by Bob Moats
It was now about 9:30 p.m. I took out my Palm TX and opened up my contact list. I scanned down and found I still had Lisa James’ number. Lisa was the last side dish I knew Nicky had, back when I was keeping his empire together. She was the cutie that risked her neck to travel across state lines to bring his drugs to him. Stupid woman.
I told Penny what I was going to do and went into the bedroom for privacy. I could still hear Buck and Penny roaring aloud, probably reviewing Trappers exploits. I dialed the number, and some girl answered, but it didn’t sound like the Lisa I remembered.
“Hi, can I speak to Lisa James?” I asked.
The person on the other end was silent for way too long. I said, “Hello?”
The person asked, “Who is this?”
“I’m an old friend of Lisa’s from back in 2003 when I worked for Nick North.” I hoped that would get a reaction.
“Yeah, well, that son of a bitch can kiss my ass,” she spit out.
I guess I got my reaction. “Is Lisa still at this number?”
She asked again, “Who are you?”
“My name is Jim Richards. I worked with Lisa for the son of a bitch.”
She laughed, and then said, “I remember you. Lisa spoke of how you always watched out for her.”
“I did, I liked her. She’s a great girl.”
“Was. She died last year. The police still haven’t found her murderer.” I could hear her take a sharp breath, and she started to cry softly.
That tingle in my body started again. I was shocked to hear Lisa was gone.
“Can you talk to me about her now, or shall I call back?” I said with respect.
“No, I’m all right. Just taken aback a bit hearing her name again.” She sniffled.
“May I ask what happened? I’m now a private investigator, tracking down a murder from today that may have a connection to Nick North.”
“Jim, meet me in the Piano Bar inside Harrah’s in a half hour. I don’t want to talk on the phone. They got a great dueling piano show. It’s noisy,” she said.
“May I bring a couple of friends?” I asked.
“I don’t care if you bring a fucking army, the more the safer. Just be there and I’ll tell you everything I know.”
“How will I know you?” I asked.
“I’m blond, good-looking, and I’ll be wearing a low cut red dress. You can’t miss me. If you haven’t changed much, I’ll know you. We’ve met before.” She hung up.
I was puzzled by her last comment. I wondered when I had met her.
I went out and rallied my troops saying we had business to attend to, and we all went off to Harrah’s. It was just up the strip so it took no time to get there.
Penny asked what nefarious maneuver we were attempting, and I replied, to meet a mysterious woman from my past. She hoped it was over between us, and I said I was sure it was since I didn’t even remember her.
We parked and entered the bar. It was crowded, and the piano players were putting on their show to rousing cheers. We walked around for a while and then I saw her. It was Lisa, but it wasn’t. It was her sister. I remembered her from when she came into town to visit Lisa. So many years ago, but I remembered her beauty. We approached her.
“Jamie, it’s good to see you again.” I smiled and kissed her cheek.
“You remember me, thank you. Good to see you again, although you have gotten a bit older.” She grinned.
“We all get older,” I kidded, and then introduced Penny and Buck. “Talk to me.” I wanted to know.
“Well, you know Lisa was involved with Nick back when you worked with him. I was in town staying with Lisa when you quit. Lisa was very distressed that you were gone, but Nicky badgered her into taking your job.”
“I remember. I had to show her everything I did for the son of a bitch,” I added. “I didn’t mind helping her out. I wouldn’t have done it for him.”
“She hung on for a while, and then she started acting strange. Something was bothering her. She wouldn’t tell me, but I could see she was getting impatient with his involvement with Sue, the woman in California.”
I had forgotten her name.
“Lisa was starting to bug Nicky about him getting more involved with her, pushing out Sue. Nicky bullied her into being just the other woman, and Lisa wasn’t happy about it. She told me she threatened Nicky with telling Sue about their affair. Just after that, Lisa was found out in the desert, stabbed to death. I told the police about the deal with Nicky, but he had an air tight alibi. He was in California on business.” I could see tears welling up in her eyes.
“I remember Lisa didn’t take my place entirely. She only worked the stage for him. She wasn’t in on running his finances or taking care of his business affairs. Who was it that did?” I asked.
“Some guy named Kris Wallace. He was a shrewd bastard. He bullied Lisa and everyone else who worked for Nicky into doing things his way. Nicky didn’t care, as I’m sure you remember. He let people around him run his empire. He didn’t want to have to worry about all that crap.”
“Do you know anything about him, where he came from or if he still works for Nicky today?”
“I know he was a prick, didn’t care about the feelings or needs of the people who counted the most. He definitely didn’t like Lisa. He didn’t come out and say so, but you could tell. I stayed in town for about six months and watched over my sister. As I said, she started acting strange.”
“I’m going to ask a delicate question. Do you know if she was pregnant?” I asked.
