by Diane Capri
Perry followed behind Kim as they walked out to his rented SUV. She opened the door and climbed into the passenger seat. When he was settled behind the wheel, backing out into Main Street, she said, “Why does Greyson think the fire and the cash are tied to the casino?”
“The registrations came back on all three trucks. One was stolen. The other two belonged to a pair of guys from Kelham. Greyson says they’re regulars at the casino,” Perry said.
“He thinks the third guy, the one who was driving the stolen truck, is likely to be at the casino now?” Kim asked. “Makes more sense that he’d have left town after he killed those two and torched the barn, doesn’t it?”
Perry shrugged. “Greyson says he’s just playing the odds.”
“Yeah, well, maybe Greyson should keep his day job,” Kim replied. “The odds are that he’s wasting his time and ours, too.”
Perry glanced across the cabin. “You got a better idea?”
“Yes. We need to see Major Hammer,” she replied. “Can you call him? Get him to meet us somewhere?”
Perry grinned. “Already done. He’s at the casino, too.”
Kim nodded. “We need to make a quick stop first.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Thursday, May 12
Carter’s Crossing, Mississippi
8:30 p.m.
It had taken longer than Murphy had expected to get off the base. There’d been no time to leave his Jaguar and find another vehicle. Tomorrow was the final closing walk-through at Kelham. He would be the last man out. He was looking forward to turning the lights off on his old life and moving forward.
Most of the personnel and usable equipment had already been packed up and shipped out. There was nothing much left. The army would move the last bits off-site at some point. Even later, the property would be repurposed like all the other military bases that had closed over the years. But none of that was his problem.
He’d been a soldier more than half his life. He didn’t expect to miss the army. Not for one minute. By this time tomorrow, he’d be a free man once again.
Truth was, Murphy didn’t remember what it felt like to be master of his own destiny.
He imagined he’d feel freer, able to come and go as he pleased. No orders to follow. No senior officers to please. Because of the counterfeiting operation he’d been running here, he had more money stashed away than he’d ever spend in the rest of his lifetime. He didn’t have any heirs and didn’t expect to have any in the future. All of which meant his fortune would be more than enough.
All he had to do was finish up, deal with Nina, and bug out tomorrow at dawn. Which filled him with pleasurable anticipation. Not that the army cared how he felt or what he wanted. Not that he gave a crap what the army cared about, either.
Nina lived southeast of Carter’s Crossing. When the tribe had moved onto the reservation and built the casino, her brother had moved into a suite in the casino hotel. But Nina had stayed in the home she’d always loved.
Her house was set back from the road on a few acres of land. Her grandfather had built it himself, as Nina had proudly told him when they first met. The trees had been cleared and the lumber was used to build the simple rectangular dwelling. The exterior siding had never been painted and the wood had weathered to a silvery sheen that fairly glowed in the moonlight.
When Murphy turned the last curve along the winding driveway, no lights were burning inside the front rooms of the house. Maybe Nina had taken his advice. She might be sleeping in her bedroom in the back, which would make what he’d come to do so much easier.
He parked and walked up to the front door. Nina never locked her doors. She said the chances of anyone coming out this far to rob her were slim, and she didn’t have anything inside worth stealing anyway. Everyone who knew her was already aware of that.
Murphy turned the knob, pushed the door open, and went inside. He didn’t turn the lights on. He walked softly across the hardwood floor toward Nina’s bedroom. The door was open. Soft light from the bedside lamp washed through the dark hallway.
He pulled the silver flask from his back pocket and moved into the room.
The bed was unoccupied.
On the bedside table was a note held in place by a gold poker chip. Her big scrawl was easy to read without touching the paper. Casino. See you there. Love, Nina and Junior xoxo
He shoved the flask into his pocket, swore under his breath, turned around, and stomped out. He slammed the door behind him.
Tilting his head to the moon, he bellowed every ounce of frustration he felt. “Damn you, Nina. Why can’t you ever, even once, just do what the hell you’re told!”
The shouting didn’t improve his mood or change his situation. Nina had to die tonight. Even if he had to hunt her down first.
Murphy restarted the Jaguar and turned around and drove along the winding driveway back the way he’d come. Big River Casino was fifteen minutes away if he traveled by the main roads. But he didn’t want to take the chance that he might be seen.
He drove the back roads instead.
Which gave him plenty of time to think about what he’d say to Major Hammer if he ran into him.
Murphy flipped on the radio and caught the top of the local news. The fire out at Gordon’s farm was the lead story. Firefighters had found two bodies inside. Their names hadn’t been released pending notification of next of kin.
His luck was holding. So far.
He pushed the accelerator and sped up as much as he dared on the dark gravel road.
“Maybe the bodies won’t be identified soon enough,” he said aloud, even as he realized what a thin hope that was.
Everything that had gone wrong right up until this very minute was all Nina’s fault. She should have kept her mouth shut. But she didn’t.
She’d told Bonnie Nightingale, of all people.
Nina’s blabbing had cost him. Tonight, he’d make sure she paid for her mistakes.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Thursday, May 12
Carter’s Crossing, Mississippi
8:45 p.m.
