Checkered Thief (A Laurel London Mystery Book 3)

by Kappes, Tonya

  “Fine.” I watched Jax rush off in his car. “I’m going to show you.” I stuck the keys in the ignition with one thing on my mind. Derek.

  I knew if I got this little hiccup involving Brittany off my back and let them ride into the sunset, then I could work on getting Jax back. At least Jax had known everything about my past and me up front and had accepted it.

  I didn’t have the energy not to fight for him and risk having to train someone else to accept my past.

  I continued driving down First Street and took a right on River Road, setting my sights on Glitz and Glam. As far as I could tell, Bethany was going to cover for Brittany as much as she could, maybe fake an illness here or there, but playing the game until we figured out how to get Brittany back.

  The parking lot was completely full. It still baffled me that people came and bet their good hard-earned money at a place like this. I was given millions of dollars and was still too cheap to even think about putting any more pennies in the penny slots.

  The sounds of the machines and dinging bells could be heard before I even entered the casino from the outside. Instead of driving around the parking lot and looking for a spot, I decided “what the hell” and paid for valet.

  The place was crawling with security guards. Their eyes scanning the crowd, a polite nod every once in a while when someone passed. There was a group of women cheering and clapping from over at the penny slots. I did a slight detour just to see what was going on.

  I curled up on my toes to see above the crowd and hands in the air. Someone famous must be performing in the Ledo Lounge tonight. At least Brittany had promised us at the town meeting that she’d be bringing in big acts that would bring a draw to Walnut Grove and help with the economic boost. Unfortunately, my head had been in the beer bottle too long to even hear of anyone coming.

  A slight part in between a couple of people gave me a good view of Trixie and her tinfoil hat sitting in front of a penny slot with the lights twirling. She’d hit the big payday of a thousand dollars. There was a big grin on her face. Next to her was Sharon Fasa. Her head planted in her hands as she shook her head back and forth.

  “Excuse me!” I screamed over the cheers, pushing my way over to Sharon. “Are you kidding me? I turn my back on you two for a minute and here you are gambling?”

  “I’m going to be baking pies for her for the rest of my life,” Sharon cried out.

  “Yes you are!” Trixie jumped up, danced around Sharon and pointed at her. “Don’t be mad, Laurel. I won! I won!”

  “You have a problem.” I rolled my eyes and watched as one of the security guys came up with Bethany, posing as Brittany. “Don’t count on the foursome for dinner tonight.”

  Her eyes searched my face for a plausible explanation. Before I could give her one, Bethany walked up next to us.

  “Laurel.” Bethany nodded; her outside appearance was a dead ringer for Brittany. It was eerie how much they looked alike. Even the Fiddle twins, who were also identical, had a few features that weren’t similar.

  “Hi, Brittany.” I smiled. The little secret bounced off the two of us. “I guess you are here to give Trixie her big payout.”

  “We have a lot of paperwork to fill out. It’s going to take a few minutes.” Her eyes got big as though she were trying to tell me something. “So most of our security guys will be with me.”

  “Oh.” It snapped into my head. It was probably a good time to look around. “Can I talk to you for one minute?”

  “Sure.” She tilted her head to the side for me to follow her and disappeared between the small space between the machines.

  “Listen, I have the money for you to give them for Brittany and I think I know who did it.” I tried to whisper but the machines made it difficult.

  “How did you get the money?” she asked with her mouth gaped open.

  “Let’s just say a friend so we don’t have to do anything real illegal.” I couldn’t tell her it was me. “This way, you get on with your life. We get Brittany back and Derek will be happy. All is good with the world. Aren’t you happy?”

  Tears formed on her lids.

  “I. . .” she bit back tears. “They have upped the ante.”

  “Okay.” I knew I could give them more money. I didn’t care. I lived without money all my life, why start living with it now?

  She looked around the machine where Trixie was still celebrating before she pulled out her cell phone and flipped to the photos. She showed me a picture of Brittany tied up to a bed, her feet and hands bound. Her eyes were covered with duck tape of all things. There was even one with a gun stuck to her head. Another with a knife at her throat.

