Fredo saw him first then the two women turned in his direction. Mattie tossed the necklaces to Shala and rushed toward him. “You have to arrest my brother.”
“You told me two days ago Randy’s out of the country.” Hal crossed his arms. “You’re telling me now that he’s back?”
“He never left.” She swiped ineffectively at stray hairs on her forehead, her face redder than her lipstick. “You need to arrest him. He’s stolen all our operating funds, ruined my daddy’s company. My company.”
Her mouth set in an ugly line. “I can’t let him get away with this.”
Hal stepped back and winced. “Be careful of my foot.”
“What the world happened to you?” Fredo gaped, glancing from him to Jack sifting through logo T-shirts on one of the tables.
“Fell off a balcony.” Hal braced a hand on the counter. “Long story.”
“Listen to me.” Mattie fisted her hands in his tee. “My crazy brother has been cleaning out the company accounts for months. You have to find him.”
“Let go.” He nudged her away again. “You lied about him being out of the country?”
“I had to. He promised to deed the house to me if I kept quiet.”
“Did you know about the marina house?”
Mattie’s mouth dropped open. “You didn’t?”
“If you’d helped me find him when I asked, he’d probably be behind bars now and you company unharmed.” Hal shook his head, disgusted.
“I just explained why. I didn’t have a choice. Didn’t you hear me?”
How could he not? But if he could calm her down, she might give him some useful intel. “Randy’s stealing money from the family company, huh?”
“It’s his stupid gambling habit. He thinks he’s so smart. I told Daddy my brother’s arrogance would come back to bite him, but neither of them listened.”
“When was the last time you saw him?”
“The night he dumped that blonde on me.” Mattie’s mouth thinned. “But he called and left a message on the machine, laughing and boasting that he’d gotten the best of me and was leaving town tomorrow.”
Hal gentled his voice. “When did he call, Mattie?”
She fluttered a hand. “It was on the house line. I saw it this morning, so it must have been yesterday.”
Adrenaline rushed through him, but Hal had to get this straight. “Your brother is leaving today?”
“That’s what it sounded like.” Her mouth turned mutinous. “Unless you stop him.”
Jack lifted a tiger’s mask. “Looks like the one we saw at the house.”
The one they found with Annie. “It does.”
Hal’s phone dinged, and he tapped his screen. “I’m in the middle of something, Mitch. Is this important?”
“I’m going to let Kurt know we’ll be here a little longer.” Annie retrieved her new cellphone.
“Good idea. He does worry, bless his heart.” Aunt Edi set several more books on the desk, raising dust. “Even though I keep telling him I’m a survivor.”
“Yes, you are.” Annie stifled a sneeze. “But it’s nice you have someone who cares.”
Aunt Edi wagged a finger. “Hal worries about you.”
“He thinks of me as an injured bird.” Annie keyed the number, and Kurt answered on the first ring. “Your aunt and I are going to be at the bookshop a little longer. My aunt’s contractor is coming by, and I really need to talk with him. I’ve locked the street entrance.”
“Keep it locked until you confirm he is who he says.”
“Of course. Have you heard from Hal?”
“According to Jack, he’s only got a cracked bone.”
“That’s good.”
Kurt disconnected, and Annie sagged onto the desk. It seemed unfair that Hal was the one hurt because of something she had gotten involved in. Even though he couldn’t be more different from Darryl, she loved everything about Hal—his courage, his modesty, his tenderness. She trailed her fingers over the spines of the books on a nearby shelf. Did she love him? After only a few days?
Sex, no matter how good, didn’t mean love with a capital “L.” And if she’d learned nothing else from the debacle with her ex, she knew to assume nothing about a man’s feelings.
Anyway, once she and Prejean reached an agreement, she could sell the shop. Then leave. She would miss New Orleans, miss Hal, miss his family. Even if he didn’t feel the same as she did, they could remain friends. Oh, right. Like how is that going to work from Nevada?
