“If it’s so easy, why am I doing this?”
“Because they need to distance the betting on the football game from the payoff. No one can connect the two, and most people won’t suspect you of having any interest in a football game. Also, a pretty woman’s a great distraction for all the other people around the high rollers table.”
“Pretty sexist, if you ask me.” Andie huffed. “I’d think it would be better for an unnoticeable guy to make the bets.”
“Not really. Casinos are leery of nerds with pocket protectors. Try and relax.” Owen pulled the Town Car up to a valet stop and handed him the keys.
They strolled around the mall, hand in hand, as if they were a vacationing couple. Andie located a drug store and asked Owen to wait for her out front. She didn’t want word getting back to anyone about her possible pregnancy, but at the same time, Cade had a right to know. Maybe it would lessen his anger at her for supposedly ditching him and running off with George.
Fortunately, the drugstore had a bathroom in the back. She paid for the pregnancy test stick and an activated prepaid cell phone and shut herself in one of those single person bathrooms. Cade had to know the truth. She could only imagine what lies Roxanne had told him, but then, even if she’d told the truth, he would still be hurt.
She followed the instructions on the pregnancy test, then plugged the prepaid phone charger into the wall socket. She closed her eyes and breathed, trying to steady her nerves and chase the jitters away.
She shouldn’t stare at the test indicator, but she couldn’t help it. Gradually, the plus sign appeared, dark and purple along with the control line. Pregnant.
Wow. She was going to have a baby with Cade! Andie took a deep breath and bounced on her toes. She hugged herself and exhaled. This should be a dream come true, except all was not right. By now, Cade could have slammed his heart shut against her.
With fumbling fingers, she powered up the prepaid cell phone. It had a signal. What should she say? How should she say it?
# # #
Cade ran himself ragged going first to the police station, then back home, then out again to the rehab facility. Despite Roxanne’s razzing on him and Andie, she was still Bret’s mother, so he’d allowed her to take Bret to the apartment she was living in with Declan.
Sitting in the parking lot of the rehab facility, he checked his cell again. Something strange was going on. Andie had sent him text messages. The first one said she was getting on an airplane. Another one said she was on a layover in Buffalo, but she had not replied to any of the messages he sent, which was pissing him off. Had she really left with this mysterious man or was Roxanne pranking him?
Meanwhile, the police had no clue where his mother was and in any case, they didn’t believe there had been foul play. The banks his mother had accounts at refused to let him know the status of her account, and he’d stupidly forgotten to copy down the account numbers so he could have called the automated phone system.
Cade called his lawyer. Maybe Owen could somehow talk to the banks for him. His assistant answered the phone.
After Cade explained what he wanted, she said, “I’ll relay the message, but Mr. Williams is out of town with a client. He should be back on Monday.”
Monday? That would be too late. Every minute he missed finding his mother was another minute that allowed Dick to locate her and shake her down. Face it. As soon as she gave the password, she’d be worthless and expendable.
He got out of his car and paced through the lobby of the rehab facility. There had to be a clue somewhere. The receptionist was understanding, but unconcerned.
“Can I please check her room? Maybe she left a note,” Cade said.
“Sure, I’ll have security let you in.” She picked up the phone.
Cade followed the guard to his mother’s room.
The guard unlocked her door. “Everything seems to be in order here. We found no more dope.”
“That’s good, although if she comes back, I’d like to change rooms. My mom’s pretty ingenious with ways of hiding stuff.”
“They all are,” the man said. “Well, have at it.”
Sure. Cade scanned the surfaces of the neat room. Everything was spare and spartan to lessen the possibility of hiding places for drugs. He flipped through a book she had left face down on her pillow, something called Broken Build which looked like suspense and danger with a hot chick on the cover. No slips of paper fell out. He opened the drawers of her night table and checked underneath the surfaces and between the mattresses. He went through her clothes in the dresser and found nothing out of the ordinary. The top drawer had a few maps and hotel bills, tourist pamphlets. Rules for common casino games slipped out of a guidebook for Las Vegas. Strange. His mother had been a card shark in her youth, even spent time dealing blackjack. Why would she need rules?
