3 Sin City Hunter

by Maddie Cochere

  “No, Susan, not directly,” she said. “He could ask for you to be removed from your position, but he wouldn’t have the final say, and I think today you sealed your future with the company, so there’s nothing to worry about.” She looked at me with raised eyebrows as if to ask, “Now, what’s going on?”

  “We’ve had a couple of encounters at the hotel,” I told her. “One was at a craps table, and the other was talking outside by the pool. He was aggressive and unpleasant both times.”

  Betsy Ann looked shocked. “Was his behavior inappropriate?”

  “Yes, it was,” I told her. “But he didn’t know I was a Slimmers employee at the time, so it really can’t be considered in a work context.”

  “I understand,” she said. “But if he’s out of line at all while you’re here in the offices, you tell me right away.”

  I nodded my head and said, “Could we please keep this between ourselves?”

  “Of course. I’ll see you tomorrow, Susan,” she said warmly as she turned to walk out the door.

  I left the building. The driver was waiting to take me back to the hotel.

  Upon arriving, I rushed to my room and jumped into the shower. I needed to hurry and get changed for the hockey game which started at 7:05. Why do those games start so early anyway?

  I stood for a few minutes, allowing the warm water to ease the tension in my shoulders while I thought about my day. On one hand, I was elated with how well the day had gone. On the other hand, I was more than a little concerned with the turn of events. Last night, I thought I might be out of danger, and now I didn’t know what to expect.

  After blow drying my hair and re-applying my make-up, I dressed in a mid-thigh, red and black plaid shirt with long sleeves. With black tights underneath, the long shirt doubled as a casual dress. I grabbed my black suede knee boots and sat down on the bed to tug them on.

  As I stood up, Darby came through the door. “Hi sunshine, you look really cute,” he said with his usual big smile. He plopped down on the bed and asked, “How did your day go?”

  “Really well,” I told him. “I think I made a good impression in some high places.” His smile grew even bigger, and I could tell he was proud of me.

  “Did you have any problems?” he asked. “Did you see Dudley, or was there anything that seemed wrong anywhere? Did you stay indoors and not go out into any open areas?”

  I had forgotten Darby and I hadn’t talked since the shooting incident yesterday. “Oh my gosh, Darby! I have so much to tell you. I left the room last night to go get a sandwich -”

  I could see his mouth drop open, and he interrupted me. “Susan! You can’t do that. You simply can’t be alone. We agreed you wouldn’t put yourself in danger.”

  I gave him some exasperated hand-flapping motions and said, “I know. I found out. I ran into Carl when he was getting off the elevator on our floor.” Darby was now looking horrified. “He basically told me I didn’t know what I saw when I looked out the door, and the man on the ground had a seizure, and they took him to the hospital. I thought he was telling me that if I agreed to his story, I wouldn’t have to dodge any more bullets - his words, not mine.”

  Darby was practically sputtering, “What did you do?”

  “I said ok. What could I do? I was relieved I might not be killed in the next day or two,” I said sarcastically. “But Darby, Dad and I were reading the newspaper this morning, and there was an article about a janitor from Slimmers who was killed and his body mangled on the railroad tracks south of the city. I knew as soon as I read it that it was the guy outside that door.”

  “Do you think there’s some way we can find out for sure?” he asked.

  “Oh, I already know for sure,” I told him while nodding my head. “Guess who was running our big meeting this afternoon? Mr. Carlton Waltham, the new Operations Manager for the company.”

  Darby gave me a confused look and said, “So?”

  “Carlton. Carl. Dirtbag, murderer Carl,” I told him. “He wasn’t happy to see me at all.”

  Darby’s mouth fell open yet again. “Susan, this is terrible. Carl works at Slimmers? He knows you saw them murder the janitor.” He paused for only a second and started shaking his head. “No. Oh no. You have to make some kind of excuse at work and fly home. You need to get away from this right now. You made a good impression today, and that’s enough.”

  “No,” I told him stubbornly. “There’s something wrong here. Why was the janitor murdered? Why would a janitor even come to see Carl? I heard through the grapevine today that no one even cared he was murdered. I heard he was a hard man to work with, but he was also snoopy. What if he had something on Carl? What if he confronted him and Carl had him murdered?”