“Annie?” Aunt Edi stood beside her, concern etching her face.
“Sorry. Day dreaming.” She focused on the older woman. “You want to see the rest of the property?”
“Thought you’d never ask.” Aunt Edi tugged the hem of her jacket. “You know I used to be a real estate agent. Never had a property to list in the Quarter, but I kept trying.”
“We can go through the patio.” Annie locked the front door and led her through the patio and up the stairs.
Once she caught her breath, Hal’s aunt gazed around the small apartment. “This looks very well lived in. If you make some cosmetic changes, you’ll get more money.”
“I need a buyer who doesn’t mind repairing the property.”
“I noticed.” Aunt Edi nodded toward the walk-through windows. “These windows are a classic French Quarter balcony feature.”
“You want to go outside?” Annie lifted the window sash.
Mouth-watering scents wafted from the vent of the bar and grill on the next corner. Annie squatted to deadhead her aunt’s surviving flowers. “The balcony could use some updates, too. Everything’s been neglected for months.”
While Aunt Edi took in the view, Annie kept an eye on the sidewalks. With the impossible parking situation in the Quarter, Prejean would probably be walking.
Not many people walked around this time of day. Too hot.
A waiter in white short sleeves hurried past a man in a loose blazer coming from the Jackson Square direction. She squinted to get a better look.
Was this Prejean? No.
In the photograph on his business’s website, he had sandy hair, not brown.
An odd prickling washed over her all of a sudden, and her insides clenched. Her breathing stalled.
“This is important.” Mitch said over the cell connection.
Mitch had been an army sniper and didn’t exhibit much emotion, but Hal’s scalp itched at the urgency in his brother’s voice now. “What is it?”
“I went back to the airport hangar, and the Lemoyne company plane landed while I was there. According to the salesman who got off, the plane and pilot had stayed with him the whole trip. No one else was along. That means your fugitive did not leave town. On that plane, anyway.”
“Thanks. That agrees with what I just now heard. Talk later.” Hal disconnected. Why hadn’t Randy fled? And where was he now?
Annie had told him the dealer from the casino, Red Cap, must have known the location of the Old Mint. Otherwise, he couldn’t have found her so quickly in Jackson Square. They had even theorized the casino dealer might be watching the shop, and if Red Cap knew where she lived, most likely Randy knew, too.
Hal called her new phone number. One. Two. Three.
He let the call ring ten times before disconnecting. His gut clenched. Why didn’t she answer? Was she still at the restaurant giving her talk? He flipped through his contacts and waited for Kurt to answer. “Are Annie and Aunt Edi home?”
“Not yet. She called to say they were at Old Mint Books.”
Hal slammed a fist into the stack of folded T-shirts beside him. “How long ago?”
“Fifteen minutes? Twenty? Said she’d call again when they were ready to come home. They’re waiting for the contractor to come by.”
“Thanks.” Hal scanned his earlier conversations for the contractor’s number. Prejean answered on the third ring. “Are you meeting Annie Swanson at the bookshop on Royal this afternoon?”
“Not today. Can�
��t.”
Hal thanked him and looked at Jack. “Let’s get out of here.”
Annie flattened against the façade to keep from being seen from below. Tension coiled like a snake around her windpipe.
That man in the street looked familiar. Not like the photo of Prejean on his website, but she had seen a photo of this passerby. Where?
Think. Think.
She gasped. Hal’s phone. He’d showed her a photo of his fugitive, Randolph Lemoyne, the man Red Cap thought she’d met at…a shooting range?
Her pulse skyrocketed. Her breathing quickened.
Get a grip.
There was no reason for Randy to bother her—or even be walking around in the Quarter today. He’d left town, but she still shivered. “You ready to go inside?”
“Oh, my, yes.” Hal’s aunt preceded her through the open window. “It’s too hot to stand in the sun.”
Annie was about to follow her inside when Aunt Edi stopped dead and glanced over her shoulder. “What was that noise?”
