by Unknown
Peter Nolan’s photographic studio was only a couple of blocks over from the Red Cactus. Tall and wiry with a red beard he’d cultivated since his mid-twenties, he was a renowned photographer of nature. People, he was often heard to say, disappointed, nature never did.
Handling the slide with tweezers to preserve any fingerprints, Peter placed it on top of the light box. “Just like you figured. Dr. Stewart’s head was superimposed.”
“Can you tell me anything about the original print?”
“Sorry. It’s a stock print that could have been lifted from any number of porno magazines. Anyone with a scanner could have superimposed her face and taken the picture with transparency film.” Clicking off the light, he replaced the slide. “A professional photographic lab wouldn’t think anything of producing this slide.”
Luke put the slide back into the carousel. “It’s what I figured, but it was worth a shot.”
“What are you going to do now?”
“What else? Put whoever did this on the hot seat.”
THE SIGN OUTSIDE THE PUEBLO ROOM SAID LUNCHEON. Perfect, Luke thought. Opening the door, he headed straight for the podium. The speaker paused as Luke walked up on the raised platform, his gaze questioning.
“Sorry, I need to make an announcement.” Whether in agreement or not, the man stepped back. “My name is Luke Grayson and I’ve just come from the studio of a photographic expert who is willing to give a written deposition that Dr. Stewart’s picture was superimposed onto the slide in her presentation. As a friend of the family I’m offering a $15,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons who staged such a cruel hoax.” Murmurs went up from the crowd.
“Since the slides may have been tampered with before she left California and crossed state lines, the FBI has been called in. As a former agent, I assure you that the case will be thoroughly investigated and the guilty person or persons persecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I’ll be at the Red Cactus restaurant waiting.” He turned to the speaker. “I apologize again.”
The man nodded.
The room was buzzing as Luke walked from the podium out the huge wooden double doors. The threat of the FBI combined with the monetary reward should loosen a tongue or two, he thought. Fear and greed were good incentives. He had a hunch that whoever was behind this was either here or had someone watching. They’d want every sick detail of Catherine’s humiliation.
Taking up a position across from the Pueblo Room behind a giant yucca plant, he waited to see who left. He hoped one of them might be the projectionist. The switch could have been made before Catherine arrived, but Luke didn’t think so. There was always the possibility of her checking the slides before her presentation. To be absolutely sure of going undetected, the switch had to be made at the last possible moment.
The reason behind the attempted break-in at the cabin last night became clear. Since the person hadn’t gotten caught the first time, he or she had probably felt smug in returning. The hybrid had quickly changed their mind and plans. The switch now had to be done later, after the slides left her possession, after the carousel was removed from the case.
Luke watched people going in and out of the room, but none of their behavior was suspicious. He had called Brandon on his cell phone and asked him to call back if anyone came by with information. So far, the phone had remained silent.
From the increased noise level inside the ballroom, the luncheon speaker had finished and they were being served. He’d give it another ten minutes and then he was going back on the stage and find out how to contact the projectionist.
The door swung open. He spotted Kenneth Boman, the projectionist, coming out. Luke crossed to the young man and pulled him aside. He didn’t waste time. “Did you notice anyone tampering with Dr. Stewart’s slides?”
The young man’s eyes glanced around him. “Did you mean it about the fifteen grand?”
“Yes.”
A smile spread across his narrow face. “I know who switched the slides.”
Excitement whipped through Luke. “Talk—and this better be the truth.”
“He came up to me while I was preparing the projector. He went on and on about how much he admired Dr. Stewart’s work.”
“Did you see him switch the slides?” Luke questioned.
Kenneth’s smile dissolved. “No, but it had to be him.”
“Did he have a badge on?”
“Yes, but I didn’t pay that much attention to it.” His expression fell, then he brightened. “But I’d know him if I saw him again.”
