“Hey!” he called. Then pointed at Dana as he rounded the reservation desk and advanced on our merry little group. “Hey, where were you last night? I waited over an hour for you to show up. I completely missed Bette’s opening act. I can’t believe you stood me up!”
Mental forehead smack. With everything else that had been going on I’d totally forgotten that I’d pimped my best friend out to Mr. Walking Acne Commercial for the night.
Dana looked from me to Slim Jim, then to Rico, whose eyebrows were angling downward.
“What do you mean she stood you up?” Rico asked.
Slim Jim crossed his arms over his sunken chest. “I had a date to see Bette Midler with this chick and she totally blew me off.”
Rico’s eyes narrowed as he turned on Dana. “You had a date with this pencil neck?”
“Hey!” Slim Jim yelled.
“Uh…” Dana said, biting her lip. “Well, kind of…”
“You’re not here one week and you’re cheating on me with this guy?”
“Hey!” Slim Jim said again. “What’s wrong with this guy?”
“You know,” Mrs. Rosenblatt piped up, “this is just like the time my third husband, Rory, thought I was foolin’ around with the dry cleaning guy. Only that time-”
But she didn’t get to finish. Before anyone could stop him, Rico swung one meaty fist in the air, missing Slim Jim’s jaw by millimeters.
“Holy crap!” Slim Jim yelled, ducking. Rico came in for another try, swinging his left fist this time. Slim Jim crouched behind a Lucky Seven slot machine. “Holy freakin’ crap!” he yelled.
“Rico, no!” Dana cried, grabbing onto the back of Rico’s shirt. It ripped as he lunged for Slim Jim again, looking frighteningly like a scene from The Incredible Hulk as Rico’s bared muscles flexed, his fist making another dive at Slim Jim. Jim skittered behind a fake tree.
“Somebody call the police!” Marco shouted.
Dana pulled out her cell and dialed 911. But before she could even get the call out, two security guards came rushing up. They each grabbed one of Rico’s arms, which was almost effective in holding him back. Almost. Hey, the guy was about a thousand pounds of pure muscle. He charged at Slim Jim again, a security guard dangling from each arm like puppets. Slim Jim ducked behind a street sign, one of the guards called for back-up, and Marco screamed for Dana to call the police again.
She did. And this time they arrived. Five minuets later I was treated to my second Vegas PD encounter of the evening as three uniformed officers pushed their way through the growing crowd of onlookers. Much to the relief of Slim Jim who was starting to look tired of bobbing and weaving. I didn’t blame him. Actually, I was kind of impressed he’d lasted three rounds with Jolly Green-with-jealousy Giant.
The first two uniforms helped the two security guards restrain Rico. The third stared at Dana, uncomprehendingly. Because, of course, with our luck, the LVMPD had sent us Officer Baby Face.
“Dana?” he asked. “What’s going on?”
Dana looked like a deer caught in the headlights, her gaze whipping from Rico to Slim Jim then back to Officer Baby Face.
“Uh…”
Ever helpful, Marco stepped in. “See, Dana had a date with this guy Jim, but she totally forgot about it because Maddie set it up for her and then her boyfriend, Rico, got into town-”
“Boyfriend!?” Officer Baby Face yelled, clearly hurt. “You have a boyfriend?”
“Uh…” Dana said again.
I elbowed Marco in the ribs. “Not a boyfriend boyfriend. More like someone she just dates occasionally.”
“You went out with me when you were dating someone else?” Officer Baby Face asked and I feared he was on the brink of tears.
“You went out with this guy, too?” Rico growled, his face going red, steam starting to pour out of his ears.
“Uh…” Dana looked from Rico to Marco and me. “A little help here?” she pleaded.
“Oh, come on, fellows,” Marco said, stepping up. “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, right?”
Three pairs of angry eyes turned his way.
Marco whimpered and jumped behind me.
“Okay, clearly this is all just some big misunderstanding,” I said, trying to diffuse the situation. “See, I’m the one that-”
“Wait!” Mrs. Rosenblatt cut me off, slapping her palm over the bulging veins on Rico’s forehead. “I’m having a vision!”
