I closed my eyes. I’d come to San Francisco to find out who I was, and instead I’d become someone no one who knew me would even recognize. I sank deeper into the steaming water.
When I opened my eyes the water was lukewarm. I must have drifted off to sleep. I added more hot water to the tub and scrubbed myself all over with a fancy sweet-smelling new bar of soap. I turned the water off, rinsed off the soap and sniffed. Another smell overcame the soap’s perfume. I sniffed again. Cigarette smoke. Yuck. I’d have to make it clear to Ashley that I wasn’t going to tell anyone about her smoking, but that I really didn’t want the smell of stale cigarettes in my room. I stepped out of the tub, pulled on the thick toweling robe and threw open the bathroom door.
Rico, cigarette dangling from his lips, had my duffle bag open and half the contents strewn on the bed. He turned and squinted at me through the smoke rising from his cigarette. He held up my magician’s cloak, the one that Aunt June had painstakingly sewn by hand for me the last Christmas we had together. “You actually wear this thing?”
Chapter Twelve
I stood, frozen, staring at Rico. He no longer sported jeans and a garish Hawaiian shirt. Now his clothes matched his handmade Italian shoes—slacks and a silk shirt unbuttoned far enough to show off a gold chain and lots of dark chest hair. I strode across the room and snatched my cape from his outstretched hand. “Leave my things alone.” The movement loosened the belt of my bathrobe. Rico’s gaze slid down over my body. I clutched at my cape to cover the gap and retied the robe’s belt. “What are you doing here?” I demanded. “How did you get in?”
He removed the cigarette from his mouth. “I came in through the door. How about you?”
“You know Mr. Kroy?”
“Bobby and I are acquainted. How about you?”
I paced to the balcony window and gazed out, my back to Rico. My heart pounded from the shock of seeing Rico in my room and my face felt hot from feeling his eyes on my body. I needed to calm down and think. “Put out that stupid cigarette,” I said without turning around.
“Yes ma’am,” he said, laughing at me. I heard him go into the bathroom and flush the toilet.
I swung around to face him as he reappeared from the bathroom. “Who sent you to play taxi driver and pick me up the other day? Kroy?”
He shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels. “I wasn’t supposed to pick you up. I just went to do a little recon, but you got into my cab and there were cops all around, so what could I do?”
“So you work for Kroy?”
“No. Bobby and I are doing some business together. I just happened to be around when your mom made her 911 call to him and I offered, as a friend, to find out what I could.”
“So you knew all along who I was?”
“I guessed. You look just like her. But I didn’t tell her or Bobby that I’d picked you up.”
“Why not?”
“I had my reasons.”
“Like it gave you an edge in your business with Kroy to know something he didn’t?”
He shrugged. “Something like that.”
“And you search my belongings to get an edge on me?”
“I don’t know anything about you, except that you claim you never lie, but that was a lie, and you say that you can make a living as a magician. That, I’m guessing, is another whopper.”
I straightened and stuck out my chin. He’d given me an idea. “It’s God’s honest truth. I am, in fact, a superb magician. I have amazing skills.” I put on my cape over the bathrobe, swung it around my shoulders with a flourish. “Want me to show you?”
“What, right now?”
“Why not? I’m going to prove to you that I was telling the truth. Let’s go downstairs. There’s not enough room in here.” I strode to the door and held it open. “Come on.”
Rico crossed to the doorway. I timed my movements in sync with his. As he took one step over the threshold I pushed him hard in the small of the back with one hand and lifted his wallet from his back pocket with the other. He staggered forward two steps and caught himself, but I slammed the door and locked it before he could turn around. He didn’t pound on the door or try to break it in, so he mustn’t have felt me taking his wallet. Amazing that I hadn’t lost my touch after all these years. I flipped it open and checked the contents. Not much in there, but enough for what I had in mind.
