by Amber Crewes
18
“P atrick?” Meghan said as he drove them back to the hotel. “Why are you helping us?”
“Exposure,” he answered. “I need my name out there. I’ve told you that.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Come on,” she urged him. “I have a sense that there’s something else…”
“Okay,” he smiled. “You’re intuitive, aren’t you? Okay, okay, you are right. I am helping you for more than exposure.”
“Do tell,” Karen told him.
“My dad was a gambling addict,” he began. “He was a doctor, but because of his problems, he spent all of our family’s money on his addiction, and after we lost our house, he took his own life. I was nineteen at that time, but my mom had six other kids to feed. We were broke, and my mom didn’t have a job, so I had to become the breadwinner for all eight of us.”
“I am so sorry,” Meghan said softly. “How terrible that must have been.”
“It was hard,” he agreed. “And my father’s debts ran a lot deeper than we realized. He was involved with the Brazilian drug cartel, and those debts are almost endless.”
Karen clasped a hand over her mouth. “This is crazy…”
He shrugged. “I have to pay off my father’s debts, or my family will be in danger. I went to law school to become a lawyer and earn the big bucks, and by my projections, I should have this debt paid off in the next five or ten years.”
“That’s amazing!” Meghan told him. “You are a hero for your family.”
“I try my best,” he said softly. “When I saw the footage of Meghan hounded by reporters, it reminded me of my poor mom. When my dad died by suicide, we were swamped by reporters. He was a prominent person in the medical community, and the reporters harassed my mom to no end. It made me sick. Meghan, you have an innocent look in your eyes, and from the moment I saw the videos, I knew I wanted to help you.”
Meghan smiled. “You are too kind,” she told him. “And brave and good. Your family must be so proud of you.”
He grinned. “They are,” he agreed. “But I am just blessed to have them.”
Patrick dropped them off at the hotel, but Meghan was too excited to sleep. “Can you believe it?” she asked Karen, her eyes bright. “They have to drop their case against me. They can’t extort me!”
Karen bit her lip. “I’m nervous about what he said about the evidence against you,” she told Meghan.
“I think he was bluffing,” Meghan said. “Let’s talk more about it over some food; I’m starving, and this is the first time I’ve really been hungry all weekend.”
They walked down the block to a diner. Meghan looked around, and seeing no tourists, she felt comfortable going in and sitting down. They ordered waffles, sausage, pancakes, and toast, and she was thrilled when the waitress didn’t recognize her.
“Who do you think killed Jeremiah?” Karen asked. “Or do you think anyone killed him? Maybe it was a total accident. He wasn’t a spring chicken, that’s for sure.”
Meghan dug into her pancakes, thinking as she savored its flavor. “I think it was Louise,” she replied. “She is a fancy woman with fancy taste, and Jeremiah was common and tacky. I’m sure she hated him, and I bet she thought she could walk away with more of his money if he died rather than if she divorced him.”
“That’s what I think, too,” Karen agreed. “Tonight confirmed it all; Louise killed him, but she’s going to use her fancy-pants lawyer boyfriend to cover it all up.”
Meghan frowned. “It’s unfair how rich people can use their money to get out of trouble,” she sighed.
Karen nodded, but then, Meghan saw her eyes turn to the left. “Hey, isn’t that Mrs. Sheridan?” Karen asked as they both turned to glance at a woman sitting alone a few booths away.
Meghan squinted her eyes and gasped. “It is! That’s her! Oh, thank goodness she is okay!”
Karen stood up. “Let’s go talk to her,” she suggested.
Meghan raised a finger to her lips. “She’s been acting so weird here,” she whispered. “Let’s just follow her; we don’t know what she’s been up to, and we don’t want her to freak out here at the diner.”
They watched Mrs. Sheridan for awhile, and when she got up, they stood up as well. “Let’s follow her,” Meghan whispered to Karen. “Come on! She’s leaving.”
They followed Mrs. Sheridan outside and down the block. Meghan prayed that no one would recognize her; it was nearly two in the morning after all.
