Lie or Die: A Shelby Nichols Adventure

by Colleen Helme

  “That’s great,” I said, surprised at how relieved that made me feel.

  Uncle Joey nodded, his thoughts turning to the problem at hand. He was thinking that he had a pretty good idea where Kate might be hiding. Glancing at me, he quickly cut off his thoughts. “Um…Ricky should be waiting. You can go now.”

  “Oh, yeah…right,” I said. “See you later. Let me know if anything changes or if you need me.” I backed out the door, and closed it firmly. It was hard to believe I’d just volunteered to help him. It was a far cry from how I normally felt.

  I was glad I’d heard him thinking about where Kate was, though. It gave me more confidence in his abilities. Maybe he’d get her before she got him. Wouldn’t that be something?

  Ricky was sitting at Jackie’s desk and stood as I approached. “You ready to go?”

  “Yup,” I answered.

  He was thinking that Manetto must really care about me. That was nice. He hoped I wouldn’t put up too much of a fuss to let him drive my car home. If anyone tried to run us off the road, he could handle it, and he wasn’t sure I could.

  We reached the parking lot, and I dangled the keys in front of him. “Would you like to drive?” It was worth it to see the astonished look on his face. “It’s a great car, just like Uncle Joey’s.”

  “Sure! Thanks.” He smiled his delight, thinking that was a lot easier than he’d imagined. It made him want to do something nice for me, so he opened the car door like a true gentleman. I smiled my thanks and slid inside.

  The drive home under Ricky’s watchful eye was uneventful. As we pulled into my driveway, I opened the garage door and Ricky drove the car inside. “Have you still got your stun flashlight?” he asked.

  “Yes. In fact, it’s here in the glove box. Thanks for reminding me.” I took it out and slipped it into my purse.

  “Good,” Ricky said. He was wishing I had a gun. That would be much better. He got out of the car and handed me my keys. “Jimmy will be here in a minute. I’ll just wait out here for him.”

  “You can come in if you’d like,” I said.

  “Oh, thanks, but no. I’ll just wait here.” Going inside with me made him uncomfortable. Even though I was a lot older, he still found me attractive. Someone like my husband, or even Jimmy, might get the wrong idea.

  Really? How much older did he think I was? I couldn’t be that much older than him; maybe five or six years at the most. Of course, I couldn’t be too upset, since he thought I was attractive too. I was saved from more embarrassing thoughts when Jimmy pulled into the driveway.

  “There he is,” Ricky said. He turned to me. “I spotted a couple of our guys watching your house. David’s got a good team, so you should be fine. I’m supposed to call him when I leave to let him know you’re here safely. As soon as I leave, close your garage and lock the doors.”

  “Okay, thanks,” I said.

  I went inside, closing and locking the doors. I checked to make sure my kids were home, and found Josh playing a video game, and Savannah in her room. It was after six-thirty, and I needed to make dinner. It was tempting to call for a pizza, but I didn’t want anyone I couldn’t recognize coming to my door.

  I had plenty of eggs and found some sausage links in the freezer. In no time, we were eating breakfast for dinner, and my stomach was finally satisfied. My kids only complained a little when I told them they had to stay home tonight. I debated on telling them that Chris had received some threats, but I didn’t want to scare them. I’d only tell them if David stayed in the house with us. I hoped he wouldn’t. That would be awkward.

  Shortly after eight, Chris walked through the door, locking it behind him. I’d never been so glad to see him. “Are the kids home?” he asked.

  “Yes, we’re all here,” I answered.

  “Good. I’ll sure be glad when this is all over.”

  “Me too.” We hugged, and he pulled me onto the living room sofa. “So Kate knows your secret. How did that happen?”

  “At the shoot-out.” I explained what happened, and how telling her was my only choice.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked.

  “I don’t know,” I said. “It was never the right time, and then I forgot. I didn’t think Kate believed me. And come to think of it, she didn’t, until today.” I told him what Uncle Joey was doing about it, and that something big was happening at the club tonight.

