“I’m fine, and I don’t miss this place at all. You now, it’s in your blood the way it was in my father’s blood. Is everything okay?”
“I don’t know, Sage. All kinds of rumors are flying around here. We’re all walking on our toes. The word’s out a major shakeup is coming. The word is we ‘old-timers’ are going to be the first to go.”
“Where did you hear something like that?”
Neal shot Sage a disgusted look. “Right here on the floor.”
“It’s not going to happen. You have my word. Birch, my sisters and I own this place, not Jeff Lassiter. You have my number, Neal. If it looks like it’s going to happen, call me. This place would fall apart without all you, quote, old-timers. When someone new comes on the scene, rumors like this always start. It’s that new broom sweeps clean thing. When I tell you your job is safe, it’s safe. Tell the others.”
“That’s a load off my shoulders, Sage. This probably is none of my business, but for what it’s worth, I’d put a harness on that young woman.”
“What young woman?”
“The one wearing the tight green dress who’s headed for the registration desk. Your brother’s wife. In just a few short days she’s made a name for herself here at the casino. In my opinion, and I know you didn’t ask for it, but I’ll give it to you anyway, she’s too damn friendly with Lassiter. It’s out in the open for everyone to see. Listen, Sage, I have to ask you something. Is it going to be us against them? By them I mean all the new people who have been going back and forth to the offices and conference room.”
“I don’t know, Neal. I’ll check it out.”
“Nice seeing you again, Sage. Say hello to Birch for me. I only got to see him for a few minutes before he left. He did ask if me and the guys would consider going to AC when the casino is up and running to sort of train and keep an eye on things until everyone gets their feet wet. We all said yes. All of us are loyal to your family, Sage.”
“I know that, Neal.”
Sage snagged a beer from a passing server, his eyes on his sister-in-law. He watched as Myra talked, then pointed in his direction. Sage stared boldly at his brother’s wife, using the beer bottle as a salute. He thought she looked nervous. Maybe jittery. Nervous and jittery. Maybe arrogant and cocky. She was coming toward him. Some of the more rambunctious customers whistled and leered at her. She waved nonchalantly at them, acknowledging their approval.
“Sage, what brings you here to the casino?”
“I was just going to ask you the same question.” The score was one to one if you were counting. He was counting.
“Do you have time for a drink?”
“Got one.” Sage held his beer bottle aloft. The score was two to two if you were counting. He was counting.
“Want to gamble?”
“Been there, done that.” The score was three three if you were counting. He was still counting.
“The desk clerk said you were looking for me. She said she directed you to the office.”
Sage swigged from the beer bottle. “Yes, she did.” Sage swore he could see straight through the translucent eyes to the back of Celia’s skull. “It sounded like you and Jeff were . . . ah . . . busy so I left.” The score was four three in his favor.
“Busy? Sage, that’s too funny for words. I just stopped by to pick up some paper for my resume. Jeff told me the funniest joke.”
Sage eyed the form-fitting green dress. No pockets and what Iris would call an itt-bitty purse hanging from her shoulder that could only hold lipstick and a hankie. “So, where’s the paper?” The score was five-three if you were counting. He was counting.
The translucent eyes glittered. “That almost sounds like you don’t believe me, Sage.”
Sage set his beer bottle next to a slot machine. He smiled. “Seeing is believing. I don’t see any paper. Nice seeing you, Celia.” Sage felt like he’d been dipped in ice water as he made his way to the elevator that would take him to the underground garage.
On his drive up the mountain Sage used his mobile phone to call Sunny a second time. He felt better the moment he blurted out the details of his meeting with Celia. “What’s your assessment, Sunny?”
“She sounds like she’s up to no good. You need to stay on top of it. Are your going to tell Iris?”
“No. Sunny, Iris is pregnant with twins. She’s into her fifth month.”
“No shit!” the outspoken Sunny gurgled. “That’s wonderful, Sage. It is, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, it is. It was a shock at first.”
“Will Jake and Polly be too much for her, Sage?”
