“Makes sense,” I added, not sure I was ready for Chris to talk with him either. I had to figure out something to alleviate the tension. “But you know what?” I continued, looking fiercely at Chris. “I don’t care if he’s here. I want to have a good time, so let’s just forget about him. All right?”
Chris caught my attitude and smiled. “Sure,” he said, willing to let his animosity fade for me. “Besides, we can’t leave without eating some of that good food over there.”
“That’s right,” I agreed. I glanced in that direction and noticed the mysterious waiter again. “Hey,” I said to Chris. “See that waiter?” I motioned with my chin, not wanting to be obvious.
“The bald guy?” he asked.
“Yes. He looks familiar to me. Do you know him?”
“Nope,” he said.
“When I saw him earlier he was thinking that it wouldn’t be good if I recognized him. It would ruin his plans. We need to keep an eye on him until I figure out what’s going on. I wish I knew where I’d seen him before.”
It was the baldness that threw me. I pictured him with hair, and it came to me in a flash. He was the guy who normally dressed like a woman with a wig and heels. He was at the courthouse when Mercer killed the bank robber. He was also there the same day Mercer tried to kill me. What was he doing here? And more important, why didn’t he want me to recognize him?
I turned to tell Chris, but Jessica Palmer found us first. “Shelby,” Jessica said. “I’m so glad you’re here. I wanted to thank you personally for helping me that day.”
“No problem. How are you doing? You look great.” She wore a beautiful long black dress, and her hair was coiled on top of her head. I introduced her to Chris, and we exchanged pleasantries until we got to the buffet table and she excused herself.
“She seemed nice enough,” Chris said.
“Yes,” I agreed. “It’s hard to believe someone could pull the wool over her eyes, but I guess it happens.” I was pre-occupied with finding where the waiter went. I needed to know what he was up to.
We got our plates of food and found an empty table. I set down my plate, grateful not to have spilled anything while holding my purse. After sitting down, I was ready to take a sip of my drink when a shadow fell over me.
“Shelby,” Uncle Joey said. “May we join you?”
At the sound of his voice I sloshed my drink, and hurriedly put it down. “Um…sure.” Jackie sat next to me with him on her other side.
“I don’t think we’ve been formally introduced to your husband,” Uncle Joey said.
I quickly made the introductions, and Chris managed to nod his head but didn’t get up to shake Uncle Joey’s hand. I held my breath, hoping this didn’t turn into a scene, but Uncle Joey was used to this sort of thing and only smiled thinly. Whew, that was close. Why would Uncle Joey want to sit with us? What was he up to?
“I just wanted to thank you for your advice, Shelby. Everything’s worked out for the best.” He shared a glance with Jackie that seemed to thaw the ice in his veins.
“Glad to hear it,” I said. Maybe there was hope for him after all. “How’s Miguel?”
“Doing well. He’s a very bright young man, and I’m very proud of him.” He was thinking that having a son gave him a different perspective and he was seriously considering getting out of the business, although it would take some time.
Uncle Joey caught my raised brows and smiled. He glanced around the room, calculating how good it would be to know what some of these people were thinking, especially some of his business associates. He glanced at me again. I shook my head and he chuckled.
Chris was ready to punch him in the face. He could tell we were communicating with each other, and he didn’t like it. I put my hand on his arm and widened my eyes, telling him to stop. He glanced at me with resignation, and started eating his food.
Two more couples joined our table, taking the pressure off us to do all the talking. They knew Uncle Joey. In fact, one of them was Blaine Smith, the bank manager, and his wife. He wanted to keep on Uncle Joey’s good side since he liked having all his money in his bank. He was also excited to have an extra five million dollars to work with.
He recognized Chris and me and said a quick hello, then glanced between Uncle Joey and us. I could practically hear his brain putting it together that we had just transferred five million dollars out of our account. And here we were, sitting by Joe Manetto. Hmmm…very interesting.
