by Amber Crewes
“Cheers!” Trudy toasted Jackie.
They offered a drink to Karen, but she refused. “I am training for a triathlon,” she politely declined. “But that means more for Meghan!”
Meghan shook her head, but Myrtle talked her into drinking two of the flutes. “Come on, sis,” Myrtle urged. “How often do you get to ride around Vegas in a limo? Live a little!”
Meghan half-heartedly agreed, but she had to admit, after drinking one of the flutes, she felt a lot more relaxed. Her exhaustion melted away, and she began to loosen up, singing along with the radio as Jackie selected a station, and toasting with all of her friends.
“Look!” Trudy cried as she pointed out the window. “The Eiffel Tower!”
Meghan could feel the sensation of her drinks, and she happily stuck her head out the window. “Wooo!” she cried. “This must be what Vegas is all about!”
Karen laughed as Meghan sat back down. “I’m glad you’re finally enjoying yourself, sweetie,” she whispered as Meghan giggled. “Seems like we should have given you some champagne when we got on the airplane on the way here!”
They arrived at The Venetian, and Meghan felt very grand as she marched into the lobby. Several tourists took photos of her, but with the buzz from her drinks still about her, she did not care; she posed for photos, blowing kisses at the camera as though she were a proper celebrity.
“Hey! Meghan! Girls!”
The ladies smiled as Todd came up to them. “What are you up to?” Meghan asked sweetly. “It’s so good to see you?”
She could see Jackie was glaring daggers at her; Meghan knew Jackie had a crush on Todd, but with the tingles of her champagne still tickling her mind and body, Meghan was feeling a little flirty and a little vindictive. “Todd, you look nice today,” she cooed, feeling Jackie’s eyes on her.
“I’m here to see the show,” he told her, taking her hand and kissing it gently. “So good to see you ladies. Shall we go backstage and say hello to Earl? He invited me to see him, and I’m sure he’d love to see all of you.”
“Let’s do it,” Meghan murmured as she batted her eyelashes at him.
Todd led them backstage to Earl’s dressing room. Earl answered, but he did not appear happy to see them. “Do you have an appointment?” he asked as he took a bite of a turkey sandwich.
“Earl, it’s us, your friends,” Meghan said. “We wanted to say hello!”
Earl looked down at his wrist. “I don’t have time. I am on in a few minutes. You’ll have to schedule something later with my assistant.”
He slammed the door in their faces. “He wasn’t even wearing a watch!” Meghan exclaimed. “What just happened?”
Todd shook his head. “Fame can really get to someone’s head,” he explained. “Some people return to normal after a few months, but others can get really into themselves.”
“That’s a shame,” Myrtle commented.
Todd looked down at his watch. “Let’s go find our seats. The show is going to start soon!”
They took their seats, and the lights came on. They saw Earl strut onto the stage holding a silver electric guitar. “Good evening, guys and dolls,” he greeted. “Let’s have a round of applause because the KING IS HERE!”
The audience applauded, and Earl began his set. “Wise men say….” he sang as he opened with a ballad.
He finished the song, and the group cheered. “He has a nice voice,” Karen murmured. “Even better than Jeremiah’s!”
Meghan nodded. “It doesn’t sound like the real Elvis, but I really like it!”
He began to strum the guitar, but he stopped. He clutched his throat, and then his hands moved to his stomach. He began to retch, and the gasping sounds were alarming.
“What is going on?” Trudy asked in alarm. “Is he choking?”
Meghan recalled the turkey sandwich he had been eating when they tried to say hello. “It doesn’t look like he’s choking, but something looks wrong. I wonder if he’s having a reaction to that sandwich or something?”
Earl’s face went white, and before anything could be done, the lights went out. The entire theater was pitch-black, and all Meghan could hear were the sounds of the audience’s screams.
21
“E veryone, grab hands!” Meghan cried as her group stood from their seats in the darkness. “Karen, use your cell phone as a flashlight. Let’s follow the emergency signs and get out of here!”
