Vegas, Baby

by Sandra Edwards

  “Your girlfriend,” Switzer said again. “She’s downstairs. Asking for you.” He seemed to enjoy the idea of driving a wedge between Eddie and Rio. “You probably ought to go see her. You wouldn’t want to upset her in her condition.”

  Eddie stuck his hand up in Switzer’s face, spanned his fingers out and held them there briefly before balling it into a fist. He let out a primitive growl and fought the urge to bitch-slap Switzer. Instead, Eddie shook a critical finger at him and then stormed past him without a word.

  Damn it! Eddie slammed the butt of his palm against the elevator’s down button. Suddenly, things had gone tragically wrong.

  Rio turned her back to him. She was really pissed. Or freaked out about Naomi being downstairs—

  Oh, yeah. Naomi. Man, he didn’t have time for this.

  Bradley appeared around the corner.

  “Didn’t she get the order?” Eddie asked his coworker. He was the one who was supposed to have made the delivery.

  That caught Rio’s attention. She turned around. “Order?”

  “I had a restraining order issued this morning.” It was kind of futile now to think that his taking legal measures against Naomi would make Rio feel better.

  “Well, apparently that did a lot of good,” she said in a voice so snarky that it stung Eddie’s ego.

  “We can always arrest her if we go downstairs and she doesn’t leave immediately,” Bradley said with a shrug. “That’s one of the perks of being a Fed. We don’t have to wait for the police to arrive and catch her near you.”

  Rio’s face lit up, like she was thinking she wanted to be the one to arrest Naomi. But the enthusiasm didn’t last long. It faded as quickly as it manifested. That wasn’t good.

  “So Eddie...here’s your chance.” Her glare cut through him like a jagged knife. “Are you going to follow through? Or was this just another one of your games?”

  “Rio...” He let her name linger on his tongue. He didn’t want to do this here. Not now. Not in the hallway. He was still on the job.

  “Games?” Bradley asked. “What games?”

  Rio cleared her throat. “Maybe we should go down and talk to her,” she said, changing the subject, as if she realized what she’d almost done. “She needs to understand that you are no longer an option for her.” Her bold stare ripped through Eddie. “If that is indeed the case.”

  “It is.” Eddie dared to step toward her. “You got any ideas how I can do that?” Hell, he’d gotten a restraining order, and she was ignoring that.

  “Just tell her,” Bradley said, without any sympathy for Naomi.

  “Oh, I have. More than once.” Eddie shook his head. Naomi didn’t get it. No matter what he said or how cruel he was, she wouldn’t go away.

  “Let’s give it one more try,” Rio said. Eddie felt like he was being led toward the firing squad after an inquisition.

  “I really didn’t want you to see that side of me.” His statement was genuine, but the look of disbelief on her face suggested she didn’t believe it.

  “You mean there’s something worse than what I’ve already seen?” Her words encased him in a cold, bitter chill.

  “Don’t let her come between you guys,” Chris said. “That’s her goal.”

  “I can tell you right now,” Rio said with snide laughter, “that’s not going to happen.”

  “Good.” Chris’ tone perked up. Apparently, he didn’t catch the underlying sarcasm. “Go down there and present a united front.”

  “You come, too,” Eddie said to Chris. If Bradley tagged along, there’d be that much more time for Eddie to cook up a good story to sell Rio about his undercover assignment here in the FVC Unit.

  She shot him a rough glare and hit the lobby button inside the elevator. “You and me, LaCall.”

  “Looking forward to it.” He gave her a smile, as if he meant every word. Of course he didn’t, not a one of them. At least, not until he could figure out a way to get her to forgive him.

  “Why do I feel like I missed something?” Bradley said offhandedly.

  Rio caught her breath and straightened her expression. “If push comes to shove,” she said to Bradley, focusing on the job, “you can always arrest her or escort her to the airport.” At least she wasn’t ready to expose Eddie. That had to count for something.

  “After last night,” Bradley bit onto her hook with ease, “gladly.”

  Either Naomi would leave town or she’d see the inside of a jail cell. Eddie liked that idea. Whatever it took to leave him with one less headache.