“Where?” Annie stilled.
“Downstairs.”
Pulse now galloping, she walked to the top of the stairs. She raised the volume of her hearing aid to the loudest setting but heard nothing. “What did it sound like?”
“Like glass breaking?” Aunt Edi’s gray brows rose above her glasses.
“I’m the wrong person to ask.” Annie lowered her voice. The shop’s double entrance doors had glass panes. Then there was the display window beside the desk. “Was there any thumping or crashing?”
Hal’s aunt shook her head, but Annie realized she probably wouldn’t have heard anything more. Whoever broke a pane could have reached inside, unlocked the door, and walked into the shop. From there they exit the patio door and climb the stairs to surprise them.
Any minute.
She needed to call Hal. Kurt. The police.
How was that going to work?
She sagged against the cool, hard bricks and flicked sweat from her temple. She couldn’t call anyone because she’d left her new phone in her purse under the shop’s desk. She would need to go downstairs, but first, she had to make sure Aunt Edi stayed safe.
Annie curled her hands into fists, sick and tired of ducking and hiding at every little thing. She would face this latest problem because in comparison a broken pane of glass was nothing to worry about. She turned to Hal’s aunt. “Do you hear anything now?”
The older woman shook her head.
“It’s probably nothing, but I better go and check the shop.” Annie locked the window to the balcony. “You stay here. Lock this door behind me.”
“Don’t leave me.” Aunt Edi clutched her arm.
“Okay,” Annie whispered. “Stay close behind me.”
They descended the stairs. At the bottom, she led Hal’s aunt to the alley entrance. “Walk out to the street. Be careful. You don’t want to meet whoever broke the window. Cross the street to the dry cleaners on the corner. Get Mr. Costanza to call Kurt at the house.”
Now, she would have to distract the intruder, if there was one, until Aunt Edi got to safety. When the older woman disappeared toward the street, Annie peered inside the windows at the patio end of the shop, but she could only see rows of bookcases. She pushed open the half-glassed patio door and called, “The shop is closed.”
When she heard nothing, she called again. Her voice still sounded low, and she reached for her aid before remembering she’d already raised the volume. Her stomach pitched. This was not the time for her battery to die.
She slammed the patio door as a warning and wound through the labyrinth of aisles toward the front.
Uh-oh. Glass shards scattered across the tiles inside the French doors. A chill crawled over her. “The shop—”
A hulking shape prowled around a bookcase, huge paws raised as if to pounce.
She gasped, backing into the ladder in the aisle.
The animal growled. She froze. Her heart pounded into her throat.
A tiger paw yanked off the head covering. Randy Lemoyne grinned at her. He flapped a glove. “Look familiar?”
She gulped. “Yes, I’ve seen them before.”
“You looked hysterical lying on the bed wearing them.”
A cold draft seemed to blow through her. Was the man unbalanced? Had he gone crazy? She wanted to turn and run. But had Aunt Edi made it across the street yet?
A van passed the windows, blocking her view. Randy stepped closer, and she jerked her gaze back to him. She would have to keep this man talking until she could be sure Aunt Edi had gotten to safety. “Why was I wearing them?”
“I wanted to see how you looked in them.”
If he wasn’t unbalanced, he sure balanced on the edge. “The shop is closed,” she repeated.
“The lights are on.” Randy spread his arm in a wide circle. “Looked open to me.”
His casual movements belied the dangerous vibe coming off him. His lawyer had called him unpredictable. And hadn’t Randy been arrested for assault?
She clenched her jaw. “You need to leave. I’m expecting someone any minute. He’s a big, strong guy who tosses lumber around for fun. He wouldn’t think twice about throwing you out.”
Randy’s burst of laughter sent her staggering into the ladder again. Annie suppressed a shudder and steadied herself. “What’s so funny?”
“You thought you were texting your—but you text—” Randy shook his head.
