Carlotta was careful not to make a big deal out of it, but she was shot through with love for the little girl, and angry all over again that their parents had kept the siblings apart.
She purchased tickets to the observation tower in the gift shop, then they rode up a glass elevator forty-six stories to the top. Priscilla led her all around the three hundred sixty-degree tower, pointing out landmarks and eagerly awaiting the regular Bellagio fountain show that ran every thirty minutes. While they waited for the show to begin, they people-watched. Tourists came in every shape and size, and no matter the age, everyone seemed enthralled by the simple act of being higher than everything else around them.
Priscilla pointed to a bride and groom who were walking around the tower deck in full regalia, accepting congratulations from strangers.
“Do you like her dress?” Carlotta asked.
“It’s a little fussy for my tastes,” Priscilla said. “But it suits her.”
Carlotta laughed. “We’re going to get along fine.”
They turned back to reclaim their viewing spot.
And came face to face with Jack Terry and Liz Fischer.
Chapter 19
“COME ON, MAN. Two Snickers bars for one lousy phone call on your cell.” Wes wagged the candy bars in front of the chubby guard. Carlotta’s care package had given him some trading currency.
“That’s against the rules, dude.”
“I need to call my probation officer back in Atlanta and check in. If the Clark County Jail shows up on her caller ID, I’m screwed.”
“She’s gonna find out about your arrest eventually.”
“I’m just trying to buy a little time, that’s all. Who’s gonna know?”
The guy looked all around, then grabbed the candy bars and handed over his phone. “Make it quick.”
Wes punched in the number and waited.
“Atlanta Department of Community Supervision. How may I direct your call?”
“Eldora Jones, please,” he said in his most authoritative voice.
“Who should I say is calling?”
“Wesley Wren. Tell her it’s important.”
A few seconds later, E.’s voice came on the line. “Hey, Wes. How’s Vegas?”
“It’s good,” he said cheerfully. “I told you I’d call to check in, so…I’m calling to check in.”
“Staying out of trouble, I hope?”
“You know it.”
“Good. I hear the weather is nice.”
“Yeah. How’d you hear that?”
“It’s so bizarre. Leonard’s in Vegas, too.”
His stomach fell to his shins. “You don’t say?” He swallowed. “Why didn’t you come with him?”
“It was a last-minute work thing. But maybe we’ll honeymoon there.”
Wes surveyed the dried booger someone had wiped on the cell wall. “Yeah, Vegas is a real romantic place. How long is Leonard staying?”
“He isn’t sure, says he has to stay until the job is done.”
“Bummer,” he muttered.
“Thanks for checking in, Wes. I’ll see you when you get back in town.”
“Okey-dokey.” He ended the call and pulled his hand down his face. He was a dead man. He let the realization sink in for a few seconds, then punched in Meg’s number.
“Hey, you said one call,” the guard sputtered through a mouthful of chocolate.
“Five minutes,” Wes said, then extended a Milky Way through the bars.
The guy snatched it. “Two minutes.”
He was planning to leave a voice message, but to his surprise, she answered.
“This is Meg.”
“Hi…it’s Wes.”
“This isn’t your number.”
“Lost my phone,” he lied.
“Ah. Well, when I saw it was a Vegas number I thought it might be you calling.”
He grinned. “You did?”
“Yeah. I miss you a little bit.”
He grinned wider. “You do?”
“Don’t let it go to your head. I miss RadioShack, too, and it wasn’t so great.”
He leaned back against the bars. “So you like the bracelet, huh?”
“Yeah. It’s nice.”
“Nice enough for a second chance?”
“Hm…we’ll see. Don’t get your hopes up.”
“I won’t.”
“When do you get back?”
“Soon,” he lied.
“Maybe I’ll see you.”
“Yeah, maybe.”
“Gotta run,” she said. “But I’m glad you called. Put a quarter in a slot machine for me.”
“I will,” he said. “Bye.”
Wes ended the call and handed the phone back to the guard. “Thanks, man.”
“That must’ve been some phone call. You look drunk.”
“I have a date. With a girl I’m crazy about.”
The man scoffed. “A date? You’re not getting out of here, Money Man.”
Wes sighed. “Yeah, there’s that.” And if he ever did, Leonard would be waiting for him.
Chapter 20
JACK AND LIZ SEEMED as taken aback as Carlotta, and for a few seconds, everyone froze.
Liz recovered first. “Carlotta…what a surprise.”
“Hi, Liz…Jack.”
“Hi, Carlotta,” he said, looking pretty uncomfortable considering he was dressed down in jeans and black T-shirt. Liz was dressed casually, too, in a dress that emphasized her growing baby bump. Jack’s gaze immediately went to Priscilla. “Who’s this?”
“I’m Priscilla,” the girl said, staring up at Jack with a look Carlotta recognized as pure female fascination.
“Priscilla is a friend,” Carlotta said quickly. “The daughter of a friend, actually.”
“Nice to meet you, Priscilla. I’m Jack, and this is Liz.”
“Hello,” Liz said with a tentative smile, as if she were afraid Priscilla would bite.