Oh great! Now the bank manager was guessing I was in cahoots with Uncle Joey. Hopefully he wouldn’t say anything. I was ready to put my shields back up when the waiter approached and offered us drinks. I nudged Chris to tell him he was the one, but Chris only thought I was telling him to take a drink.
The waiter wondered how he could get me alone. He realized I was sitting by Manetto ‘The Knife’ and his eyes got big. Is that how I did it? Now he really needed to talk to me. He thought about spilling a drink on my dress so I’d leave to visit the ladies room, and I blanched. He was not going to ruin my new five-hundred-dollar dress!
I pushed back my chair. “Excuse me,” I said. “I’ll be right back.” The men stood when I did, surprising me. Chris couldn’t believe I was leaving him there alone with Manetto. Uncle Joey couldn’t believe it either, but when nature calls, you have to answer. The waiter couldn’t believe his good luck.
Oh please! I grabbed my clutch and walked toward what I hoped was the restroom. The waiter took his tray to an empty table and left it to follow me. I rounded the corner to the hallway and followed it down to another hall where the restrooms were located. I flattened myself against the wall and took out my stun flashlight.
The waiter hung back. He was nervous about following me into the ladies room without his disguise, but decided he might not get another chance. He came around the corner and jerked with surprise to find me waiting for him. I jammed the stun flashlight against his neck and pushed him against the wall.
With my tall shoes on, I was a couple of inches taller than him, and I hoped that made me more intimidating. “I know who you are,” I said with as much venom as I could. “What do you want?”
I had almost scared the crap out of him, literally. He couldn’t believe I had a gun against his throat. “Okay, okay. Don’t shoot me. I just want to know where the money is. If you tell me, I’ll forget I even know you. I won’t tell anyone about your involvement, I promise.”
“My involvement with what?” I asked.
“I know you had something to do with Mercer’s death. Maybe you even killed him, but I don’t care about that. I just want to know where the money is.”
Now he really lost me. When I’d listened to him at the police station he was thinking about money then too, but it was the money from the bank robbery. Did he think I had it? The part about killing Mercer worried me.
“What makes you think I know anything about the money?” I asked, deciding to go with it. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He figured I was bluffing. He knew Mercer killed Bishop to keep the money safe. So he followed Mercer and that led him to me. Why else would I kill Mercer, if not for the money?
Huh? This guy had it all wrong. “Who are you?”
“You said you knew who I was,” he answered. “Wait a minute…” He hit my arm hard and the stun flashlight fell from my hand and rolled across the floor.
“Oww,” I yelped.
“That’s a flashlight,” he said, surprised. He grabbed my arms, pulling them together behind my back and pushed my face against the wall. “Now you’re going to answer some questions from me.”
I struggled, but he just pulled my arms tighter. “You’ve got this all wrong,” I said. “I didn’t kill Mercer. He was a hired assassin. Somebody hired him to kill Bishop. He didn’t do it for the money…well not that money. I’m sure he got paid for it, but he didn’t have anything to do with the bank robbery.”
“Then why did you meet with him all those times? You were trying to
find out where the money was, and after he told you, you killed him. So, this is your last chance before I break both your arms. Where’s the money?”
“You’re nuts,” I yelped. “I don’t have it!”
“Fine. You asked for…aack!” His body jerked, and in a series of spasms he let me go and sank to the floor.
“Are you all right?” Chris asked, the stun flashlight still crackling in his hand.
“You came!” I said, rubbing my wrists.
“What happened?” he asked.
I stepped over the body into Chris’ arms. “He thinks I know where the stolen money from the bank robbery is. But worse, he thinks I had something to do with Mercer’s death.”
“That’s preposterous,” Uncle Joey said.
I jerked with surprise and turned, finding a crowd of people coming to stand behind us. Among them was Uncle Joey and Jackie, as well as Dimples and the bank manager, Blaine Smith.
“You were at my office until Ramos took you home,” Uncle Joey declared.
“What’s going on here?” Blaine asked. “Who’s that?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “He came after me, but Chris got him with my stun flashlight. What are you doing here?” I asked.