Jamie looked a little shocked, and then said, “I wasn’t aware if she was, but now you mention it, she did seem a bit off. She was sick a lot, and she had these mood swings. If you hadn’t asked, I would have never thought about it. Yes, she could have been pregnant.”
I looked at Buck and Penny. I could see in their faces that they knew where I was going.
“Jamie, the girl who was murdered this morning was pregnant, and from reports from the underground, it was Nicky’s baby. Now she’s dead, just like Lisa was, stabbed with a pair of scissors. You said Lisa was stabbed, did they say what the weapon was?”
“They didn’t tell me crap. I was just the sister. I guess they don’t tell family what is going on.” She looked bitter.
“I’ll see what I can find out. I know a few people in Metro that may help,” I consoled her, but she was still bitter.
The waitress finally came around. Slow going tonight, big crowd. We gave her our orders. I said, doubles on all, and she went off. I wondered how long it would take to get a drink there. Surprisingly, she came back in quick order and dropped our drinks, took my money and went off. Jamie thanked me for the drink. She said she was having a tough time. She lost her job at the Fitzgerald Hotel due to cutbacks, and her parents helped as best they could. She was behind on her rent, and prospects for work didn’t look good.
“What did you do at the Fitzgerald?” I asked.
“I worked in their small theatre as a prop handler. Union job, but they didn’t help much. I didn’t work enough hours to qualify for unemployment. Bastards.”
I thought a minute, and excused myself to go to the restroom. After I entered the stall, I took out my cell phone and called Wally.
“James, two times in one day. I told everybody you were here. They all said hi.” He laughed through the phone.
“Wally, I need a favor.” He said name it. “You remember Lisa James?” He said of course, great little gal. “Did you know she was killed last year?”
He was quiet for a second. “Son of a bitch, this just keeps getting deeper and deeper in shit, doesn’t it?” He whistled. “What’s the favor?”
“First, how’d you like to meet my TV host girlfriend?”
“I’d be hurt if I didn’t get to meet her.”
“Is it OK to come by with a few friends tonight?”
He said the show was almost over, come on by. I said we’d be right there.
We hung up, and I went back out t
o the table. I gathered up everyone including Jamie, and we went out to the car.
“Where are we going?” Jamie asked.
“To see an old friend of mine who knew and liked your sister,” I replied.
We went back to the same parking garage and across the tunnel. The guard remembered me from earlier in the day and said to go in. We went down the stairs to the backstage and sat by Wally’s desk, waiting till the show was over. I said to Penny, it was too bad Maria wasn’t there when Donnie Osmond walked by and went up to the dressing rooms.
Wally came over and look a bit shocked when he saw Jamie, since she and Lisa looked so much alike. I introduced her and took Wally aside. I explained that Jamie lost her job up at Fitzgerald’s and was a union crewmember. I asked if he could get her into the Flamingo, if possible. He said, anything for Lisa’s sister, he’d give it a good try, no guarantees, but he’d try. I told him to tell her the news. He did, and she started to cry, hugged Wally and then me.
My cell phone rang. It was Deacon calling to say their show was ending, and they needed to be picked up. I told him we were at the Flamingo and would pick them up in a little while, that we had some things to take care of there. He said, no problem, and then I asked if he and Maria could go across the street to our hotel and wait in the lobby for us. He said they could do that. I said thanks and hung up.
Most of the stage crew were finished with closing down the show and came over to see me. It was like I never left. We all shook hands and even hugged a bit. I introduced Penny, Buck and Jamie to everyone. Mark, the sound guy, said he saw Penny on some network show about the incident in Michigan and was honored to meet her. He winked at me.
We talked a while. Most of the stage crew had worked with Lisa after I had left, and a few of the guys had stories to tell Jamie. She was thankful to everyone, and I said we had to leave but would be back one night and we could all go out and party. They cheered to that, then I took my little band of excited followers, and we departed but not before I thanked Wally.
We drove back to the MGM Grand, and I pulled into valet and told them I was just picking up a couple of friends. Deacon and Maria came out and piled into the car. I introduced Jamie to everyone, and we headed to Maria’s house. Maria said to stop at a party store for refreshments.
We got to Maria’s place about 11:30 p.m., and she invited everyone in. She apologized for not having a hot tub. I laughed when she said she had a little wading pool out back we could use. I asked if she was going to stand by and stir up the water. I told her that we saw Donnie Osmond tonight. She swore and said we weren’t allowed to go back there unless she was with us. I promised.
I corralled Jamie in the kitchen and told her that I really missed her sister, that she was a great, sweet person. She got teary again, and I told her to hang on to her memory. I promised I would find out who killed her, even if I had to stay in Vegas till I did. She kissed me on the cheek, thanked me for trying to help get her a job, and then went out to the living room with everyone else. I was going out, too, but was stopped by Penny.
“I was just coming into the kitchen to get another beer, and I heard what you told Jamie. Are you applying for sainthood?” She smiled.