  He stood up and grabbed me by my shoulders and said firmly, “You have to stay out of this, Susan. You can’t go snooping into this, or you might end up on some railroad tracks yourself. You hear me?”

  “I hear you,” I told him. “I’m not planning to snoop into anything at all. I just want to do what I came here to do this week.” I looked at him with a determined look and said, “But if anything is said around the office to help make a case against Carl, I want to be there to hear it.” He hung his head and gave up. He knew there was no arguing with me right now. I smiled and said, “Did you have a good time last night?”

  A half grin came over his face and he said, “I had a really good time last night. I met a nice group of guys who were out for a night on the town, and we hit three clubs together. I didn’t come in until four this morning, but you still should have waked me to see you to the car. I was relieved when I found out you were with your dad this morning. Then your parents went out for a while this afternoon, and I sat out by the pool. It’s nice out there even if the pool isn’t open. I was surprised at how many people were lounging and enjoying themselves.”

  I nodded in agreement as I checked my watch. 6:20. We weren’t going to be on time for the first face-off if we didn’t get on our way soon. “Where are Mom and Dad now?” I asked him.

  “They’ll be at the front desk at 6:30. Dad wants to take a cab to the hockey arena. He doesn’t want to leave the Chevelle in the lot.”

  “I don’t blame him,” I told him as we left the room.

  Mom and Dad were already in the lobby when we arrived downstairs. On the short ride to the arena, I told them about my day, and I especially enjoyed telling them how I found an error the the operations manager had made. “Susan!” Mom had admonished. “That’s not the way to put your best foot forward.” Dad got a good chuckle out of the story though.

  We exited the cab and had to walk a short distance to the entrance doors. As we approached, I heard someone yell, “Hey, there’s Susan!” and several photographers came out of nowhere and started shooting pictures. I walked faster toward the doors and could sense Mom and Darby were right behind me, but I heard Dad talking to one of the photographers and saying proudly, “She’s my daughter.”

  Darby turned around and yelled, “Earl! Come on!” A beaming Earl obeyed the command.

  Inside, we found our seats near center ice, about ten rows up, and directly across from the visitor’s bench. Dell obviously knew where our seats were, and he skated our way during warm-up to raise his stick in a hello to us. I pointed him out to Darby and my parents. Dad loved hockey, and I knew he was excited about tonight’s game.

  We only had to wait a few minutes before the face-off, and the action was underway. It took me a while to adjust to the arena. Dad and I had watched a lot of hockey on television, and the sounds of skate blades on the ice and the cracking noises of the sticks on the pucks was diffused on this side of the glass. The crowd was noisy, but the audible action on the ice was missing from the equation.

  But what a game it was! The action was fast and furious, fights were short-lived and kept to a minimum, and we were excited to see Dell play so well. It was obvious why he was the Blades’ star player. At the end of the second period, he already had a hat trick. Scott
y O’ Brien had two goals, and his teammates had kept feeding him the puck in an effort for him to grab one more goal for his own hat trick. The score was presently 6-3 in favor of the Blue Ball Blades.

  We left our seats at intermission. Mom and Darby headed to the concession stand while Dad and I ran off to the restrooms. The line for the women was long, so I wasn’t surprised Dad was nowhere to be seen when I exited. I headed down the hallway, remembering I would need to pass three entranceways before walking in nearest to our seats. I was aware of people close behind me, but it was crowded in the hallway, so I gripped my purse tighter and kept moving forward.

  The entrance I was looking for was a short distance ahead on my left. I started to move in that direction, but I felt a hand on my back, and I heard a deep voice say, “Don’t turn around. Keep moving straight ahead if you don’t want to get hurt.”

  Before I had a chance to move, argue, or even think of a plan, Darby stepped out in front of me and said exuberantly with a huge smile on his face, “Sweetheart! There you are. I thought you got lost!” He grabbed my arm, pulled me to him in an embrace, and gave me a kiss on the lips. He then put his arm around me and started walking toward the entranceway without even glancing at whoever had been behind me.