Oh. Good. Lord.
Mrs. Rosenblatt rolled her eyes back in her head, doing her Dawn of the Dead impression. “I see… a donkey. A big, strong donkey.” Mrs. Rosenblatt snapped her eyes open. “You got a pet?”
“Ha!” Slim Jim said, popping out from behind the Lucky Seven machine. “She thinks you’re an ass.”
Rico growled and lunged for Slim Jim again, dragging the security guards and LVMPD with him. They may have held his arms, but his legs were free. And considering Rico was trained in fifteen different forms of marital arts, this was a huge oversight on the LVMPD’s part. Rico coiled one foot back like a snake, then shot it out toward Slim Jim, catching him squarely in the face.
“Uhn.” Slim Jim rocketed backwards, bouncing to a stop against a Deuces Wild machine.
“All right, that’s it. You’re all asses!” Dana yelled. She turned to Officer Baby Face who was looking like he was trying to remember if this had been covered in the manual. “You,” she said, pointing a finger at him. “Yes, I’m seeing Rico.”
Office Baby Face opened his mouth. “But-”
“But,” Dana continued, “I went out on one date with you. One! It’s not like I promised I’d marry you. I mean, hello? Does this look like the body of a married woman? I don’t think so.”
Officer Baby Face clamped his mouth shut and found a piece of dirt on the floor suddenly very interesting.
“And you,” Dana continued, turning on Rico, who now that he’d made contact with Slim Jim’s face seemed freakishly calmer. “Who do you think you are that you just go around picking on poor defenseless little wimps like that?”
“Hey!” Slim Jim called from his crumpled position on the floor.
But Dana ignored him. “Rico, that was the worst display of jealousy I have ever seen. And I work with actors! You are a grown man, not some little boy playing soldier.”
Wow, I was impressed. She was taking tough chick to a whole new level.
“What about me?” Slim Jim asked.
Dana rolled her eyes. “Hello – you talk to my breasts. Get a grip!”
Slim Jim pouted. Either that or his lip was swelling.
“Now,” Dana said crossing her arms over her chest, “You three children can go on squabbling if you like, but I just shot a man and I’m tired. I’m going upstairs to get some sleep.” Dana turned around and marched toward the Chrysler elevators. “Maddie?” she called over her shoulder. “Are you coming?”
Considering the testosterone level down here, that was a no-brainer. “Wait up,” I called, doing a mini jog across the casino floor to catch up to her. Marco, Mom and Mrs. Rosenblatt followed close on our heels.
By the time we made it upstairs, I was beyond exhausted. Dana and Marco took one of the double beds and Mom selflessly fit her five-foot-one frame onto the rollaway. Which left me sleeping with Mrs. Rosenblatt. Or, more accurately, occupying the sliver of bed left over after she rolled her 300 pound frame into bed. But I honestly didn’t care. I closed my eyes, hit the pillow, and fell into the first good night’s sleep I’d had in weeks.
* * *
I awoke the next morning to the sounds of Marco getting into the shower. I rolled over and checked the digital clock radio display. 10:15. God I loved sleeping in. I rubbed my eyes and stretched as I sat up in bed. Dana was on the other double, watching a show on beating the blackjack dealer.
“Where are the gruesome twosome?” I asked, yawning.
“Your mom and Mrs. R? They went to breakfast across the street at the $4.99 pancake buffet. Why, you hungry?”
&nb
sp; I nodded. Actually, I was. I realized as my stomach growled that I hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday morning. Dana dialed room service and ordered a fat free yogurt cup with strawberries and granola for her and bacon, hash browns, and French toast with extra whipped cream for me. (Hey, I’d almost died last night. Life was too short for health food.)
While we waited for our dome covered trays, I plugged my cell phone into the wall and checked my messages. There were so many my inbox was full. The first batch were from last night, Dana and Mom both calling frantically to find out where I was and if I was okay. The next was from Tot Trots, saying that if I didn’t turn in my designs for the Rainbow Brite jellies by Monday, I could kiss my job goodbye. I did a few mental calculations, figuring that if we left first thing in the morning, didn’t hit any traffic, and I stayed up all night, I might still be employed next week. Maybe.
