Stu blinked, snapping the link. “One last time,” he threatened. “What did you tell the cops?”
Emily struggled to overcome her panic and told herself she could do this. It was her arm he held captive, not her voice. Besides, there was still Sara to think about. What would happen to her if she made Stu so mad he exploded?
Stu squeezed harder.
“Okay, all right. I’ll tell you.” Her breath came in painful gasps, and her heart thumped so loud she was sure he could hear it. “Last night I heard somebody pounding on my door. When I opened it, Kate collapsed. She didn’t even say anything before she died. I called the cops, and they got there right after the paramedics. That’s it. I swear.”
The burning pain in her left arm intensified as Stu considered her explanation. Unable to bear the agony, Emily sagged against the counter. “Please. Let go of my arm. You’re hurting me. I’ve told you everything I know. Just let go,” she begged.
Stu flashed her a twisted smile, patted the butt of his gun, then loosened his grip.
It took a moment for her brain to register that she was free. When it did, Emily jerked upright and staggered backward. Cradling her injured arm tight against her ribcage, she massaged the screaming muscles.
“You remember anything else, you call me first. Understand?”
“Yes.” Emily’s voice came out a hoarse whisper. The front bell chimed as two security guards approached the counter. One of them had a pistol strapped to his hip and had loosened the top of the holster. His fingers brushed the butt of his weapon as he walked toward them.
Afraid to speak, she sent the two men a frantic look.
“Don’t even think about it,” Stu advised, wrapping his fingers around the butt of his weapon. He tugged the front of his jacket across his hand and twisted so that the barrel pointed directly at the guards.
Emily heard a soft click and tensed. She glanced at Stu and nodded.
He remained motionless, hand on his weapon.
“Everything okay?” one of the guards asked, eyeing Stu, then Emily.
Nodding, she lowered her arms and clung to the underside of counter. A horrific image of the guards, crumpled on the floor with blood pouring from gunshot wounds shot across her mind, and she knew that unless she lied, that image would become a reality. Their fate was in her hands. Her glance flickered toward Stu.
The bulge under his jacket move slightly.
Frantic to keep the situation from getting worse, Emily managed a weak smile. “Yeah, fine.”
The guard shifted from one foot to the other, then glared at her. “You sure?”
“Yes.” Had she sounded normal enough to fool them? She’d never been much of a liar, and she prayed that, for once, she could put on a convincing act. They had to believe her—they just had to!
Instead of leaving, the guards stayed put. Emily could feel their eyes burning a hole in her. Please, please leave, she chanted under her breath. Just when she thought she was going to scream, a call came in on one of the guard’s radio about a problem in the casino.
“Well, if you don’t need us, we’ll be going.” The guard sounded unsure.
Emily struggled to make her voice sound normal. “Thanks. Go ahead and answer your call. Everything’s fine here. See you later.”
The guard touched his hand to his hat, and they departed.
Emily’s knees threatened to buckle as the door slid shut behind them. She’d done it! She’d kept Stu from shooting! She looked over at Stu, and her elation died as quickly as it had been born. The guards might be out of danger, but she wasn’t. Her hands started to shake, and she pushed her fingernails into her palms to keep them still.
He fished a business card out of his shirt pocket and rammed it into her hand. “Don’t forget. You remember anything, call me first.”
Too frightened to speak, she nodded.
He glared at her for several terse moments, and Emily moved backward until her spine pressed against the wall. Was this how insects felt when, trapped in a spider web, they watched the spider creeping toward them, knowing their life was about to end? She shivered. Stu wasn’t a spider or a snake. He was ten times more menacing and ten times more deadly. Her nerves stretched past their breaking point as he pinned her to the wall with his gaze. Then, as abruptly as he’d appeared, he spun on his heel and walked out.
“Why did you tell the guards everything was okay?” Sara demanded as she burst out of the workroom.