  My heart was racing and my knees were wobbly. I probably would have sunk to the ground if Darby hadn’t been holding me up. I couldn’t speak. When we neared our seats, Darby stopped and asked, “Are you ok?”

  I nodded my head. “What happened back there?”

  “When your mom and I went back to our seats,” he said, “and your dad was already in his, I knew you were alone somewhere, and I needed to look for you right away. I saw you as soon as I hit the hallway, but I also saw those two guys right behind you, and the one on my side had tattoos. I ducked back and waited until you were almost to the doorway, and then I came to claim you as my girlfriend. I tried to act as if nothing was wrong and just get you out of there.”

  I was shocked. “Darby, the one guy told me to keep moving forward if I didn’t want to get hurt. I think they were going to try and force me out of here. I don’t know how those guys would have even known we were here. I’m positive I didn’t mention it at work today. Do you suppose Carl put them up to it, or do you think they’re acting on their own?”

  “I don’t know, Susan, but this should show you more now than ever that you simply cannot be alone,” he said earnestly. I nodded my head, and he reached for my hand. “Come on. There’s the face-off.”

  We made our way back to our seats. I was getting good at masking fear for my parents’ sake. I tried my best to concentrate on the game and enjoy the final period. Dell made yet another assist when Scotty O’Brien made his hat trick. It was one of the best hockey games any of us had ever seen. The final score was 8-6 in favor of the Blades. Dell and Scotty both skated our way and raised their sticks to us before skating off in celebration.

  After the game, the four of us took a cab to the Stratosphere Hotel. We had about an hour to gamble or look around before we would be expecting Dell for dinner. Dad was excited to be meeting a professional hockey player in person. He wasn’t an NHL player, but he was still a professional player, and a good one at that.

  Rather than get too involved in anything for such a short period of time, we all sat down at slot machines and fed them money. Darby and I were sitting side by side playing Village People Party machines. They were colorful, musical, and fun. We were both laughing and even winning a few dollars. I had a bonus round where I could choose a macho man. Before I could touch the screen, Dell reached over my shoulder and picked the biker. By the time we had pushed all of our albums, we had won $419. Dell said he’d never seen anyone with the kind of luck I was having. We swung by the cage to cash the voucher, and I gave the money to Dad to put toward our dinner with Dell.

  The view from the Top of the World restaurant was spectacular. To look down and see the lights of The Strip unfold before us was awesome. Mom, Darby, and I sat on one side of the table, while Dad tried to monopolize Dell on the other. The food was superb, and the conversation was light and fun. Dell and Darby really hit it off, and with Darby’s prompting, Dell gave his version of our meeting on the airplane and our subsequent romantic interludes. His embellishments of my throwing myself into his arms at the Bellagio, and my proposing to him, were actually very entertaining.

  When after dinner drinks were ordered, I declined and moved from the table to stand by the window and look out onto the lovely view. I suddenly felt melancholy and had a deep longing for Mick. It had seemed like an eternity since I had seen him or felt his arms around me or melted under his passionate kisses. I closed my eyes and allowed a warm feeling to wash over me as I thought about how his touch reduced me to jelly.

  An arm slipped around my waist, and I jumped. It was almost as though I had willed Mick beside me.

  “I’m sorry,” Dell laughed. “I didn’t mean to startle you. I’m going to go and join the celebration downtown. I just wanted to tell you it’s been a lot of fun to meet you, your family, and Darby. I’ve been sending links to all of the videos and newspaper articles to Lisa and keeping her in the loop, so she knows what’s really been happening here. If she says yes to my proposal, I want you, your husband, and your family to come to our wedding.

  “Dell, she will say yes,” I said as I gave him a goodbye hug. “We would be honored to be included in your special day. It’s been really great to meet you, too, and I’m glad we got to watch you play. Thank you again for the tickets.” I gave him a big smile and said, “Who knew so much would happen between us because you plopped down beside me on the airplane?”

  We both laughed, and he gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. I watched as he walked away to say his good-byes to my family. I truly hoped I would be able to see him again one day and introduce him to Mick as well as to meet his Lisa.

