by Leona Karr
“All right, but don’t you go hightailing it up to Blackhawk without me.” He didn’t like the way this whole thing was shaping up. He worried that Kerri might stumble into a dangerous situation as explosive as a smoldering volcano. Whatever happened, he didn’t want her compromising her own safety. “As soon as you find out anything—” he landed heavily on the anything “—you call me.”
She kissed his cheek. “I promise I’ll let you know the minute I get anything positive. Now, don’t look so fierce. When you clamp your jaw shut like that, you look ready to chew nails and spit them out.”
“I wish we could turn this over to the police.”
“And put me out of a job?” she teased. “Stop worrying, okay?”
His expression softened as he looked at her. “If you wanted to stop by my apartment first, I bet you could change my mood.”
She laughed. “I’m tempted, but we Kincaids always put business first. My dear father would rise up in his grave if I ignored a hot lead like the one Ken gave us.”
With reluctance, he agreed to take her home, and on the way, Mark tried unsuccessfully to make a date for dinner. The best offer he got was one to stop by her house later in the evening. A driving need to be with her made him readily accept the invitation, but he doubted they’d get a moment alone together, under the watchful eyes of her family. He knew that he had to be patient, and not overpower her with the intensity of his feelings. He’d never felt so reckless, wanting to ignore everything but the need to be with her, but caution made him hold back. He wasn’t sure that he’d convinced this independent, self-reliant woman that she needed him in her life.
As they pulled up in front of the house, they saw Timmy sitting dejectedly on the front steps, lightly tossing his new baseball. When he saw Mark come around the car to open the door for Kerri, the little boy leaped to his feet. He squealed, “Catch,” and gave the ball a wobbly toss.
The throw was so low that Mark had to nearly go down on his knees to catch it, and before he could gain his balance, Timmy leaped into the middle of him with a force that sent them both backward.
“Hey, fella, we’re playing baseball, not football,” Mark chided, laughing as he playfully rolled with the boy on the ground. Timmy squealed and wiggled as they tumbled, his freckled face glowing with delight.
Kerri had to laugh at the two of them wrestling around on the grass. All signs of Mark’s heavy mood had dissipated in abandoned horseplay with a giggling little boy. They looked like they belonged together, and she wished that she could capture the moment in a capsule for both of them. For a cowardly moment, she wanted to resign from the case, and let Ardie’s disappearance play itself out without her interference. Why should she plunge the children back into the kind of life that their mother offered? Because she’s their mother. And she’s done a good job with them, whether you want to admit it or not.
Mark gave Timmy a ride on his shoulders back to the house. The tantalizing smell of freshly baked cookies led them to the kitchen. Mrs. Kincaid gave them a cheery hello as she pulled a cookie sheet out of the oven.
“Any gingerbread men, yet?” Timmy asked eagerly.
“See.” Patti held up a headless one as she chomped on the missing head. “Wanna bite?”
“Timmy can have his own cookie,” Kerri’s mother replied, handing the boy a gingerbread man from a cooled tray. “There’s enough for everyone.”
“Amy and Emily, too?” Timmy asked anxiously. “Can I take some over to their house?”
Mrs. Kincaid patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, honey, they’ll be running over here as soon as they get home.” She shook her head, smiling. “You’d think the three of you were triplets the way you stick together.”
“What’s a triplet?” Timmy asked solemnly.
“Never mind. Just eat your cookie.”
“Where’s Grams?” Kerri asked. It was unusual for her grandmother’s chair to be empty when anything was going on in the kitchen.
“Upstairs, taking a nap with the baby.” Mrs. Kincaid eyed Mark and Kerri as she poured the children some milk. “Well, how were things in Reno?”
“I’ll tell you later, Mom. Right now, I have to get back to the office. I just wanted to make sure that everything was all right here.”
Her mother raised an eyebrow. “And why wouldn’t it be?
“No reason,” Mark said smoothly. “It’s obvious that things couldn’t be better. You’ve been an angel to do all of this. I’d like to show my appreciation somehow.”