Emily’s vision blurred, and she cupped her hands around her nose and took several short breaths. “Because he had a gun.” Her knees buckled, and she slid to the floor.
“Oh my God. Are you okay?” Sara grabbed Emily’s arm to help her to her feet.
“Yeah.”
“I’m calling the cops.”
Emily jerked her arm free. “No—you can’t do that! What are you trying to do, get me killed? The man already brought a weapon into the shop and threatened me with it. What do you think he’ll do if I drag the cops into this? He’ll kill me for sure. I know he will.” She grabbed Sara’s arm. “You can’t call the cops, Sara. Please. Promise you won’t call them. I’ll take care of it,” she promised. “Just don’t call the cops.” Emily’s stomach rolled, and the acid taste of bile splashed against the back of her mouth. Ignoring Sara’s protests, she hurried into the workroom and leaned against the sink. Sara followed close behind, but her tirade was cut short by the arrival of another customer.
Voices sounded in the background as Emily splashed cold water on her neck and face. Whatever it was, Sara would have to handle it. She’d had enough for one day. More than enough. Ignoring the din, she reached for a paper towel.
Sara eased back into the workroom and hovered nervously. “I hate to tell you this, but there’s somebody else who wants to talk to you.”
Shaking her head vigorously, Emily picked up a cutting knife and a square of floral foam. Holding the foam firmly in her right hand, she slashed at the edges. Flecks of green flew as the blade sliced repeatedly. “Tough. I’m not talking to anybody. Tell them to come back later.”
“This can’t wait,” a low voice announced from the doorway.
Something about the man was familiar, but Emily couldn’t make the connection.
Dozer stepped forward and flipped out his identification.
“What do you want?” Emily asked ungraciously. “We haven’t taken any more counterfeit money. Once was enough.” She sighed softly. The last thing she needed was a Fed breathing down her neck.
Dozer stared at the blade still clenched between her fingers. “Let’s go back to my office.”
“You go ahead, Emily,” Sara volunteered. “I’ll watch the shop.”
Emily lowered her arm and turned to the sink. “It shouldn’t take very long,” she surmised as she rinsed flecks of foam from her forearms.
“Take all the time you need, Emily. Just keep me out of it,” Sara whispered nervously as Emily walked past.
Dozer’s office still resembled the inside of a damp, dark closet. “What’s so important it couldn’t wait?” Emily demanded as she perched on the edge of a chair. She stared at Dozer for a moment. “Didn’t I see you at the apartment complex last night?”
He nodded. “Yeah, we need to talk about your neighbor, Kate Avrill. She was helping us with a very important case. Did she mention anything about it?”
Not another one! What was it with these guys? Couldn’t they let the poor woman rest in peace?
He edged around the side of the desk. “You didn’t answer my question.”
Emily exhaled loudly. “Kate didn’t mentioned anything about you or anybody else before she died.”
Dozer picked up a pen and tapped the edge against a yellow legal pad. “Everything I’m going to tell you stays in this room. Is that understood?” Emily nodded, and he continued, “I’m looking for a recording Kate made at Mike Dragonisi’s villa. She died before she could give it to me.”
Stunned, she leaned forward. “Was that why she
got shot?” she asked in a low voice. “Did Stu do it?”
Dozer walked to the back of the desk and sat down. “We don’t know who shot Kate. Did she have anything with her when she collapsed?”
“No. She didn’t even have car keys.” Emily leaned forward rested her chin on her hand. “You didn’t answer my question. I repeat: Was helping you why she died?”
“I ask the questions here, not you,” Dozer interjected smoothly. “Do you know where she might have hidden the recording?”
Evidently this was going to be a one-way conversation, with her doing all the talking. “What is it? Some kind of tape?”
“No. It’s a CD.”
“Really?” She traced the outline of her lips with her index finger. “What about the apartment manager’s office? Could she have hidden it there, thinking she’d come back later?”