“You’ll get your chance.” Luke led him back across the lobby, called the hotel, then asked to be connected to the front desk. “This is the answering service for Drs. Lee Perkins and George Tolliver. Both have important calls they need to take immediately. They should be in the Pueblo Room. Could you please ask the person presiding over the luncheon to make an announcement? Yes, I’ll hold.”
Shortly, a man wearing the regulation maroon-colored sports jacket with the hotel crest on it came from the direction of the front desk and went inside the ballroom. “That’s probably the conference manager going to deliver my message. Get ready. It shouldn’t be long before they come out.”
Lee Perkins came out with Jackie Sims. George Tolliver was a few feet behind.
“That’s him. The tall one,” proclaimed Kenneth in an excited rush.
Luke’s eyes narrowed into black slits. It was all he could do not to cross the room and smash his fist into Perkins’s face. Letting them get a little farther away, Luke prepared to follow.
The door opened again and a short, balding man came out the same time two women were rushing back inside. The women tried to go around him and take advantage of the open door. One did so smoothly. The taller and heavier of the two collided into his left side.
Grimacing, he cursed and grabbed his left arm.
“I’m sorry,” the woman said, her face full of concern. “Are you all right?”
“You should watch where you’re going,” he hissed, his round face furious. “You clumsy fool.”
The woman’s face drained of color.
Grumbling, the man walked off with his right hand cupping and supporting his left elbow and arm. Something clicked in Luke’s brain. He remembered the nasty attitude and the pudgy face of the balding man. He’d been just as abrupt and sneering when he questioned Catherine’s credibility in her workshop. His black and white badge said PRESS.
“Do you remember him?” Luke asked.
“No.”
Luke’s gaze switched to Perkins moving easily down the hallway, his right hand holding Jackie’s elbow, his left arm relaxed by his side, then went back to the man he had first seen at Catherine’s workshop, holding his arm and wearing a press badge.
The easiest way to gain entrance into any large gathering was to say you were with the press. Most organizations were chomping at the bit for publicity and seldom if ever verified information. Slipping out from behind the plant, Luke followed.
As the man passed a combination stone trash receptacle/ash tray, he removed something from his pocket and tossed it into the bottom half, never slowing his pace.
Reaching the receptacle, Luke bent and peered inside. Dark as midnight and he didn’t have a flashlight, but he had a strong hunch what was inside. He pushed to his feet. “Stay here and don’t let anyone else use this.”
“Does this mean I don’t get my money?” Kenneth questioned, his expression worried.
“We’ll talk about that later,” Luke told him, keeping his eyes on the man favoring his left arm.
Passing a bank of phones, Luke heard Perkins shouting at the operator for disconnecting his call. Luke kept his gaze locked on the short, balding man holding his arm. After a brief stop at the front desk, he went to the elevator located across the lobby and stepped on with several other people.
After the elevator door closed, Luke went to the same desk clerk the man had spoken to. “Excuse me, I thought I recogn
ized the gentleman who was just here, but he got on the elevator before I could stop him. Do you think he’ll be back down soon?”
“Yes, sir. He’s checking out.”
“Thank you.” Turning away from the desk clerk, Luke activated his cell phone on the way back to the receptacle.
“This is Luke Grayson, I need to speak to Sergeant Rodriquez immediately.”
“Hi, Luke,” came the jovial greeting moments later.
“Dakota, I need an officer to come to the La Fonda immediately,” Luke said. “I’ll be waiting by the La Plazuela. Tell him to come expecting to collect evidence and make an arrest.”
“That hotel is always crowded. Do you think there will be any trouble?” Officer Rodriquez asked, concern in his voice.
“No, but I can’t be sure,” Luke answered truthfully.
“We’re short-handed this shift and the crime-scene tech is out on another call. I’ll take this one myself. See you in three.”
The line went dead.
DAKOTA RODRIQUEZ, A SERGEANT FOR SIX OF HIS TEN years with the Santa Fe Police Department, arrived thirty seconds early. Another policeman was with him. Luke had expected as much. Dakota was a man who looked for the best and prepared for the worst. He carried his two hundred pounds on his six-foot frame as easily as he smiled and tipped his hat to the three women he passed.