“Would you now?” she echoed thoughtfully. “Well, maybe Kerri and I can think of something.”
Kerri laughed. “Mom, you are so obvious.”
“Am I? Is that why you’re blushing?”
“I am not blushing,” Kerri protested, even as she felt heat rising into her cheeks. In another minute her mother would know everything. Under normal circumstances, she would have given her own happiness high priority, but looking at Timmy’s and Patti’s cookiesmeared faces, she knew that until their future was settled, her own would have to wait. “I’ve got to get to the office.” She turned and left the cozy kitchen.
“She’s a handful, my Kerri,” Mrs. Kincaid warned Mark. “Just like a headstrong filly. When she gets a bit in her teeth, there’s no stopping her. She needs a firm hand and a lot of gentling.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Mark said with a conspirator’s wink.
WHEN KERRI GOT TO the office, Debbie tried her best to find out if anything romantic had happened between her boss and Mark, but she didn’t have any luck. She signed in resignation. Kerri was all business, deflecting any personal questions as if she hadn’t heard them—a sure sign that she was hiding something, thought Debbie, undaunted.
Kerri gave her the printed report she’d written the night before. Debbie’s eyes rounded as she read it “If this is true, our missing Ardie is up to her ears in youknow-what.”
Kerri nodded. “I keep hoping that somehow it’s not what it looks like.” If the children hadn’t been involved, she would have dropped the case without a qualm. She could have honestly told Mark that his sister-in-law could show up or not, that she didn’t care one way or the other. But she did care about Timmy, Patti and the baby, and now she felt an added responsibility to try to see that Ardie took care of them before she ended up behind bars, or worse yet, suffered the same fate as her husband Buddy.
“So, what’s the plan?” asked Debbie.
“If Ardie’s in Blackhawk working a scam with these two guys, they have to be staying somewhere.” Kerri knew that finding them easily with the office computers was not likely to happen, but it was worth a try. “If they’re using false identities or staying at a private residence, we’ll come up empty, but it’s a place to start. Check with all the lodging places listed in both Blackhawk and the neighboring Central City. If we come up empty, the next step will be to show Ardie’s driver’s license photo around both places and see if anyone recognizes her.”
“And if they do?”
“I’ll try to make contact with her.”
“She’s not going to have out a welcome mat, if she’s gone to all this trouble to disappear,” Debbie warned. “You really ought to get some police security.”
“That would really scare her off.”
“But you’re not going alone?”
“No, Mark’s going with me.” A quiver of anticipation began creeping through her and she deliberately kept her eyes lowered on the papers she held in her hand. She felt Debbie’s measuring eyes on her.
“I see. And then what happens after you find her?”
“My job is finished,” she said flatly. “Case closed.”
Debbie smirked. “I doubt that very much.”
KERRI WORKED through the dinner hour, frustrated that none of the advertised lodgings in either town netted any leads when they checked their registration lists. Finally, Kerri called everyone she knew who liked to spend time at the Colorado casinos and frequented the gambling towns. S
he discovered several private bedand-breakfast homes that were not advertised, but whose rooms were rented through referrals. At eight o’clock she found the one she was looking for.
So used to negative responses, Kerri didn’t quite register the woman’s pleasant, “Yes, Mrs. Richards, rented my nice front bedroom for a couple of nights. She seemed quite happy with the accommodations, but I had the impression that she’d decided to stay somewhere else. I only have two rooms to rent, so if you’re inquiring about them, I’m sorry to tell you that they’re already booked. A nice couple from New York have the back room, which isn’t quite as large as the one Mrs. Richards rented.”
“Mrs. Ardie Richards? Or Ardella Richards?”
“I’m sorry, I really don’t know her first name. She registered as Mrs. Jason Richards.”
Kerri moistened her dry lips. “And you don’t know where she went?”
“No, but she had a nice gentleman friend. He picked her up in one of those moneyed cars, you know, the kind that cost as much as a house used to.”
“Did you ever see her with anyone else?”