Their group slowly made their way out of the theater and back to the opulent lobby of The Venetian.
“Where’s Todd?” Jackie asked worriedly. “I don’t want to leave him behind!”
Todd had been seated in another section, and Meghan was not concerned. “He’s fine,” she told Jackie. “He can fend for himself. He knows Vegas better than we do, and I know he’ll be fine.”
A fire alarm started to go off. “What is happening?” Trudy said.
“Let’s get back to the hotel,” Meghan said quietly. They could still hear the screams from inside the theater. “We don’t know what’s going on, and we need to stay safe.”
They went outside and hailed a taxi. Meghan’s phone began to ring, and she excused herself from the group. “I’ll be back,” she mouthed to Karen.
“Babe!”
She smiled as she heard Jack’s voice. “Hey.”
“Are you okay?” he asked in alarm. “I didn’t realize your trip had gone so crazy.”
She frowned. “I called you and told you,” she countered.
“You didn’t tell me all of it! I googled your name, and it’s CRAZY what’s going on out there! You’re in the middle of a murder investigation? Babe! I need to know those things. I could have helped sooner if I had known.”
She sighed. “Babe, you didn’t seem to take me seriously…”
“I am so sorry,” he told her. “I didn’t mean to be nonchalant; I should have taken you more seriously, and I am so sorry.”
She was grateful to hear his apology. “Thanks, babe,” she murmured.
“I called the police there,” he told her. “I want to get you home as soon as possible, but…”
“But?”
“I spoke with an officer who doesn’t seem to care for you.”
“Officer Brady?”
“Yep,” he confirmed. “It sounds like it’s gonna be harder to get you home than I thought; that guy is a piece of work. I realized after we spoke that we’ve actually met before. He was my supervisor at a training course in Rhode Island a few summers ago. That guy was such a jerk.”
“He’s awful,” she agreed. “What did he say about the case?”
“It doesn’t matter,” he said sadly. “But I don’t think they’re going to let me whisk you away. I thought if I spoke to him, one officer to another, that he would give in, but he isn’t going to.”
“UGHHH!” Meghan cried. “What am I going to have to do to get home?”
“I’m not sure yet,” he admitted. “But if this isn’t settled sooner than later, I am coming out there. I can’t have a jailbird for a fiancé, and you belong with me at home!”
They said goodbye, and Meghan returned to her group. They were jumping into a taxi, and they sped away from The Venetian.
When they returned to the hotel, Belinda sauntered up to Meghan. “Someone called for you,” she told her.
“Oh? Who?” Meghan asked. “Was it Mrs. Sheridan? Did she leave a message?”
“How should I know who is calling you?” Belinda asked rudely. “It’s not my job to take your messages.
“Did they leave a name? A return number?” Meghan asked.
“It was a woman’s voice, I think, but she didn’t leave a name.”
Meghan nodded. “Thanks. Hey, is Todd on duty later? Our group has really connected with him and we want to take him to dinner.”
She was bluffing, but she was irritated by Belinda’s rudeness and wanted her to feel slighted. Meghan wasn’t usually vindictive, but after several days of little rest and enormous stress, she
could hardly control herself.
“No, he won’t. He’s at his second job right now.”
“Second job?”
Belinda raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t know? He’s an Elvis impersonator. That’s why he likes going to all the Elvis shows, and that’s why Jeremiah Wilson spent so much time here. They started working in the same group of Elvis actors.”
Meghan’s eyes widened. “I didn’t know that about him,” she admitted. “Where does he perform?”
“He doesn’t have a major gig,” Belinda explained. “Did you notice that he can hardly move his hips? He had a hip replacement at a young age, and he can hardly move them. He can stand still, and he can walk just fine, but he can’t dance like Elvis. That’s why he never got a major gig. Everyone wants to see the King swing those hips.”
Meghan nodded. “That makes sense, I guess.”
She felt someone tap her on the shoulder. “Hey.” It was Officer Brady.
“Hi,” she greeted him coldly. “What do you need?”
