Sleuthing Women II

by Lois Winston

  He glanced up, and Krista flinched at the sight of his shiner. It was already turning black.

  “Your ride should be here soon,” she said.

  John had contacted the feds, who of course wanted in on the action. A pair of FBI agents was on the way to Bear Lake.

  “Want some more ice for that or—”

  “Shut the fuck up.”

  “Alrighty then.” Krista paced back into the bedroom and checked her watch.

  Scarlet huffed out a sigh. “Seriously, Krista.”

  “Seriously what? I’m worried. You would be, too, if it was Alex going.”

  Scarlet lifted an eyebrow, and Krista realized what she’d said.

  Shit. She didn’t want to have this conversation now. She wasn’t ready.

  She might never be ready to talk about her feelings for R.J., not in any kind of honest way. She wasn’t even honest with herself.

  Krista turned away, hoping Scarlet would take the hint and leave her alone. Her phone chimed from the dresser and she grabbed it.

  “Yeah?”

  “Hey, it’s me.”

  Krista turned to Scarlet and mouthed Adam.

  “Still waiting on that pickup?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Okay, well, I’m in the lobby. Tiffany and her friends are here. The wedding party kind of spilled out, so people are lounging around and having drinks.”

  Krista sighed.

  “Anyway, I’m fine to come up there if—”

  “Don’t come up here. I told you. Keep doing what you’re doing, and let the authorities handle this. Keep your phone on, though, because I’m sure they’re going to want to interview you when they get here.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I’m calling about. You think I should have a lawyer present? You know, since it was my jacket and all? I mean, I went through Customs with it—”

  “That’s a smart idea, Adam.”

  Scarlet glanced up with obvious surprise.

  “If you know someone, you might want to call them.”

  “Okay, will do. I’ll go hang out with Dave and Trina in the room. Call me when they show, all right?”

  “I told you, I will. And don’t tell Dave anything. The last thing we need is the press here.”

  “I know, Kay.”

  Krista hung up. She checked her watch again. Why hadn’t they heard anything?

  Scarlet lost her Solitaire game and began to shuffle the cards again. She said to Blake through the open bathroom door, “So, dumb-ass, tell us—why Adam Brock?”

  Blake shook his head and didn’t respond.

  “Right place, right time,” Krista said. “From their perspective.”

  “He was stalking Adam before he even left for South America—the photos we got from the party.”

  That had Blake speaking up. “Photos?”

  Scarlet began to lay out another game of cards. “At the restaurant. Two days before he left. We figure you knew, and you needed to check out his jacket. Probably took a gazillion photos of it so you could match it perfectly.”

  Krista nodded. “And then swapped it out before he returned.”

  “Smart plan,” Scarlet said, feigning admiration. “He walks through Customs, goes through a metal detector but no X-ray scan. Charter plane means minimal security. A risk, but you minimized it. And if he’s caught?” She shrugged. “It’s his jacket. He’s been wearing it the last two weeks. So he takes the fall for everything.”

  “Except, when he returned to the States, you couldn’t get your hands on the jacket,” Krista said. “The note didn’t scare him, he didn’t get sick off the champagne, and when your associate did get a chance to search his apartment, the jacket wasn’t there.”

  “Plan B.” Scarlet caught Krista’s eye.

  “How exactly did you know that Adam was going to be here?” Krista asked Blake.

  “None of this matters now,” Blake cried. “We’re all dead. Don’t you get it?”

  Krista’s phone buzzed, but this time she didn’t know the number.

  “Yes?”

  “Krista Hart?”

  “Speaking.”

  “This is Agent Colby. You spoke to my partner earlier.”

  “Yes?”

  “We’re en route to your location, just wanted to let you know we’ve hit some traffic with the weather.”

  “Got it.” Krista stepped to the window and looked out.

  “I’m estimating fifteen, maybe twenty minutes,” Colby said. “Is the deputy there yet?”

  “What deputy?”

  “We sent a Bear County deputy ahead, just as a precaution.”

  Krista stepped into the hall and walked to the window at the end, where she had an unobstructed view of the driveway leading to the lodge.