  Then I spilled my guts about my visit with Dimples to the FBI. “After Razor left, an undercover agent came in to hear my premonitions. I forgot all about it until I went to the club with Uncle Joey and saw him there.”

  “The undercover agent?” Chris asked.

  “Yes. Razor was there, too. He was one of the fighters.”

  “So what were your prem… I mean what did you tell them?” Chris was getting a little agitated with me, but trying to be patient.

  I explained about the truce between the gangs, and how that meant someone new was in town. “Basically the same things we found out at the club, minus that they were coming after Uncle Joey next. The undercover agent was really impressed, and thought he could find out more at the club. I didn’t know what he was talking about until I went there with Uncle Joey and heard him.”

  “Heard him?” Chris asked.

  “Yeah. He spotted me and was thinking I looked familiar, kind of like me, only I was wearing my black wig and glasses, so it was all right.”

  Chris was stunned. What wig? What glasses? Was this something else I hadn’t told him? Holy hell! How much more was there?

  “Honey!” I said. “Calm down. It’s just a wig and glasses. Not a big deal. And I think that’s the only thing left that I haven’t told you about.”

  “You think?” he asked.

  “Yeah,” I answered. “Geez, you don’t have to be sarcastic about it.” I thought maybe making him feel guilty would help ease the tension. Especially since I was pretty sure there were other things I hadn’t told him. Like my motorcycle ride with Ramos. Should I tell him about that too? Nope. Not a chance.

  “Ricky brought me home tonight,” I added. “He drove my car, and Jimmy picked him up. Uncle Joey wanted to make sure I got home okay.”

  Chris took a deep breath and sighed. “It’s okay. You don’t have to tell me every little thing. But the FBI? You should have told me about that.”

  “But I wasn’t ever planning on going back there,” I said. “It gave me the creeps. I thought it was over.”

  “Okay. It’s okay. Forget it. Let’s get back to the undercover agent. Did you pick up anything else from him?”

  “No. I was trying to stay out of his way. But at least we know the FBI is involved.”

  “Yes, that’s a good thing,” he said. “I think. Unless you were to get caught, but you’re not even there so it doesn’t matter.” He was thinking I could be there in the future. That might be bad.

  “Uncle Joey said he’d call in the morning, and let me know what they found out tonight. He’s also looking for Kate. Maybe by tomorrow, this will be over. I know he doesn’t want me involved. That’s good. Right?” I asked.

  “He knows Kate well,” Chris said, ignoring my question. “What does he think she wants anyway?”

  “He thinks she wants to take over his organization.”

  “But what does she want with you?” he asked.

  “Same thing as Uncle Joey,” I said. “Use me for herself.”

  “Then who is the big threat at the club, if it isn’t her?”

  “I don’t know,” I huffed. “Her partner?”

  “Doug? The security guy?”

  “Yes,” I said.

  “Do you really think it’s him?”

  “No. It has to be someone else.” I knew this was true because of the drug dealer we’d questioned, but I wasn’t going to tell Chris that because then I’d have to tell him about the motorcycle ride, and I’d upset him enough already.

  “I think you’re right,” Chris agreed.

  “So all we can do now i
s wait,” I said. “Is David around here somewhere?”

  “I don’t know,” Chris answered. “But he said he’s watching the house.”

  “I think it might be a good idea to leave some lights on tonight. People don’t break into houses that have lights on. At least that’s what I’ve heard.”

  Chris smiled. “That’s sounds good. We can leave one on in the kitchen and the bathroom…the upstairs hallway, and the porch.” He was thinking about his gun and glad he had that too.

  “I’ve got my stun flashlight as well,” I added.

  “Then we should be set.” He hated that we were worried about someone breaking into our own house. We were supposed to be safe here. He hadn’t thought it would actually happen, but now he was beginning to hate Kate almost as much as I did. He visualized her breaking into our house and threatening us with a loaded gun, and how satisfying it would be to shoot her.

