Furniture Fatality in Las Vegas

by A. R. Winters

  Emily looked at him disapprovingly. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

  Eric smiled at her and shrugged, and then before we knew it, he had left.

  I couldn’t help but say, “He didn’t even have a shower after his hike.”

  Emily glanced at me, her face awash with displeasure and annoyance. “Boys!” she choked out. “You know how they are.”

  Ian and I settled down on the sofa and watched as Emily headed over to the kitchen and opened one of the cabinets to find a glass and a bottle of vodka. She poured herself a small shot, downed it in one gulp, and made a face. She poured another shot and went to the fridge, where she found a carton of orange juice which she used as a mixer.

  “I’d offer you a drink,” she said dryly, “but I don’t see what you two are doing here in the first place.”

  “Isn’t it a bit early to be drinking?” said Ian.

  Emily gave him a stony glance. “It’s my day off. I might as well celebrate.”

  “Or try to calm your nerves after robbing a bank,” I muttered under my breath.

  Ian and I exchanged a glance, and I watched as Emily opened the fridge and found herself a box of leftover fried rice.

  “That’s a lot of leftover takeout,” I said, peering at all the boxes inside the fridge.

  “We ordered a fair bit last night,” said Emily as she dumped the rice out onto a plate and nuked it.

  “I thought you had dinner at Eric’s friend Tom’s house,” I said slowly.

  Emily glanced at me, looking surprised to have found herself caught in a lie. “I mean—what I meant to say was—Eric didn’t—these are leftovers from the night before, not last night.”

  She took the plate out of the microwave, seemingly satisfied with her explanation.

  “It seems to me,” I said, “that Eric was just trying to get away.”

  Emily sat down on a chair opposite us, shrugged, and dug into her lunch. She took small sips from her screwdriver occasionally and said, “Eric’s his own person. He can do whatever he wants.”

  “Looks like he didn’t want to talk to us,” Ian said.

  “Can you blame him?” Emily glanced from me to Ian. “We’ve had a tiring day. I don’t think either of us is in the mood to talk to you two.”

  “But he left you all alone,” said Ian. “Left you to deal with the mess.”

  Emily chewed thoughtfully and said, “What mess?”

  I stared at Emily until she met my gaze. “The bank robbery.”

  Emily smiled. “What bank robbery?”

  “The Western US Bank was robbed a few hours ago.”

  Emily raised her eyebrows. “This is news to me.”

  “I don’t think it is.”

  Emily laughed. “What, you think I robbed a bank? Is that why you’re here? I thought you were here because of Janice’s death.”

  “You never asked how your friend Brett’s doing,” I said.

  Emily looked taken aback. “Oh. Of course. How’s he doing?”

  I watched her for a few seconds. Her face was studiously composed, her eyes giving nothing away. “He’s doing fine,” I said. “I think he’s at the precinct right now, talking to the cops.”

  Emily nodded. “Of course, I’m sure they wanted statements from everyone.”

  “Yes, but Brett’s statement is a lot more interesting, isn’t it? Given that he was part of the team who robbed the bank.”

  It was Emily’s turn to stare at me silently for a few seconds, and my turn to make sure I had my best poker face on.

  “You’re bluffing,” she said finally. “Why would Brett have anything to do with the robbery?”

  “You tell me. After all, he says you’re the mastermind.”

  Emily frowned. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “I know you trusted your partners,” I said, trying to get the words out before she became too annoyed to reason with. “But if you work as a team, the biggest risk is that one of your team members gives you up. Eric couldn’t even deal with talking to us alone. How do you he think he’s going to do with the cops? And Brett—you left him all alone. He’s the first one the cops got to. As far as I could tell, he’s already planning to tell the cops everything. And the first one who spills the beans gets immunity. The rest get prison time.”

  “This doesn’t make any sense,” said Emily slowly, but I could see her trying to process her thoughts quickly.

  “I know you want to protect your brother,” I said, “but if you’re the first one to come clean, then you can stay out of prison. Is it worth going to prison for people like Janice and Brett?”

  Emily shook her head. “You don’t know anything. You’re just trying to manipulate me.”

  Just then, my phone buzzed.

  I excused myself, and as Emily took a long gulp of the screwdriver, I checked my phone and saw that Ryan had sent me a text, asking if I wanted to meet for dinner later this week.

  I quickly texted him Emily’s address and added, “Emily about to reveal all. Come fast for arrest.”

  I didn’t know I could convince Emily to say anything, but I did know that the presence of an LVMPD detective wouldn’t be unhelpful.

  “What was that all about?” said Emily curiously as I put my phone away.

  “Nothing. Just my mother, reminding me to eat a healthy dinner.”

  “Oh,” said Emily, seeming to believe me as she dug into her fried rice again. “I don’t think I want to talk to you guys anymore.”

  “We’ll be out of your hair in a minute,” I said. “But back to Janice’s death for a moment. She and Brett were never really dating, were they?”