  “Ms. Hart?”

  “I haven’t seen him, but don’t worry. The suspect is secure.”

  She heard Scarlet’s phone chime and ended the call as she rushed back to the room. Scarlet was still on the bed and she glanced up as Krista stepped inside.

  “Hey, Mac, we’re still here,” Scarlet said.

  Krista’s shoulders slumped. She’d been hoping it was Scarlet’s brother with news on the takedown in San Bernardino.

  “What’s that?” Scarlet looked at her and frowned. “I don’t know who you’re talking about. Who’s Katrina Warren?”

  “Trina Warren?” Krista asked. “She’s in the penthouse with Dave.”

  Scarlet stared at Krista and all the color drained from her face. “No, she’s not.”

  TEN

  “Hang up the phone,” Trina told Scarlet.

  It was a snub-nosed revolver, probably only twenty-two caliber. But pressed up against Krista’s neck, it was deadly.

  A mixture of calm, cold rage washed through Scarlet.

  “Now!” Trina yelled, and Krista flinched in front of her.

  Scarlet clicked off with Mac and slowly lowered the phone to the bed. No sudden moves. She only hoped Mac had overheard enough of the call to figure out what was happening. He had some sort of dirt on Trina, or he wouldn’t have called asking about her.

  Be smart, Mac. Call John. Or the local sheriff. Or the fucking National Guard.

  “Stand up,” Trina commanded. “And don’t even think about reaching for that pistol.”

  Scarlet’s glanced at her pistol on the nightstand within easy reach. It would take her one second.

  But it would take Trina less than that to sever Krista’s spinal cord with a bullet.

  Slowly, Scarlet raised her hands in surrender. “I’m getting up. Whatever you say.”

  Krista’s eyes locked on Scarlet’s, and she could read her partner’s mind. They should have known sooner. Why had it taken Mac so long to dig up Trina’s background? Why didn’t they know she was dangerous earlier? Now, it was too late to matter.

  “Who has the key?” Trina demanded, glancing through the bathroom doorway to where Blake was handcuffed. “I’m here, baby. Just sit tight.”

  “Shit, hurry up, Trin! We have to get out of here.”

  “Why are you doing this?” Scarlet asked, stalling. How long would it take for the deputy to get here? “Was this all a scam from the beginning? I’ll bet you’re not even an acting coach.”

  “I am so an acting coach!” Trina said. “I could have been a great actress, too, but all they want is skinny twits with big tits and no brains. I’m too smart for them.”

  “It was a smart plan,” Scarlet concurred. “You picked a dumb guy. He didn’t even figure it out. But you didn’t go with him to South Africa. And Blake there said he didn’t go—”

  “I said no such thing!” Blake exclaimed.

  “—which means there was someone overseas to swap out the jacket. Someone with the movie crew? A stranger?”

  Movie crew was Scarlet’s guess—it would have had to have been someone who knew the business, knew Adam Brock and how to swap his jacket. It could have even happened in the airport, but they would have had to know when he was
leaving.

  “Trina! The cops are on the way!” Blake yelled. He frantically pushed and pulled on the towel rack trying to get free, but it held. For now, Scarlet thought.

  Trina pushed the gun into Krista’s neck and demanded, “Who has the damn key to the handcuffs?”

  Krista flinched again, and Scarlet stepped forward.

  “I have it.”

  “Uncuff him. Now.”

  Scarlet nodded. She could be fucking Miss Cooperative. “I have to reach into my pocket. Okay? Don’t freak out.” Slowly, she lowered her hand to her pocket, wishing like hell she had a weapon. Where were the cops? She couldn’t tell if the snow was better or worse, or if they could even figure out exactly where they were. She had to find another way to stall the bitch. She tugged out the key and held it up.

  “Do it.” Trina jerked her head toward the bathroom, where Blake was still fighting to get free. “Make it quick.”

  Scarlet stepped toward the bathroom, dropping the key on the carpet. “Oops.”

  “Pick it up!” Trina’s voice was shrill and her face flushed with anger. “I said pick it up!”

