Murder Kicks the Bucket

by Diane Darcy

  Quinn turned an expectant look on her. “Lena, what do you think?”

  “Uh…William likes to waltz?” She knew the moment she said it that it was exactly the wrong thing to say, but she was trying to picture herself waltzing with William to violin music, while wearing a white gown, and the image just wasn’t crystalizing.

  Lena liked dancing just fine. Vegas was known for its dance music and she’d been to a lot of local clubs. She loved to move, loved swaying to the music, and could certainly see herself wrapped around William, jamming to Fremont Street’s varied and loud bands. Throw in a few twirls for good measure and that was her thing.

  Violins? Waltzing with William? An orchestra? She couldn’t picture him enjoying such an event either. Sure, he wore a suit for work, but it seemed he changed into jeans and a T-shirt at the first opportunity.

  But maybe she had him all wrong? Maybe she didn’t really know him at all? These people were his friends and most had known him for years. But if this was his thing, who was he going to dance with? She certainly didn’t know how to waltz, though she supposed she could hurry and learn.

  The room was completely silent and she realized they were all looking at her horror-struck face and she tried to compose herself, forcing her expression to go blank. “Sure, that sounds great.”

  She cleared her throat as even she could hear the insincerity in her voice.

  “What?” Quinn asked, staring down at her. “What is it?”

  “Nothing. This all sounds … great.”

  “You’re lying, I can tell. What is it? What’s the problem?”

  Everyone was looking at her, and she shot Quinn a killer glare. “I’m sure you know William better than I do. I’m sure he’s into violins, and waltzing, and all that stuff.”

  Quinn’s expression slackened. “Oh, dear lord. You’re right.” He turned and pointed a finger at Scarlett. “Why did I let you talk me into this? He’s going to hate it!”

  “No, he’ll love it!” Scarlett suddenly looked worried as well. She turned to Ava. “Won’t he?”

  Ava gave a lazy shrug. “Now that he’s found his soulmate, maybe he’ll enjoy dancing? I mean, I’ve never actually seen him dance, but surely…”

  “He hates waltzing,” Caleb said in a horrified tone. “He really hates formal parties.” He turned to Lena. “But with you, I mean, you like to waltz, right?”

  “I’ve never waltzed in my life.”

  Caleb groaned and ran both hands through his hair making it stand on end. “This is all wrong. We’ve had months to plan this, and we got it all wrong!”

  “I’m sure it will be fine,” Lena said, wishing she could take back every word she’d said so far.

  “What do we do?” Caleb groaned. “We’ve only got five days.”

  “Let’s just leave it as it is,” Lena said a bit desperately. “It sounds nice and it’s already planned.”

  “Plans can be changed,” Quinn said darkly.

  The faces around the table were a mixture of dismay, shock, and panic. And then the meltdown started.

  A man pointed a finger across the table. “You organized this!”

  “We all thought a ball was a good idea!” Scarlett yelled back.

  Another man crossed his arms tightly. “William will loathe this! Why wouldn’t he? Any man would!”

  “What do we do now?” A woman half-stood, then sat again. “We’ll be laughingstocks.”

  “Now hold up! At his age, why wouldn’t he love a good ball?” A thin young man slapped both hands on the table. “Just because you’ve never seen him waltz doesn’t mean he doesn’t like to! Maybe it’ll bring back good memories for him.”

  There was scoffing. “It’s not like he invented balls! The point isn’t to make him feel old!”

  Another man stood and one of his hands flew out to indicate Lena. “But just maybe, with a soulmate of his own, he’d like to take to the dance floor. Did you ever think of that?”

  Pandemonium reigned as a fist fight broke out between two men and Lena put both hands to her face. Oh, jeez.

  “People will be talking about this party for years to come. We have to fix this!”

  “What if we made it more of a casual affair? We could…”

  A man snapped his fingers. “A jazz band. He likes jazz, doesn’t he?”

  “But the dancing?”

  “Forget the dancing!”

  “We could do a masquerade!” Scarlett sounded excited again, and she looked at Lena hopefully. “That way we could keep the black material.”

  “William’s not going to want to wear a mask, but what if we turned it into a wedding?” Ava said the words slyly as she looked over at Lena.

  “Yes!” Scarlett clapped. “That could save everything!”

  Hopeful expressions turned her way, and Lena shook her head. “Not going to happen.”

  Ava was openly laughing now. “Oh, come on. You’re spoiling all the fun.”

  More ideas were thrown out, and the volume in the room rose, which was fine with Lena. At least the attention was off her.

  “He likes food! There has to be plenty of food!”

  “We need a new theme!”

  “How about a geriatric ward!” A dark-haired man with slicked-back hair said, and everyone laughed.

  “Yes,” Scarlett looked around for approval. “We could still decorate all in black!”

  Lena shook her head. Seriously, while a lot of the people in the room did look young, early thirties was not exactly old. For a joke, it fell flat.

  “All right, people. Decisions have to be made!” Quinn yelled to get everyone’s attention.

  It did him no good, as the ideas got more and more outrageous as the minutes went by. One man seemed obsessed that there should be plenty of alcohol. Bourbon, rum, gin, scotch, tequila, the verbal list he made went on and on.