  Janice looked up from her food and met my eyes again. For the first time, I saw her hesitate. “What do you mean?”

  “Janice was part of your team, and she and Brett were working on their project—how to rob the bank.”

  “I—I don’t know,” said Emily uncertainly. “I guess we never knew Brett all that well. I’m not sure what he’s been saying.”

  Just then, there was a loud knock on the door.

  Relief washed over Emily’s face. “Maybe Eric’s come back.”

  But when she rushed to open it, she saw Ryan standing outside the door. He showed her his badge and walked in wordlessly.

  “What’s this all about?” said Emily again.

  “This is Detective Ryan from the LVMPD,” I said. “I told you that Brett would start spilling the story, and then you’d get into trouble.”

  Emily looked at Ryan desperately. “You can’t just believe what Brett says. He’d say anything to save his skin.”

  “Brett hasn’t told us everything yet,” said Ryan slowly.

  Emily glanced from Ryan to me, her eyes flooded with panic. “What should I do? I guess this is where I get a lawyer.”

  I shook my head. “If Brett hasn’t told them everything, whoever tells the cops the whole story is going to be the one who gets immunity. I think you should tell us what happened. You just need to be the first one to explain everything.”

  Emily nodded and looked at Ryan. “Am I under arrest?”

  Ryan shook his head. “No, not yet.”

  “Okay,” said Emily, looking panicked. “I’ll tell you everything that happened. Whatever you want to know.”

  “We can start from the beginning,” I said.

  Emily nodded. “I guess I have to say this quickly, before Brett finishes talking to the cops. Anyway, this old lady, Mrs. Hahn, came to drop off all her jewelry in her locker for a month, and Brett somehow managed to steal the locker key when she was leaving. For some reason, he told Eric, and the two of them joked about how they could just break into her locker and steal all those jewels. And then their jokes got kind of serious, and they decided they should actually go into the bank one night and take the jewels. They’d sell for a lot of money, and Mrs. Hahn would get paid back by the insurance company anyway.”

  “But if someone just unlocked the locker and took off with he
r jewels,” Ian said, “the cops would realize it was an inside job.”

  Emily nodded. “That’s why they asked for my advice. I said it was better to do the actual robbery at night, when there’d be no one around, and then stage a fake robbery during the day, sometime before Mrs. Hahn came back, to make it look as though the jewels had been stolen that day.”

  “So there was no actual robbery today,” I said. “You and Eric just faked the whole thing?”

  Emily nodded. “Yes, but before that, we had to disable the cameras. Eric could disable the bank cameras, and we knew that if we disabled the Betta Furniture cameras, then we could park in the employee of the month parking spot, in back, and then leave after the robbery without anyone seeing us.”

  “And that’s why you needed Janice—for the parking spot.”

  Emily nodded. “I overheard her blackmailing Irene, so I knew she wasn’t a holier–than–thou type. I knew she’d want to be a part of this, and I was right…”

  “And she and Brett would hang out and finalize all the details of when to do it, and how,” I prompted.

  “Until she got too greedy,” said Ian. “Was that what happened?”

  Emily shook her head. “For some reason she changed her mind and said we shouldn’t be doing this, and that she’d go to the cops. She said the insurance might not pay Mrs. Hahn back, and she didn’t want the shock to kill the old woman or something.”

  “But the jewels would help the three of you get started on a lavish new life,” I said. “So you decided that instead of giving up the plan, it would be better just to get rid of Janice.”

  Emily nodded. “I wasn’t sure how I felt about actually killing someone, but Eric and Brett said it was no big deal. We met Janice after work one night, and I gave her some laced coffee and dragged her into the storeroom. Eric and Brett threw that sofa on her, and our secret was safe.”

  “Were you the one who told Janice’s ex–husband to stay home that night?”

  Emily nodded. “I was sure everyone would think it was an accident, but in case they didn’t, I wanted to make sure we had a nice–looking suspect.”

  “I guess that was smart,” I said. “I always knew you were the intelligent one in the group.”

  Emily looked at me and smiled. “But I’m not sure it was worth it.”

  I shrugged. “At least you’re going to be the one that comes out of all this ahead. I suppose you should go to the station and make a proper statement now.”

  Emily nodded, and a few minutes later, Ryan had escorted her over to the precinct, and my phone buzzed with another text from him.

  This time, all he said was, “Thanks.”

  Chapter Thirty–Three

  Two days later, Ryan and I were having dinner at Tom’s Bistro, the small off–Strip restaurant that I was beginning to think of as “our” restaurant. I loved the ambiance in here—the exposed brick walls, the soft jazz music piping through melodiously, and the smell of all the delicious food.

  The tables were far enough apart that we could have a private conversation, and as we bit into our steaks, Ryan said, “All three of them confessed to the crime. Thanks to your quick thinking.”

  I smiled modestly. “Thanks. But I can’t help thinking that maybe if Janice had gone along with their idea, she might still be alive.”