His skin crawled at the instructions scribbled on the back of one of the pamphlets. Home team: red. Away: black. One chip on red or black. Another on point spread or range of spreads. Bet zero to erase last bet.
What the hell? The handwriting seemed familiar. Cade folded the pamphlet and put it in his pocket. Where was his sister arrested? Some casino somewhere. They’d accused her of stealing chips, then pinned the betting on her. Ronaldo had followed that trial and been engrossed in the testimony.
Cade called his friend. “Hey, you free for a bit? I need to run something by you. Can I meet you somewhere?”
“Sure, go ahead,” Ronaldo said. “I’m not in town. What’s on your mind?”
“Remember you were following Joanie’s trial and all the testimony? You remember which casino game she was playing? How’d they nail her on the betting scheme?”
“Oh, they never did. She plea bargained. She was caught in a hotel room with beaucoup amount of high value chips. One of the dealers accused her of betting against the Flash and she denied it. Of course the media was all over it and Roxanne was spreading rumors. In the end, they couldn’t prove how she’d gotten the exact spread in.”
“I think I know, and I might know who was behind it.”
“Uh, really?” Ronaldo’s voice was so sharp, it drew a welt on his ear.
“Forget I said anything. Talk later.”
Cade hung up as quickly as he could. That was dumb. He should have only pumped information out of his friend, not let on that he knew anything, especially if his mother was involved.
Chapter 12
“Andie, you okay in there?” Owen knocked on the door of the bathroom. “We have to get going. Natasha’s waiting for us at the you know where.”
“Another minute, ho-on-ney.” Andie made sure to drag her accent out in a Midwestern way in case anyone was listening. She tossed the pregnancy test into the trash bin and stuffed the phone and its charger into her purse before exiting the restroom. Too bad she hadn’t gotten enough charge to send text messages.
“You feeling any better?” Owen laid a concerned hand on the back of her neck.
“It was just gas.” Andie patted her tummy. “Much better now.”
“Great, you’re going to get your cosmetic treatment. It’s really cool, you’ll see.”
Andie really needed to put the brakes on this. Owen acted like they were playing spies and secret agents in a James Bond movie. While they were supposedly sightseeing, he’d been playing with his spy camera GPS locator watch and checking the readings on his smartphone.
Which was stupid. If this were really James Bond, they’d have secret weapons that could drill holes in craniums or shoot a pin sized poisonous dart from a hundred feet. Instead, they had to rely on unknown agents to protect them, and trust they were tailing them without being seen.
“This job might be too dangerous,” Andie said. “I have to think about my family.”
“Which is exactly why you have to bust the big guys. They took Cade’s mother and threatened Bret. How do you know they won’t go after your mother or father?”
“You really think so?” Andie fanned her face an
d stopped in her tracks. “How would they connect my parents?”
“Your mother stayed with you a few weeks, right? I’m sure they might have seen her around.” Owen led her to the valet car park pavilion. He handed the valet his ticket. “Anyway, you think about it. We’re so close, I can feel it. Besides, we need to clear Cade’s name once and for all.”
“True, and Cade’s not even playing this weekend, so if something goes down, it’ll prove he’s innocent.” Andie’s chest was tight with the pitter-patter of her heart threatening to escape.
“You should see what Natasha has for you.” Owen helped Andie into the car and tipped the valet. He walked around the front and strapped himself in. “It’s in one of those super secret federal buildings, outside of the city, of course.”
“Okay, sure, I’m game.” Andie shut her eyes. It would be over soon, and she didn’t come this far just to chicken out. Owen had her back. He’d take pictures of any people who spoke to her and also trail her when she was invited to the private roulette table. He was also good at causing distractions by dropping drinks or bumping into people or stepping on their feet in case she need to make a quick getaway.