“Are you a lumberjack?” Priscilla asked Jack.
He squatted down to be on her level. “No. I’m a policeman.”
“Can I see your badge?”
He chuckled, then pulled out his wallet and showed her his shield.
“Wow,” she breathed.
He opened his wallet and pulled out a sticker of a gold shield with space for a name. “You can have this if you like.”
She nodded happily.
He pulled a pen out of his pocket. “How do you spell your name?”
“You can call me ‘Prissy.’ P-R-I-S-S-Y.”
The little flirt. But the girl seemed to have found an admirer in Jack. Carlotta was fascinated to see him interact with a child, and was surprised how much at ease he seemed.
He wrote Prissy’s name in block letters and handed the sticker to her.
“Thank you,” she said with a gap-toothed grin.
Carlotta knew the instant Jack recognized the telltale family trait. He pushed to his feet and gave Carlotta a questioning look, but she pretended not to notice.
“Carlotta,” Liz said, “have you had a chance to talk to Wesley?”
“I tried today. Hard,” she added, referencing Liz’s text. “But he wouldn’t see me.”
“Are you having a baby?” Priscilla blurted, staring at Liz’s stomach.
“Yes, I am.”
“Is it a boy or a girl?”
“Actually,” Liz said, smiling up at Jack, “it’s a boy. We just found out.”
A zing of envy barbed though Carlotta’s chest, but she kept smiling. “Congratulations,” she said, and found she meant it. Jack would love having a boy.
He inclined his head in thanks.
“Are you two married?” Priscilla asked.
Carlotta winced inwardly. But she had to admit it was a little satisfying to see Jack squirm.
“No,” he said. “We’re not married.”
Priscilla looked up at Carlotta. “See? I told you, you don’t to be married to have a baby.”
“Yes, you did,”
Carlotta said with a little smile.
“Why don’t you get married here?” Priscilla suggested, then pointed to the bride and groom a few yards away. “They did.”
Liz’s smile was getting tighter and tighter, and Jack looked as if he might take a flying leap from the tower.
“That’s enough,” Carlotta said, shushing her.
But Priscilla ignored her, taking a step toward Jack. “I’ll marry you.”
Carlotta pursed her mouth. Liz gave a nervous little laugh. Jack reached over and touched the tip of Priscilla’s nose. “Then I’ll save myself for you.”
“The fountain show is starting,” Carlotta said to Priscilla, gesturing to the viewing portholes. At last the spell was broken, and she ran over to watch.
Liz pointed to her phone. “Sorry, I need to make a quick call.” She stepped a few feet away and left Carlotta and Jack standing alone.
“Cute kid,” he said, nodding toward Priscilla.
“She’s a little precocious. Sorry if she embarrassed you.”
“Sometimes I think we’d all be better off if we were as honest as kids are. But I think the older we get, the better we are at…hiding things.”
She realized he was waiting for a response, so she shrugged. “If you say so, Jack.”
She saw Liz coming back, so she gave a wave, then went to stand behind Priscilla. When she looked back a few minutes later, the couple was gone. Carlotta exhaled in relief. Things could’ve really gone sideways.
“Where did your friends go?” Priscilla asked after the show.
“They had to leave.”
“I liked Jack.”
“Most women do,” she murmured. “Are you ready to ride back down?”
Priscilla nodded, and they waited for the next empty elevator. The ride down was just as thrilling as the ride up, maybe even more of a rush. When they got to the ground, Carlotta walked off a little unsteadily, making her little sister laugh.
“Can we get our picture taken?” Priscilla asked, pointing to a photo booth in the lobby.
“That sounds fun,” Carlotta agreed. They went into the booth and crowded together on the bench. She fed money into the machine, then they mugged for the camera, making funny faces between flashes.
“I like your bracelet,” Priscilla said, touching the pink beads.
Carlotta smiled. “Then it’s yours.” She slid the bracelet off her wrist and put it on Priscilla’s.
“Are you sure?” Priscilla asked.
“Yes. Actually, I don’t need it anymore.”
“Thank you,” Priscilla said, then threw her arms around Carlotta’s neck in an unexpected hug. “I’m glad you came.”
Carlotta swallowed a lump in her throat. “So am I.”
They came out of the booth and when the machine spit out the strip of photos, they laughed. Carlotta tore the strip to divide the pictures. “Two for me, and two for you. Are you hungry?”
“Starved,” Priscilla said dramatically.
They walked down the Strip and bought messy hotdogs to eat. Carlotta was happy to see her little sister having fun. She got the feeling it didn’t happen often, but she vowed to change that.
When she was tossing the trash, she spotted two more familiar faces—the would-be thieves from the restaurant and the coffee shop. One of them spotted her at the same time and elbowed his friend. She wasn’t wearing the enormous diamond ring, but they couldn’t tell at this distance. They headed in her direction.
“Come on, Priscilla, let’s go this way.” She turned abruptly and almost mowed down a man walking behind her.
“Sorry,” she said, then squinted.