  A lady wanted seven hundred balloons and it had to be exactly seven hundred, preferably in yellow. Cake and flowers were argued over, as were joke gifts. All of this was going nowhere.

  Arabian nights, medieval knights, kilts, a Mexican fiesta. Champagne, desserts, togas, a casino night. Come as you once were, karaoke, wine and cheese, a star-gazing soiree.

  Scarlett was now yelling at someone across the table, and there was another man taking notes, fast and furious.

  A woman with thick brows and smooth dark skin sat at the other end of the table and simply listened to what everyone said. Two ladies who looked like they could be sisters started arguing in another language, German, from the sounds of it.

  “It’s a surprise party, isn’t it?” Lena asked quietly.

  Quinn sank down beside her. “It is. Though William is not much into parties, and would probably just celebrate with you if given the choice.”

  With this group? She couldn’t blame him.

  “Lena, what do you think?”

  She thought she should have kept her mouth shut.

  She also thought that William liked to eat as every one of their dates seemed to involve food, usually lots of meat.

  He liked to walk around and talk, he liked movies, driving his car too fast, good restaurants, stopping and listening to bands. He was social, could get drawn into strange conversations, and was honestly a good fit for her.

  “Are you thinking daytime, or nighttime?”

  “Definitely nighttime, as everyone who can will want to attend.”

  “How many people?”

  “Around one thousand.”

  Lena gaped at him. “One thousand people?”

  “Give or take, depending who’s in town.”

  “So, you’ll need a lot of space?”

  “We were thinking the ballroom and the mall area will suffice.”

  “What about the crowds?”

  “We’re closing the mall.”

  She blinked at that. “I’ve never heard of a Vegas hotel doing that before. What will William think of that?”

  Caleb gave a shrug. “Tis true he’s a thrifty Scot, b
ut this is an important event.”

  William’s birthday? Really? She drew in a breath. “Who’s doing the cooking?”

  “The hotel chefs. Anything we like.”

  “Is there a budget?”

  Quinn scoffed. “Not hardly. Not for this. The sky is the limit.”

  His attitude was par for the course lately. As far as Lena could tell, everyone in this crowd, at this hotel, seemed to make a point of thinking they were above everyone else. Always had, come to that. She’d been thrown out in the past for trying to drum up business.

  Before her relationship with William, of course. Now, she could probably do as she liked.

  Back to the point at hand. William’s party. There needed to be some kind of entertainment. This was Vegas, after all. “What about a carnival?”

  Caleb straightened next to her and settled his clasped hands on the table in front of him. “What do you mean?”

  “Well, you know, food, fortune-telling, entertainment. We could set up tables throughout the mall area for food, hire entertainers, have a band playing rock and roll for dancing in the ballroom, and then bring out a big cake for dessert. Maybe decorate it in plaid to honor his Scottish heritage.”

  Quinn looked interested, open to the idea.

  She continued. “Hire some Cirque du Soleil performers and string a wire or two across the high ceilings. Have a comedian or three taking turns in one area.”

  One by one the others had gone quiet and were listening.

  Caleb nodded at Quinn. “I think William would actually enjoy a carnival. Lots of food and entertainment and a chance to walk around with Lena and introduce her to everyone.”

  Lena continued. “The witches could tell fortunes for free, and —”

  “For free!” Scarlett practically screeched the words while Ava laughed.

  “I could help.”

  Caleb was shaking his head. “He’ll want you with him.”

  Quinn slapped a hand on the table. “A carnival, it is! We can pull this together in five days, right?”

  Lena’s mouth dropped as she realized what she’d done. “Wait…no,” she stuttered. “I…I’m not exactly sure how to pull something like this together.”

  Caleb laughed. “Don’t worry, we can plan all of this. All we’re going to need from you, is to keep William distracted, and get him there on time.”

  She swallowed. “Okay, yes, I can do that.”

  Caleb shot her a crooked grin. “You’re probably the only one who could.”

  Quinn rubbed his hands together. “This has worked out very well. William will love that this was all Lena’s idea.”

  Lena gasped, remembering too late she’d planned to keep her mouth shut. And now a party for one thousand people was being changed simply on her say so?

  She closed her eyes and lifted her fingers to press them into her forehead. Finally, she blew out a harsh breath and lowered her hands to look around the table. “Okay, everyone. Make it a good one or I’ll never be able to show my face around here again.”

  Laughter greeted her statement, but they didn’t get it. She was dead serious!

  Chapter 9

  After the meeting was over, Lena slowly walked along the cobblestone path in the mall, letting the flow of traffic ease around her.

  In the end, her assignment had been simple. Get William to the surprise party on time. Everyone else would do the hard work. The hard work that she, herself, had instigated by turning the entire party on its head.

  She cringed a bit inside. If she had the ability to cancel the day and have a do-over, she’d be tempted.

  She checked her phone and saw William had texted three more times, his anxiety levels, and word count, seeming to increase each time she didn’t respond.

  She slowly walked toward the escalators and went down into the lobby, studying the large chandelier, battlements, and the crowd below.