“No, I didn’t.” The woman’s tone changed. “What is this all about? Why are you asking so much about Mrs. Richards? Didn’t you call about a room?”
Kerri wasn’t about to tell her the whole story, so she just thanked her for her time, after assuring her she’d recommend her B-and-B to all her friends. After she hung up, she put a star beside the woman’s telephone number and address. The successful call had firmly placed Ardie in the Colorado town, and Kerri knew she should have been exhilarated that Ken’s informant had proven reliable, but she wasn’t. If Ardie was in Blackhawk, then, by reasonable deduction, the information about her involvement in Dirk’s new scam was also true. The “handsome gentleman” in the expensive car was probably their next mark, and, maybe, it was already too late to find Ardie before the illegal game exploited another victim. She reached for the phone to call Mark.
HE PICKED HER UP at the house at eight o’clock the next morning. After Kerri’s telephone call, verifying Ardie’s presence in Blackhawk, Mark had felt like a jumper on the end of a bungee cord, rising and falling with conflicting emotions. He could hardly wait to confront the blasted woman, and dump all the feelings seething inside of him, and yet, he had a sinking feeling that he would walk away from the whole thing if he could. One look at Kerri’s taut face told him she was feeling the same way.
They went west on Highway 6, a narrow mountain road snaking through foothills that had once been alive with prospectors digging for gold in the rugged hillsides. Men had sacrificed a lot to seek their fortune in these hills, and not much had changed, Mark thought, as casino buses and shuttles passed him, loaded with passengers. Obviously, modern day prospectors were still seeking illusive riches in the Rockies of Colorado, only the tools had changed. Now cards, dice and slot machines had replaced axes and picks.
“What’s the plan?” he asked Kerri, wishing they could keep driving to some isolated place and delight in each other without the ugly world intruding. “Where do we start?”
“The casinos, I think. We’ll show her picture around and maybe we’ll get a lead on her present whereabouts. If Ardie and her pals are scouting for someone to entice into a fixed poker game, they’ll circulate in casinos and saloons, looking for a prospect. Not a nickel slot machine addict, either,” she added. “They’re after bigger game. Someone worth the trouble of a setup.”
Mark nodded, but he didn’t like the plan. Kerri might believe that she was perfectly capable of handling anything that came up, but he wasn’t taking any chances. He wasn’t leaving her alone for one minute, even though she’d probably want to split up to cover the territory faster.
Mark had been up to the old mining towns a few times since the good citizens of Colorado had voted in gambling, but he was always a little angry to see how commercial avarice had changed authentic Old West buildings and historical streets. As they entered Blackhawk, bawdy sounds and signs alerted them to the hipped allure of Bullwhackers, Bronco Billy’s, Crooks Palace, and a half-dozen other casinos. A mile farther into the mountains was Central City, the larger of two old mining towns, but for all practical purposes, the two gambling towns were one and the same.
Mark stuck to his vow and stayed at Kerri’s side as they maneuvered through Blackhawk’s boisterous casinos, showing Ardie’s license to any employee who would look at her. All they got for their trouble were some weird looks, or a quick, leave-me-alone response, like “Never saw her.” Even the young men doing the valet parking barely glanced at the photo before they shook their heads. Trying some of the restaurants didn’t go any better. The whole day slipped by, without the slightest bit of success.
By the time they returned to the car and drove up the narrow highway to Central City, Mark’s frustrations had peaked. “I don’t know how you can stand being in a business like this. It’s like looking for a black cat in a dark room, and not even knowing if there’s such a creature around.”
Kerri smiled. “Don’t be discouraged. It’s just a matter of time and patience before we find that dark room where the cat is hiding.”
“And how much time do we have if my dear sisterin-law is up to her neck in an illegal swindle?”
“Not much,” she admitted, just as much aware of the ticking clock as he was, but she knew that feeding a building anxiety wasn’t going to do any good.
The sun had already set behind the western mountains, making the glittering streets of Central City looked like Santa Claus land caught between dark rising foothills.
