and banged his fists on the steering wheel in frustration. Kate’s death had all but killed any chance he had of nailing Mike for the three agents’ disappearance. He should have known better than to use civilians for this kind of work. His entire plan had blown up in his face, and he’d be lucky to get out of this without being demoted to the lowest rung on the totem pole. Shaking his head, he pulled out of the parking lot and headed toward Mike’s villa. Right now, all he could hope for was that his guys found the recording before Mike.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Mike drummed his fingers on the top of the security chief’s workbench. “Well?” he demanded.

  Sam Wazzle’s hand shook as he rubbed the edge of his jaw. “I’ve never seen anything like this before,” he replied. “It has to be government, maybe even CIA.”

  “That doesn’t answer my question. How the hell did you miss it?”

  Wazzle switched off the fluorescent desk lamp and swiveled around to face his furious employer. “We’ve checked every frequency on our scanner, and the only time it showed up was when we matched the exact range it uses to send the data to a recorder.” He shook his head in amazement. “Whoever designed this was brilliant. Nobody has anything like it on the market.”

  “So what you’re telling me is that we have no way to keep the Feds from listening in.”

  Wazzle fidgeted in his chair. “Not exactly. Now that we know how to check, we can find the bugs, but it will take a lot longer.”

  “You sure this is from the Feds?”

  “Yep. Nobody else has the money or the expertise to develop something like this. The good news is that I’ve seen the way the miniaturized circuits they used in this bug work, and I know for a fact that their transmitting range is less than a mile. Whatever recorder this bug was sending the data to has to be inside the property.”

  “How big a recorder?”

  “Probably about the size of a handheld tape player. Anything else would be too noticeable.”

  “Have your men check her car first, then check everything in the house, but do it quietly. I don’t want my guests to suspect that we have a security leak. If there are any more of these devices, you better make damn sure you find them.” Mike leaned forward until he was inches from Wazzle’s nose. “I take it this won’t happen again?”

  The security chief swallowed nervously. “No.”

  “It better not. Be sure and let me know if you find anything.”

  The security intercom buzzed as Mike turned to leave. “Security breach, security breach,” Stu announced. “One of the catering trucks is trying to leave the grounds unauthorized.”

  Mike grabbed the console microphone. “Stop that vehicle,” he yelled. He and Wazzle rushed to the video surveillance room in time to watch the truck crash through the gate, then continue its journey.

  Three cars roared down the driveway in pursuit, but before they could reach the street, a trio of SUVs rolled to a stop in front of the gate opening. Several men exited and stood together in a group, talking and gesturing at the gate pieces. Seconds later, two city police cars, sirens blaring, joined the fracas as Mike’s men screeched to a halt.

  “The front gate’s blocked. Send someone out the back. Find that truck.”

  “Already on it,” Stu replied. His voice crackled over the intercom as he barked out orders.

  Mike grabbed Wazzle’s arm. “You handle the cops. Get rid of them, and do it quick. Don’t give them any information.” He glanced at the living room monitor. Several guests huddled near the front door, others peered through gaps in the curtains. “Shit. I’ll have to go downstairs and do some damage control. Let me know the minute the vehicle’s located.”

  “Don’t worry, we’ll find it.”

  “You’re a dead man if you don’t. This is your fault,” Mike replied as he spun on his heel.

  Hector met him at the foot of the stairs. “I heard gunshots.”

  Mike waved his hand and shook his head. “It’s nothing,” he lied. “One of the waiters decided to take a couple of souvenirs. My men stopped him at the gate by shooting out a couple of tires. There’s nothing to worry about.” He spun around to face his guests. “Why don’t we all go out to the patio?”

  Hector and his bodyguards lingered in the hallway.

  “Aren’t you going outside?�
� Mike asked, deliberately keeping his voice on an even pitch.

  “No. Where’s Kate?”

  Mike shrugged. “She’s around. I passed her in the hallway a couple of minutes ago. Do you want me to send someone to get her?”

  “No. It’s not important. I’m leaving. Have your men bring the car.”

  Mike’s smile faded. “I told you; it’s nothing.”

  “So you say. I’m still leaving. Now.”

  “Very well. I’ll have the limo brought around.”

  Hector waited in the hallway while his bodyguards collected their luggage.

  Mike watched the man disappear at the top of the stairs, then grabbed a walkie-talkie. “Bring the limo to the front door. One of our guests is leaving.” He turned back to Hector. “The car will be outside in a few moments.”

  “Is there another exit?”

  “Yes. I’ll have the driver take you out the side entrance.”

  An uneasy silence grew between the two men. “I’ll go check on the car,” Mike volunteered as he left the hallway and hurried to the security office.

  Wazzle followed him into the surveillance room.

  “Did you find the truck?”

  Wazzle nodded. “Yeah. Stu said a woman was driving.”

  Mike exhaled sharply. “Bring her back here. Now.”

  Wazzle took one look at Mike’s clenched fists and inched further down the console. “Can’t. Stu said she died a couple of minutes after she stopped at some apartment complex.”

  “Did he say if he found anything?”

  “No.”

  “Get him on the phone. Tell him to get back here. Now.” Mike paused at the window for a moment, then spun around and left. Hector’s bodyguards had already checked the limo when he returned downstairs. “Where do you want to go?” he asked as he joined Hector on the driveway.