“Well…after you left and your husband followed…and then Mr. Manetto and Detective Harris after that, I figured something was going on, and I wanted to see what it was,” Blaine said, which pretty much summed it up for all of them. “Say…is he all right?”
Everyone glanced at the waiter. His eyes were shut, and drool was running from the corner of his mouth. “Yeah,” I said. “He’ll be fine in a few minutes.”
“Hey…I think I know that guy,” Blaine said. He stepped closer and knelt down to get a better look at his face. “Yeah. He’s the private investigator we hired to find the money from that bank robbery a few months ago. He said he had some leads,” Blaine glanced at me. “So what was he doing following you?” It looked a little suspicious to him.
“He’s got some crazy idea that I know where the money is because the bank robber’s killer, Mercer, was after me. But of course I don’t.” Although remembering the bank robber’s thoughts, I had an idea. I’d forgotten the mental image the bank robber had in his mind when he was getting onto the elevator in the courthouse. There was a box with a lid, kind of like a casket, and the word ‘underwear’ in his mind. I’d dismissed it since it didn’t make any sense, but what if it was a clue?
“Why was Mercer after you?” Blaine asked.
“Because she implicated him in the murder of the bank robber,” Dimples said, making his presence known. Everyone moved aside to let him come forward to stand beside me. “And from the evidence we were able to gather, it looks like she was right. So who’s this?” he asked.
“I can’t remember his name,” Blaine said.
Dimples checked his pocket and pulled out his wallet. “His name is Rob Felt.”
“That’s right. I remember now,” Blaine said. “The job was on a contingency basis,” he added. “He only gets paid if he finds the money. That’s probably why he was a little rough with you Shelby. Are you all right?” he asked.
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“So you’re the one who fingered Mercer for the bank robber’s murder?” Blaine asked, studying me with interest.
“She was working with the police,” Dimples answered for me. “Sometimes she has premonitions about things, so we’ve hired her as a consultant on a few of our cases.”
“That’s interesting.” Blaine narrowed his eyes shrewdly, thinking that was why I’d received all the attention tonight. “Do you think you could help us find the stolen money?”
Everyone’s attention zeroed in on me, wondering what I’d say. “Maybe I could take a look at the case,” I answered. My purse had fallen to the floor so I picked it up and took out one of my business cards. “Here’s my card. Why don’t you give me a call on Monday, and we can discuss it.”
Blaine took the card and smiled, willing to take me up on it, especially since this guy Felt, was a total failure. “Sounds great. I’ll do that.” He’d never heard of a bona fide psychic before, but if the police thought I was good enough to have on their payroll, he had no problem working with me.
Uncle Joey studied me. He had no idea I was working with the police, and it took him by surprise. I was a lot more shrewd than I’d let on. In a way he was proud of me. It showed I had a head for business and was willing to take advantage of my assets. Which was fine as long as it didn’t interfere with his business.
Chris was wondering if I’d gone crazy. How in the world did I think I could find the stolen money? Especially when there was no one to talk to about the case. If I couldn’t read their minds, I had nothing to go on. I would fail for sure.
The waiter, Rob, groaned and opened his eyes, saving me from more of Chris’ unhelpful thoughts. He sat up and wiped his mouth on his sleeve, stopping in mid-wipe as he noticed all of us standing around him. Confusion clouded his eyes. “What happened?” he asked.
“I’ll take care of this,” Dimples said. “Why don’t the rest of you go back to the party.”
That was fine with me. “Thanks.” I took Chris’ hand.
“Wait,” Rob said. “You can’t let her go. She killed Mercer. She knows where the stolen money is!”
“Mr. Felt,” Dimples said. “If you continue with this kind of behavior, I’m going to have to arrest you for disorderly conduct.”
“But…” Rob closed his mouth, knowing defeat when he saw it. He knew I was with Mercer the day he was killed because he’d seen me sitting by him on that bench outside the courthouse. His attention had only wandered for a moment when the next thing he knew, I was gone and Mercer was slumped over. He’d passed by the bench for a closer look and it had spooked him to see all the blood. He was certain I killed Mercer. So what was my game plan? Was I working for someone like Manetto, or was I on my own? Whatever it was, he was going to get to the bottom of it.