No! Don’t let her battery quit. “I texted my contractor.”
He wagged a finger at her, a smirk on his lips. “You really called me.”
That strange phone number! She took a step and motioned at the front doors. “You can leave the same way you came in.”
“Better stay where you are.” He caught her arm, smiling at her as if they exchanged pleasantries.
Her gaze dropped to the little black gun in his hand. Her earlier chill sank now into her bones. The pistol looked like a toy, but she’d bet it was the real thing. With real bullets.
Some sort of extension on the barrel made the gun longer. Closer. She swallowed around her parched throat.
He dropped his hold, and every cell in her body yelled for her to run. Like she had a chance? Randy would shoot before she took a step.
“What do you want with me?” She forced her gaze back to his mouth, her pulse spiking.
“I’m tying up a messy end. When the explosion didn’t get rid of you, I had to think of something else.” He pulled his cell, thumbed in a call, and said a few words.
Her lungs seized. Who was he calling?
His emotionless gaze pounced again. “Once I found out you were looking for your phone at the casino, I realized my next step.”
“You tracked me.” Hal had been right about software on her recovered cell.
He buffed his nails on his lapel. “I was able to follow you on the interstate.”
“You didn’t follow us.” She crossed her arms. “You chased us.”
“Another near miss, but I’ve got you right where I want you now, and I’m an excellent shot.”
She glimpsed a flowered dress outside in the street. Aunt Edi had been wearing one like that. She’s safe. I can escape.
Randy moved. His gun came closer.
Annie licked her lips. Panic glued her shirt to her sweaty back.
“Move. Back up. We don’t want to upset anyone passing the street when I shoot you, do we?”
Kick him in his private parts and run.
Like she knew karate?
“You’re wanted for simple assault.” She planted her feet. Maybe he wouldn’t shoot her if she stayed in sight of the street. “Why do you want to make things worse by k-k-killing me?”
“You’re a loose thread. I had an excellent plan going. Foolproof. It wouldn’t have failed because I had insiders in on the deal.”
She frowned. What deal was he talking about?
“Don’t look so innocent. You saw what we were doing with the bets at the craps table.
”
She’d only speculated to Hal about what she might have seen. Had she been right? “I don’t remember what anyone was doing. I swear.”
The corners of his mouth turned down. “You expect me to believe that when I know you were talking to the casino people.”
The casino people? “You mean—?”
“You were seen talking to security.”
When she and Hal had gone to ask about her purse. “That had nothing to do with you or the man with the goatee.”
Randy said nothing, but his flat stare bored straight through her.
“You have to believe me. I had a blinding headache and I wasn’t really focusing on anything.”
“I—right into my—since I had to get rid of you—”
No! Don’t let my battery die.
He shook his head. “You couldn’t even tell me where you lived.”
“Because I lost my memory.”
“Tsk, tsk. You should stick to one excuse, you know. Either a headache or amnesia. It’s not believable to use both.” Randy shook his head. “I wanted to dump you in a canal or the lake, but I couldn’t shake the cop following me.”
“Why did you take me to your sister’s mansion?”
“It’s my mansion.” The veins in his neck stood out. “My house. I graciously let my sister live—”
She strained to hear…nothing.
Her pulse went into overdrive.
Randy moved within three feet, still talking non-stop.
She inched a heel back and bumped the ladder in the aisle.
An unfamiliar sedan pulled onto the curb in front of the French doors.
“Look! My contractor’s here.” She swung her leg in an arc as if searching for a toe jam on a sheer cliff.
Her shoe slammed into bone. Randy yelped.
The step stool went flying as she raced past it, dodging and weaving around bookcases to the patio exit. She reached for the knob at the very second a bullet thumped the frame. Inches above her wrist!
She swiveled. Randy was yelling at her, both hands holding his gun. She grabbed books from the nearest shelf and threw them in his direction before ducking behind the nearest case.
Casting the Dice Page 20