“Why is Hammer at the casino?” Kim asked as Perry navigated around a sinkhole near the railroad crossing large enough to swallow a pickup truck. The broken pavement was marked with orange cones and a flashing danger sign.
This particular hole must have appeared sometime today because Kim hadn’t seen it last night when she was investigating the train.
“He’s looking to confirm some alibis for the night of Bonnie Nightingale’s murder, he said. And hoping to find the two guys who should have been at Kelham this afternoon, but weren’t,” Perry replied, peering through the windshield, watching for pedestrians or something. “I’d really like to get a look at the train tonight. If we get separated, I’m planning to be back here before midnight.”
She nodded, pointing, “Brannan’s is about halfway down the block.”
He steered onto the one-sided street and rolled slowly along until he found a parking place close to the front door. He angle parked, nose in, and snugged up close to the curb.
Kim unlatched her seat belt and reached for the door handle. Before she stepped out, she said, “Let me take the lead. I’ve already met the bartender. I think he knows something about Bonnie Nightingale, and my feeling last night was that he wanted to tell me more about it.”
“If he had more to say, why didn’t he just tell the sheriff?” Perry asked.
Kim shrugged. “Maybe he did. But Greyson didn’t share that with me. Did he tell you?”
“Nope,” Perry said with a grin.
She looked in the window, where she saw a crowd similar to last night. “The McKinneys are inside. Keep an eye on them. I don’t think they’ll try anything in front of all these witnesses, but they’re not all that bright.”
“No kidding,” Perry replied.
Kim opened the door and stepped out into the warm and humid evening. She glanced across at the train tracks. A big man was walking alone near the cros
sing. A few cars passed by, on the way to Kelham, probably. A young couple, arms linked, walked northward on the broken sidewalk in front of the bars and boarded up shops.
She imagined that the traffic was pretty much the same as any Thursday night. Maybe the same as any weeknight. Perhaps people were walking around the night Bonnie Nightingale died. Kim wondered if Greyson had made any effort to find witnesses. She made a mental note to ask him.
Kim walked on. She avoided three large holes in the pavement and made her way onto the cracked sidewalk.
She glanced inside. Walt McKinney was tending bar. The three McKinney cousins were playing pool. A few other customers were sitting at one end of the bar, talking quietly together. Some of the tables were also occupied.
Nothing noteworthy was on the television tonight.
Walt looked up and met her gaze when she pulled the heavy door open and walked inside. Perry followed along behind her.
The McKinneys saw her come in, too. The same three that had been here with Luke Price last night. The same three Kim and Perry had argued with on Main Street this morning.
All three of them gave her an aggravated scowl. They were like cookies cut from the same dough. If they weren’t so dangerously stupid, they’d have been comical.
Laughing at them would be a swift ticket to another fight. So she didn’t.
But she wanted to.
She walked up to the bar and leaned forward. “Hi, Walt,” she said.
Perry stood next to her, back to the bar, looking out into the room.
“What can I get for you and your friend?” the bartender asked.
“What do you recommend?” Perry said, which was a smart question.
Kim didn’t want another stale can of beer.
“We’re St. Louis fans here, as she can tell you. We’ve got Bud and Bud Light on draft,” Walt replied, grabbing mugs before Perry had a chance to agree.
Walt tilted the mugs under the red draft handle, expertly allowing the golden liquid to slide down the side of the mugs until they were filled with just the right amount of foamy head resting on the top.
Kim took the beer and sipped. It was wet and cold, which was a big improvement over the night before. But it was no Labatt. She and August Busch might have shared a common ethnicity, but she didn’t love his beer.
“Walt, I came back because I need to know about Bonnie Nightingale. You told me she was in here the night she died. Who was she with?” Kim asked.
Kim sensed movement behind her. The little hairs stood up on the back of her neck. She glanced at Perry, who was watching the room casually.
She looked over her shoulder just in time to see one of the McKinneys sink the last ball into the corner pocket. The win was followed by whooping and high fives, and then all three McKinneys ambled out of the bar. Which made her nervous. She’d have preferred them to stay inside where Perry could keep an eye on them.
Once the McKinneys left, Walt said, “Hell of a thing about Luke Price, wasn’t it?”
Kim looked him straight in the eye. “Yes it was. Any idea who killed him?”
“I sort of thought it was you.” Walt raised his eyebrows. He titled his head toward the front door. “That’s what my cousins think, too. You might want to be careful out there. Price wasn’t much of a man, but my cousins liked him.”
“Thanks for the heads-up,” Perry said. “We’ll take the matter under advisement.”
Walt’s nostrils flared and his grip on the bar towel tightened. Nothing would be gained by another fight. Kim glared at Perry and moved to deescalate hostilities.
“I didn’t kill Price. Last time I saw him, he was lying flat on his ass on your floor.” She nodded in the general direction. “Right over there.”
“Well, somebody killed him after he left here last night. And you’re the only one he’d had a beef with that night. So my cousins assume that you’re the one who killed him. That’s reasonable, wouldn’t you say?” Walt’s conversation was easy, but the subtext was that Kim should watch her back.