“It’s not there. We’ve checked.” He shook his head. “Tell me everything that happened since Kate knocked on your door, including your visit from Stu Bogrand a few minutes ago.”
Why couldn’t he check the statement she gave to the cops? He shifted impatiently, and she sighed. So much for a quick getaway. This was going to take time. She uncrossed her legs and moved to a more comfortable position. “Where do you want me to start?”
Chapter Thirty-One
“What did you find out?” Mike demanded as Stu walked into his office.
“She doesn’t know anything. I put the screws to her, and she just repeated what she told the cops.”
“You sure?”
Stu nodded. “Yeah. I made it perfectly clear what would happen if she didn’t.”
“Put a tail on her. I don’t want that bitch sneezing without us knowing.”
“Sam’s already on it.”
Mike grunted, then shifted a stack of papers on his desk. “The cylinders have passed the last checkpoint. They hit Reno at 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday. Go up there and make sure nothing goes wrong. There better not be any problems this time.”
Stu shifted nervously. “I got it covered.”
Mike’s cold gaze didn’t waver as he removed a switchblade from his pocket and laid it on the desk. He slowly drummed his fingers along the inlaid mother-of-pearl handle. “You better be right. If anything happens to ruin this deal, I’ll cut you into enough pieces to feed the coyotes for a month.”
Emily’s mind felt like a wad of cotton wool. Her conversation with Dozer left her numb and exhausted. His suggestion to her boss that Emily be given the rest of the week off was the answer to her prayers, and once Clarise acquiesced, Emily quickly accepted.
“Well, did you get sacked?” Sara asked the moment she entered the shop.
“No, but I’ve been ordered to take a week off.” Emily ignored Sara’s gasp of surprise and continued toward the workroom. “Hopefully I’ll still have a job when I come back.”
Sara grabbed her arm. “Wait. I have something important to tell you.”
Emily swept the worktable clear of debris, then paused. “What?”
“There’s been a man walking back and forth in the hallway all afternoon.”
She shook her head in exasperation, and tried to keep the frustration she felt out of her voice. “Sara, people walk by the shop all the time.”
“Yeah, but they don’t stare into it every time they go by like they’re looking for something. I think he was looking for you. I called security, but the minute they showed up, he disappeared. Don’t you think that was strange?”
Oh God, not more trouble. Emily reached for her leather purse. “What did he look like?”
“He had black hair and wore a beige shirt. I only noticed him because he had an ugly dark spot on the side of his face.”
Emily noticed that her hands were shaking. She clenched her fingers around the shoulder strap of her purse. “Thanks. I’ll watch out for him.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. Go home, maybe get some sleep.”
“Watch your back, Emily. I don’t want you ending up like your neighbor.”
“Me, either. I’ll give you a ring in a couple of days and let you know when I’m expected back to work.”
She gave Sara a quick hug and slowly walked to her car. Mindful of Sara’s warning, Emily glanced over her shoulder several times, but no one resembling the man Sara described appeared. Maybe Sara’s imagination had been working overtime. She certainly hoped so. The last thing she needed right now was to worry about somebody following her.
It wasn’t until Emily turned to unlock her car that she noticed a man leaning against the building. The oddly shaped birthmark on his face was clearly visible in the afternoon sunlight. She tried not to stare as he flicked his cigarette to the ground and started toward her.
Emily dropped her keys and, cursing at her ineptness, retrieved them. It took three tries to fit her key into the driver’s side door panel, and when the door finally opened, she threw her purse into the car and jumped behind the wheel, shoved the key into the ignition, and gunned the engine. The moment she backed out of the parking space, she grabbed her cell phone and punched in Glen’s work number.
He answered on the third ring.
“It’s me. I’ve got company. Somebody followed me out of the casino. Sara said he’s been lurking in the hallway all afternoon, waiting for me to return to the shop. I don’t think he’s a cop or a Federal agent. I’ll bet he’s one of Stu’s men. What do you think I should do? Make like I don’t see him or try to lose him?”