  * * *

  They rode the elevator to the first floor in silence. Rio's imagination ran wild with thoughts of arresting Naomi or at least running her out of town. But in the end, that would not solve her problems. Naomi could turn out to be no more the evil-hearted villain than Rio herself. She may be nothing more than a desperate woman trying to hold on to the good thing she’d found.

  Funny, the thing they both wanted to hold on to so badly was a scoundrel. A man who had no qualms about using a woman to further his cause. Well, this was one woman he was going to regret exploiting.

  The elevator doors opened and Naomi was standing with the security guards at the building’s entrance. Eddie moved closer to Rio. She shuddered. Pride urged her to shove Chris between herself and Eddie, but her instincts convinced her otherwise. Better to let Naomi think that she and Eddie were tight as ever.

  “You’re still here?” Naomi spoke directly to Rio. “I figured, after last night, you would’ve hightailed it back to cry on daddy’s shoulder by now.” Her voice was filled with pseudo sympathy, evident by the fierce look she doused over Rio.

  “Yes, I’m still here.” With grace and poise Rio stood her ground. “Lies don’t carry much weight with me.” She crooked her head and let her gaze drift up to meet Eddie’s.

  He gave Rio one of those it wasn’t me looks. It had no effect on the ice pack chilling her heart—an ice pack that Eddie had placed there. And now, he’d have to suffer the consequences.

  * * *

  LaCall and Laraquette were acting weird. It made Chris wonder, but he had to stay focused. There was a job to do. The kind he really enjoyed.

  “Miss Thomas,” he said to Naomi, “you should know—” He stepped toward her with smooth satisfaction spreading through him. This was the part of the job he loved the most. “A restraining order has been issued against you on behalf of Mr. LaCall.”

  “I suppose that was your idea?” She looked at Rio with a measure of condescension and sucked in a deep breath. “He will never commit himself to you.” Desperation shrilled out in her voice. “He’ll keep stringing you along until a new and untried you comes along, and then...you’ll end up just like me. Nowhere.” Naomi choked on her own tears and the hurtful things she’d said.

  Apparently, she didn’t care about the image she labeled on LaCall. It didn’t matter that he’d done none of the things she’d accused him of, other than refraining from committing to her. The only thing that seemed important to Naomi was that she get rid of Rio. It was like she thought that, sooner or later, LaCall would see that she was his perfect match.

  “Rio’s not responsible for what’s going on here,” LaCall’s voice fossilized. “She didn’t know anything about the order until just now.” A chilled aloofness fell over his words. “Don’t go away mad...”

  “Just go away, right?” Naomi’s voice broke. She shook her head. “I’m not going to do that.” She stood defiant, tears sliding down her cheeks. “One day, you’ll realize we were meant to be,” she said to LaCall. “And I plan to be here when that happens.”

  “No, you’re not,” LaCall said without sympathy or regard for the girl. “There’s nothing for you here.” His cold glare snowed over Naomi like a brisk winter storm. “Go home.”

  “No,” her response breathed out scarcely above a whisper.

  LaCall looked at Chris. “Arrest her.” He had no smiles or friendly goodbyes for Naomi. Instead, he turned to Rio. “Let’
s go.”

  Chris waited until they’d disappeared around a corner before he turned back to Naomi.

  She avoided his anger by ditching his attempted eye contact. With a sullen voice, she said, “It must be nice to be in her shoes...having you guys falling all over yourselves for her.” She may be too intimidated to meet his stare, but she could throw in one hell of a verbal punch, so long as she didn’t have to look at him. “A couple of you are damned near ready to come to blows over her.”

  “The way I see it—” Chris ignored her futile attempt to infuriate him. “You have two choices.” He let his triumph extend outward and spread into an over exaggerated grin. “You can go to jail. Or you can go back to Phoenix.”

  The sooner she left town, the better he’d like it. He couldn’t put his finger on it but something about her didn’t sit right.