I raced to the bed where most of my belongings lay in a pile. I dropped the cape and the robe, pulled on jeans and a long-sleeved sweater. No time for a bra, but that could work in my favor. Nothing like unfettered boobs to distract male attention. I stuffed everything into my duffle as rapidly as I could, shouldered it, and tucked Rico’s wallet up my sleeve.
Rico wasn’t waiting for me in the hallway when I opened my door. I hurried past Ashley’s closed door, down the stairs and headed straight for Kroy’s study. I knocked once and opened the door without waiting to be invited in. Kroy and Rico stood near Kroy’s large desk. Both turned to face me.
I paused dramatically on the threshold, mainly so I could take in the room. French windows along one wall gave Kroy an easy exit to the front drive and also a view of anyone approaching. Floor to ceiling bookshelves along another wall were only half-filled with books. Like daughter, like father—not a reading family. And in the middle of it all, Kroy’s expansive desk furnished with a computer and littered with papers.
“See?” I said to Rico. “I told you I was a superb magician. I made you disappear.”
“Valentine,” Kroy said eying my duffle, “Are you going somewhere?”
“That’s up to you.” I crossed the room and dropped my duffle on Kroy’s desk. “If you wanted to know what I brought with me, all you had to do was ask.” I unzipped my bag and started pulling out my belongings. “Sending your errand boy to paw through my bag while I’m in the bathtub isn’t acceptable to me. And he did a terrible job, by the way. If you don’t want someone to know you’re there, you shouldn’t smoke while you work.”
I gestured to the pile I’d amassed on the desk. “So there it is. Go ahead, look all you want. If you don’t like what you see, then I’m out of here. Inviting me into your home just so you can spy on me is pretty despicable, don’t you think?”
“No, I don’t think,” Kroy said coldly. “And to clarify, Rico doesn’t work for me. Now get your crap off my desk.”
“Fine,” I said and, head down, I began repacking my duffle more methodically and much more slowly than I’d emptied it. When I finished I looked up and addressed Kroy. “May I talk to you? Alone? There’s something you should know.”
“There’s something you should know,” Kroy said. “I don’t care for all this drama. So just say what you have to say.”
I stepped away from the desk. “But it’s all about drama, because I’m a magician and dramatic things happen when you’re around me. For example, your friend Rico’s full name is…” I put my fingers to my temples as if concentrating very hard. “Rico DiSera. He has an out of state driver’s license and carries just one credit card in his wallet.” I did the concentrating thing again. “American Express, number 8881437273454200.”
As I started rattling off the number, Rico patted his back pocket. “You lifted my wallet. Give it back. Now.”
I held my ground. “You say you lost your wallet? Maybe I can help you find it.” I made a flourish with my hand and produced his wallet as if out of thin air. “Is this your wallet?” I held it out to him and he took it.
“Wait a minute,” Kroy said. “Is she right about your credit card?”
Rico shrugged. “I don’t know the number by heart.”
“Do me a favor and check, will you?”
Rico opened his wallet and handed his credit card to Kroy. “What’s the number?” Kroy asked me. I repeated it. “She’s right.” Kroy handed the card back to Rico.
“So?�
�� Rico said. “She didn’t receive the number through her psychic powers. She stole my wallet.”
Kroy gave me a considering look. “Would you mind waiting outside for a minute, Rico?”
“Sure, whatever,” Rico said, and crossed to the door. He turned to face us his hand on the doorknob. “Just be careful, Bobby. My people won’t want to hear that you’re being careless about who you hang out with.”
Silence hung in the air between them for a long moment, before Kroy burst out laughing. “Rico, ease up, will you? So she picked your pocket. She won’t do it again, will you?” he asked me.
“No, sir.” I held up my right hand with my fingers crossed. “Scout’s honor.”
Kroy laughed again. “She’s got a sense of humor, too. I like that. Go on, Rico. Get yourself a drink. I’ll just be a few minutes.”
