Lie or Die: A Shelby Nichols Adventure

by Colleen Helme

  “Why’d you run?” Henry asked.

  “You know me,” Razor replied. “I always run. If they know I’m talking to you, I’m as good as dead.”

  “You really don’t know who killed him?” Henry gave it one more try.

  “Hell no. I didn’t even know he was dead.”

  “Okay,” Henry answered. “You can go. But we’ll be watching you closely.” He knew he couldn’t keep him in custody any longer. He glanced at the agents. “Get him out of here.”

  Once he was out of the room, Henry stood. “One of our undercover agents is here. Do you mind if he comes in to hear what you have to say?”

  “Um…okay,” I agreed.

  “Good.” Henry waved toward the mirror, and a moment later a man joined us. His head was shaved, and he was sporting a few tattoos. Baggy pants and a muscle shirt completed his disguise, along with several piercings in his nose and eyebrows. Henry sat back down without introducing us. “So…did you get anything?”

  I glanced at Dimples, a little nervous about how to respond. The undercover agent was thinking this was bound to be interesting, although he didn’t believe I could help them. He kept a serious expression on his face to intimidate me, especially when he noticed me staring at his piercings and tattoos. It made him want to laugh, since they were the fake kind, and I didn’t know it.

  “Well,” I said, trying to organize my thoughts. “I’m sure you could tell that your news upset him pretty badly. His next move will be to find out who killed his friend, and make them pay.”

  “Yeah, that’s probably right,” Henry agreed. “Anything else?” He wasn’t too impressed, since that part was pretty obvious.

  “Not really,” I said. Maybe this was for the best. I didn’t really like working with gangs. For one thing, it was hard to understand what they were talking about, and for another, they were scary dudes. That included the undercover agent.

  Henry was disappointed in me, and thinking it was a waste of time to bring me in. The undercover agent held his hand over his mouth so I couldn’t see his smile of derision. I didn’t like that much, so I tried to think if there was anything else I could add. “The only other thing I picked up was that there must be somebody new in the mix, since he and Bloodhound have a truce.”

  “His gang has a truce with Bloodhound?” This was news to Henry. “How do you know that?”

  “I don’t exactly,” I blurted. “It’s just an impression I got, and it might not even be right. That’s just how it works with me. Anyway…the kid’s scared. Someone new is moving in on his territory. That’s about it. Sorry I couldn’t help you more.”

  “Oh, that’s okay. You did help.” Henry was thinking if there really was a truce, it put a new light on things. Someone new coming in on their territory would certainly explain a lot of what was going on. But who would take on both gangs at once? It must be someone with a lot of muscle and money to back them up. Interesting.

  The undercover agent was staring at me. How did I pick all that up? He’d known Bloodhound and Switch were talking about a truce, but didn’t know why. Only that a few of the gang members were being targeted on both sides. Why would that lead to a truce, unless someone else was to blame? He could probably find out more at the club. With a shrewd glance my way, he quietly left the room.

  I stood, eager to leave. I did not want to get mixed up in that sort of thing, and decided then and there to stay away from the FBI. Henry had other ideas, and was about to ask if I could come back.

  “I’m not sure I can come back,” I said. “I’ve got a lot on my plate right now, what with starting my new business, and working with the police. I mean…if you get in a real bind, you can call, and I’ll see what I can do, but other than that, I’m pretty busy.”

  Henry could tell I was stonewalling him, and it piqued his curiosity, especially since that was exactly what he was going to ask me. Why was I so nervous? I hadn’t been in any danger, so that was out. Maybe I saw more than I let on, and that made me uncomfortable.

  Why was he analyzing me? I thought I’d better give him something. “I’ve never met anyone in a gang before, so I’m not real comfortable with that.”

  “Huh,” he said. “I was just wondering about that.” How did I know? Talking to me changed his perception about psychics. He’d never met anyone like me. I had to be the real deal. “It’s understandable that you’re not comfortable, but I hope it won’t keep you from helping us in the future.”

  “Let’s just take it one day at a time,” I said, giving him a bright smile.

