Hearts and Aces (Kelsey's Burden Series Book 7)

by Kaylie Hunter

  There was a long pause before he answered, “The grocery store?”

  I remained silent, completely dumbfounded. I glanced at the list, and sure enough, it said nothing about the chicken being alive. When I could close my mouth, I mumbled a thank you and hung up.

  “Well?” Bridget said.

  “We’re idiots. The grocery store.”

  “Wow.” Katie laughed. “We were overthinking that one just a smidge.”

  “The Harding’s on Drake has two beach umbrellas still,” Nicholas called out.

  “I betcha they have chickens, too,” Wild Card said, laughing.

  After Trigger returned with the sign, we picked up the Coney Dutch dogs and then went to the grocery store. Anne, Wild Card, and the kids tracked down the beach umbrellas as the rest of us grabbed every fresh and frozen chicken they had, including the ones they had in the backroom. At the checkout counter, I was surprised to see Wild Card had his arms filled with coolers, folding lawn chairs, and tiki torches. I raised an eyebrow at him.

  He stacked everything on a conveyor belt. “What? Their seasonal crap is fifty percent off. It’s a steal.”

  I shook my head at him as Bridget encouraged the cashier to hurry.

  We were back in the van in less than ten minutes and at the mission five minutes after that. We posed for a picture as the Mayor shook Father Eric’s hand and the rest of us held up our donated chickens in the background. We collected the six purple shirts from Father Eric, and once again, we were on the road with two more items on our list crossed off.

  The final scavenger hunt item was a picture of two team members in front of a painting at the museum. Everyone stood outside the van, leaning over Sara’s laptop as we reviewed the architectural plans.

  “I only see three ways in,” Sara said. “The loading docks, the employee entrance in the back, and the front doors.”

  “I can shut down their alarm system remotely,” Tech said, starting up his laptop. “It’s a locally monitored system.”

  “The police are everywhere,” Trigger said. “I counted eight cops at the front and side entrances.”

  Wild Card sighed. “They’ve got cops stationed at the back doors and loading docks, too.”

  I studied the museum down the street. “We can distract most of the cops,” I said, biting my lower lip. “Dallas, go ahead and change into one of your costumes.”

  Tech pointed at her with his serious face. “Make sure you pick a costume that covers everything. The law is clear that all of your private bits have to be covered.”

  “We can call in a fake 911 call,” Katie suggested.

  “Not allowed,” I said. “Whoever wrote the list put a notation that they’ll arrest everyone at Aces if a false alarm is called in during the scavenger hunt.”

  “I don’t blame them,” Wild Card said, grinning.

  “Is this like the chicken?” Anne asked. “Can’t we just walk in there and take a picture? It’s open to the public, right?”

  “They’re normally open on Saturdays by eleven, but they don’t open today until two o’clock for some reason,” I answered. “We need to get in there now if we’re going to win this thing.”

  “Then we need to know why they’re opening late,” Bridget said.

  “They have some fancy party this afternoon,” Nicholas said, reading from his phone. “It’s a fund raiser.”

  “Which means they’ll have party decorators and caterers,” Bridget said. “We can enter as staff.”

  “Most of the cops know us,” Anne said. “A chef’s coat or a pair of coveralls won’t get us past the doors.”

  “There’s no time to plan an operation like that anyway,” I said, rolling my head around on my neck, trying to work the kinks out from Bridget’s driving. “We need something quick and easy.”

  “Hello, my name is Nicholas Harrison,” Nicholas said into his phone. “I understand you are having a fundraiser tonight?”

  We all watched Nicholas as he talked on his cellphone.

  “Yeah, we know it starts at two. Problem is, we need a picture of one of your paintings, now, not later. How big of a donation will it take to make that happen?”

  He looked up at me. “Five hundred per person?”

  I gave him a thumbs up.

  “We accept,” he said, smiling broadly. “We’ll meet you at the side entrance. I assume you can order the police to let us in?” he nodded a few times. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. The FBI?” Nicholas listened for a few minutes and then giggled. “It’s okay. She’s part of the scavenger hunt, too.”