“Of course not. We’re getting a mother’s helper, and one of Chue’s relatives is going to help when the babies come. I think Jake is more excited than all of us put together. Our family is growing, Sunny. This other crap is taking the edge off our happiness.”
“Harry said he thinks Celia’s a slut. Harry’s always right. He also said you should hire a private dick to look into her past. I agree. It’s a shitty thing to do, but it’s better to know what you’re up against going in. If you don’t do it, later you might wish you had. For Birch’s sake.”
“Think about what old Birch will do if he ever finds out.”
“Who’s going to tell him? Certainly not me or Harry. That leaves you, Sage. If you keep your lip zipped, no one will ever find out. Are you gonna do it?”
“I’ll think about it. I don’t like being in this position. Maybe we should just mind our own business.”
“Do you want sleepless nights for the rest of your life?”
“No.”
“That’s your answer. I gotta go, Sage, the dinner bell is ringing. Call me.”
“Yeah. Don’t eat too much.”
“Are you kidding? I lose more than I get in my mouth. I eat all day long. Slow and easy, Sage. Resume my ass.”
Sage laughed. He loved it when Sunny reverted to what he called the old irrepressible Sunny.
Iris watched her husband through the kitchen window. A frown built between her eyebrows when she saw him go into the garage. Sage was rarely late, always calling ahead if he thought he’d be delayed. Today he was almost two hours late, and he wasn’t barreling into the house shouting, “I’m starved, what’s for dinner?” Instead he was in the garage.
“Okay, kids, Daddy’s home. Time for homework, Jake. Polly, help Lexie get her pajamas on. One television program and one bowl of popcorn. Daddy’s late so that means he’s probably tired. Low voices and big kisses. Scat.
“Honey, you look absolutely frazzled. Is everything okay? Your dinner’s warming in the oven. Banana cream pie for dessert.”
“Sounds great, honey. How are you feeling?”
“Today was pretty good. I think my morning sickness is easing up a little. I was starting to get worried, Sage. Jake kept going out to the road every ten minutes.”
“I’m sorry. I stopped at the casino to get Celia’s address and phone number from the desk clerk. You know how it is. I stopped to talk to Neal and some of the guys. I’m sorry I didn’t call. Time got away from me. I did kind of have a run in with Billie today.”
“Billie! I find that hard to believe. Is anything wrong?”
Sage threw his hands in the air. “Would you call five-hour lunches something to get concerned about?”
“Occasionally or all the time?”
“For some time now. It started being two, then three, four, and today it was five. She looks very tired, as though she isn’t sleeping. She stays late to make up the time. I feel terrible for the way I came down on her. She reminded me the company owes her years of vacation and overtime. She’s absolutely right about that. She spoiled me by always being there. She’s always been a workaholic. I guess she’s spreading her wings a little. I just don’t get a detective having so much time off in the middle of the day. She had that one covered, too. She said he has as much time coming to him as she does. The whole thing just didn’t ring true to me.”
“Adam works nights a
lot. Maybe they . . . ah . . . you know . . . afternoon trysts.”
“Trysts?”
“Assignations.”
“Assignations?”
“Sex, Sage, in a hotel.”
“Billie?”
“Yes, Billie. She isn’t a nun, honey.”
“In the middle of the day? I just never thought . . .”
“You need to mind your own business, Sage.”
“Somebody has to look out for her. Sometime, hell, most of the time, she acts like she’s in another world.”
“Creative people are like that. Artists are dreamy, writers are flaky, designers are spacey. Do you get it?”
“Yes. Thanks for sharing that. Supper was great as usual. I’m going to take a shower. I promised the kids we’d play Monopoly. We won’t be able to finish tonight, so is it okay to leave the board set up in the dining room? You don’t want me to do anything, do you?”
“Yes, no, go.”
Later, when her family gathered in the dining room, Iris made her way upstairs to turn down the beds. She laid out clean clothes for the morning, hung up Sage’s wet towels, and turned down her own bed. She picked up Sage’s suit, checking the pockets before she placed it on the pile of clothing to be taken to the dry cleaners in town.