I tried not to picture my silver slingbacks hoofing it to the unemployment line as the next message came on. Ramirez. In fact, the next seven were from him, alternating between swearing in Spanish (when he found the dangling handcuffs) and lots of swearing in Spanish (when he heard about Dana shooting Unibrow).
My last message was from this morning. It was Larry, saying Felix had filled him in on last night’s excitement and was I okay? I could call him back at home, since, thanks to Monaldo’s arrest, he was back in Henderson.
I stared at my cell contemplating that little LCD screen. I knew I should call Larry back. And I would, I decided. Later. Now that imminent danger and threat of life had been taken off the table, I wasn’t really sure what to say to him. All that were left were the biggies. Why had he run off? Why had he abandoned that three year old me? What kind of relationship did I want to have with him now? All questions that were too deep for a woman with a mild concussion to contemplate.
Instead, I ate my breakfast, threw on a tank top, denim skirt, and my Gucci boots, and headed downstairs.
Slim Jim was at the check-in desk, his lip swollen to collagen standards, his nose covered in white bandages and both eyes rimmed in purple. I would have felt sorry for him if it weren’t for the two Swedish tourists in mini skirts and tube tops fawning over his injuries. Apparently being pummeled had its perks.
“Hey,” I called down the counter. “I don’t mean to interrupt, but do you have a copy of today’s Informer?”
Slim Jim pulled a copy out from under the counter and gave me a shooing motion as he turned back to the busty Swedes.
I pulled the tabloid open. The headline read, “Local Reporter Busts Open Counterfeiting Ring”. Hmmm… not exactly how it went down, but then again it was closer to the truth than ninety percent of the stuff the Informer usually published. I scanned the rest of the article. I admit, I was actually kind of impressed. Given an actual story to work with Tabloid Boy didn’t do half bad. And he even kept my head attached to my own body in all the photos. Maybe that Pulitzer loomed in his future yet.
At the end of the story was a smattering of pictures – Hank’s tarp-covered body outside the Victoria, Monaldo being led away from his penthouse in handcuffs, mourners at Hank’s funeral. The last was a shot of Maurice, sobbing over Hank’s casket, a tissue clutched in one hand. Poor Maurice. I felt my heart go out to him. No matter what happened to Monaldo now, it couldn’t bring Hank back. I wondered if anyone had even told him about Monaldo’s arrest? Ramirez and the Feds had seemed pretty focused on Monaldo last night. I had a feeling no one even remembered the broken hearted partner Hank had left behind.
I stared at the picture. After zapping his dog, the least I could do was give him the peace of mind that Monaldo wasn’t still out there somewhere. I left the paper on the counter and hailed a cab.
Twenty minutes later I pulled up in front of Maurice’s condo. The same lawn furniture was overturned in the courtyard and in the late morning, I could hear Judge Judy and All My Children echoing through the thin walls from the units surrounding his.
I knocked on the door of 24A and a few beats later Maurice appeared. The dark circles under his eyes had gained momentum, making him look older and more sunken than the last time I’d seen him. His gray pallor hadn’t improved and he was still wearing somber, unrelieved black – a black turtleneck, black slacks and a black sweater vest. And those hideous loafers.
Queenie dance around his legs, yapping a greeting.
“Maddie,” Maurice said, his voice hoarse like he’d been crying non-stop since the funeral. “Please, come in.” He stepped back to allow me entry. “What can I do for you?” Maurice motioned for me to sit, then took a spot on the loveseat opposite.
I cleared my throat, the potpourri and Clorox combination making the air feel thick in his tiny living room. “Have you seen the papers today?” I asked.
Maurice shook his head. “No. I haven’t been out much. Why?”
“Monaldo’s been taken into custody,” I said, laying a comforting hand on his arm.
Maurice’s eyes teared up and he pulled a tissue from the box on the coffee table, holding it under his nose. “He has?”
