Tough Guy: A Hero Club Novel

by Jamie K. Schmidt

  “Then what are you still doing here?”

  “I need to let you know that Leonidas is going to retaliate once he’s out on bond.”

  “How long is that going to take?” I asked.

  “I’d be surprised if he’s not out by dinnertime. He knows where your girlfriend is. You need to warn her and don’t let her come back to Dalton’s until we can lock down the Rivs. Leonidas is going to be out for your blood. I’ll put a tail on him, but he’s a slippery bastard. We’re trying to get a few warrants out on him to stall the process, but he’s lawyered up well. It’s going to be an uphill battle.”

  “Damn it,” I said, slamming my glass on the table.

  “Just a few more weeks.”

  “I don’t have a few more weeks. I suppose you need me to stay local.”

  “I’d appreciate it.”

  I wanted to bang my own head on my desk.

  Grier tossed back the rest of his drink and stood up. “Thanks for everything. I’ll give you the all clear when we nail this asshole, but in the meantime watch your back.”

  After Grier left, I called Jackie.

  “Hi,” she said, her voice happy and breathless. My gut unclenched. She was all right. “I’m going to stay over in Carson City another night. I want to see Lisa’s show.”

  “Good. How did everything go?”

  “Not as bad as I feared, but not as well as I’d hoped.”

  “That’s the way it goes sometimes,” I said, wondering again how I was going to convince her to stay in Carson City.

  “I’m going to crash on Parker and Lisa’s couch tonight, but I’ll be back on the first flight out tomorrow.”

  “Yeah, about that, I’ve got some good news and bad news.”

  “What’s going on? You sound weird.”

  “The police may have found my uncle’s murderers.”

  “That’s great! Why don’t you sound happy about that?”

  “It’s going to take a while to build the case, but remember the local gang I was telling you about?”

  “The Rivs?”

  “Yeah, they’re extorting me for money, and they said if I don’t pay up they’re going to kidnap you and traffic you to someone who wants a blond sex slave.”

  “What?!”

  “They knew you were in Carson City and they knew you were looking at the burlesque show. I’m going to need you to stay close to Lisa and Parker.”

  “I can’t do that after tonight. I’m already on tenuous ground. Having me for a houseguest for another week might destroy the peace Lisa and I have tentatively agreed to. Why can’t I just hang out at the Wynn and you can come visit me?”

  “I’d love that. Truly. I don’t want to say goodbye so soon, but I believe the threat. I think maybe you should cut your vacation short and go back to New York. Save the week of vacation and come back down when the coast is clear.” I couldn’t believe I was saying this.

  “When’s that going to be?”

  “I don’t know. Hopefully not long, but it’s not going to happen in a few days. Leonidas has people in Pahrump and Carson City, as well as Las Vegas. I don’t want you in their sights.”

  “I wanted to say goodbye to Chance in person. And I never thought that last night would be the last time we saw each other.”

  “It’s not forever. I’m not ready to end this, are you?”

  “No,” she said shakily. “I’ve never done a long-distance relationship before. Is that what you want?”

  “Yes,” I said firmly.

  “Are we exclusive?”

  “Yes.”

  “That’s going to take a lot of trust,” she said.

  “On both our ends. Are you willing to try?”

  “Yeah,” she said, but she sounded so heartbroken I wanted to do anything I could to make it up to her. Grier had told me to stay put, but in Carson City I’d only be about an hour flight away. It was just for one night.

  “Look, why don’t you get a hotel room at the airport? Once I make sure everything is settled here tonight, I’ll fly in and we can have one more night together.”

  “You don’t have to do that,” Jackie said.

  “I want to.” This was going to be a lean month, with all the money I was throwing around, but I didn’t care. I needed one more night to get me through the long months ahead.

  “All right,” she said, perking up. “I’ll call you with the room number.”