  He disconnected the call and tucked his phone into his pocket.

  “You are your mother’s son,” Wild Card said, shaking his head as he mussed Nicholas’ hair. “Good job, buddy.”

  “What was that about the FBI?” Anne asked.

  “Maggie used her badge to get inside,” Nicholas said. “She told the woman she was investigating a stolen art ring. She’s still there.”

  “So, we can walk right through the door?” Anne asked. “Hand them the money and take a picture with the painting?”

  Nicholas nodded. “Yup.”

  “Dave and Steve were definitely involved in the making of this list,” I said as I dug into my bag for a cash envelope. “They planned on us donating to the museum to gain access. They know how much the guys at Aces make and knew everyone could afford it.”

  “Dave’s on the community fundraiser committee,” Dallas said, walking over wearing a bright blue sequined bikini set.

  It was mid-morning, and we were standing next to a park. Katie peeled off her coat and draped it around Dallas. It didn’t cover everything, but it helped.

  Dallas shrugged. “They were talking last night that donations were down at all the local events, but they were hoping things would change this weekend.”

  Tech looked at Dallas and then looked at me. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”

  I smiled as I grabbed the boombox. “That we no longer need Dallas as a distraction, but it would be a fun way to get back at Dave, anyway?”

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Our official time was clocked at fifty-seven minutes. We sat in folding chairs at Headquarters drinking coffee when Dave and Steve arrived.

  “Really?” Dave said, dragging Dallas by her elbows into the room. “Every cop in the district now has a video of my mother, in a stripper outfit, dancing to AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long”!”

  “You’re the one who planned a thousand-dollar entry fee to the museum,” Tech said, not looking up from his laptop.

  “It was for a good cause!”

  Wild Card laughed. “What? More sidewalk art?”

  “They’re raising money for the public schools. The art programs suffered from the last round of budget cuts, so the museum is raising money earmarked for art education.”

  We all looked at each other, feeling guilty, before we pulled our purses and wallets. Dave was less angry when they left with a pile of cash, but he said he was leaving Dallas behind as punishment.

  “Who’s the hussy?” Dallas asked, her hands on her bare hips and her sequined boobs jiggling as she nodded across the room.

  Sebrina was standing beside Jerry, near the offices, smiling up at him as she rested a hand on his arm. Jerry smiled shyly back at her, his cheeks turning pink from embarrassment.

  “That’s Grady’s ex-wife. Why is she a hussy?”

  “She’s working Jerry like a pro. She’s after something.”

  “Jerry’s in charge of the scavenger hunt,” Anne said. “Maybe it has something to do with that.”

  “Why didn’t she go on the hunt?” I asked. “Friends and family were invited to participate. That’s why we rented the large passenger vans.”

  “I heard her tell everyone this morning that she was too hungover to go,” Trigger said, watching Sebrina in his peripheral vision. “Grady offered to stay behind, but she said she’d be sleeping, so there was no point.”

  “Who else d
idn’t go?” I asked as I glanced again at Sebrina, who didn’t appear in the least bit hungover.

  “Not sure,” Trigger said. “Not everyone is participating in the team competitions. Some of those who weren’t on a team rode along with other teams and some stayed back to sleep, work out, or relax.”

  I tilted my head and looked at Tech.

  He grinned, sensing my unasked question. “I’m on it. Give me a minute to review the security video.”

  I turned in my chair, openly watching Sebrina as I drank my coffee. Jerry shook his head at whatever Sebrina was saying and abruptly walked away. Sebrina seemed pissed, clenching her jaw and fisting her hands. When she saw me watching, though, her body relaxed and she smiled a false all-white smile at me before sauntering across the gym toward a group of guys at the food table. I watched Shipwreck nod at her before turning into the breakroom with his plate. She followed him inside after grabbing an apple from the table.

  I jumped over and sat in the empty chair next to Tech, digging in my shoulder bag for earbuds. “Did you get the breakroom wired? I need to know what they’re saying.”