He pointed at the women. “I need to get statements from all of you,” he told her. “Standard procedure. Are you all available?”
Before she could reply, she saw Todd enter the lobby. “Hey!” she greeted him warmly. “Belinda said you were out tonight. She told us about your second job. That is so cool!”
Todd’s eyes grew large when he saw Officer Brady standing next to Meghan. “I have to go,” he muttered, and he turned on his heel and ran away.
“Todd? Are you okay?” Karen shouted after him.
“Todd? What’s the matter?” Jackie yelled.
Officer Brady turned away from Meghan and put his hand on the gun sitting in his belt. “Todd Sherman! Come back here! Right now!”
Meghan’s jaw dropped as Officer Brady took off sprinting after Todd. Why was the officer who had been interrogating her chasing the manager of the hotel? Meghan had to find out. She ran after the two men, her friends trailing behind her.
22
A s soon as Meghan stepped outside into the warm Vegas evening, she saw Officer Brady climb into his car and turn the lights on. “Wait!” she shouted as she ran to the passenger door. “I want to come with you.”
He shook his head, but she threw herself inside. “What’s going on?” she asked as they sped off.
“We have to catch that man,” he told her as he navigated his car onto the Strip. “We have wanted to talk to him about the death of Jeremiah Wilson, and he has been uncooperative.”
“You think he has something to do with Jeremiah’s death?” she asked in alarm. “Todd? But he is so nice!”
Officer Brady swung the steering wheel left to avoid hitting a tourist who was jaywalking. “I don’t have all the information,” he admitted. “But I do know that my boss wants to speak with that guy immediately.”
He pressed down on the gas and the car sped forward. “There he is!” Meghan pointed out the window as she spotted Todd. “He’s running across the street. I don’t know if we’ll be able to get over there.”
“Oh, yes we will,” Officer Brady assured her. He veered left, and then right, and they continued following Todd down the Strip.
“What if he goes into a store?” Meghan asked. “We’ll lose him.”
“We’re getting closer and closer,” Officer Brady mumbled as he kept his eyes focused on Todd. “Look, that guy can barely run.”
“It’s his hips,” Meghan explained.
“How exactly do you know that?” he asked her as he raised an eyebrow.
“His co-worker told me!” she stated defensively. “It’s not like I knew him well. Belinda, the other receptionist at our hotel, told us he had a hip replacement. That’s why he could never get a major gig as an Elvis impersonator.”
Officer Brady pursed his lips. “I’m gonna have to add that to his file. Interesting.”
“Be careful!” Meghan cried as a teenager dashed across the street. “Don’t hit him.”
“I’m a professional,” he told her, turning to look at her as he passed two cars, narrowly avoiding hitting the teenager. “You need to calm down.”
He steered down the block. “You’re going to hit someone!” she screamed again as he missed colliding with a family. “You are a terrible driver!”
Officer Brady looked to the right. “He’s getting away,” he muttered. “We have to go faster!”
He hit the gas pedal and the car took off. Meghan had never moved so quickly in a vehicle, and she felt nauseated as they made a sharp left turn. “He’s going in the other direction!” she cried as Officer Brady scowled.
“I am gaining momentum!” he shouted. “This is how you do it!”
Meghan buried her face in her hands. She was terrified as the car moved in and out of pedestrian traffic, and she was scared they would hit someone. “Someone would blame me for that, too,” she thought as Officer Brady threw on the brakes.
“Why are you stopping?” she screamed.
He said nothing, and she watched as a mother pushing a stroller walked in front of the stopped car.
“Couldn’t hit such a sweet little family,” he told her with a grin on his face.
As soon as they passed, he threw the car back into motion; he clutched the steering wheel as he stomped on the gas pedal. “Let’s gooooo!”
He turned to look at Meghan. “What’s your problem?” he asked with a look of disgust on his face. “I’m trying to catch him. Isn’t that what you want?”