  “Sure,” he grunted, narrowing his eyes. I hadn’t answered his question, but what could he do? “Thanks for coming down.”

  I nodded, and shook his hand. After he shook Dimples’ hand, we left him staring after us. It felt like a hole was being burned into my back. Once we got in the elevator, it was easier to relax. Dimples could tell I didn’t like being there, and he could sympathize, but he didn’t understand why a gang member rattled me so much, especially after I’d been involved with some of his cases.

  Of course, after what had happened with Mercer, he could see why I might not want to get involved. Come to think of it, I was a like a magnet for trouble. Add a gang or two to the mix, and it would be a nightmare. It was probably better for me to stick to just helping him.

  “I’m sorry I dragged you down here,” he said. “I’m sure you have plenty to keep you busy without this too.”

  “Thanks,” I said. “I appreciate that.” It was kind of funny to me that he drew the line at my helping the police, but he was probably right. “Plus, you guys pay me. The FBI didn’t even offer that.”

  Dimples’ brows rose with surprise. “True.” He would never get used to how I talked like I’d heard his thoughts. “So you should just stick with us.”

  “Exactly,” I agreed.

  We got back to the police station, and since Dimples was feeling bad about asking me to help the FBI, I decided now was a good time to ask him about the Keith Bishop case.

  “I’d be glad to help,” he said.

  “I’m mostly interested in his activities prior to his arrest,” I said. “I have all the police reports from the prosecuting attorney, but I was wondering if I could talk to the detectives who headed up the investigation. See if they remember anything they didn’t put in their report, stuff like that.”

  “Sure,” he agreed. “If I’m remembering right, it was Hansen and Williams who handled the case. In fact, you’ve met Detective Williams already. He was with me when we interviewed you about the bank robber at the grocery store the first time we met.”

  “Of course,” I said. He was the one who didn’t have a lot of patience. I hoped he didn’t remember how crazy I acted back then.

  It was my lucky day, because we found Detective Williams sitting at his desk. He was delighted to talk to me, especially after Dimples had kept me all to himself. He was a little jealous of our relationship, but mostly because he knew I’d helped Dimples solve a few cases. Of course, he didn’t believe anyone could have premonitions, so my helping him had been a fluke, but it was still a sore spot between them.

  “So what can you tell me about Keith Bishop?” I asked. “Did you ever check out his aunt’s shop?”

  “His aunt?” Williams couldn’t remember her.

  “Yeah, her name was Dottie Weir, and he worked at her lingerie shop, um…Novelty Creations.”

  “Oh, yeah, now I remember. That was an interesting shop. Have you been there?” He was thinking he’d go back if he wasn’t so embarrassed. Maybe he could send his wife? That would work, and she could get…

  “I went this morning,” I said, interrupting his wanton thoughts. “I found out that Dottie Weir died just before Keith was arrested. His cousin Emily owns the place now. She thought he might have been using the shop as a front for something else he was involved in. Did you know anything about that?”

  He nodded. “We wondered about that too. There were some shipments he had going from the s
tore. I remember we intercepted one of the shipments, but all we found in the crates were boxes of underwear. It was pretty disappointing. That’s probably why we left it out of the report.”

  “Did you return them?” My spidey senses were tingling. Maybe this was it, and the police had missed something.

  “Yeah,” he said. “I remember how upset Dottie Weir’s lawyer was about us confiscating her stock. We told her she could come right in and get them, which I’m sure she did.”

  “Was this before or after Keith’s arrest?” My heart pounded with anticipation.

  “After, since that was when we were looking for the money and trying to find his partner,” he said. “Why?”

  “Dottie Weir died before he was arrested. At least that was what her daughter told me.”

  “So, who picked up the stuff? The lawyer or the daughter?”

  “I don’t think the daughter knew anything about it,” I answered.

  “Well, it doesn’t really matter,” Williams said, dismissively. “I mean, all that was in there was a bunch of underwear.”