“Thanks for the warning,” Kim replied. “Now, about Bonnie Nightingale. Who was she in here with the night she died?”
Walt shrugged. “She was dating Jasper. I told you that. She came in to wait for him.”
“Did he show up?”
“After a while. She waited with his friends until he got here.”
“What friends?”
“Three guys from Kelham. Redmond, Hern, and Murphy, I think. That’s the usual posse Jasper ran with,” Walt said, cleaning up the glasses and the napkins and organizing this and that behind the bar. He seemed like he needed something to do with his energy all of a sudden.
“Come on, Walt. Bonnie’s dead. Jasper’s dead. Price, too. All of them were your customers and your friends if I had to guess. If this keeps up, you’re not going to have many customers left except your cousins.” Kim paused for a deep breath and to let what she’d said sink in. “There’s something going on here. Don’t you want me to figure it out before someone else gets killed?”
Walt seemed to think about the question for a while. He served beers to the guys at the other end of the bar. Then he came back and did more fiddling around the sink.
Perry dropped a tenner on the bar and said, “Come on, Otto. Let’s go. We’re wasting our time here.”
He walked toward the front door and waited for her to follow.
“Tell me what happened, Walt. Please,” Kim said.
“I don’t know what happened. Bonnie was drunk. I told you. She was upset.”
“Upset about what?”
“About Nina. Her friend, Nina Cloud.”
“Nina Cloud, one of the managers of Big River Casino?” Kim asked.
“You think there would be more than one Nina Cloud in a town this size?” Walt grinned.
“What was Bonnie saying about Nina?”
Walt replied, “Bonnie had an argument with one of those guys. Like I said, she was drunk. The argument went on for a few minutes. The Cardinals were on and I was busy. There were a few people here at the bar. I didn’t hear the whole thing.”
“What did you hear, then?”
“Right at the end, Bonnie said something about Nina and Murphy going to New York City. She said Nina was upset about it, didn’t deserve to be treated that way. Bonnie called Murphy a lying bastard,” he paused, looked down, cleared his throat, and looked up again.
“And then what happened?”
“Murphy backhanded her. Knocked her a good six feet. She landed hard on her butt, crying. She got up, holding her cheek, and ran out.” He stopped for a breath. “And that was it. Next thing I heard, Bonnie had thrown herself in front of the midnight train.”
“Did she say why Nina was so upset about the trip to New York with Murphy? Seems like a crazy thing to start a fight over. It doesn’t make much sense, does it?” Kim said, thinking aloud. “Unless something happened while they were gone. Was that it?”
Walt shook his head. “I don’t know. That’s all she said.”
Kim nodded and backed away from the bar. “Did you tell Sheriff Greyson about all this?”
Walt looked her straight in the eye. “Not all of it. He was busy the night he came in here. Didn’t have a lot of time. He seemed like he wanted to confirm that Bonnie had been here, and I said she was. I told him she was waiting for Jasper.”
“What about the rest of it?”
Walt shook his head. “He got called away and had to cut the conversation short. I just figured he’d found out everything he needed to know some other way. Or maybe he hasn’t had the time. He’s been pretty busy, as I’m sure you’ve noticed. Kelham closing has put a lot of extra stress on everything around here.”
“Okay. Thanks. I’ll follow up.” Kim turned to leave, but then she remembered something else. “Was Price in here that night? The night Bonnie died?”
Walt cocked his head and squinted toward the ceiling, as if he had to think about it. “Yeah. I guess he was.”
; CHAPTER FORTY
Thursday, May 12
Carter’s Crossing, Mississippi
9:05 p.m.
Perry drove directly to Big River Casino and Resort. He didn’t need the GPS in his rental. The route was clearly marked with signs along the roadway. The casino itself was visible in the distance across the flat farmland.
When they reached the long driveway, Perry turned right. A flashing sign announced the weekly poker tournament. Which was probably why Libby’s Diner had emptied early and the casino’s parking lot was about half full tonight.
Perry drove toward an open parking lot that was bigger than a baseball field.
The front of the casino itself resembled a fancy lodge constructed of massive logs, like the great lodges Kim had visited as a child in National Parks like Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon. The logs of the facade were flanked on both sides by two-story rectangular buildings designed to blend into the landscape.
Kim had quickly perused the casino’s website on her phone. The resort boasted hotel rooms, a spa, the hottest table games and slots, as well as high-end and relaxed dining options.
The lot was almost full. A wide variety of vehicles ranging from sports cars to travel coaches, and everything in between was parked in an orderly fashion. A disproportionate number of pickup trucks filled the rows.
“This place is as busy as a shopping mall at Christmas,” Perry said as if surprised.
The valet was hopping tonight, taking keys and moving vehicles as fast as the runners on duty could hustle.
Perry drove past the valet stand and found an open parking slot about halfway down the center aisle from the front entrance.
“I’m leaving this here,” he said, looking toward Kim as he put the key fob on the floor under the mat. “In case we get separated and you need to leave without me. All you have to do is push the start button. Let me know where you’ve left the vehicle and I’ll come pick it up.”