  CHAPTER 29

  TO EVERYONE’S surprise, Lester Perzinsky had asked to speak to the undercover agent responsible for his downfall: Victoria Simmons. Not wanting to throw the girl to the wolves, Rio coached her as they moved along the corridor toward the holding room where Lester was waiting.

  “Don’t worry,” Rio said. “I have no intentions of leaving you alone with Lester. Just remember…you’re right and he’s wrong. No matter what he says, he’s the one who’s in trouble and you’re the one who put him there.”

  “Why do you think he wants to see me?” Victoria’s face skewed with curiosity.

  “Who knows…maybe it’s some last-ditch effort to try to intimidate you,” Rio said. “Then again, maybe he wants to insult the person he feels is directly responsible for his current predicament. You get all kinds.” Rio shook her head. The thought processes of the criminal mind mystified her, especially those who’d just been caught.

  “Okay, well, don’t leave me alone. I’m not used to this kind of stuff.”

  “If you get stuck, or don’t know what to say to him…just look at me, and I’ll offer up my two cents.” In that case, Rio would come up with something to divert his attention away from Victoria’s inexperience.

  They paused outside the door of the interrogation room where they’d find Lester waiting inside. Victoria drew a deep breath and released it slowly. The girl glanced at Rio with uncertainty dancing in her sky blue eyes.

  “Ready?” Rio gave her a confident smile.

  “Ready as I’ll ever be,” Victoria said. “Let’s do this thing.”

  “Well, all right.” Rio opened the door and Victoria followed her inside.

  Lester wasn’t happy to see Miss Scarlet accompanying the little stool pigeon into the room. He was hoping to get a little alone-time with her so he could intimidate her into recanting her accusation. Instead, he could only stare into the face of the woman who’d pulled the rug out from under him.

  Yesterday, he’d thought he was going to get a sample of this sweet young thing, but today he realized his bid for infidelity had prompted his fall from grace. And, to make matters worse, it appeared that Meredith had turned her back on him.

  “Well, well, well…if it isn’t little Miss down-an-out on her luck.” Lester glared at Victoria, his eyes burning with hatred. “Imagine my surprise when I found out you were a cop.”

  “Yeah, who’d a thunk it?” Victoria said, a bit vague.

  “What’s your point?” Rio said to Lester, propping her arm up on the table. Secretly impressed by Victoria’s ability to ward off his wisecracks, Rio tapped her forefinger against the tabletop a couple of times and flashed a celebratory grin at Lester.

  Lester hesitated briefly, gathering his composure. “I want to talk to Missy Cop,” he said, acknowledging Victoria. “Alone.”

  “No can do.” Rio shook her head slightly.

  “Then good luck in solving that mystery you call a rigged poker tournament.” Snide vengeance poured out with Lester’s words.

  “And good luck to you down at the county jail!” Victoria snorted with a sharp laugh.

  Ha-Ha. “Good one.” Rio giggled and raised her hand in the air. Victoria slapped at it with a playful high-five.

  “Thanks, this is fun,” Victoria said with a faint chuckle.

  Rio reverted her gaze back to Lester, taking on a cold, hard glare. “How pleasant do you imagine incarceration is going to be?” She posed the question pensively. “Especially when the Golden Sunset finds out you’ve been using the casino as a cash cow for the last six months?” She sat back in her chair, exuding an air of triumph over having prevailed in Lester’s desperate bid at slinging insults.

  A wave of defeat blanketed Lester as he hung his head and closed his eyes for a brief moment, shutting down.

  Rio knew she had Lester’s attention now, but she also knew they shouldn’t appear to be begging for the information either. With a guy like Lester, he just might think that meant there was still hope for his exoneration.

  “Let’s get out of here,” she said softly to Victoria. “Lester needs some time alone. He’s got some praying to do.” She rose from the chair. “And I’ve got a phone call to make.” On her way out she took one last glance over her shoulder and saw the look of dread invading Lester’s face.

  Rio was certain the next time she saw Lester he’d hand over the information she sought.

  * * *

  At the side entrance of the precinct, Chris Bradley approached Eddie and Rio. “LaCall, you might want to come with me. Rio’s father said I should find you.” He paused, caught his breath and turned to Rio. “Mr. Laraquette said you should get upstairs and don’t leave Gabe’s sight until Eddie and I return.”