“Good, you get some rest while I drive.” Owen turned on the satellite radio and drove down the road to the jaunty down-home tunes of a Cajun zydeco station. “I’m looking for some crawdads and hushpuppies for dinner. You up for that?”
“Yes, I’ll try anything once.” She couldn’t help smiling. The tunes were upbeat and bouncing, and the fiddle and accordion made her feel light and free. “We make a good team, don’t we?”
“Oh, yeah, you ought to consider working for the FBI. You get all the perks of being an actress without the paparazzi.” He bobbed and swayed to the music as they exited the city proper and drove by rows and rows of warehouses.
# # #
Cade went home and dug through his kitchen, finding the phone number Andie’s mother had left for him.
By his estimation, Andie should have arrived at Itasca’s tiny county airport already. For whatever reason, she must have listened to his voicemail and decided to ignore him.
He deserved an explanation, especially having this mysterious George take her to the airport, and if Roxanne could be believed, kissing her. Andie must have known how worried he was about his mother and how much stress he was under. Just because she was mad at him for intruding into her family, didn’t mean she should blow him off with no news and the kissing display.
He entered the phone number for her parents’ house and her mother picked it up.
“Hi, Pam, this is Cade. I was wondering how Mr. Wales is doing.”
“Oh, how thoughtful of you to call. James is doing better, driving me nuts with his speaking machine,” Pam said in a breezy tone. “By the way, we haven’t heard back on whether Andie was going to come home this week or postpone it again.”
“Wait. What did you just say? Andie’s not with you?” Icicles penetrated his skin and chilled his heart.
“I thought she was with you,” Pam said. “What’s happened? She hasn’t called, and all my calls go to voicemail.”
“Same here. This is not good, not good,” he muttered. “When was the last time you heard from her?”
“A few days ago. She was talking about postponing the trip home, since she thought she had a lead for a job.”
“Then she had to be lying to me. She said she spoke to you and that James had a setback and she had to travel home immediately.”
“Oh, my, no. We haven’t heard from her.” Pam’s voice took on a panicked tone. “Do you think she met with foul play?”
“I hope not. Let’s calm down,” Cade said, even though his stomach roiled and sweat popped from his forehead. “I’ll ask around here, her friends, former boss, neighbors. Maybe she went out of town for a job interview.”
“And forgot to tell you? That’s unlike her. What if she’s lost her memory and wandered off? Maybe she thinks I called her, or dreamed it up. Cade, I’m heading over.”
“Not yet, please. I’m sorry to alarm you. Hold on until I find more information.”
“Don’t forget to file a missing person’s report. The police won’t act for twenty-four hours. When was the last time you saw her?”
“Yesterday afternoon. I think twenty-four hours is up. I’ll do that, but in the meantime, call me if you hear from her.” Cade could barely breathe when he hung up.
Had Andie really run away with another man? Did she even know who he was? What had Roxanne said, that the man was tall, dark, and Latino? Not much to go on.
He called Ronaldo. “I need Sylvia and Leroy’s phone numbers. Andie’s missing.”
“Missing? Since when?” Ronaldo asked.
“Yesterday evening.”
“You have no idea where she is?”
Something about the way Ronaldo inflected the word where gave Cade the creeps.
“Do you?”
“Why should I?”
“Because Declan and Roxanne happened to be at my house when I got back, and Andie was gone. They gave me this cockamamie story about her taking off with some tall, dark Latino. All lovey dovey and mysterious. Sounds just like something dramatic you’d pull off for one of your reality shows.”
“You give me way too much credit.” Ronaldo said.
Cade could feel the asswipe puff even through the phone, like he grew a couple of inches.
“No, I’m serious, dude. Prove you’re my friend and tell me what you did with Andie.”
“I got you the lawyer, didn’t I? The one who sprung you from jail. That proves I’m your buddy.”