Mrs. Sheridan entered a souvenir shop just around the corner from the diner. “Make sure she doesn’t see you,” Meghan cautioned Karen. “We don’t want her to call attention to us.”
Karen nodded. They watched as Mrs. Sheridan browsed a rack of sunglasses, a case of t-shirts, and a stack of flip-flops. She didn’t purchase anything, and she walked out of the shop empty-handed.
Her next stop was a costume shop. Meghan and Karen followed behind her, and they carefully walked into the store. Karen laughed as Mrs. Sheridan pulled a witch hat off of a display and tried it on. “She’s wearing the clothes she was meant to wear,” Karen joked.
“You’re so bad,” Meghan admonished as they watched Mrs. Sheridan remove the hat from her head and replace it with a tiara. “That’s her real look; Queen Sheridan is here!”
Mrs. Sheridan removed the tiara and moved on to the next display. She selected a green wig from a rack. Meghan decided it was time to confront her; she was tired, and it was time to get Mrs. Sheridan back to the hotel.
She tip-toed over and snatched the wig off of her head. “Mrs. Sheridan!” she cried.
She was shocked when she turned around; the woman was not Mrs. Sheridan, but rather, a complete stranger.
“Who are you?” the woman cried as Meghan gasped. “I know who you are! You are the woman who killed Elvis!”
Meghan shook her head. “No! I didn’t have anything to do with that. Please don’t scream. I can explain…”
The stranger’s eyes widened. “I knew you were following me!” she shouted. “You’re going to kill me like you killed Elvis! Help! Help!”
Meghan looked at Karen and mouthed, “run”. The two women bolted from the store, Meghan trying to keep up with Karen as they dashed through the street.
“I hear sirens!” Karen told her as they rounded a corner. “She must have called the police.”
“Run faster!” Meghan cried, and they took off down an unfamiliar street.
The sirens grew closer, and Meghan felt out of breath as they turned another corner. “Are we almost back?” she asked Karen as they dodged a group of street entertainers.
“I don’t know,” Karen told her. “I think we’re lost…”
19
I t was five in the morning by the time they finally reached the hotel. Meghan and Karen were filthy from hours of wandering the streets of Las Vegas, and they collapsed onto a couch in the lobby.
“Do you think Mrs. Sheridan is back yet?” Karen asked.
“The real one? Or the one I scared?” Meghan joked darkly.
“The real one,” Karen said. “Let’s go ask Belinda if she’s back. Maybe she’s seen her?”
They went up to the desk to find Belinda flipping through a clothing catalog. “What?” she asked rudely. “What do you want?”
“Have you seen our friend, Mrs. Sheridan?” Karen asked politely. “Has she come back?”
Belinda rolled her eyes. “How should I know? If you can’t find your friend, you should call the police. It’s not my job to track down your friends.”
Karen and Meghan walked away, both disheartened. “I don’t want to call the police,” Meghan moaned. “They were so nasty when I was at the jail.”
“I think you’re going to have to do it,” Karen told her. “Mrs. Sheridan has been missing for a while, and we don’t want anything to happen to her. I think we need the police’s help.”
Meghan sighed. “Alright, alright,” she said. “I’ll go to the station; that would probably be better than call
ing; I need to ask Officer Brady a few questions about my case, anyway.”
Karen yawned. “I’m going to go upstairs and go to sleep, but I will leave my phone on. Call me if you need anything.”
About forty-five minutes later, Meghan arrived at the station. She approached the front desk and asked to speak with Officer Brady. When he came to get her, he had a surprised look on his face. “I didn’t expect to see you here,” he told her as he led her to his office.
“What’s up?” he asked as he sat down at his desk. “Questions about your case? You must be an early bird; it’s six in the morning…”
Meghan shook her head. “I need to report a missing person,” she informed him. “My friend, Sally Sheridan, is missing.”
“How long has she been missing?”
“Awhile,” she told him. “More than a day.”