  Chapter Ten

  Darby and I were up at the same time. Thank goodness for such a large bathroom. After we each showered and put on a modicum of clothing, we shared the space together. When we were both brushing our teeth at the same time, I almost laughed out loud. Mom was right; Darby and I were like an old married couple.

  But I couldn’t wait to become a new married couple. If Mick and I were sharing the bathroom, we would have conserved water for shower time, and we would have needed a lot more time to get ready after brushing our teeth. I smiled at myself in the mirror. I was almost giddy with the thought.

  “What are you so happy about this morning?” Darby asked after catching me smiling at myself.

  “Mick will be here Friday, and I can’t wait to get my hands on that man!” I practically squealed. I couldn’t contain my excitement in the least. “You should be excited, too. Won’t Nate be here Thursday?”

  Darby smiled and said, “He will. But even though I’m excited for him to get here, I’m not quite as girlie as you are, Susan. I can show some restraint.”

  “Oh stop it!” I said lightly punching him on the arm. “Have you talked with him since you’ve been here?”

  “Several times,” he said. “I don’t know if I told you, but he’s been promoted at the hotel, and he’s overseeing all of the desk personnel now. The position started last week, so we’ve had a lot to talk about. Have you talked with Mick?”

  “That’s so exciting for Nate,” I told him with genuine happiness. “He’s the perfect person for the job since everyone likes him so well. I talked with Mick when I first got here and then again on Monday night. I think he’ll call again tomorrow,” I said as I went to the closet to make a decision on what to wear for the day.

  Darby didn’t know it, but I was planning on going to Gilbert Torres’ funeral, and I wished I hadn’t worn the black wool dress yesterday. I pulled out a long-sleeve, belted dress with wide stripes. At the top, the waist, and the hemline was a wide, navy blue horizontal stripe. In between each navy blue stripe was one of emerald green, and one of cobalt blue. The colors were deep, and if I wore my blac
k sweater again, the effect would be more sober. I had only brought a couple of pairs of shoes for work, and I slipped on the same shoes from yesterday, a pair of simple black pumps with a closed toe and 4-inch heels.

  Darby looked comfortable in blue jeans, a black sweater with red stripes, and a pair of loafers. “Ready?” he asked me.

  “As ready as I’m ever going to be,” I replied.

  “Susan, are we clear about today?” he asked. “You stay indoors, and you don’t go anywhere near Carl unless someone is with you. Got it?” I nodded my head. “Good. Let’s go get your dad. He wants to have breakfast with us.”

  Twenty minutes later, the three of us were sitting at our favorite spot in front of Starbucks. We were drinking coffee, having breakfast sandwiches, and sharing a newspaper. I went right for the local section to see if there was any more information about Gilbert Torres. Dad grabbed sports, and Darby wanted the style section. We were quiet as we ate our food and perused the newspaper.

  Dad turned a page and let out something like a snort. I looked and saw his crow’s eyes were prominent, and he had a big smile on his face. The next thing I knew, he was roaring with laughter. I grabbed the paper, read the headline, and growled followed by an agitated “ooh!” Darby leaned over to look at the paper with me and tried to hold back a laugh, but Dad’s laughter was contagious and they were both quickly out of control.

  Today’s headline blared, GRADY MEETS THE PARENTS. The article had pictures of us arriving at the arena with a close-up of a beaming Dad who was noted as Dell’s future father-in-law. There were two pictures from inside the restaurant. The first was of Dell and me standing at the window looking out onto the night view. Dell had his arm around my waist, and I was looking into his face with a loving smile.

  I felt volcanic-like anger bubbling up inside me, and I wanted to find that blasted photographer and drag him into the desert and tie him to the railroad tracks myself! It didn’t help that Dad and Darby thought it was so funny. I was probably most angry at myself for not telling Mick about any of this. Dell was smart to be upfront with Lisa right when things were happening. This was going to be a lot to tell him at one time. The second picture in the restaurant was of me and Dell hugging. We certainly did look like we were engaged and in love. I wanted to cry.