“We’d better find a place to stay,” Mark said, giving Kerri a questioning glance. “Unless you’re thinking of driving back and forth.”
“No, I called the Prospector Casino and Lodge this morning and reserved my room.”
“Your room?” He raised a questioning eyebrow.
She looked at him with a look of total innocence. “Yes, I guess I wasn’t thinking. I just reserved one room, but I think she said it was a double.”
“I suppose we can make do with that,” he agreed with mock solemnity.
The Prospector Lodge was a renovated stone building, a block off of Main Street The whole lower floor had been made into a casino, with lodgings on the second level. A pretty young desk clerk, wearing the name tag, Bunny, verified Kerri’s reservation.
“Yes, I remember speaking with you this morning, Ms. Kincaid,” she said, with a ready, welcome-ya-all smile. “You were lucky we had a cancellation.” Dangling earrings matched a spattering of golden studs on her dark blue western shirt and pants. “Usually you need to make your reservations at least a week in advance. And how long will be you staying?”
“We’re not sure,” Kerri answered. “We’re trying to touch base with a friend of ours, Ardie Richards. Do you by any chance know if she’s registered here?”
“I can check.” After consulting a small computer, she shook her head. “No. Her name doesn’t come up. If she’d been a guest here our records would pull her name.”
Kerri reached into her shoulder bag. “Here’s her picture. Maybe you’ve seen her in the casino?”
With only a moment’s hesitation, Bunny nodded with a bright smile. “Oh, yes, she’s been in quite a few times. In fact, she left a message for her friend, Mr. Tanner.” She swung around and pulled out an envelope from the key boxes. “See, here it is.”
Kerri bent her head so she could read the name on the envelope. It was Ardie’s handwriting all right. The same bold strokes, and the name, “Thomas Tanner.”
Mark smiled at Bunny with an admiring look. “You really must have a great memory. Imagine you remembering Ardie’s note to Mr. Tanner. I suppose you know when he’s most likely to come in.”
“I really don’t,” Bunny said regretfully, obviously sorry about refusing any request of Mark’s. “Mr. Tanner has his own home between here and Blackhawk, but he likes to stay here from time to time when he’s on a roll. I’m not even sure he’ll be back tonight t
o get the lady’s note.”
“Do you have Mr. Tanner’s home address?” Kerri asked. “I imagine it’s on his registration.” She realized too late that she should have let Mark do the quizzing.
Bunny gave her dangling earrings a toss as if she answered one too many questions. “I’m afraid I couldn’t give out that information.” Her welcome-yaall smile was strained.
“I understand,” Kerri said. “Perhaps it would be best if I left my card for Mr. Tanner.” She took one out of her purse and scribbled on the back, “See me. Very important.” Then she handed the card to the girl. “Would you put this with the note, and see that Mr. Tanner gets it if he comes in?”
Bunny nodded, and put both the envelope and Kerri’s card in the mail slot. Then she handed them their key. “Number 208. It’s straight up the stairs, and at the end of the hall.”
As they walked away from the desk, Mark bent his head toward Kerri’s. “She pulled the note out of box 207, so Mr. Tanner must be across the hall from us.”
Kerri gave him an approving grin. “You’re catching on to this business.”
“Thanks, boss.” He slipped his arm through hers as they made their way through a crowd of people circulating in the downstairs casino. Bells were ringing and lights flashing as the slot machines paid off their winners. Some of the racket faded as they made their way up the stairs to a room that was strictly of the economy motel variety.
Kerri was disappointed that nothing of the original Old West flavor of the building remained. As soon as Mark closed the door behind them, she was on her way to the phone. As she called her sister’s home, she glanced at her watch. Almost six-thirty.
“Hi, Cathy, it’s Kerri. Is Harry home?”
“Yeah, he just came in. Where are you, sis?”
“In Central City, at the Prospector.”
“Mom said you left early this morning with Mark Richards.” With a suggestive chuckle, she asked, “Whatcha up to?”
“I’m working on his case, Cathy,” Kerri replied with as much patience as she could muster. “And I need to speak to Harry.”