  “Yeah, true,” I answered. But I didn’t really believe it. Somehow, the money was tied up in that shipment. But that didn’t make sense either. Otherwise, the police would have found the money. So what did it mean?

  “Thanks for talking to me,” I said. “I appreciate it.”

  “No problem,” he answered. “Sorry it was a dead-end.”

  “That’s okay. If you remember anything else, let me know.”

  “Sure thing,” he said.

  I tried not to let my disappointment get the best of me, and wandered over to Dimples’ desk to say goodbye. He was on his cell phone, and when I approached, his face got kind of blotchy. Like he was blushing.

  “I’ll pick you up tonight then,” he said, keeping his face averted. “Seven o’clock…yeah…me too. Bye.”

  Did Dimples have a girlfriend? “Got a hot date, huh?” I teased.

  “Yeah,” he said.

  “Sweet!” I was delighted. I’d felt bad at the Museum Gala when he didn’t have a girl on his arm. He’d explained that he didn’t have time for a relationship. I guess things had changed. “How’d you meet?” If anything, his face got even redder. It was adorable on him.

  He took a deep breath, and let it out slowly to compose himself. “I actually bumped into her, as in, almost knocked her down. I was at the bagel shop down on the corner getting coffee and didn’t see her. Both our coffees spilled all over everything. It was horrible. I helped her clean up and bought her another one. We talked, and she seemed interested, so I got her number.”

  “So this is the first time you’ve called her?” I asked.

  “Oh, no. We’ve gone out a few times over the last month or two. I’ve been taking it kind of slow.” He smiled and shrugged, thinking he was going to invite her to his place after dinner if all went well.

  “Ah,” I said. No wonder he was blushing. “Well, that’s great! I hope it goes well. Where are you going for dinner?”

  “Um…I’ve got reservations for that new restaurant downtown. Tuscany’s.” He hadn’t told me he was taking her to dinner, but of course it was me, so it made sense in a wacky way.

  “Wow, impressive,” I said. “Well, have a great time.”

  “Thanks.” He smiled, and his dimples did that crazy dance that always made me chuckle.

  I left with a lighter step, eager to get home to my husband. It had been a long day, starting with Uncle Joey, then the lingerie shop, the FBI, and ending with Williams. I could tell Chris about all of it, except maybe Uncle Joey. Of course, if I didn’t tell him, it would probably backfire and make things worse. There had to be a way I could tell him that would make it okay that he didn’t know ahead of time. I know…I could tell him Uncle Joey sprang it on me, and there wasn’t time to let Chris know. That should work. It was all Uncle Joey’s fault anyway, so why not?

  Dinner was ready and on the table when Chris called. I cringed, knowing what his call meant before I even answered. “Hey,” I said.

  “Hey babe.” His voice was low and sexy, sending shivers up my spine. “I’m sorry, but I’m going to be late tonight. We’ve got this big trial starting Monday, and I’m helping to get it ready. I should be home around eight-thirty or nine.”

  “Does that mean you’ll be working this weekend too?”

  “Just tomorrow, not Sunday,” he answered.

  “Do you want me to save you some dinner?”

  “No, we’ve got some take-out here. This is Gary’s case, so he’s taking good care of us. But it’s a pretty big deal, and we want to make sure we’re ready.”

  “Yeah, I’m sure it’s important.” Gary was the Pratt part of Chris’ law firm, Cohen, Larsen, and Pratt. “Well, thanks for calling. I’ll see you in a bit.” Too bad he didn’t call earlier, before I made all this food. But…on the bright side, we probably had enough dinner for tomorrow night too, and not having to figure out another meal was always a good thing.

  I called the kids to the table, and we started to eat. Our kids, Josh and Savannah, were used to their dad staying late so it didn’t faze them. While we ate, I realized how fast they were growing up. Josh was fourteen, and Savannah twelve. The school year was almost over, and soon it would be summer. That’s when it hit me that we hadn’t even talked about a summer vacation.

  Josh had three years of school left before he went off to college, and that meant five for Savannah. Then they would be gone. Maybe we should plan something nice, so it would be memorable. “Hey, what do you want to do for summer vacation?”