He stared at her. “Your friend has been missing more than a day and this is the first I’m hearing of this?” he asked incredulously. “This is Sin City; people go missing and get murdered all the time. This isn’t your little Sandy Bay, Meghan. You have to ask for help as soon as something happens around here.”
She glared at him. “How would I know that?” she spat. “I’m not from here. I am trying my best to help my friend.”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “Miss Truman, this is a dangerous city,” he said condescendingly. “Especially in the last month. We’ve had ten people go missing and five murders in the last thirty days. We wonder if we have a serial killer on the loose. Like I said, this isn’t your sweet small town!”
Her lip quivered. “You don’t have to talk to me like that,” she murmured. “You don’t have to be rude.”
He shrugged. “I am just sick and tired of you tourists marching into town, causing trouble, and then flying home without a care in the world. You leave us police officers to pick up the pieces of your messes; whether we’re finding your stolen wallets, or tracking down your missing friends, or calling your fancy banks because a scammer stole your credit cards at the casinos, we have to do the dirty work.”
Meghan stood up. “I lost my credit and debit cards on the day we first stepped into this station. Has anyone handed them over?”
“Oh! Another stolen credit card case. No, I’m sorry Miss Truman, your missing credit cards have not been reported. Is there anything else you’d like to report?” he said, folding his hands across his chest.
“
I’m sorry you feel that way,” she said stoically, willing herself not to cry. “I’ll get out of your hair now.”
She left the police station and walked back to the hotel. She was overcome with frustration; Officer Brady was so rude and bitter, and she could not believe how unprofessional his outburst had been. She ached for Jack and the kind-hearted officers in Sandy Bay, and she hoped that she would be home sooner rather than later.
As she approached the hotel, her heart sank; police tape was wrapped around the parking lot, and two squad cars were parked out front. An ambulance pulled up with its siren wailing, and Meghan began to run toward the scene.
“What happened?” she asked an officer.
“Ma’am, if you are a guest here, you need to go inside. If you are not, you need to move along.”
She shook her head. “I’m a guest, but so are my friends and sister. What happened? Is everyone okay?”
The officer shook his head. “There was an accident,” he told her in a low voice. “An elderly woman was hit by a car.”
“What?” she shrieked.
He nodded. “She was walking along with her cane, and the car drove right into her. It seemed intentional, if you ask me. We reviewed the footage, and it doesn’t look like an accident. That poor old lady. She couldn’t get out of the way in time.”
Meghan wanted to vomit; it sounded like Mrs. Sheridan had been hit by the car! “Where was the victim taken?”
The officer gave her the information, and she hailed a taxi. “Valley Hospital Medical Center,” she told the driver.
She could barely breathe as she was driven to the hospital. Had the collision been an accident? Who would try to hurt Mrs. Sheridan?
She arrived at the hospital and ran to the lobby. A receptionist greeted her warmly. “Can I help you?”
“I’m looking for the victim of the hit and run,” she breathed worriedly. “Is she here? I’m family.”
He nodded and directed her down the hallway. Meghan slowly walked down the dark corridor as her heart was beating frantically in her chest.
When she reached the door, she threw it open. She could see a silhouette of Mrs. Sheridan, and her stomach churned as she noticed the IVs connected to her still body. She heard the buzz of the machines whirling, and she cringed; she couldn’t bear to see Mrs. Sheridan in such terrible condition.
“Mrs. Sheridan,” she wailed. “It’s Meghan Truman! I’m here. Are you okay? I am so sorry for what happened to you. I can’t believe it. Please be okay.”
She hung her head, thinking of every negative thing she had ever said or thought about Mrs. Sheridan. “I’m sorry,” she whimpered as she made her way to the bedside.
“You are the most amazing, wonderful woman in the world,” Meghan wept. “I love you, and I hope you are okay.”
Mrs. Sheridan grunted. “Go on.”
“And you are fierce and funny and everyone in town just loves you!” Meghan assured her. “You are the best thing to happen to our town.”