  Krista’s eyes widened like saucers. “Do it, Scarlet. Can’t you see she has a gun?”

  It was Krista’s eyes that tipped Scarlet off. And that phony tremor in her voice. Scarlet knew in an instant what her partner planned to do.

  Scarlet bent down to pick up the key. She stood up and held it out to Trina.

  The second Trina reached for it Krista made her move, dropping down out of the line of fire and spinning around with a kick that swept Trina’s legs out from under her. She landed flat on her ass and Krista was on her in a flash, locking her in a chokehold as Scarlet swooped down on the loose gun.

  A blur of movement out of the corner of her eye had Scarlet shifting, but not fast enough to avoid Blake as he burst from the bathroom swinging the towel bar like a baseball bat. Scarlet aimed the gun just as the bar connected with the side of her head.

  She dropped to her knees, stunned, but somehow managed to get off two shots.

  A howl of pain told her one of the bullets had hit its mark. She hoped it hurt like hell, because her head was spinning and she couldn’t risk firing again when she was seeing two of everything. Blake lurched to the door, pulled it open, then raced into the hallway.

  “Scarlet!” Krista yelped from atop her captive.

  “You got her?” Scarlet said as she scrambled to her feet. She rubbed her aching head, squeezed her eyes closed and shook out the pain. It still fucking hurt like hell, but when she opened her eyes she wasn’t seeing double anymore. Just a blur.

  “I’ve got her, get Blake!”

  “On it!” She shook her head again to clear it and stumbled into the hallway. The door at the end whisked shut and she pursued.

  “Shit, shit, shit!” Her aim had been off. How had she missed such a close-range shot? She could have sworn she’d hit him, but maybe she had missed. Or it was a light graze.

  She sprinted down the hallway. She jerked open the door to the stairwell and heard the clatter of footsteps as Blake raced down the stairs. She rushed after him and plowed through the exit door, looking around frantically.

  He was nowhere. What the hell? He couldn’t just disappear!

  Scarlet looked left and right, then glanced down. Footprints in the snow. And blood. She had hit him. Her aim hadn’t been that far off after he whacked her over the head. Good!

  Scarlet scanned the driveway and spotted a large shadow lumbering toward a car parked on the side of the road. She took off at a dead run, slipping on the sidewalk then catching herself before doing a face-plant on the ice. Damn it, she would not let him get away. She balanced herself and started after him again. Her dead run turned into a dead slide as she slipped down the path all the way to the drive.

  But she’d certainly made up for lost time.

  “Freeze!” she yelled as she planted her feet and held Trina’s little twenty-two in her hands.

  He yanked open the car door and jumped behind the wheel. Scarlet’s heart pounded wildly as she took aim with the wimpy gun.

  The headlights flashed on and the car sped toward her. Her heart skittered. She got a shot off before leaping into a snow bank.

  Behind her a screech of metal ended with an ear-splitting crash. Scarlet scrambled to her feet and waded through the snow bank toward the car, pulling her feet up and planting them like a marionette in the thick snow. Blake’s car was practically wrapped around a light post. The windshield was cracked and Blake was batting the airbag out of the way as he shoved open the door. He fell onto the sidewalk and Scarlet was on him in an instant, flipping him onto his stomach and pinning him with her knee as she wrestled his arms behind his back. He shrieked in pain, and she saw the blood on his shoulder where her first shot had landed. She hit him in the sore spot and he howled louder.

  “Stop fighting,” she ordered. She reached into her back pocket but couldn’t find her handcuffs. They must have fallen out when she fell into the snow bank.

  “Scarlet!”

  Krista sprinted over, Scarlet’s gun in hand.

  “Cuffs!” Scarlet yelled.

  Krista handed over some handcuffs, and Scarlet slapped them on Blake as he flailed and cursed. The snow on the sidewalk was tinged pink with blood from his shoulder wound and his nose, which was oozing blood from being hit by the airbag. She hoped it was broken.

  “Where’s Trina?” Scarlet demanded.

  “Upstairs,” Krista gasped. “I hog-tied her with a couple of Blake’s belts.”