Before she could respond, the police car crashed into a pedestrian barrier. Meghan felt the impact of the airbags hitting her stomach, and she moaned as she jerked against her seatbelt. Officer Brady muttered some expletives, but he did not stop to assess his injuries. He leapt from the car and ran into the crowd of bystanders who had gathered to watch.
Meghan slowly untangled herself from the car. She could hear the wail of sirens growing closer, and an ambulance pulled up beside the mangled police car. She looked into the crowd, and before she lost consciousness, she saw Officer Brady putting a pair of handcuffs on Todd Sherman.
Three days later, Meghan and her friends were waiting in the security line at McCarran International Airport. Meghan had been released from the hospital the previous night; she had suffered from a minor concussion, but the doctors in Las Vegas assured her that she would be safe to fly home. Now, as she clutched her carry-on bags and waited to walk through the x-ray machine, she was happier than ever.
“We’re finally going home!” she squealed to Myrtle as the line moved forward.
The police had instantly cleared Meghan and her friends after arresting Todd Sherman. Officer Brady had visited Meghan at the hospital and told her the full story: it turned out that Todd had been Jeremiah’s unofficial understudy in the show at The Venetian. Sometimes, when Jeremiah was tired or ill, Todd would take the stage for a song or two.
Todd wanted more than a few songs; he wanted his own show. He devised a plan to kill Jeremiah, and he had slipped an excessive number of sleeping pills into a drink he had served him earlier at the hotel. He thought if Jeremiah was dead, then he would be asked to do the show, but the producers and directors had disagreed and given the part to Earl, enjoying his younger look and admiring his vocal abilities.
Todd had been planning to kill Earl too, but his plan had not worked; he had not been able to put enough sleeping pills in Earl’s drink to kill him, and while Earl was still recovering, he would be up and moving in a few days.
Meghan was flabbergasted. “But Jeremiah and Todd were friends,” she said as Officer Brady finished his explanation.
“Not quite,” he told her. “Todd told us that Jeremiah used to make fun of him about his bad hips, and it sounds like it really got to the guy. Todd started to hate Jeremiah, and their friendship was ruined.”
Meghan was overjoyed when Officer Brady handed her the debit and credit cards she had lost and almost forgotten about. Her Las Vegas trip had been such a rollercoaster of mishaps, that she had forgotten about them.
Apparently, the officer who had booked them, had placed them in a wrong file.
Now, at the airport, with her name cleared, Meghan felt so much better; her head still ached, and she was still tired, but she was finally on her way home.
“Meghan, look!” Karen said as she pointed to a big-screen television tucked in the corner. It was showing a local news broadcast, and Meghan’s image appeared on the screen with the word INNOCENT under her photo.
“About time I get some good press,” she joked as the ladies chuckled.
The news report continued, and they saw Louise’s face appear. “Mrs. Wilson, the ex-wife of the deceased Jeremiah Wilson, has been extradited to Cincinnati,” a blonde reporter announced. “She will be tried for the murder of her previous ex-husband,” the reporter stated.
“Ugh, that woman,” Meghan muttered. “I’m glad I’ll never have to deal with her again.”
The report moved to a video clip of Louise’s attorney being brought into a courtroom. “And her attorney was officially disbarred after it was found that they were fraternizing inappropriately,” the report continued.
“That guy was so gross,” Karen commented as the reporter moved on. “I’m glad he is getting what he deserves. That kind of person shouldn’t be a lawyer.”
Jackie smiled. “It all worked out well after all!” she chirped merrily. “And my cousin texted me. Meghan, you remember her? The one from jail?”
Meghan resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
“She’s being transferred from jail to rehab. She filed an appeal, and her lawyer recommended that she would be better suited in a rehab facility. She’s going to get the help she needs.”
“That’s nice,” Meghan said, trying her best to be gracious.
“She’ll be out in time for your wedding!” Jackie cried. “You two really hit it off, so I’m so glad she’ll be able to make it.”
Myrtle wrinkled her nose. “The guest list hasn’t been finalized,” she began, but Meghan cut her off.
“Just let it be,” she whispered to her sister. “Just let it be for now.”