He was also a man who didn’t waste time when a crime might have been committed or the citizens might be in jeopardy. “What’s up?”
Luke quickly explained. “I’m betting there’s a slide in there that will clear Dr. Stewart’s reputation.”
“He hasn’t come back down yet?” Sergeant Rodriquez glanced toward the front desk.
“If he has, he hasn’t come this way,” Luke told him.
The sergeant turned to the officer with him. “Till, you know what he looks like from Luke’s description. I don’t want him to leave the hotel until I’ve had a chance to talk with him. Position yourself at the entrance. If this goes down, I want it done nice and easy. Let’s keep the citizens safe and happy.”
“Yes, sir,” Officer Till said, then went to the front of the hotel.
Dakota faced Luke. “All right, let’s move this sucker over a bit and see if your instincts are as good as they used to be.”
Less than ten seconds later Sergeant Rodriquez lifted a slide in his gloved hand from the top of the trash. Holding it up to the light, he and Luke saw an image of five teenagers, their faces as bleak as the deteriorating building behind them, huddling around a blazing fire in a fifty-gallon drum.
“You called it right, Luke.” Dakota dropped the slide into a plastic bag.
“I’m going to break his neck,” Luke announced, his face as hard as his voice.
The police officer’s calm expression didn’t change. “You do, and I’ll have to arrest you.”
“It might be worth it.”
“Might, but your mother would never forgive me, not to mention your brothers and sister.” He shook his head. “I could handle your brothers, but Sierra could slice a man’s heart out without saying a word.”
“Don’t you forget it either,” Luke told him without heat. “Come on, let’s go find that scum.”
THEY WERE WAITING FOR HIM WHEN HE STEPPED OFF the elevator. His eyes widened on seeing the uniformed officer step from a short hallway. Before he could do more than turn, Luke and Sergeant Rodriquez were on either side of him.
“I’m Sergeant Rodriquez with the Santa Fe Police Department, and I’d like a word with you please.”
“What’s this about?” The man asked, licking his thin lips.
“I’ll explain everything if you’ll just come with me,” Sergeant Rodriquez told him.
“I have a plane to catch.” He took a step toward the front desk. Luke, his face hard, blocked his path. The man shrank back.
“This won’t take long,” Sergeant Rodriquez said mildly from beside him. “I understand from your registration that your name is Sam Morris and you’re from Los Angeles, California. Is that right?”
The man glanced at Luke and swallowed. “Yeah, but like I told you, I have to be going.”
“Mr. Morris, I’m going to have to insist. We can make it official and do this in my office or we can step over here out of the way.”
The man rolled his neck. “Sure. Sure. Just make it quick.”
They moved to the short hallway where Luke and the policeman had emerged. “What’s this all about?” Mr. Morris questioned.
Officer Rodriquez held up the slide. “Have you ever seen this before?”
“No.” Morris’s right eyelid twitched.
“You’re lying, I saw you toss it in the trash,” Luke said, no longer able to keep quiet.
“Now I understand what this is about.” Morris spoke to the policeman. “He just offered a fifteen-thousand dollar reward for information and when he couldn’t get any, he made some up. He’s probably mad because he got left out of the threesome.”
With a growl Luke reached for Morris. The policeman placed his body in his path. “Mr. Grayson is not the only one who saw you toss this away.”
Morris’s eyes widened. “Then he paid someone to lie.”
“I don’t lie. I saw you,” Kenneth said from behind him.
Morris jerked his head around to glare at the newcomer.
Kenneth folded his lanky arms, glared back, then repeated, “I saw you.”
“You’re not going to lie your way out of this,” Luke told him.
Morris moistened his lips. “Even if you could prove something, which you can’t, there wasn’t a crime committed. Sounds more like a practical joke.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Mr. Morris,” the sergeant informed him. “Showing pornography is against the law, and if your fingerprints are on this slide, you’re also guilty of theft.”