Iris knew what she had in her hand even before she looked at it; a Babylon room key. In her husband’s pocket. A husband who was two hours late coming home. In a trancelike state, she slipped the card key back into the pocket before she replaced Sage’s suit where she’d picked it up. She sat down on the edge of the bed, her hand going to her stomach to feel the protrusion that would one day be twins.
From her position on the bed she could see her reflection in the bureau mirror. When she woke this morning, she’d felt good, robust, healthy. The mirror told her she was heavier, fuller, rounder. She squeezed her eyes shut and saw Celia Thornton behind her closed eyelids. Shapely, sexy, gorgeous Celia.
Iris’s gaze swiveled to her husband’s jacket. The card was a special card. She’d been able to tell that by the feel of it. Once, a long time ago, Sage had told her about a special room his father kept at Babylon. A card key that fit into a special lock. A tamper-proof card, according to Sage. A one-of-a-kind lock and card key. Logic said Fanny would be the owner of the card now that Ash had passed away. Why would she give such a key to Sage? Fanny would have changed the locks and opened the room for rent, knowing what she knew. Fanny would never keep the room as a shrine to Ash. Never in a million years.
Iris reached for the phone, pressed the buttons that would give her the switchboard at Babylon. Her voice was tremulous and full of tears when she said, “Room 719.”
“One moment, please.”
In Room 719 Celia Thornton twirled about the sitting room. Yes, this would do very nicely as a nest. Yes, indeed. The phone rang. Thinking it was Jeff Lassiter wanting to know how she liked the suite, she picked up the receiver and purred, “You sweet thing, this is just fabulous.” She reared back when she heard the phone click in her ear.
Miles away, on top of the mountain, Iris slammed the phone into the cradle and rushed to the bathroom, where she lost her dinner. She’d know that throaty purr anywhere. Her world shattered around her as she stumbled back to her room. Not bothering to change into her nightgown, Iris slipped between the sheets where she cowered, her knees drawn up to her chest.
6
Sage woke slowly, instantly aware of two things: his wife was at the far side of their king-size bed, and she was feigning sleep. In all the time they’d been married, neither one of them had slept on “his” or “her” side of the bed. They always woke pressed against one another. He squinted at the clock. There was still five minutes before the alarm went off. His gut told him it wasn’t going to be a good day. He reached out, pressed the alarm button.
Beneath the spray of the shower his mind raced. He tried to recall what kind of day he’d scheduled at the office. If he wanted to, he could take a few hours off. The question was, what would he do with the few hours if he did take them off? He needed to get his ducks into the water and line them up. For starters, he could try to get a handle on Celia Thornton in order to report back to Sunny. He could apologize again to Billie and see if he could figure out what was bothering her. A visit to his mother and Marcus wouldn’t be out of the ordinary. A brief meeting with Jeff Lassiter was definitely on his agenda. Maybe he needed to take the whole day off.
He made a mental note to call the airlines to see if he could make a trip to Atlantic City and return the same day. Not necessarily today, but at some point when his silent investigation provided hard, conclusive facts.
Sage stepped from the shower to poke his head out of the bathroom door. Iris was still buried under a mound of covers. Normally he could smell bacon and coffee when he stepped from the shower. Iris never missed making breakfast. The kids were stirring. Cold cereal this morning. He shaved, nicking himself twice. He cursed under his breath. A headache started to hammer at the base of his skull. He popped three aspirin and knew he’d regret it. Aspirin on an empty stomach wasn’t good where he was concerned. He dressed, sticking his tie in his pocket. His gut started to churn as it fought with the aspirin and Iris’s still form in the bed.
“Honey, are you okay? Is there anything I can do?”
“Get the kids off. I went downstairs earlier and made some oatmeal. Warm it up and cut a banana for each of them. Their lunches are packed. I made coffee.”