“A lawyer who happens to be missing right now. He’s out with a client. Unfortunately, Owen’s not tall, dark and Latino, he’s more like round, red-faced, and egg-headed.”
“A real womanizer. Look, I’ll text you back Sylvia and Leroy’s phone numbers, but if I were you, I’d keep my eye on the game this Sunday.”
“Why? What’s going down?”
“Track the halftime lines. But the real action is at the two-minute line. By then the game’s almost locked up and any reversal skews the winnings tremendously.”
“So, you’re saying Andie and my mother missing are related to the start of the season this Sunday?”
“I’m not saying anything, dude. Try Sylvia and Leroy, she might have gone off on a shopping spree with them. I heard the historical costume convention’s in town.”
“Stop trying to tell me something without telling me. Are you with me or against me? Because Andie could be in danger, and I’ll never, ever forgive you if you know something and kept it quiet.”
“All I know is you got to trust the process. Stay home and watch the game.”
The line went dead.
Chapter 13
Andie lay face down on a paper-covered vinyl examination table. Natasha, her cosmetician, sectioned off her hair, exposing the patch of skin where she’d had surgery to relieve the pressure in her skull after her car accident.
“This is perfect, perfect.” Natasha felt around the area. “I’m going to have to shave it again, sorry.”
“Sure, I’ve been hiding a bald spot for a few weeks already. What’s a few weeks more?”
“The miniature digital voice recorders we have these days are the size of a cufflink. The only thing is you’ll be stripped and searched before they let you into the private game room. They will then give you clothes to wear, including underwear and shoes. Which is why hiding the device in your hair works so well. Sure, they’ll pull on your hair to see if you’re wearing a wig, but I doubt they’d go through every inch of your head.”
“May I see it?” Andie turned her face toward Natasha.
She showed her a tiny chip which was colored already to match her hair. It was a little thicker than a coin, but about the size of a game token.
“I’ll go ahead and shave that patch, then apply adhesive,” Natasha said. “I’ve even devised a covering with some real strands of hair.”
She
slipped the recording device into a skin colored sack which was covered with human hair.
“Wow, it’ll be hard for them to see it,” Andie said. “But of course, if they were to feel for it, they might find it.”
“True, but because of your surgery, you’re missing a bit of skull there, so I can sort of jimmy this device in and stretch the skin across. It may be slightly uncomfortable, but let me know if it’s too tight.”
“I’m supposed to get that piece of skull replaced, but I keep putting it off. Too much going on.” Andie shrugged.
“I’ll say, but once we catch these guys, you’ll deserve a rest. We’re pretty sure it’s someone closely associated with the team, but until we catch them red-handed, it’ll be hard to build a case.”
“I just wonder why the elaborate game? Don’t most people place their bets online?”
“Those are small potatoes and people unaffiliated with the sport. Whoever’s manipulating the game got greedy when they hit huge odds at the Super Bowl. They’ve been itching to get back in the game. Betting on trades and draft picks is nowhere as lucrative as a live action game.” Natasha talked as she attached the digital voice recorder masquerading under a tail of hair. “Don’t be freaked out when they examine you. They’ll even check your vagina and anus, do a quick probe.”
“Ugh, I don’t like that.”
“Well, unfortunately, body cavity searches are part and parcel for both law enforcement and organized crime. Fortunately, they think you’re one of theirs, so they won’t hurt you. After all, someone high in their food chain had to have recommended you.”
“Who do you think it was?” Andie shuddered as a skittering of chills skipped down her spine.
“Just felt someone walking on your grave?” Natasha chuckled. “The key is to not think about it. If you go in there suspicious and trying to pin someone, it sets their guard up. People in this line of work have keen intuition. Something won’t feel quite right. So keep your brain out of it. Just do as you’re told, and we’ll get you out of there after the job’s done. Likely, you’ll be just fine, and you can go back to your hotel room like nothing happened.”
Boxed Set: Intercepted by Love (The Complete Collection): Books One - Book Six Page 54