She pulled back the curtain that was hanging around the bed and gasped; the woman in the hospital bed was not Mrs. Sheridan.
“Oh, I am so sorry,” she apologized as the woman peered curiously at her. “Forgive me for intruding. I will get out of your way.”
The woman groaned, and Meghan clasped her hand over her mouth. “I am so sorry to bother you,” she told her. “I didn’t mean to intrude.”
Filled with relief that the woman was not her friend, she was glad Mrs. Sheridan had not been the victim of a hit and run; however, she felt terrible for interrupting the poor woman.
“You can go on,” the woman grunted. “With your compliments.”
The woman shook her head. She pointed at Meghan. “Wait,” she whispered as Meghan walked out of the room. “Come back. I want to talk with you….”
Not hearing the woman, Meghan left the hospital.
20
M eghan took a taxi back to the hotel. While she was tired and disheartened at not having located Mrs. Sheridan, she was grateful that Mrs. Sheridan was not the victim of the hit and run.
Lucky Elway greeted her as she walked into the lobby. “Why the long face? The Queen of the hotel should be smiling when she comes back to her castle.”
She tried to fake a smile, but she was unsuccessful. “Hey,” she said flatly.
“What’s the matter?”
She hung her head. “My friend is still missing,” she informed him. “Mrs. Sheridan? She’s the elderly woman with our group.”
He nodded. “I’ve heard about that,” he assured her. “And I am doing everything to help; I have a brother on the police force, and I’ve let him know about the situation. We will do our best to find your friend. Now, I must admit, there have been a lot of people who have gone missing in Las Vegas lately, so I’m going to do my best to make sure we find your friend.”
She smiled weakly. “Thank you,” she told him. “I appreciate the help. Mrs. Sheridan is a bit... zany... and I wouldn’t want anything to happen to her.”
Lucky wrinkled his nose. “Is there any possibility she could have met someone here?”
“Met someone?”
“Romantically? Maybe she met someone special and decided to elope? Plenty of people do it…”
She laughed. “That is absolutely not the case,” she promised him. “Mrs. Sheridan has her own romance drama back home.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You just never know…”
She shrugged. “What are you doing here, anyway? Here to upgrade me again?” she joked.
> “Not quite,” he told her. “To celebrate our new place on the tourism board’s list of must-see Vegas locations, I wanted to treat you and your friends to an afternoon on the town. Myrtle mentioned that you haven’t had the best time here, and I want to change that. You’ve done a lot for my business, and I want to give back.”
Her dark eyes widened. “That’s kind of you. What do you have in mind?”
“I’ve rented a limo,” he declared. “A stretch limo with a mini-bar inside. I want to take you ladies to The Venetian theater to see the new Elvis perform.”
Meghan’s body grew hot with discomfort. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she dismissed. “I’ve had enough trouble there, and I don’t want to bring any more attention to myself.”
He shook his head. “Are you sure? It could be fun!”
Meghan’s friends and sister appeared in the lobby. They were all dressed in cute outfits, and they seemed excited. “You’re back!” Karen exclaimed. “Right on time, too. When we got your text that the woman was not Mrs. Sheridan, we were so pleased, and then Lucky showed up and invited us to the show!”
Myrtle nodded. “It’ll be a fun time, Meghan. We should do it.”
Meghan bit her lip. “Do you guys feel comfortable going out on the town without Mrs. Sheridan? I’m worried about her.”
Trudy placed a hand on her shoulder. “Meghan, my dear,” she began. “Sally is a grown woman. She has been taking care of herself longer than you’ve been alive. Don’t worry about her. This is your party. We need to have some fun!”
Meghan wasn’t sure, but seeing the eagerness on her friends’ faces, she agreed. She quickly asked to be excused while she went up to her room to freshen up.
When she got back to the lobby, Lucky led them to the limo, and Jackie began pouring champagne into crystal flutes for each woman. “This is the life!” she shrieked as she popped her head out of the sunroof. “Cheers, girls!”