  Tech switched over to the live feeds and clicked a few screens before his screen showed Shipwreck and Sebrina huddled together, talking in the corner of the room. I plugged my earbuds into the laptop and handed one end to Tech as I put the other up against my ear.

  “Where the hell is he?” Sebrina hissed. “We’ve searched everywhere.”

  “I’m thinking one of the biker clubs has him,” Shipwreck said, leaning against the wall and appearing on camera like he was ignoring her. “I’m keeping an eye on that Tyler guy. If anyone knows where he is, it’ll be him.”

  “If your guy talks, we’re in deep shit,” Sebrina said. “He knows too much.”

  “He won’t talk. He’s too afraid of Santiago.”

  “Until he’s being tortured.”

  “Kelsey won’t let anyone torture him,” Shipwreck said, snorting. “We’ll find him. Meet me tonight in the field and we’ll compare notes. That is…” he said, turning to look at Sebrina, “if you’re not too busy fucking your ex.”

  “You know I don’t have a choice,” she said, putting her hand on his arm. “We’ll only be here for a few days. Once we prove to Santiago that we're allies again, we can both go back to Mexico and resume our lives.”

  “And Grady?”

  “What about him? He can rekindle his relationship with that mousy little thing who likely enjoys meatloaf dinners and having missionary-style sex.”

  “Mousy. I’m not mousy!” I said, getting mad.

  “You do like meatloaf,” Tech said, grinning at me sideways. “I’m not going to ask about the missionary sex.”

  “I feel so left out,” Katie said from the other side of Tech.

  I looked up to see everyone from our team was watching and listening to us. Wild Card shook his head, laughing, as he got up and walked away.

  Looking back at the monitor, a couple of guys entered the breakroom and Sebrina and Shipwreck distanced themselves from each other. I handed my side of the earbud to Tech and walked off. Climbing the stairs, I went to my war room and pulled my phone to call Tyler.

  “What’s up, boss?” Tyler said, answering. “Did you guys really finish in fifty-seven minutes?”

  “Did you doubt us?”

  “Only when I heard about the chicken question.”

  “Yeah, that was embarrassing. Anyway… Shipwreck’s dirty. He’s going to get close to you later to squeeze information from you about our special guest, the one you have tucked away somewhere.”

  “Damn. I was looking forward to the bar you were going to build for him.”

  “I can still build the bar. I’ll put you in charge of finding a new bartender.”

  “How do you want to play it with Shipwreck?”

  “Did you get any information out of our guest last night?”

  “Nope. Thanks to Nightcrawler, our guest has been in and out of consciousness since his relocation, but I’ll pay him a visit this afternoon and see if his head has cleared any. Hopefully, he’ll be more alert.”

  “He’s not a priority. Drop a hint to Shipwreck this afternoon that you’re holding our guest at the empty warehouse where they held us girls. We’ll see what shakes out when he shows.”

  “The warehouse?” Tyler asked.

  “Is that a problem?”

  “Not really, I guess, but what made you think of that location?”

  “Nobody would ever guess we’d take him back to where he held us.”

  Tyler was silent.

  “That’s where you stashed him, isn’t it?” I sat in my chair as I laughed.

  “I think we’re spending too much time together,” Tyler said. “I’m reading your mind. It’s freaking the shit out of me.”

  The burner phone in my handbag started to ring. “I gotta go, but we can still use the warehouse. I’m not too worried about our guest accidentally getting shot.”

  I hung up on Tyler and switched over to the burner phone. “Hola.”

  “Who is this?” a man asked.

  “That depends. Am I speaking to Miguel or one of his henchmen?”

  “What do you want?” Miguel demanded.

  “I want your brother to back off,” I said, strolling over to the window to look into the field below. “He’s targeting my friends and family because of Sebrina. It’s pissing me off and ruining a perfectly nice weekend.”

  “Then you should discuss the issue with Santiago.”

  “We both know you’re the one in charge. Either you handle the problem, or I start a war you can’t win.”

  “You’re threatening me?”