Rico went out and closed the door behind him. The smile immediately faded from Kroy’s face. “Sit down.” He gestured to a chair in front of his desk. I did as he said, resting my duffle at my feet. He perched with one hip on the side of his desk. “Okay, let’s have it without the drama this time. What do you want? And don’t give me that crap about your mother.”
“What I want, is what I’ve been doing—interviewing for a job.”
“A job picking pockets? Sorry, I don’t have any openings for that currently.”
“Maybe not literally, but what about metaphorically?”
He frowned. I might have gone too far. Maybe he didn’t know what a metaphor was. I hurried on before he could reply. “You have five different kinds of documents on your desk. A letter about renting a hotel ballroom, a spreadsheet of planned expenses over the next three months, an electrician’s bill, and a contract from a company called i-systems.”
He narrowed his eyes at me. “How much was the electrician’s bill?”
“Three thousand six hundred and eighty-two dollars.”
“Which hotel’s ballroom?”
“The Sheraton Palace.”
“And the expenses on the spreadsheet?”
“I only caught the biggest one—for ‘wine et cetera.’ Fifteen thousand dollars. You must really like your wine.”
He crossed his arms. “You named only four. You said there were five.”
“I was being discreet, because the fifth is so personal. A letter in a woman’s handwriting describing a very explicit sexual fantasy. I’m guessing it’s Marcie and that she asked you for money on page two.”
Kroy smiled at my comment. I hadn’t embarrassed him. Just the opposite. “All right.” He stood up.
“All right, what?” I got to my feet.
“I’m interested. You have some unusual skills. I’ll let you know.”
I picked up my duffle. “Okay.” I crossed to his desk, picked up a pen and notepad. “Here’s my number.” I jotted my cell phone number on the pad and handed it to Kroy. “Call me when you make up your mind.”
“Call you? Where are you going?”
“Someplace where I can have my privacy.”
“How’re you going to pay for it? Or did you pick my pocket just now?” He felt for his wallet.
“I told you I have money.” I pulled my wad of cash out of my jeans pocket. Or some of it anyway. I had a lot of it stowed in a safer place than my pocket. I held the folded bills up for a moment. “See?” I stuffed it back into my pocket and crossed to the door.
“Wait a minute,” Kroy said. “I invited you to stay in my home. The invitation still stands.”
I was going to bet that playing hard to get was the best tactic for keeping Kroy interested in me. I opened the door and turned to face him. “So you could have Mr. Confucius train your cameras on me? If I wanted to be in the movies, I’d have gone to Hollywood.” I left the room, closing the door behind me.
What a great exit line. I’d never have a chance to match it. I nearly laughed out loud.
“Not so fast, Valentine,” Rico said.
I jumped. I hadn’t expected him to lie in wait for me. “I don’t have anything to say to you.”
“Good, then maybe you’ll listen.” He took me by the elbow and propelled me down the hall away from Kroy’s office. He spun me so my back was against the wall and trapped me there by putting his hands on the wall on either side of me and leaning in close. “Whatever you’re thinking of doing here,” he said quietly. “Think again.”
I couldn’t let him intimidate me. “Oh, take the blue pill, Rico,” I said, imitating Ashley.
Rico sighed and shook his head. “You’re not listening. You’re in over your head here. You have your money. Go back to Vegas.”
“I think you underestimate me,” I said.
“No, I misjudged you. You underestimate me.”
“Maybe, maybe not. We’ll have to see which one of us is wrong, won’t we?”
I moved to duck under his arm, but he caught me by the shoulders and pressed me against the wall. His gaze dropped to my mouth. I couldn’t help but look at his. I couldn’t let him kiss me again. Not now that I knew what he really was. Not even if he wasn’t a mobster, a shark, I couldn’t. I could punch him in the solar plexus and give myself a few seconds to get away. Who was I kidding? With him gazing at me with those brown eyes, with that wonderful mouth so close to mine, with the memory of the heat of the kiss we’d shared so fresh, I couldn’t even breathe.