  Josh shrugged. “I don’t know.” He didn’t really care. He was just glad to be out of school.

  The first thing that popped into Savannah’s mind was Paris. This surprised me, although she had been taking French this year, so in a way, it made sense. Then she quickly changed her mind and said, “Disney World…no wait, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter! Or maybe both. That would be a blast!”

  I glanced at Josh and he shrugged, but he was thinking it would be boss. His friend, Parker, had gone over spring break, and it was all he could talk about. But it was probably pretty expensive.

  I took a deep breath, wondering how expensive something like that would be. Probably a lot. Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything. “Well, we’ll have to think about that. And see if we can afford it.”

  Savannah slumped, thinking that we never got to do anything fun. Since dad was working so much, why didn’t we have enough money? She would be willing to give up dance lessons for the summer, and maybe even other stuff too. She could do more babysitting if that would help.

  I thought about my nearly eight thousand dollars in the bank account from Uncle Joey. I could certainly use some of that money. Although, for some reason, it was hard to think of that money as mine, and if I used it, did that make me more indebted to Uncle Joey? On the other hand, I’d nearly been killed a few times over his money. He owed me.

  “I’ll talk to Dad, and we’ll see if we can do it,” I said. “After I see how much it costs.”

  Savannah’s eyes lit up with excitement. Was I serious? It would be so fun! But maybe she shouldn’t get her hopes up. She’d better wait and see. But at least it was a possibility.

  We finished dinner, and Savannah offered to help clean up without me asking. She was thinking about the vacation. “Come on, Josh. You can help too,” she said.

  “I always help,” he countered, “unless I have to go somewhere.”

  “Yeah, right,” she said. “That’s just it, you always have to go somewhere.”

  “You’re one to talk,” he argued. “You’re always going off to talk to your friends about all the boys.”

  “I do not!”

  “Yes you do, especially about Ryan,” he teased.

  “Okay,” I said. “That’s enough. Hand me those beans.”

  I’d never understand why siblings had to tease each other so much. Did I really want to go on a family vacation with this going on a
ll the time? Of course, if we were at a resort, we’d be pretty busy. Thinking about all the stuff we’d have to cram into a few days made my stomach hurt, and I wondered what I was thinking to even suggest it. I’d need to take a vacation after the vacation just to recuperate. How would Chris take it? Come to think of it, I wasn’t sure which was worse, talking about a family vacation, or telling him about Uncle Joey.

  I shouldn’t have worried about it though, because when Chris got home, Savannah spilled the beans. “Hey Dad…did Mom tell you about our vacation?”

  “What?” he asked.

  “We want to go to Universal Studios in Orlando!” she gushed. “You know, Harry Potter? I looked it up on the Internet, and we can get some good deals if we book it now.”

  “Savannah!” I scolded. “I told you we’d talk about it.”

  “I know,” she agreed. “That’s what we’re doing.”

  “No…I meant your dad and I would talk about it.”

  She knew that’s what I meant, but she played dumb anyway. “Oh, okay. Well, think about it, because I’d really like to go. I’ve got some spending money saved up, and I could babysit more to help out.” She gave Chris a hopeful smile, but didn’t wait for him to respond. “I’m going to bed now. You can let me know in the morning what you decide.” She gave him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek before running off to her room. Wow, she was really working it.

  Chris pinned his gaze on me. “What’s going on?”

  “I just asked them where they’d like to go on vacation this summer,” I explained. “And somehow it turned into a trip to Orlando.” I shook my head. “What should we do?”

  Chris shrugged. “Tell them they can either go to college or Orlando?”

  I laughed. “Yeah, right. I think they’d pick Orlando. At least Savannah would.” He nodded in agreement. “But I think I know how to handle this. Let’s tell Savannah to get prices of everything we’d need, write it all down, and then add it up. She can present it to us when she’s done, and we can decide if we can afford it right now.”

  “When she sees how much everything costs, it might make her think about it,” he agreed.