  “Why? What’s going on?” Rio asked.

  “Some guy that worked for your father is dead. Looks like murder,” Chris said.

  “Why are you guys going over there?” Her suspicions ignited since neither Eddie nor Chris worked Homicide.

  “Mr. Laraquette asked me to find LaCall and get him over there.”

  That told Eddie this could only mean one thing: one of the tails on either Switzer or Naomi was dead. Since Naomi was in Phoenix and no longer a factor, he’d be willing to bet the man assigned to Switzer had expired, and not in a natural way.

  Eddie opened the door to the side entrance and spoke directly to one of the security guards on duty, “Escort Agent Laraquette upstairs.” He turned to Rio with an insistent pleading washing over his eyes. “You go upstairs and stay there until I get back. Don’t go anywhere alone. Not even the bathroom. If you have to go, make sure Victoria—and no one else—goes with you.” Eddie gave her wink and started backing away. “And whatever you do…Switzer isn’t to be trusted.”

  She splashed him with a look that she hoped said she didn’t trust Eddie either. Even so, Eddie was right. And that made it impossible for her to object—no matter how much she wanted. She couldn’t. She needed more information.

  Eddie was hiding something, and she wanted to know what. But he’d walked away with Bradley hot on his heels long before she could form the words in her mind, much less speak them out loud. She turned in the direction of the security guard, allowing him to accompany her into the elevator.

  Rio walked down the hallway with various thoughts and scenarios running through her head about the recently deceased guy who’d been working for her father. She couldn’t begin to understand what the guy—or his death—had to do with Eddie.

  She shook the rampant ramblings from her mind and let the poker tournament consume her thoughts. It required her immediate attention more so than the plight of some poor guy that worked for her father. She headed downstairs to see Dickie King.

  The FVC’s techno-genius was more than happy to replay a few taped conversations for her and let her peruse photos and tapes that he’d collected during the tournament. Unfortunately, nothing Dickie showed her brought Rio any closer to uncovering a solid connection between Lester Perzinsky and Turner Atkins.

  Dejected, she headed back upstairs. Her mood brightened the second she laid eyes on the embarrassing display of red roses sitting on her desk
.

  Eddie. That had to be where the flowers came from. The roses weren’t enough to melt her heart, but it did a little leap over the box of chocolates sitting beside the bouquet. Towering over her desk, she plucked the card from the flowers and then backed into her chair. She hesitated a moment, preparing to ward off the Eddie-charm she was bound to find inside.

  A rose for every hour of the day that I think of you!

  She laid the card down on her desk and looked at the flowers and candy. But Rio’s thoughts were occupied elsewhere. She was still stuck on the poker tournament.

  She tried to push the tainted gambling event out of her mind by grabbing the box of candy and cutting into the wrapper with her letter opener.

  Candy and flowers...how sweet. And damn well out of character for Eddie. He sure was hot to make up for the latest blow dealt by Naomi. Not that Rio didn’t think he’d ever give her roses or sweets. She just didn’t think it was something he’d do to smooth her ruffled feathers over another woman.

  Rio’s thoughts drifted back to the poker tournament. She tried to figure out when and where the turning point happened.

  Her mind switched back to the candy. She checked the inside of the lid, perusing the list of sweets at her disposal for the choosing.

  Something must have sparked the change in the direction the tournament had taken. But what? What had happened to encourage the doer to lay the spoils at her and Eddie’s feet?

  Ooh, caramel sounds good. She paused, glancing over the list of goodies, just in case she found something more appealing to satisfy the sweet tooth that had appeared with the candy’s arrival.

  The big switch! But of course. That’s when the windfall started and it hadn’t diminished since. The match where she and Eddie had orchestrated their exchange of seats had to be the defining moment.

  Okay, so what happened right before that match? What happened to change the outcome of the remaining upcoming matches?

  Rio opted for a piece of chocolate-covered orange cream, and her mouth watered in anticipation.