“Okay. I hope you feel better later. I’ll call you.” He leaned over to kiss her, but Iris rolled over. “I’ll see you later, honey.” Uncertain now, Sage gathered up his suit to add it to the pile of dry cleaning. He remembered the card key in the pocket. He slipped it into his shirt pocket. He hung up his wet towel and dried the sink. His footsteps were quiet when he left the room.
Iris sat up in bed. Did he take it? Didn’t he take it? She swung her legs over the side of the bed, glad that Sage had turned the heat up, something she always did since she got up first. She knew in her heart the card key would be gone, and it was. Whimpering, she climbed back into bed, hugging her knees, tears streaming down her cheeks.
The moment she heard Sage’s car start up in the courtyard, Iris put on her robe and went downstairs. She eyed the coffeepot. Would coffee stay down? She poured a cup and drank it in two gulps. When her stomach didn’t rebel, she poured a second cup. The illogical side of her personality argued with her logical side. She should have talked to Sage, asked him to explain the card key. She had no right, even in her thoughts, to accuse Sage of infidelity with his brother’s wife. Sunny would say she was going off half-cocked. She wondered if she dared to call Sunny or Billie to ask for their advice. The Thorntons stuck together like glue on flypaper when one of their own was threatened. Fanny? Never. Marcus? No. The only people left were Ruby and Jeff Lassiter. She negated Jeff almost immediately. Men stuck together. For all she knew, Jeff might be covering for Sage. Ruby was worldly, and Ruby liked her as much as she liked Ruby.
It occurred to Iris as she poured a third cup of coffee that she had her husband tried and convicted without any proof. Suspicions weren’t enough to convict someone when that someone was your husband.
At the end of an hour’s time, Iris had herself convinced she’d acted rashly and that sweet, wonderful Sage would never do what she suspected him of doing. The feeling stayed with her while she showered and dressed. The feeling left her when she gathered up her husband’s pile of cleaning to carry downstairs.
Iris looked at the sink full of dishes, at the messy breakfast table without seeing it. She called Chue’s house and asked him to watch the children after school. “I might be late, Chue. I’ll call you if I’m going to miss dinner. Thanks.”
By eleven o’clock, the cleaning had been dropped off and she’d bought her sundries at the drugstore that now belonged to Bess Noble’s son. She stopped at a small variety store to buy coloring books and new crayons for all the young children. For Chue’s older grandchil
dren and Jake she bought a pile of comic books. With nothing but time on her hands, Iris walked down the street to Babylon. She could say hello to Neal, spend ten dollars in the slots, go to lunch, and head home. Or, she could stop by the office and offer to take Sage to lunch. After she grilled him. On the other hand, maybe she should go to the office first in case her husband had a meeting or a business lunch with a supplier or a distributor.
Iris retraced her steps and headed for the office. She opened the door and was about to offer a cheery greeting when she saw Billie’s startled expression that to her mind looked guilty. She pretended not to see her sister-in-law shove a yellow notebook into one of the desk drawers and then lock it. She also pretended not to see the annoyed look on Billie’s face. “I thought I’d stop by and take Sage to lunch. Am I too late?”
“Actually, Iris, Sage didn’t come in this morning. He called me at home and said he had some things to take care of. It looks like a slow day for both of us.”
“Is he coming back?”
Billie shook her head. “He didn’t say, so I assume he has his end under control and that he won’t be back. Want some coffee?”
“I had my quota for the day. How about you, Billie, want to have lunch? My treat.”
“Iris, I can’t. Adam asked me yesterday. Would you like to join us?”
“Absolutely not! I’ll shop. Can I get you anything?”
“No, but thanks for offering. Iris, Sage told me yesterday that you’re expecting twins. I think it’s wonderful. Congratulations. If there is anything I can do, just let me know. When are you going to tell Mom? She’s going to be so excited. Have you thought about godparents? Put my name down.”
“I’m asking Sunny and Harry, and I thought you and Birch might want the honor?”
“What about Celia?”
Iris’s face closed up. “No, not Celia.”
“Okay, I’m your girl.”
Iris sensed that Billie wanted her to leave. “Billie, is everything okay? You seem, I don’t know, jittery, for want of a better word.”
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