  “I’m warning you. Having your employees not show up for work was child’s play. You have no idea what I’m capable of. If I can take down a gubernatorial candidate like Jonathan Vaughn, I can demolish your U.S. based companies with a few phone calls. Call Santiago off. Do whatever you have to do to handle this shit.” I hung up the phone, setting it on the conference room table as I sat again.

  A minute later, Tech walked in followed by Wild Card and Bridget.

  “Did you listen to the call?” I asked.

  Wild Card nodded, taking a seat on the other side of the table. “Nice touch dropping Jonathan’s name. Miguel will spend the next twenty minutes reading the news articles online of how you financially and politically ruined Vaughn before you killed him.”

  “He’ll know you’re an ex-cop, wealthy, and connected,” Bridget said, leaning against the door. “Just like you planned.”

  My personal cell rang, and I looked at the screen and saw Genie’s smiling face. I pressed the accept button. “Where’s he heading?”

  Genie giggled. “He was heading to Texas, but he just changed his flight plan to Chicago.”

  “Interesting.”

  “Is this good or bad?”

  “I don’t know. I’ll have to think about it. What’s his ETA?”

  “He’ll be in Chicago in less than five hours.”

  I looked up at the clock. “That might work.”

  “What might work? Wait. Do I even want to know?” Genie asked.

  “Probably not.” In the background on Genie’s side of the call, I could hear arguing. One particular voice stood out. “Are you with Charlie?”

  “Yeah.” Genie sighed. “I was invited for breakfast, but Kierson and Charlie haven’t stopped fighting long enough for us to eat.”

  “Can you put Charlie on the phone?”

  A minute later, Charlie was on the line. “What’s up?”

  “Jump on a plane. I need you here, but when you arrive, don’t let anyone see you.”

  “Whatever. I’ll be there. Anything’s better than this,” Charlie said before hanging up.

  I laughed, looking at my phone. Definitely trouble in paradise.

  I returned to the window to process my thoughts. Miguel was either heading this way to confront me, or else Santiago was already here and Miguel was coming to stop
him. Either way, I could use the information to my advantage. “Tech, can you go through the security videos and see if Sebrina and Shipwreck had any other, not so private, conversations?”

  “That’s a lot of video. I’ll need a few people to help.”

  “We’ll handle it,” Wild Card said, nodding for Bridget and Tech to follow him to the door. “We’ll work at the house, though. Fewer ears.”

  When the door closed, I paced the room, thinking. It wasn’t until my third pass by the window that I noticed Nicholas and Sara playing with Storm in the field. Looking around, I didn’t see any of their security guards with them, but I saw Sebrina who was walking their way.

  I ran from the room, down the stairs, and across the gym toward the back doors, cursing the entire way that the building didn’t have a side door exit. I heard several sets of feet pounding the floor behind me as I threw open the door and ran around the outside corner of the building. Sebrina stood in the middle of the field with the kids, smiling toward them, but she was prevented from getting closer to them by the snarling and snapping of Storm’s teeth. Behind Storm, Nicholas stood protectively in front of Sara, holding his arms out and glaring at Sebrina. I slowed to a jog, happy to see that Storm had it handled and my son was showing no fear.

  When I reached the kids, I leaned over and whispered to them. “You guys okay?”

  “Yup,” Nicholas said in a short-clipped voice that reminded me of Grady. His eyes never swayed from his focus on Sebrina.

  “Where’s your security team?”

  “My fault,” Nightcrawler said, jogging over. “I told them I brought Storm over, but to give me a few minutes and then I’d bring them out to play with him. I was talking to Wild Card about something.”

  I looked back at the kids. “You two were told to wait, and you came outside by yourselves, anyway?”

  “Sorry,” Sara sighed, looking down at the ground.

  Nicholas didn’t answer, but glanced at me quickly to gauge my anger before looking back at Sebrina.

  “Storm, stand down,” I ordered.

  Storm stopped growling and sat.

  “Nightcrawler, take the kids and Storm back to the house. I want eyes on them until I get there. I should only be a few minutes.”