  An engine roared nearby. Scarlet’s heart skipped a beat as headlights raced toward them. The car stopped abruptly and a pair of men leaped out.

  “FBI! Drop your weapons!”

  Both Scarlet and Krista pocketed their firearms.

  “Hey, chill out,” Krista yelled. “We’re Hart and Moreno. We called you.”

  One of the agents stepped forward, looked from Krista to Scarlet. “Krista Hart? Scarlet Moreno?”

  “That’s us.”

  They lowered their guns.

  “Thanks for dropping by, boys.” Scarlet got to her feet, planting her boot on Blake’s ass. “Don’t worry—we’ve got it under control.”

  ~*~

  Krista’s phone buzzed and she gazed down at the number, trying to place it. She walked away from the FBI car, where Colby and his partner were busy taking Blake Johnson and Katrina Warren into custody.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey, hotshot.”

  Relief washed over her at the sound of R.J.’s voice. “Where the hell are you? Whose phone is this?”

  “I’m calling from John’s.”

  Krista’s heart lurched, and she glanced at Scarlet. “What happened? Is he okay?”

  Scarlet caught the worry in her tone and rushed over. “What is it?”

  “R.J., I’m putting you on speaker. Scarlet’s here.”

  “John’s right here,” R.J. told them. “Don’t worry, he’s fine.”

  “Thank God,” Scarlet said. “Tell him if he’s hurt, I’ll pound him to the ground.”

  “He’s got his hands full making arrests. They nabbed four suspects in two different vehicles. Word is these guys are with the Svensky syndicate out of Ukraine. One of the feds here knows them.”

  “What the hell was going on? Blake and Trina aren’t smart enough to pull this off on their own,” Scarlet said. “How’d they get hooked up with some Ukrainian mobsters?”

  “From what the feds put together, and what I gathered from my observations, Trina and her boyfriend Blake have been helping the syndicate smuggle jewels out of the country. Trina identifies the mark, usually a celebrity or staff, and Blake does the surveillance and research. One of them plants the jewels then the other retrieves them once the unsuspecting courier hits the States. It’s been successful a half-dozen times, but these diamonds appear to be the biggest score to date.”

  “Really? They’ve been successful that often?” Krista asked. “And
to think that it was Adam who figured out something was going on.”

  R.J. cleared his throat, and Scarlet said, “And that’s my cue to talk to the feds.” She walked away, and Krista took the phone off speaker. “Seriously, R.J., is everyone all right? Including you?”

  “All good here. What about you? I heard you pulled off another takedown. Nice going.”

  “Where’d you hear that?” Krista walked away from the crowd so she could get some privacy.

  “I’ve got sources everywhere, babe. Don’t you know that by now?”

  Krista trekked over to a snow bank and gazed out at the mountains all dark and covered with fresh snow. R.J.’s voice made her all tingly inside, and she wanted him here with her.

  “I thought I might get back there tonight,” he said. “But I’m pretty tied up here.”

  “I know.” She felt a tug of disappointment. “Me, too.”

  “Rain check?”

  What did that mean, exactly? He wanted to go skiing with her? Take her on a date? Every time they tried to go anywhere together work always got in the way. She was beginning to think it was fate trying to tell her something, maybe save her from another heartache.

  Maybe it was for the better.

  But still. She couldn’t help wondering...

  I just drove three hours to have a conversation with you.

  “Krista?”

  “I was just thinking—you never answered my question.” She took a deep breath. “Why’d you drive all the way up here today?”

  “Damn, you’re like a pit bull with that.”

  “I’m serious, R.J. Tell me the truth.”

  She held her breath, waiting, wondering if he’d ever really say it.

  “I’ll tell you all about it.” His voice was low and warm now, and it wrapped around her like a blanket. “But I plan to do it in person.”

  ~*~

  By the time Krista and Scarlet made their way upstairs to the suite, they were both exhausted.

  Adam jumped up from where he was sitting on the couch talking to one of the federal agents. Dave looked concerned then relieved when he saw them.

  “Are you okay, Krista?” he asked.