He leaned closer and I closed my eyes. But he didn’t kiss me. He put his cheek on mine and his lips next to my ear. “You wouldn’t have known I was in your room if I hadn’t wanted you to. Next time will be different.” He stepped back and dropped his hands to his sides.
I picked up my duffle and nearly ran down the hall to the foyer and out the front door. Let Rico think he’d chased me off. I had other plans. Granted, some of those plans included avoiding all private encounters with him in the future.
I made my way down the street and kept an eye out in case anyone followed me. Once I was sure no one had, I called a cab. My phone showed a list of missed calls, all from the same number. Someone had tried to reach me repeatedly when my phone had needed charging. Maybe Lopez had figured out that I wasn’t at the hotel. I tucked my phone in my pocket. I’d call him later.
When the cab arrived I was relieved to find the driver was a fifty-something guy with a heavy Spanish accent. Clearly a regular cab driver and not a New Jersey mobster in a Hawaiian shirt. I kept looking out the rear window during the whole trip. I remembered my wild ride with Phil as she eluded our tail. At the time, I’d thought she was being a little paranoid. Now I knew better.
When we reached the busier streets of downtown, my phone rang. The phone’s screen showed the same number as all the missed calls. “Hello.” I nearly added “Inspector Lopez” but stopped myself.
“Valentine? It’s George Hunsinger. I’ve been trying to reach you all day but your voicemail didn’t pick up.”
I sighed. Uncle George. I forgotten all about him and his quest to find Elizabeth so he could forgive her. “Hi,” I said. “It’s a new phone. I haven’t set up the voicemail yet.”
“Well, no matter. I have some news about Betty. Where can we meet?”
“Um…you know this isn’t the best time for me.” I could have bitten my tongue as soon as the words were out. I should have been more definite.
“Very well, when would be better for you? Name the time and place.”
“I’m sorry. I should have been clearer. I really can’t see you for the time being. Something has come up that I absolutely have to deal with.”
“Does this have to do with Betty?”
“No, it doesn’t.”
“Won’t you at least help me, then? I’d like to know your thoughts about the information that’s just been relayed to me. It’s very important for me to get closure with that time of my life and those events. I won’t have any peace until I do. Please?”
“I’m very sorry, but I just can’t. And I think I should warn you that there are some very bad people after Elizabeth. It’s really not safe to try to find her, at least not now.”
“Not safe?” his voice notched up to a higher pitch. “My dear child, whatever do you mean?”
“Just that. I wouldn’t want you to get hurt.”
“Nor would I. But what about you? Aren’t you concerned for your own safety?”
“I’m not looking for her any longer, so I don’t think they’ll bother me.” Just then the cab driver pulled up in front of my hotel. “I have to go, Uncle George,” I said and hoped the “uncle” would soften my refusal. “Please, just go back to Cleveland. I have to hang up now. Bye.”
I hung up the phone, paid the cab driver and made my way into the hotel. I took a look around the lobby on my way to the stairs in case Lopez had posted someone there. The lobby was deserted except for a redhead with big hair reading Vogue. She glanced up and as our gazes met, I felt little electric buzz zip over me. I knew her. Or, at least I’d seen her before. Outside Elizabeth’s apartment, in the group of rubberneckers. It was Lies-About-Her-Age in a wig. She stood up and walked away from me, but not before I saw the flash of recognition in her eyes, too.
I hurried to the stairs. I had to call Lopez. Her being here was no coincidence. I punched in Lopez’s number as I climbed the stairs, but there was no ring. I looked at my phone. Did it need charging again? No. The indicator said fully charged. I tried Lopez’s number again with the same result. Stupid modern technology. I shoved the phone back into my pocket. I’d have to use the phone in my room.
I hurried out of the stairwell and down the hall to my room. I had to pause to extract my hotel room card from the hidden pocket in my jeans. Lucky thing that Aunt June had taught me how to sew with tiny, nearly invisible stitches. Rico could paw through my things all he wanted, he wouldn’t find my secret stashes.
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