  “They said they didn’t see the security camera in the parking lot when they kidnapped Brittany. They are insisting on the money and the video footage. I was in the security office earlier acting as though I was making sure everything was working properly and I noticed they use these SIM cards to record everything. They are going to kill her. I need you to get the footage.”

  “Don’t worry. This is right up my alley.” I smiled, trying to give her some comfort through her worried tears. “I’ve broken into several security cameras. Let me see what I can do. I think I met the guy who is the mastermind.”

  “So I’m going to be giving Trixie the forms to fill out and I have to have security around me to get the money.” She nodded, telling me in code that I was going to have a few minutes to see what I can come up with. “When can I get the money?”

  “I’ll get it to you tonight. Trixie was trying to get Derek and Jax to meet for a dinner double date, but neither of them really want to talk to me right now. So that is off.” I couldn’t believe all of this was going down. Right here in Walnut Grove. “But don’t you want to tell Jax or Derek?”

  “Absolutely not. They said they’d kill her.” An anxious look on her face, she fisted her palms.

  “Jax is really good about setting up sting operations and don’t you want these bastards behind bars so they will let you be free and not bother you again?” I know I wanted Trent T. Lyle behind bars. I still shudder at the thought of what he would’ve tried on me before Louie walked by. I would’ve nailed his nuts before he could’ve, but the thought of his hands on me made me shudder a little.

  “No. This is my mess to get out of. If the cops or this Jax is involved, they will . . .” she gulped. “I will go to jail for past heists. I’m clean now. I am, Laurel. I just want my sister. That is all. Then I’m out,” she pleaded.

  “Okay.” I gave in. “Just so you know. I’m doing this for Derek. Not you. Not Brittany.” Her name left a bad taste in my mouth. “Derek.”

  “I know. You are a very good friend to him.” She reached out and squeezed my arm. “And just think that if he was kidnapped? Even me telling you that they are going to kill him is enough to send you over the edge. That is why I had to come to you.”

  “I know.” I gave in knowing in my gut I was going to regret it. When Jax and Derek found out. Neither of them was going to accept what I had done behind their backs. Then it will be just Henrietta and me again.

  Yep. I was going to turn into the old lady with cats.

  “Me and you.” She gestured between the two of us. “We can do this.”

  “Yes.” I confirmed. “Me and you.”

  Before they whisked Trixie off into the office to fill out paperwork, Bethany had given me a quick layout of the offices and where I could find the security room with the camera equipment. She said it wasn’t in with the live feed cameras where there were three security guards watching. She also said that the room was fairly safe because they didn’t go in there unless they needed to go back and look at footage of the gambling if they felt someone was running the tables and illegal betting or stacking the cards at the blackjack tables.

  The underbelly of a casino was much different than the casino floor itself, taking me by surprise. If I didn’t know where I was, I would have figured it for a regular old office building with halls, doors
, and public restrooms. The room was exactly where she told me it would be. And she had given me her, well, Brittany’s key card to get in the secured area.

  I zipped the black strip on the keycard toward the wall on the keypad and like magic, there was a click and I pulled down on the handle, entering the room. It was just like a walk-in closet lined with shelves. There was so much equipment on them, it took me a second scan of the shelves to find exactly what I was looking for. I had never worked in such an extensive system before, but I knew if I didn’t get too overwhelmed and go device by device, I could find the monitor for the parking garage.

  It was the last one on the bottom shelf in the far back corner. I squatted down to get a good look to see exactly how to eject the SIM card. If I worked quickly, I could get the card, get out and make it home to get the money before Trixie got home with her winnings and have this whole thing wrapped up by the end of the day and back in bed with Jax.

  It sounded like a plan. I reached behind the monitor and pulled it out slightly. A bundled-up stack of one-hundred-dollar bills fell off the shelf as I moved the monitor and landed on the floor.