  After she hung up, I had another glass of the scotch and wondered if that had been the right thing to do. The club needed me to be here. How the crap was I going to explain all of this to Highway and still justify leaving tonight? I knew I had to start trusting my people to do their jobs without me watching over them because I was burning out fast.

  “It’s one night,” I said to Johnny Walker. The bottle didn’t answer me back.

  “Boss, a couple of cops want to talk to you,” Mav said into my Bluetooth.

  Now what?

  “Be right there.”

  Two of Las Vegas’s finest were standing at the door. It wasn’t a good sign that they weren’t watching the girls. They were watching me, and their hands were on the butts of their pistols. I spread my hands out to my sides to show them I wasn’t carrying anything.

  “What can I do for you?” I asked.

  “Miles Carvello, you’re under arrest for the attempted murder of Leonidas Kiryakis.”

  “If I wanted that shitbag dead, I wouldn’t have stopped hitting his head on my desk.”

  One of the cops winced and said, “Sir, you have the right to remain silent. I suggest you shut the hell up.”

  I listened to the rest of the Miranda rights and let them cuff me. “Call Highway and get me bonded out,” I said to Mav as they led me into the police car.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Jackie Mitchell

  It was the Mondayest of all Mondays.

  Miles had ghosted me.

  I wouldn’t have believed it was possible after our last conversation. He never showed up at the hotel Saturday night and he hadn’t returned any of my phone calls. After what he saw me go through with Lisa, Miles should have known how much that type of blow-off would hurt me.

  I called Dalton’s that night and spoke to someone. They said Miles was busy and that he’d call me back. Yeah, I was busy too. Busy kicking myself for letting a vacation fling get serious. I had to remember it like I did my twenty-first birthday party. We had a great time. We had great sex. And now it was over and that was okay.

  New York in January really sucked. It was even worse when we were expecting another snowstorm and my body was wishing I was back in the desert. But instead of lounging on a rooftop bar after being thoroughly sexed, I was at my desk at the Zimmerman Agency. After my long flight, I passed out and slept straight through until my alarm woke me up. There was no way I was going to spend the day moping around my apartment all alone. I took a quick shower and grabbed a bagel from a street vendor as my breakfast. It was damn cold, but at least the food was good.

  My mother called almost before I’d finished my first cup of coffee. At least she had waited that long. “Did you find her?” was the first thing out of her mouth.

  “Yes. She’s alive and well and producing a show in Carson City.”

  “Producing?” my mother squealed. “What type of show?”

  “It’s a vaudeville dance show,” I hedged. That was close enough. “She’s been utterly swamped these past few weeks trying to get backers and with the day-to-day management of putting together the event. That’s why she hasn’t had time to return our calls.” I hated covering for Lisa. But I knew this was what my mother wanted to hear. “I wasn’t there for opening night, but I was able to see the show. It was wonderful.”

  And it was. I had been proud of Lisa. We had underestimated her. She’d found a way to dance without hurting her knee. She’d found a boyfriend who was kind and supportive. I rubbed the stabbing pain in the center of my chest. I told myself it was heartburn from drinking my
coffee.

  “I completely understand. It all makes sense.”

  “I took pictures. I’ll send them over later.” They were highly edited and showed Lisa in front of the theater, strategically covering the poster.

  My mother let out a long sigh. “I’m so glad she’s a producer.”

  “You’re welcome,” I said. “I’ll send over my expenses for reimbursement later once I get settled. I’m in the office today.”

  “You’re back in New York?”

  “No reason to stay,” I said, trying not to sound like Eeyore.

  “Just give me the bottom line. No sense in going through all that paperwork.”

  My eyebrows raised. She was in a good mood. I decided to elaborate to head off any uncomfortable questions. “Lisa’s living in Carson City, Nevada in order to be closer to where the theater is.”

  “I can’t wait to talk to her.”

  “She might not be able to call back. Remember, she’s still recovering from her surgeries.” That was a total lie, but it was one my mother would accept, and it would buy Lisa some time to figure out when and how much she was going to tell Mom. “She’s burning the candle at both ends. She spends all her free time sleeping when she’s not working on the show.”