The man laughed. “A misdemeanor at best.”
“Not when you add breaking and entering, harassment, stalking, and wire tapping,” Luke said, his voice tight and hard with restraint.
“You’re reaching.” Morris tried to sneer the words, but the slight tremble in his voice gave him away.
“You’ve been following Dr. Stewart for months. Her notebook helped, but you had to have more. You had to know about her plans to come to Santa Fe, and only a few close friends were told. The only way you could have known was to tap her phone line. You then used the recording for someone to learn to impersonate her voice.” Luke’s voice harshened. “Your blood stains I collected from my porch will confirm what I’ve said. You’re looking at five years.”
“Five years?” Mouth gaping, Morris stared at Officer Rodriquez.
“Minimum,” the officer answered.
Morris’s right eyelid began to twitch again. “Five years! No, I’m not going down alone. She said this would be so easy. She promised to take care of me.”
“Who?” Luke asked sharply.
The man swallowed, then said. “Rena Bailey.”
“Before you say anything further, Mr. Morris, I should advise you of your rights.” Officer Rodriquez Mirandized him. “Do you understand these rights?”
Sweat beaded on Morris’s balding pate. “Yeah. Yeah. I ain’t taking this rap alone.”
“Rena Bailey, the woman who attacked Dr. Stewart, is behind this?” Luke questioned.
He nodded. “She blames the doctor for her kids being taken away, being in jeopardy of losing her job, and her family turning against her. They won’t return or accept her phone calls.”
“So what’s your connection?” Luke pressed.
“Purely business. My cousin is a nurse and works at the center. They have a thing going on. He hooked us up.” He swept his hand over his balding pate. “Rena figured if Dr. Stewart was discredited, she could get back in her family’s good graces and her job would be secure.”
“What about her children?”
He worked his shoulders. “She don’t care much for them, says they tie her down, but her parents a
re loaded and they’re crazy about them, and Rena is counting on them inheriting big one day. In the meantime, she thought if she pulled this off right, her parents would pay her to let them keep the little boy and girl once she got out of rehab.”
“She was wrong on all counts, and this time, she’s going to go down hard,” Luke said tersely. “And she’s taking you and your cousin with her.”
RICHARD KEPT WATCHING NAOMI, EXPECTING HER TO break down. She didn’t. In fact as the morning progressed, she actually appeared more at ease with each passing hour. Seeing the final patient of the morning to the door, he locked it for lunch and went to her desk.
She watched him approach and spoke before he did. “I owe you an explanation.”
“You don’t owe me anything.” He stuck his hands in his pockets. “The important thing is that you and Kayla are safe.”
Her hand clenched the pen in her hand, then relaxed. “Once I feared that would never happen.”
He had promised himself, but somehow he was kneeling by her chair, taking her hands in his. “You don’t have to be afraid again. There are people who want to be your friends here.”
Although her hands trembled, she didn’t draw them back as he had feared. “I think I’m beginning to realize that. I could use a friend. Kayla and I both could.”
“You got one.”
“I’d like to tell you.” She drew her hands back.
Richard knew she wasn’t rejecting him, but drawing on her own strength. He pulled over a chair and sat down. “I’m listening.”
“Gordon was always possessive while we were dating, but I was foolish enough to be flattered. I had never dated much, and Gordon was very popular and athletic. I was flattered he kept asking me out. I was in seventh heaven when he asked me to marry him six weeks later. But after we were married, his possessiveness became less and less flattering. He wanted to control my every movement.” She bit her lips.
“I taught kindergarten in the public schools. He actually timed my going to work or the store. My few friends dwindled to none. Then I got pregnant with Kayla.” Her hand nervously raked through her hair.
“He wanted me to have an abortion. Just him saying it sickened me. I told him I was leaving. He apologized and said he was just frightened that something would go wrong with the pregnancy. Stupid me, I believed him. But after Kayla was born, he became worse. He was jealous of his own child.” She shook her head.