  I glanced at him with raised brows, and he reddened. “It’s okay,” I reassured him. “I think things like that all the time. If you want to know the truth, lots of people do.”

  “But I didn’t think it with words,” he said. “You pick up images too? I didn’t realize.”

  “If it’s in your thoughts, I can read them. Images, feelings, words, it’s all part of what I can do.”

  “Does Manetto know that?” he asked.

  “Well…no. I’ve never explained it before. I’ve only told him I can pick up thoughts, but I wasn’t specific about how I did it.”

  “That’s interesting,” Chris said. His stomach growled, reminding him he’d missed dinner. “I’m starving. Do you have any dinner left?”

  ***

  The rest of the evening flew by, and soon I was lying in bed, trying to sleep. Chris had placed his gun on the nightstand, and I was actually okay with that. But I found it hard to relax. Even with the lights on, the smallest sound brought me fully awake. I couldn’t help it.

  Around four in the morning, I finally drifted off. Unfortunately, I slept so soundly that I missed my alarm, and Chris had to wake me up. David was at the door, ready to take him to court. I got out of bed to say goodbye, and promised I’d see him there.

  It was a rush to get the kids off to school, especially since it was my turn to drive the carpool. I got back, and after showering, pulled on dressy dark jeans and my new black blouse since I hadn’t officially worn it yet. To finish off my make-up, I applied my deep red lipstick, liking the contrast with my blond hair and black blouse. Plus, I needed that feeling of power it gave me. Now I was ready to go.

  I placed my small purse into a larger black bag, and slipped my stun flashlight inside. I found Chris’ gun in the safe where he normally kept it and slid it inside the bag as well, making sure the safety was on. I wasn’t real comfortable taking a gun, but on the other hand, what if I needed it? But could I actually use it? To shoot a real person? It was probably better to just stick with my stun flashlight. I put the gun back, and hoped I’d made the right choice.

  My stomach did a little flip-flop. It was eight twenty-seven, and I still hadn’t heard from Uncle Joey. Was something wrong? I called him, and my breath hitched when it went to voice mail. I left a short message to call me, and tried Ramos. As the beep sounded for his voice mail, my heart sped up. I left another message and punched in the number for Thrasher Development. It went straight to voice mail too. A sick feeling came over me. Had something bad happened last night? Were they all dead?

  My phone rang, and I let out a relieved breath. One of them was calling me back. Only…the caller ID said it was Dimples. Was he calling to tell me the bad news?

  “Hello?” I answered.

  “Hey Shelby,” Dimples said. “I found something I thought you’d be interested in.”

  “What’s that?”

  “You’re still working on that stolen bank money case, right?”

  “Oh, yeah…I am.” I’d almost forgotten about that with everything else going on.

  “Well, I was looking through a backlog of unclaimed property and found some crates of underwear listed. I don’t know if they’re what you were looking for, but I thought I’d let you know.”

  “That’s great! Can I take a look at them?”

  “Well, that’s the thing,” he said. “They’re up for auction tomorrow, so they’re not here. But you can come to the auction if you want. You can even bid on them, although my girlfriend might not like it.”

  “Your girlfriend?” My heart sank. “Is this the same girl you were telling me about?”

  “Yeah, the one I met at the coffee shop a few months ago. We’re dating pretty steady now. In fact, that was the first time I’ve called her my girlfriend.” He chuckled. “It’s a little weird. I mean she’s a beautiful woman; who would have thought she’d go for me?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous, lots of girls would go for you. You’re a great guy.” It was true, and I hoped saying that would help soften the blow. I hated to burst his bubble. In fact, this was going to be awful. “Why wouldn’t she like it if I bid on the underwear?”

  “She owns a lingerie shop, so she’ll be bidding on them. Actually, she’s the reason I checked. She was asking about auctions and said there was no way the police would ever have lingerie to auction, since that was the only thing she’d ever be interested in bidding on. We were both surprised to find not one, but two crates of lingerie up for auction.” When I didn’t say anything he asked. “Are you still there?”