I nodded. “The police arrested him last night.”
“Oh thank God!” Maurice heaved a sigh of relief, his shoulders sagging as if a huge weight had been lifted off of them. “You don’t know how nerve wracking the last few days have been. Not only loosing Hank but knowing that monster was out there somewhere.”
I patted Maurice’s hand again. “I’m so sorry about Hank.”
Maurice sniffled into his tissue. “Thank you. And thank you for coming to tell me about Monaldo, too. You’re a good person, Maddie.”
I smiled. “It’s the least I could do.” I didn’t add, especially since we’d zapped his dog.
“So, has he confessed?” Maurice asked. “Monaldo, I mean. Has he admitted to killing Hank?”
I shifted in my seat. “Well, no, not exactly. But I’m sure he will. He’s confessed to being a part of an organized crime ring and from what the police say, he’ll be going away for a very, very long time.”
Maurice nodded, sniffling and dabbing with the tissue again. He shrugged. “I guess it’s possible he really didn’t kill Hank. You know, Hank was a very sensitive soul. Maybe it was all too much for him. Maybe he really did kill himself. There was a note after all.”
I nodded. “Maybe.”
I watched as Maurice twisted his Kleenex into oblivion, Queenie yapping at his heels for attention, the scent of Clorox heavy in the air. Silence stretched between us as his last comment replayed in my head. Something wasn’t right. The hairs on the back of my neck prickled as realization crept over me.
“Wait - what did you say?” I asked.
Maurice blinked at me. “That Hank was a sensitive soul.”
“No, not that,” I said, feeling my lips moved slow motion as puzzle pieces rapidly dropped into place. “About the suicide note?”
Maurice slowly looked up. Our eyes locked.
Ramirez had told me no one knew about the suicide note. They weren’t releasing that information to the public. There was only one other person who could have known that the police found a note.
Hank’s killer.
Chapter Twenty-one
I swallowed, my mouth going drier than the Santa Annas as I stared at the man across from me. Suddenly his red rimmed eyes held more malice than grief.
“I said Hank left a note,” Maurice said slowly, face searching mine for hidden meaning.
“You’re right,” I said quickly. “He did. So, it was probably a suicide after all.”
I had to get out of there! I had to call Ramirez. I had to leave. Now!
“Anyway, I’m sorry for your loss and I have somewhere to be so I guess I should be going.” I grabbed my purse and stood up, making quick strides toward the door. Which would have been a whole lot quicker if Queenie hadn’t been dancing between my legs, begging with a little yap, yap, yap for a pat on the head. If it weren’t for her, I might have made it to the door before I heard an unmistakable click behind me.
“I’m sorry, Maddie,” he said, sniffling again. “I liked you. I really did.”
His use of the past tense was not reassuring. “Maurice,” I said slowly, trying to keep the panic out of my voice. “Let’s talk about this.”
He shook his head. “I’m sorry, Maddie, there’s nothing to talk about. It’s over. It’s finally all over. They’re both gone now. Don’t you understand? It’s all over.”
I gulped. I didn’t understand. He wasn’t making a whole lot of sense and his tears were bordering on hysterical territory. The one thing I did understand was the gun pointed at my barely-B chest, which at the moment I wanted to keep just the way it was, thank you very much.
“Maurice, just put down the gun and we’ll talk.” My eyes searched wildly around the apartment for anything within reach that could be used as a weapon. But, thanks to Maurice’s compulsive cleaning tendencies, the surfaces were not only free of clutter, but free of anything sharp, heavy, or useful as a projectile. Damn!
He shook his head at me. “I’m sorry, Maddie, I can’t do that.” He started crying even harder, big racking sobs. But, surprisingly, his grip on the gun seemed to be growing more steady. Not a good sign.
“So, you wrote the suicide note?” I asked, stalling for time. Not that I was sure what good that would do. No one knew where I was or even that I’d left the hotel, for that matter. But the longer I could delay getting shot, the better in my book.
High Heels Mysteries Boxed Set (Books 1-5) Page 51