  “Shit.” I picked up the stack and used my thumb to let the money shuffle through from the top like I would cards. It was all hundreds and I knew it was a lot of money without even counting.

  “Hold it right there!” The door flung open. The light formed a shadow of someone with a gun pointed right at my head.

  Chapter Eleven

  “What the hell, Laurel?” Jax stood with his legs parted, arms out, and gun firmly planted in his grasp with his finger on the trigger, a bridled anger in his voice.

  “It’s not what you think!” I jumped up and the money bundle tumbled out of my hand. “I can explain.” I gasped realizing what this must look like. A shiver of panic swept over me.

  “You better!” The next security guard appeared behind Jax with his gun drawn. “Good work, Jax,” he said to Jax, and pulled a pair of cuffs off his belt.

  “This is all a big misunderstanding.” I tried to worm my way out of the tight situation I was in.

  “What is going on?” Bethany appeared over their shoulders. Her eyes were as big as saucers. “Laurel,” she gasped. “No, this is not the thief.”

  “Right!” I was so glad Bethany was there to vouch for me. For us.

  “There’s the money.” The guard pointed to the wad of cash.

  “Laurel?” A v-formed between Bethany’s eyes. She shook her head.

  “It’s not mine!” I yelled. “Tell them,” I pleaded directly to Bethany.

  “We know. It’s the casino’s money that went missing last night.” The security guard jerked my arm and threw it behind my back, cuffing me before I had time to fight him off.

  “But I didn’t do it.” I started laughing knowing Bethany was going to clear all of this up.

  When he flung me back around, neither Bethany nor Jax was standing there. Both of them had abandoned me. I knew better than to say anything until Ben Bassman, my family lawyer, got there or until Bethany came to my rescue. So I walked with the security guard down the hall, up the elevator and onto the casino floor where Trixie and Sharon stood there watching along with the rest of the gamblers.

  “Call Ben Bassman,” I told Trixie. “Now.”

  I stood on the curb of the casino parking lot with the security guard. A distant siren was getting closer and closer. Then the flashing lights appeared in the distance.

  “Where did you get the money?” Bethany walked up to the security guard and me.

  “I won’t say anything until he’s gone.” I nodded toward the security guard hoping to get some alone time with Bethany before they hauled my ass off to jail.

  “Let me have a minute with her please,” Bethany spoke with a quiet, but desperate, firmness.

  “One minute.” The guard gave me a stern look. “You try anything and don’t think I’ll won’t put a bullet in that cute ass of yours.”

  I kept my smart-ass mouth shut. I didn’t want to be in any more hot water than I already was in.

  When he was a safe distance away, my mouth opened and I began talking fast, “The money was behind the monitor. I didn’t get the SIM card. It’s still in there. I can get you the money and you can get me out of this.” I lifted my shoulders, giving a lift to my cuffed hands behind my back.

  “You said you had the money from a friend.” Bethany searched my face for answers. “Are you saying you didn’t steal that money?”

  “No.” My heart sank. “I’m telling you that I went in there to get the SIM card.” I looked around and leaned over, whispering, “I have my own money. I’m a millionaire and I am going to give you two hundred and fifty thousand dollars out of my money.”

  “You have that kind of cash?” Her voice died away, her eyes slid toward the flashing police lights in the distance.

  “Yes,” I stated. “This way you don’t have to do anything illegal to get you and your sister out of harm. Everyone will be safe. But you have to get me out of this mess.”

  “Who took the money from last night?” she asked. Lines of worry creased across her forehead.

  “I have no idea.” I shook my head. “Do you think the heist was going down without you? Do you think they were trying to get the camera footage and couldn’t so they upped the bounty on you?”

  It was a valid question and it seemed like a plausible explanation. Were the kidnappers tired of waiting around for her to get the money?

  “I don’t know.” She bit her lip. “Don’t worry. I’ll get you out of this,” she assured me. “Just keep playing along until we get Brittany out. Please, Laurel.”