  “Yes, sorry.” I had to ask, even though I already knew the answer. “Um…is her shop called Betty’s Bra Bar by chance?”

  “Yes it is!” he exclaimed. “How did you know?”

  “Darn! I hate to tell you this, but with my investigation of the stolen money, I’ve been watching her shop.” I gentled my voice. “She knew Keith Bishop, the bank robber. He sent lingerie to her a couple of times from his aunt’s shop, Novelty Creations. He was working there before he got arrested.” I let that sink in before continuing. “I think she might have something to do with the stolen money. But I don’t know for sure.”

  “Huh,” he said.

  “Listen,” I rushed into the silence. “I could be wrong. Maybe she doesn’t have anything to do with it.”

  “No, no, it’s all right.” He found his voice. “It kind of makes sense to me now. Her bumping into me and all.” He sounded so sad it broke my heart.

  “What do you want to do about it?” I asked.

  “Hmm…I think we should see this through. I was planning on going to the auction with her, and I can still do that. Maybe you could come and see if you get any premonitions from her. You’ll know if she’s part of it or not, right?”

  “Yes. I should pick up something. Do you think it would be all right if I told Keith’s cousin about the auction too? She’s the owner of Novelty Creations now. If she’s in on it, I’ll know that too.” I had to give him an out, and this seemed the best way to do it.

  “That’s a good idea,” he said, more like his old self. “Especially if you think she might know something about it. Between the two of them, maybe you’ll pick up where the money is.”

  “Exactly,” I agreed. “You never know. It might help me solve the case.”

  “That’s right,” he said. “And just to be on the safe side, I’ll go over the crates ahead of time. Just to make sure the money’s not hidden inside and we missed it.”

  “Great idea,” I said. “If you find it, could you please give me a call so I can let the bank know?”

  “Of course,” he agreed. “But don’t count on it being there. The police department may have problems, but we’re not that incompetent.”

  “I’m sure that’s true.” I quickly wrote down the time and address for the auction. Before disconnecting, a thought popped into my head. “Hey, do you remember the FBI guy we talked to? About the gangs?”

  “Oh yeah, Henry.”

  “That’s right. I might have something for him about the gangs. Do you think I should talk to him?” I asked. />
  “Are you sure you want to get involved with that?”

  “I don’t know,” I answered. Involving Dimples and the FBI might be stupid or brilliant, depending on what happened. Should I tell him? I took a deep breath and went for it. “I keep getting premonitions about that kid. I think he’s in trouble. The name Lanny, or Larry keeps coming up in my mind. And it’s like the kid’s fighting, and then there are lots of guns involved. I know it sounds weird, but it might be worth checking out.”

  I hoped that was vague enough to pique his interest, and not get me in trouble at the same time.

  “Let me talk to Henry,” Dimples said. “I’ve heard of a guy with that name. He owns a club. In fact, I think it’s a fight club. So you might have something there. I’ll get back to you on it.”

  “Great! Thanks so much. Call me if you hear anything, all right?”

  “Sure,” he hesitated. “Is there something you need to tell me?”

  Maybe I’d been a little too specific. Too bad I couldn’t read his mind over the phone. “I’m just nervous about it. Sometimes, that’s how my premonitions work. Once I know everything’s okay, I’m sure I’ll feel better.”

  “Oh, okay,” he said. “I’ll let you know what happens.”

  “Thanks.” We disconnected, and I hoped I’d done the right thing. At least I had a solid lead on the stolen money. But if the money was in the shipment, how did the police miss it? Betty must think that’s where it was, and she’d gone to a whole lot of trouble to get close to Dimples to find out. Her using Dimples that way really made me mad. I was glad he’d called about the auction tomorrow. I’d know if it was her, and probably what she did in that shop as well. I just hoped that by then I would still be alive to find out.

  My phone rang. This time is was Uncle Joey, and I heaved a sigh of relief. “Did you find out anything?” I asked.

  “Not yet,” he replied. “Ramos went to the meeting last night and he hasn’t returned. I’ll let you know as soon as I hear from him.”