  “I wouldn’t count on it. Those three were ruthless, and I figure they would’ve gotten rid of her in the end. In fact, I think Emily and Eric might’ve been planning to get rid of Brett later on.”

  I chewed my food thoughtfully. “It was actually a pretty good plan.”

  Ryan smiled. “But enough about work. What else have you been up to? What happened with that girl who was stalking Ian?”

  “I managed to get rid of her,” I said, and I told him about Pearce.

  Ryan laughed and said, “It was nice of you to tell her what Pearce was up to. You must’ve put the fear of God into her.”

  “Probably not the fear of God, but maybe the fear of getting exploited.”

  “The world is full of people who want to exploit you,” Ryan said. “Have you ever known someone who tried to take advantage of you?”

  I was about to answer him, when a movement near the entrance caught my eye.

  Dressed in black, and moving with the grace of a mountain lion, was Stone. He headed over to the bar, and when he got there, he rested one arm on the counter, his body facing me, his eyes not leaving mine.

  I realized I was acting weird, and Ryan would start to get suspicious. “Uh—no, not really,” I said, barely able to concentrate on my words.

  I forced myself to look into Ryan’s eyes and smile. “What about you?”

  “Quite a few times,” he said. “I always knew I wanted to help people, so I guess that made me kind of a softie. When I was in high school, there were all these kids who wanted me to do their homework…”

  He went on, saying something, but I could barely pay attention. My eyes drifted back to Stone’s, and he glanced toward the door, indicating I should follow him out.

  I wanted to go; I wanted to know what Stone had to say. But the last time he had shown up, I had rushed away from my date with Ryan, making up some gibberish about The Rock. If I did it again, Ryan would get suspicious.

  And besides, I wanted to give my relationship with Ryan a real shot. Good men were hard to find in Vegas, and I liked Ryan. Plus, Stone knew how to get in touch with me—he could always call me on the cell phone he’d given me, or he could come and talk to me after my shift.

  So I took the chance and gave Stone a subtle shake of my head. And then I looked back into Ryan’s eyes and smiled.

  I knew Stone had gotten the message.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him turn and walk out the door. I felt terrible, as though I’d refused a dying man a glass of water.

  But then I gave myself a shake. There was no point being so dramatic—Stone could get in touch with me anytime. I didn’t have to ruin my date with Ryan for that.

  I could barely concentrate on my shift at the Treasury that night. I kept thinking about Stone, and what he might’ve wanted to say to me.

  I walked home slowly, constantly checking behind me, but nobody jumped out of the shadows.

  I took the familiar route back home, through the pitch–black alley behind the Cosmo Hotel, keeping my senses alert.

  I shouldn’t have been surprised when a dark figure stepped out from the shadows, but my heart still leaped into my throat. My muscles tensed, and I found myself instinctively reaching into my purse for my can of pepper spray.

  “Relax,” said a familiar voice.

  And I did.

  I took a few steps forward, happy to see him, and said, “Stone! What are you doing here?”

  “I need to talk to you. But you were clearly busy before.”

  “I like Ryan,” I said, unable to stop myself from sounding a little bit defensive. “I never have much luck with men, and I want this relationship to work.”

  Stone didn’t say anything, but he fell into a comfortable step beside me. His oceanic scent drifted across to me, and once again, I couldn’t help but think that his presence was vaguely comforting.

  “What’s going on?” I repeated.

  “Would you be able to take a few days off from work?” said Stone.

  I looked at him in surprise. “Of course.”

  “Eli’s flying into Vegas in three days’ time. You and Johnson need to tail him, find out what he wants.”

  My pulse sped up, and my eyes widened in anticipation. “Of course, anything to help get things back to normal again.”

  “Thanks,” said Stone. “It means a lot to me.”

  We were at the end of the alley now. Stone reached out; his fingertips touched my forearm, and a sudden spark of electricity traveled through my body.

  I looked into his dark eyes, and for a moment, I wondered if there might ever have been anything between us. Perhaps, once everything was fixed and Stone’s life went back
to normal—or whatever could be called normal in terms of Stone’s life—we might have something real.

  But immediately, I pushed that thought out of my mind. I was with Ryan now, and I liked him. A lot.

  “What happened to you in Afghanistan?” I said. “I never learned.”

  “You’ll meet up with Johnson at McCarran in three days’ time at six a.m.,” said Stone. “Eli isn’t supposed to land here till seven. Johnson can fill you in on the story while you wait.”

  And then he turned around and stepped into a black hatchback parked on the side of the road. A second later, the car zoomed to life and sped away.

  Before I could say anything, Stone had disappeared into the night once more.

  I wished we could’ve spent some more time catching up. But, on the other hand, things were looking up—in a few days’ time, I’d find out more about this Eli character, and I’d finally learn what had happened in Afghanistan.

  Thanks for reading Furniture Fatality in Las Vegas

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  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty–One

  Chapter Twenty–Two

  Chapter Twenty–Three

  Chapter Twenty–Four

  Chapter Twenty–Five