She recognized him, too, but she couldn’t remember where she’d met him. A skullcap covered his hair, but the eyebrows and sideburns were dark, and his features were distinctive. She could tell from the look on his face that he also knew her. But he untangled himself and kept going. As she watched, he looked back, then began to jog away.
She looked down to see he’d dropped a set of keys for a rental car. She scooped them up just as she remembered where she’d met him—he was the fiancé of Eldora Jones, Wes’s probation officer. She’d met him once at the Fox Theater, and she’d talked to Eldora just recently at a wedding expo.
“Leonard,” she called, waving. “You dropped your keys. Leonard!” Then she gasped. “Look out!”
He was looking back at her, still jogging. She watched in slow-motion horror as he stepped into the path of a bus. She turned to shield Priscilla’s face and ears from the sight and the sickening thud of the body landing. Gasps sounded, then screams.
Carlotta pressed Priscilla’s face against her stomach. “Don’t look back. Don’t look back.”
But Carlotta could see, and from the look of the man’s twisted body, she knew he wouldn’t be getting up. She saw Jack and Liz emerge from the crowd and move toward the scene. Jack waved people back and Liz was on her phone, presumably calling 9-1-1.
Her mind raced—how odd that someone else from Atlanta would be here, in the same public place, mere steps behind her…and when she called him by name, he would literally run from her?
She looked at the keys she was holding and on impulse, held them up and depressed the panic button on the keyless remote. Across the street just beyond the bus crash, a car’s lights started flashing and the horn blaring.
A green car.
“Come on,” she murmured to Priscilla. “Time to go.” She turned and led her in the opposite direction. As they walked past a storm drain, she tossed the rental keys inside.
On the drive back to the house, she tried to distract Priscilla and lighten the mood by stopping to get an ice cream cake to take back to her mother and Birch and joking with her about boy bands she liked. Even though she knew the man who’d been following her was no more, she occasionally glanced in the side mirror, and her heartrate remained elevated. How close had the man come to finding her mother? And how gut-wrenching to know she was the one who’d almost led him to the door.
“Did that man back there die?” Priscilla asked, proof she, too, was still thinking about what had happened.
“I don’t know, sweetie, but it looked like a bad accident.”
“Did you know him?”
“No. I thought I did, but I was mistaken.”
She seemed to accept the explanation and happily launched into an earnest discussion about her favorite movies. Carlotta realized she was going to have to get up to speed on superheroes and princesses.
When they pulled into the driveway, it was late afternoon. Carlotta let Priscilla carry the cake. While they waited for Birch to open the door, they heard the sound of a car stopping in front of the house. Priscilla turned and grinned. “Jack!”
Chapter 21
CARLOTTA UTTERED a silent curse and took her time turning around.
Thankfully, Jack was alone, walking toward them with long, confident strides. He had donned a jacket, she knew, to conceal his sidearm. She couldn’t tell by looking at him what frame of mind he was in, but he wasn’t smiling.
“Hi, Prissy,” he said. “Carlotta.”
“Hi, Jack. Are you following me?”
“When it’s police work, we call it surveillance.”
The door opened and Birch warily studied Jack.
“Why don’t you take the cake inside with Birch, sweetie?” Carlotta urged Priscilla.
“Okay. Jack, are you going to have cake with us?”
“We’ll see,” he said with a wink.
“It’s okay,” Carlotta said to Birch. “Give me a minute.”
When the door closed, Jack said, “I saw you at the site of the bus accident.”
“Is the man dead?”
He nodded. “Leonard Motts, from Atlanta. No rap sheet, but reported connections to some bad people, including Hollis Carver.”
“The loan shark?”
He nodded. “Motts got into town Saturday, just before you and Peter. I found a keycard in his wallet from your hotel, and I’m betting
it opens the door to the room Agent Johns died in.”
She swallowed hard. “Okay.”
“So, what’s behind this door that everyone is so interested in finding, and you’re so interested in hiding?”
“I think you know the answer to that,” she said softly. “So if you’re here doing police work, you should leave…for your own sake and for mine.”
He looked away, then shifted his weight and looked back. “What if I’m here as a friend?”
Carlotta smiled and reached for the doorknob. “Then come in.”
She stepped inside the house and Jack followed. His head was on a pivot, scanning and recording, as she knew was his second nature. They followed voices into the kitchen where Priscilla, Birch, and her mother sat around a table eating slices of the ice cream cake. Jack and Birch traded nods.
Valerie looked up. “Hello there.”
“Hi, Mom,” Carlotta said, then leaned forward to kiss Valerie’s cheek. “How are you today?”
“I’m wonderful, look at this beautiful cake.”
“I see. Mom, I want you to meet a friend of mine. This is Jack.”
Her mother smiled up at Jack. “Oh, you’re a tall one, like my husband Randolph.”
“Yes,” Jack said. “I’ve met your husband.”
Valerie frowned. “He’s working late again. He’s at that office all the time. They make a lot of money there.” She took another bite of the cake on her plate and chewed happily. “But he brings me those paper things, oh, what are they called?”
“Books?” Carlotta supplied.
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