  Another call was coming through. It was a Las Vegas number.

  “Mom, I’ve got to take another call.”

  “Wait,” she said. “I want to hear all about the show.”

  “I can’t right now. I’m working. I’ll call you later.” After all, I didn’t have a show to do. All I had waiting for me at home was a pint of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, which I would have for dessert after I scarfed down some pizza. I had missed the taste of New York pizza.

  By the time I switched over, the call went to voice mail. It hadn’t been Miles’s number or Chance’s. Whoever it was, was leaving a long message. It was hellishly early in Las Vegas, but I dialed Chance’s number anyway hoping he knew what was going on.

  “Are you okay, luv?” he asked, sounding like he had just risen from the dead.

  “I’m so sorry for calling so early.” He must have known Miles had dumped me. “I’m doing all right. I’m a little sad and everything seems so bleak, but I’ll manage. I just wanted to call and let you know that everything went really well with me and Lisa. I’m sorry I couldn’t say goodbye in person.”

  “Why is that? Dalton’s may be gone, but we can meet up at the Drag Queen Diner. Bring Miles. I’ve got a proposition for him.”

  “What do you mean Dalton’s is gone?” I sat up straight in my chair.

  “The fire. It’s completely gutted.”

  “Fire?” I shrieked.

  A few people poked their heads into my office, but I waved them frantically away.

  “Shit, I thought you knew. Aren’t you with Miles?”

  “Chance, I’m in New York. I haven’t spoken to Miles since Saturday morning. Is he all right? Was he inside the bar when it caught on fire?” I held my hand on my stomach, trying not to throw up. Miles had warned me that it was dangerous for me to be in the club, but I never thought that it was also dangerous for him.

  “Get this. He was in jail at the time.”

  “Jail?”

  “He assaulted a gang leader and the gang leader pressed charges. Miles couldn’t get a bail bondsman because they’re all in the gang’s back pocket. Highway managed to haul someone out of bed on Sunday to bail Miles out, but by then it was too late. There’s nothing but slag and wreckage.”

  “Was anyone hurt?”

  “I don’t think so. I haven’t spoken to him. I only got the skinny because I saw Mav at Caesar’s last night.”

  “That fire was set.” I banged my fist on the desk. “It was arson.”

  “I think so too.”

  “Where’s Miles?” I asked.

  “I don’t know. I thought he was with you. He was going to go out to Carson City last I heard.”

  “I’m not there,” I said in a small voice. Why didn’t he call? Did he lose his phone in the fire?

  “Fuck a duck. I’ll see what I can find out.”

  “I’ll see too.” I bundled back into my coat and my boots, cursing myself. I should have known that Miles would never ghost me. He was the only person in my life who had ever put me first. I had to go back and find him.

  “Where the hell are you going?” my boss said.

  “Back to Vegas.”

  “No, you’re not. You just got back this morning.”

  “I had an emergency come up.”

  She groaned. “Not Lisa again.”

  “I’ll explain later.”

  “You’re lucky you still have some vacation time left. You better hurry or you’re going to get stranded on the tarmac. There’s a storm coming in.”

  I ran outside and hailed a cab. It was a good thing I hadn’t unpacked yet.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Miles Carvello

  The worst part of all of this was the memories. The smell of burned wires and broken dreams. I walked through the wreckage. It had been arson all right. Mav had smelled the gasoline when he was doing his final rounds at four a.m. He had tried to put it out with a fire extinguisher, but it had spread too fast. At least he had enough time to clear the building and no one got hurt.

  “Miles?”

  I had to do a double take. I almost didn’t recognize Ginny in street clothes and sneakers. “Not now,” I said. I didn’t have the energy to fight. I was still sporting a hangover from drinking myself to sleep on Highway’s couch last night.

  She walked up to me anyway, steadying herself as she climbed over the rubble. “This is for you.” She pressed a compact disk in my hands.