“Where are you?”
“Leaving work.” Another thought occurred to her as she drove out of the casino parking lot. “You don’t think he’s the man who killed Kate, do you?”
“Nah, probably just a tail somebody set on you to see what you’re doing. Tell you what, don’t go home,” Glen advised. “Come over here.”
She took a deep breath. “There’s something else.”
“Not now. Save it until later. I’ll meet you by the dollar slots on the back wall. Be sure to park in valet parking and come through the glass doors. Just do what you normally do whenever you enter a casino. Strike up a conversation with somebody next to you, chit chat with the parking guys, take your time moving through the doors. Remember, you need to blend in; the last thing you want to be is conspicuous. You stand out, you get noticed. Okay?”
Emily drove slowly to the casino where Glen worked and pulled into the lane reserved for valet parking. The green sedan following her bypassed the valet turn-off and disappeared into the five-story parking garage.
“Come on, come on,” she urged the attendants. Finally, it was her turn. She glanced toward the garage to see if her stalker had found a place to park. He had! He and another man moved toward the casino’s main entrance. They must have found a parking space on the first level. Damn!
She ignored the urge to run and handed her keys to the attendant. Now was not the time to panic. As long as she remained calm, she kept the advantage, not her stalker. Emily hurried into the casino and spotted Glen standing next to a bank of slot machines. “He’s right behind me,” she whispered. “And now he’s got somebody with him.”
“Come on.” Glen wrapped his fingers around her elbow and led her toward a door marked "Security."
“Where are we going?”
“To my car.”
Emily tried not to act nervous. “Won’t he follow?”
“Not through here,” Glen replied as he hustled her down the hallway. “He wouldn’t risk a run-in with security. Besides, he’ll probably check the casino floor first. It will take him at least ten minutes to figure out you ditched him.”
He paused, looked at Emily for a moment, then told her to wait in his office.
“Where are you going?” Emily asked.
“To get you a long wig from the lost and found department. You need to look different, just in case the second guy is waiting in the parking garage. Try to make your skirt and blouse different if you can; lose the neck scarf.”
Emily
waited until he closed the door, then rolled up the waistband of her skirt until the hem moved about four inches up her leg. Unbuttoning her blouse, she removed her bra, stashed it in the bottom of Glen’s wastebasket, then tied the lower portion of her blouse together under her breasts and pulled the sides and back of her shirt halfway up her back.
Glen returned a few moments later with a long, black wig. He handed it to her and, once she put it on, nodded.
“Okay. All you need is a lot more makeup and even I wouldn’t recognize you.” He waited until Emily added more eye shadow, eyeliner, and lipstick, then nodded. “Good. You certainly look a lot different than you did when you came in.” He held up a pair of silver, dangle earrings. “Put these in your ears. The ones you have on look expensive; they don’t go with your outfit now.”
Moments later he led Emily to the garage elevator and placed a restraining hand on her arm as they emerged onto the top level of the parking garage. “Wait here. As soon as I drive up, get in the back.”
Emily crouched nervously behind the driver’s seat as Glen maneuvered his way out of the parking structure.
“What does your guy look like?”
“Dark hair with a dark spot on the side of his face. You can’t miss him. The second guy is short, dumpy, and bald.”
“I see the first guy. He’s standing outside eyeing everybody.”
“Do you think he saw us?”
“No.”
Emily’s heart pounded as she waited for Glen to increase the distance between them and the casino.
“You can get up now.”
Massaging her aching shoulder, she wiggled into the passenger seat. “Do you think they will come after me?”
“Yep. We’ve got five, maybe ten minutes before they leave the casino and start looking for you.”
“Should I go to the cops?”
“And tell them what? There’s no way you can prove those guys were following you. You’re better off with me. I know the manager of a small hotel in Henderson. You’ll be safe there.”
Jingle of Coins Page 22