Oh great! He thought I killed Mercer, and he wasn’t going to let it go? The fact that he’d seen me with Mercer that day was awful. Now I’d have to figure out how to keep that guy away from me. Then it hit me that he wasn’t going to be happy when he found out that the bank wanted to hire me to find the stolen money. But since he’d gotten everything wrong, it was his own fault. What kind of a P.I. was he anyway?
We rejoined the party, and I found that someone had cleared the table. My food was gone, and other people were now sitting there. “Where’s my plate?” I asked. “I didn’t even get one bite.”
“It’s okay Shelby, you can get another one,” Chris said. He wasn’t happy with the way things had turned out. At least he’d gotten there in time to stun that guy. What was wrong with me? Why did I take off like that, without even telling him what was going on? From the way Felt talked, he sounded pretty sure I killed Mercer. Had he seen me that day? If he had, he must have missed seeing Ramos.
“Thanks for coming after me.” I squeezed his hand. “I had no idea that guy was going to threaten me. Let’s walk through the gallery, and I’ll tell you all about it.” I explained that I’d seen him the first time at the courthouse dressed as a woman, and all the other times in between. “Who would have thought he was working for the bank?”
“That’s pretty crazy all right,” Chris said. “I’m concerned that he thinks you killed Mercer though. Did he see you there?”
“He was following Mercer, so yeah, he did see me sitting by him on the bench, but he must have missed the part where Mercer got killed by Ramos. We were gone by the time he saw Mercer was dead.”
“I noticed Manetto gave you an alibi,” Chris said.
“Yeah, me too,” I agreed, feeling better. “So it looks like it’s Felt’s word against mine. Luckily I have the police on my side.”
“True, but it might be a problem in the future,” Chris said. He turned to me with his brows drawn together. “Why did you tell the bank manager you could help him find the money?”
“Oh, I didn’t tell you, but when I saw the bank robber, he thought about where the stolen money was. I didn’t think it made any sense at the time, but maybe we can figure it out together.”
“Together?” he asked.
“Well sure,” I said. “Unless you don’t want to.”
“Shelby…of course I want to. I hate thinking of you involved in some of this stuff alone. So yes, I want to know what’s going on. In fact…that’s the only way I feel okay about you doing this whole consulting business.” He was thinking it was the only way he could keep me out of trouble too.
“I guess you have a point,” I said. “But a lot of the trouble I get in is not my fault!”
“Yeah, right,” he said. “Which is exactly why I’m going to be involved. In fact, I think we should have a system where the cases you take have to be approved by me first.”
“What?” I gasped.
“And I should be on the payroll.”
“Where’s my stun flashlight?” I reached for his pocket, and he caught my hand, pulling me against him.
“I know just how you’re going to pay me too,” he said, his voice deep and low. He kissed my neck, just below my ear, sending shivers up my spine. He could feel my pulse quicken, and his thoughts were smug and certain.
The crackle of the stun flashlight brought him up short, and I smiled at his surprise that I’d taken it from his pocket. “Two can play this game, you know.”
He pulled away, thinking I wouldn’t dare. His eyes widened, knowing I’d heard his unspoken challenge, and uncertainty washed over him. With great ceremony, I opened my clutch, and placed the stun flashlight inside.
“Just so you know,” I said. “I would never stun you…unless it was an accident or something.”
He shook his head and smiled. “Come on.” Taking my hand, he pulled me back toward the party. “Right now, all I want to do is dance with my beautiful wife. We can worry about all this other stuff later.”
We entered the hall, and he took me in his arms. He was thinking he wanted everyone in the room to know I belonged to him, and he was proud of it. He’d noticed the looks I’d gotten from many of the men there, and it stirred something primeval and protective in him.
Fast Money: A Shelby Nichols Adventure Page 23