  “What’s this?”

  “This is the security footage from the bail bondsman office. You didn’t get it from me.”

  Both Konner and Dieter’s pawn shop and the bail bondsman had claimed their security cameras had been off last night. Our tapes burned up in the fire. There had been no evidence except for circumstantial, just like when my uncle’s club was torched.

  “How did you get it?”

  “I took it from Leonidas, who took it from the bondsman.”

  “He’s going to kill you. We have to get you protection.”

  “Look, I’m not stupid,” Ginny said. “No matter what you think. He’s not going to realize it’s missing. I swapped it with one of Dee’s CDs. He destroyed the evidence this morning.” She put finger quotes around the word “evidence.”

  “Dee?”

  “Yeah, she told me keep away from Dalton’s Saturday night, so I stayed at her apartment in Pahrump. Leonidas came by with a few friends after he got bailed out.” She gave a chuckle. “You did a number on his face. He was already bragging that Dalton’s was going to burn to the ground. He got Zeke to do it.”

  “Zeke?”

  “Yeah, Zeke’s been trying to patch into the Rivs forever. He thought having Dee be an escort for them would get him in. But then she decided she liked working at a brothel instead. Don’t get me wrong, she still freelances—which is why Leonidas came by last night. Zeke would have done anything Leonidas said to become a full member of the Rivs. I watched the footage. You can see Zeke coming in with the gas cans in the confusion when the cops took you away. And it shows him torching your car as he left the building after closing time.

  “That son of a bitch,” I said.

  Movement caught my eye and I saw Grier shambling down the sidewalk toward us. He was in his homeless person disguise. No one even blinked at him.

  “Why are you telling me this? I thought you and Leonidas had a deal.”

  “We did. I sold his drugs and he’d leave my baby sister alone.”

  “Did you tell him about Jackie?”

  Ginny looked away. “Yeah. I didn’t think he’d go psycho.”

  “Are you willing to tell the police what you know? It’s the only way to keep him away from your sister for good.”

  She shook her head. “He’ll co
me after her if I take the witness stand. You don’t need me. You’ve got the evidence. Zeke will turn over on Leonidas.”

  “Not if he wants to be a loyal gang member,” I said. “He’ll go to jail first.”

  “Oh, Miles.” Ginny reached up and rubbed my cheek affectionately. “Not everyone is like you. There’s a reason Zeke has been only a pledge of the Rivs for most of his life. He’s a weasel.” She stood up on her tiptoes and tried to kiss me on the lips. I turned my head just in time and she got my cheek. “We could have been good together. You would have protected my sister.”

  “You should have come to me.”

  “You should have come to me, but you were never interested. I hope Jackie appreciates what she’s got.” With a sigh, Ginny walked away.

  Jackie was safe in New York and that was all that mattered. That’s what her sister Lisa had said when I hauled ass to Carson City yesterday. I was caught between being relieved and being gutted. She was the one person I needed to speak to. If I couldn’t hold her in my arms, I just wanted to hear her voice.

  I would have called her, but my phone was dead, and the cord was ash under my feet. It was on my list to get another one, but I had to figure out where the hell I was going to live in the meantime.

  Grier came up to me next. “I’m sorry about the club and for the bullshit arrest Saturday night. We’re looking into why you couldn’t get bonded out right away. I’m not the type of guy that says, ‘Heads will roll,’ but it’s someone’s ass, that’s for damn sure. All I can say is Leonidas didn’t torch your place. He was in Pahrump.”

  I was pissed, but I knew there was only so much Grier could have done. Shielding my actions from the security cameras that were still operational on this street, I passed him the CD. “Dalton’s missing security tape. My waiter Zeke did it on Leonidas’s orders.”

  I told him what Ginny had told me and he sped away to act on the new information. Hopefully, he’d get a warrant out on both Leonidas and Zeke. With my wire conversation and this new evidence, I had a feeling that the Rivs were going to lose a lot of power.