  “I will. But you have to work fast on getting me out or I’m going to sing like a songbird to Derek, Jax and the feds. I don’t care if you do go to jail for the other heists. I can’t go to jail for a crime I didn’t commit.” I took a step back as the cop car abruptly stopped in front of us and Derek jumped out.

  “No shit.” He stood there blank, amazed, and very shaken. “And to think you’d changed. I wondered if the casino and the money here would tempt you out of remission.”

  “Derek.” I choked back the tears from the look of disappointment on his face. “I didn’t do this. There is a reasonable explanation. I swear!”

  He uncuffed me from the back and cuffed my hands in front before shoving me into the back of his cruiser.

  The windows were rolled up and he had the cruiser radio on so I couldn’t hear the exchange between him and Bethany. Desperately, I tried to read their lips without any luck. He placed his hand on her arm and slid it down, clasping his fingers around hers. Slowly his thumb rubbed her thumb as though assuring her everything was going to be okay. I watched in agony as he pulled her closer and gave her a sweet kiss on her cheek. As he did, her face turned toward me. Her eyes looked at me and I suddenly felt like my breath was cut off. I heaved in a deep breath through my mouth and stared forward.

  Everything was going to be okay once I gave some sort of explanation that would pacify him until Bethany cleared all this up. I might be spending a few hours in the Walnut Grove jail, but it was worth it to save Derek.

  “I’ve never been in the back,” I made small talk to get Derek to open up.

  “Laurel, please stay quiet until you get a lawyer.” Derek slammed the door.

  “Derek.” I leaned forward and spoke through the chain barrier between us. “You can’t be serious.”

  “I’m dead serious. And the dash cam is on so everything you say is being taped,” he warned.

  “Oh.” I bit back telling him the true story until we were out of this cruiser. So for now, I was going to sit back and enjoy the scenery back to Walnut Grove where Derek and I could talk alone. “Did you ask Brittany about dinner tonight?”

  Derek looked back at me from the rear-view mirror. His eyes darkened with emotion.

  “What? I’m serious. I want to get to know her.” I glanced out the window. I knew dinner wasn’t going to happen with Jax, but w
ith this all put behind us, maybe just maybe Brittany, Derek and I could start over.

  We were passing Porty Morty’s and the fateful dock next to the riverbank where we had made love. A lump formed in my throat. Put it behind you, I said to myself and played with the chain between the cuffs.

  “Laurel, I don’t think you are going to be eating anything but jail food tonight.” His voice, though deep, was clear and tight.

  “Oh no.” I looked at his eyes in the mirror. “This is all going to get cleared up. Beth. . .” Ahem. “Brittany will get this cleared up. Right?”

  Derek didn’t bother looking at me again, which made me a little nervous, though I knew it was because of the dash camera. I knew that he couldn’t treat me any differently than any other criminal; only he and I both knew this was all a big mistake. A huge mistake.

  When we pulled up to the police station, Ben Bassman was standing outside of the station in true Ben Bassman form. His stocky frame was covered in a long black overcoat, he wore black gloves on his hands, and a cigar was stuck in the corner of his mouth. His eyes narrowed, his pointer finger curled around the cigar resting at the base of his thumb. He took a long draw, pulled the cigar out of his mouth and blew a long steady stream of smoke into the air, clouding his face from us.

  “Ben. I’m so glad you are here to clear this up,” I said immediately as soon as Derek opened the door.

  “I’m not so sure this is going to be as easy as you think.” Ben didn’t smile. He simply took another puff of his cigar. He turned to Derek. “Can you uncuff her and let me talk to her right here?”

  “We have a room you can talk to her in.” Derek’s voice was stern. Nothing that I had expected.

  “What?” I looked between the two of them. “Are y’all serious? Is this for real?”

  “As real as The Gorilla.” Ben shook his head.

  “Who is this guy? And who is the gorilla?” Derek’s face contorted.

  “Can I talk to my lawyer alone?” I asked Derek.

  “Are you sure you want this bozo representing you?” Derek whispered. “You are in serious trouble, Laurel.”