“I really liked Lisa, and I felt sorry for Jamie, having to lose her sister and be in deep doo-doo. I like to help people.”
“Well, I guess I’ll have to give you your sainthood later tonight.” She grinned wide, grabbed the beer out of my hand and went back out to the living room.
I yelled, “Hey!” but she was out of earshot.
Around 1 a.m. I said I had to take my children home, and poured Penny and Jamie into the car. I dropped Jamie off at Harrah’s to get her car and asked if she would be all right. She said she would, and I drove on to the MGM Grand.
We got up to our room, pulled off all our clothes in speedy time, and headed to the bed. We wrestled around for a while, and Penny asked if I felt saint-like yet. I said no, work harder at it, and damned if she didn’t.
Penny fell asleep after she canonized me, and I lay there like I usually do in bed. I thought about the day again and couldn’t believe Lisa was dead. I had a small crush on her back when we worked together, mostly because she was so cute and lively. She had an innocence about her that made me wonder what she saw in Nicky.
I always hear how women go after the “bad boys” but never seem to learn a lesson when they always end up getting hurt. Bad boys are just that for a reason. They don’t care about anyone else’s feelings. They think only of their own needs and how they can use women to their advantage.
Nicky was a womanizer. He had a streak of good in him that I saw occasionally, but he loved having his way with women. Now the death of Lori Davis was the most immediate concern, and she was another of Nicky’s conquests. But even if she was pregnant, was that a reason to kill her? Why?
Would it make any difference to Nicky? Having two women on a string with one of them pregnant wouldn’t hurt his career if the scandal came out. Nowadays that wasn’t much of a scandal. I decided I’d worry about it later, turned and cuddled my girl, then tried to go to sleep.
*
Chapter Seven
I was up early, didn’t sleep much, too many bad dreams about dead women. I wondered if my becoming a P.I. was attracting crime like Penny said. I got on the phone and called Buck. After he answered sleepily, I said good morning. He grunted some obscenity and said good morning back. I said I would pick him up in about an hour. He told me to hold on. He held his hand over the phone and talked to someone…Deacon, I supposed.
He came back on and asked if Deacon and Maria could drive him there and meet us so Deacon could wander the convention. That way Deacon would have Maria’s car and they could leave anytime. I said that was a good idea, plus Deacon could watch Penny while Buck explored, too. He liked that and said they would meet us at the exhibitors’ entrance just before 10 p.m. I said that worked for me.
I told Penny what was happening, and she said that would give us a little extra time to eat breakfast at an enjoyable pace. We went down to the buffet and had a nice quiet meal. I drove Penny to the convention center, met with the gang and dropped her off.
“What are you going to do today?” Penny asked.
“I’m going back to Metro and talk to Weber about the dead girls, see if I can find out anything. If any of you guys need me, just call.” She leaned in and kissed me, and said not to get in any trouble. I said, “Who me?” She went off to get her charges into the center.
I drove over to Metro, and the same officer was on the desk. “Hey, P.I., talk to Trapper lately?” He grinned.
“I did, and he said he was glad he wasn’t putting up with you people anymore.” I smiled wide. He laughed.
“Feeling’s mutual. You want to see Weber?” he asked. I said I did, if it was possible, and he got on the phone.
Minutes later Weber popped his head out the door and waved me in. Detective Sergeant Carter was seated in his office. She asked if Deacon was with me. I said, sorry, he was at the convention center exploring. She looked disappointed.
“Richards, I’m glad you came in. I was going to call you. I wanted to see if you had any more news for me on the Lori Davis murder. I’m sure you’ve been snooping.” He smiled knowingly.
I told him about finding out Lori Davis was pregnant, which Carter confirmed from the autopsy. I filled them in on talking to my snitch about the possibility that Nicky was the father. Then I told them about the connection between Nicky and Lisa James, a girl murdered last year who was a former squeeze of Nicky’s, and who, her sister thought, might have been pregnant, also. I said the coincidence was a bit strong. Carter and Weber both agreed. Carter said she would look back into the James case and see what they had on it. I asked if it would be appropriate for me to be informed on what they found.
Weber said that would be no problem since I was sharing my knowledge with them. He appreciated the cooperation, and I could confer with Carter any time. I knew Carter would prefe
r to confer with Deacon, so I told her Deacon would be helping me with my investigation on Lisa James’ murder and that I was working on it for her sister. Carter seemed to perk up to that and said she looked forward to working with both of us. The woman was so obvious.
I told them of my experiences while working for Nick, and a few details about his love life. Weber warned me not to get in too deep, connecting with Nick. He didn’t want me to tip his hand. I said I preferred to stay as far away from him as possible. Besides, I knew enough people who knew him for me to get details without Nick knowing. He liked that, said he had other business and sent us out.
“Detective Carter, I have a feeling that you take an interest in my friend, Deacon?” I said quietly outside the office.
She smiled slightly. “Yes, I do find him interesting.”