  She considered simply walking out the front doors and, after a brief hesitation, stopped and was buffeted a few times by people walking by.

  A man with a swishing black cape made a rude comment as he walked around her, then a loud croaking noise had her looking up to see her little gargoyle friend, short, squat, clinging to the wall just above a display of swords on the high shelf above the casino entrance. It was fixated on her but unmoving, unblinking.

  She sighed, lifted her phone, and texted, “I’m in the lobby.” Within two minutes, she could see William striding toward her across the casino floor.

  Her fatigue vanished as he made his way toward her. A shiver of appreciation ran through her as she studied his physique, the smitten, focused way he gazed at her, and finally the warmth of his skin when he grasped her hands, kissing the back of one, then the other. “Where’ve ye been?”

  Her heart was skipping beats in her chest. How could she have considered breaking up with him? And when did he become so important to her?

  Drawing in a breath, she tried to pull off a nonchalant shrug. “Here and there. Is there anything new with the investigation?”

  He looked her over, searching her face as if seeing if she was all right. “Nae, nothing new, but I’ve a few ideas I’d like tae share with ye.”

  After a last glance at the little guy still clinging to the wall, she said, “What are we waiting for?” and wove her arm in his.

  William brightened instantly. “Only for ye.”

  She liked that, very much, and smiled as the difficult day seemed to melt away.

  He led her up to his office, and when they were alone, offered her a can of her favorite soda. “Can I get ye any ice? A straw?”

  “How about a bottle of water?”

  He quickly exchanged the soda for water, and sank down across from her, sitting on the sturdy coffee table, elbows on knees, his hands clasped in front of him. “Someone tried tae get in the Corvette tonight, and an alarm went off.”

  “Dimitri and Heath?”

  At that he smiled. “Now that ye speak of it, our favorite vampires were in the area at the time, and we picked them up and questioned them. It seems they’re feeling a bit miffed that Emilio didn’t get the car, and said they were simply trying the doors, and thinkin’ about stealing the vehicle in his honor.”

  “Really? Did you believe them?”

  William snorted. “O’ course, I did no’. If they wanted tae get a hold of the thing, calling Dorinda might be their easiest route tae doing so, but tis obvious that nae one in their trio has contacted her.”

  “So, what were they doing?”

  William shrugged. “As tae that, I cannae say for sure. I thought we might test their mettle and see if they’ll try again.”

  “You want them to try to steal the car?”

  “What I want, is tae be sure of their motives. After they tried breaking into the car, I had it searched from top tae bottom, and found nothing worth murderin’ for.”

  “What do we do?”

  “I was thinking we’d set a trap.”

  Lena grinned at him, her earlier tiredness forgotten completely. This, among other things, was what kept her coming back. The guy was just so much dang fun. “Count me in.”

  William winked at her. “Always.”

  William could feel happiness bubbling inside him. With Lena at his side, he was feeling more himself again — exuberant, happy.

  It was starting to become his new normal after so many years of numbness, and he liked it.

  They made their way slowly into the casino and, as usual, he greeted players along the way — regulars and new customers alike — and was stopped several times on his passage across the casino floor.

  Eventually, he led Lena back to the Corvette on display and at the sight of Heath and Dimitri halfheartedly gambling at nearby slot machines, his wolf perked up, ready to hunt.

  Vampires were known to be obsessive. Most immortals were, but this just wasn’t normal behavior after the death of a friend and nestmate.

  He noted Lena looking in their direction. “Have you seen
Bianca?” she whispered.

  William shook his head. “Nae, she’s no’ been about.”

  Lena leaned against a column and crossed her arms. “You were going to do something. Impress me, already.”

  William chuckled, stepped forward, and held up his hands. “Listen up, everyone! I’ve an announcement tae make.” He glanced back at Lena, truly wanting to dazzle her. “We’ve decided tae reset the slot machines, and the Corvette is once again available tae win.”

  There was a hesitant pause in the air, almost an intake of breath, and then a rush toward the slot machines, forcing him to jump back out of the way.

  The line at the silver dollar booth was fifteen long within the minute.

  Lena laughed behind him.

  There was some shoving as humans and immortals alike fought for a seat at the now coveted machines.

  William shook his head, remembering the many times these chairs sat empty over the last few months, and now, the rush, and bickering over who got to supply the machines with cash?

  Human or immortal, it didn’t matter which, tell someone they couldn’t have something, deny it for a period of time, and their desire for it would increase exponentially.

  Two men came to blows over one machine and William was about to intervene when Lena threaded her arm through his. “Have you ever played musical chairs?”

  William chuckled as the two men were separated by Berkeley, one of his security guards, and a woman slid into the now vacant seat, causing more choruses of complaints.

  “Aye, lass. And that game always turns physical with this lot as well.”

  All the seats were taken, the players furiously spending money trying to win the car once again, while others waited, ready for their shot at the next empty spot.

  “Rumor has it the next win will come quickly. Any truth to that?” Lena asked, a bit loudly.

  Ears around them perked for his answer and Lena shot him a look of pure amusement.