3 Sin City Hunter (12 page)

“No,” I told him firmly. “I c
an see it clearly in my mind now
, and I’m 100% certain
it wasn’t my imagination. The man on the ground was wearing a blue uniform like someone in a machine shop or a garage, not a hotel or a restaurant. He was lying in an unnatural position which
made me think
he was
badly
hurt, and he wasn’t making any noise.
The man standing over him was wearing
jeans and a white t-shirt. He wasn’t clean shaven, and I could see his arms were heavily tattooed. He was holding a crowbar in an aggressive manner toward the man as though he were ready to hit him again. I didn’t see Carl at first
,
because he was almost out of my line of sight from the door, but just before the girl yanked me back into the room, I saw his face, and it was positively murderous.” I paused for a few seconds and then said, “Darby, I think I’m in a lot of trouble. If I could fly home tonight, I would, but I don’t want to lose my job. I’ll have to be extra careful, and you’ll have to help me watch since I can’t tell my parents.”

“Susan, you know
I would protec
t you with my life,” he said with
sincerity, and I knew he meant it. “You have one more day of vacation before you go to work. Mom wants you to call Dell in the morning and get all of us tickets for the hockey game Tuesday night. It might be a good idea if we stay out of the hotel as much as possible tomorrow. Mom said she’s sleeping in, so our plans are to meet for lunch and then go
shopping for a wedding gown. Does that sound good to you
?”

“Uh-huh.”
I could barely keep my eyes open as I mumbled the yes to him. “Good-night, Darby,” I said as I drifted off to sleep. I didn’t hear him respond.

“Every dress has been stunning on you, Susan,” Mom said whining. “I don’t understand why you don’t like any of them.”

“It’s not that I don’t like any of them,” I said trying to keep the snappishness out of my voice. “
But
none of them are the
right
one.”

The dress I was currently wearing was beautiful, but it wasn’t
the one
. It was strapless wit
h a sweetheart neckline and
a
side
-swept bodice.
Beautiful beading ran the length of the s
weeping
drape
of the skirt, followed by
a full-beaded train.

Darby was
admiring the dress from a chair in the corner
, but he wasn’t excited either.

“Mom,” I said with some
irritation
to my voice. “Look at Darby. He’s not excited about any of these either.”

Darby gave me a
what’d I do?
look, but he said to
Mom, “She’s
breathtakingly
gorgeous in every dress she’s
tried on today, Lilah, but I agree with Susan, none of them have been the right
one
so far.

We were in a designer bridal shop a few blocks west of the strip, and had been there for nearly two h
ours. I was
too frustrated to
try on any more dresses. I
had
assumed I would see so many
gowns I loved and wanted,
it would be hard to
choose. I was disappointed
none of them made me want to squeal with delight even the slightest bit.

Maybe it was just my mood today. Yesterday’s events still had me on edge, and there was definitely a glitch in my matrix. Dad had a local newspaper tucked under his arm when we had met for lunch at the Grand Buffet, and I quickly confiscated it. I hal
f filled my plate with food
that
was probably delicious, but I only picked at it as I
scanned
the newspaper for any mention of the man who I believed was beaten, and probably murdered. There
was
nothing.

“I’m done,” I told my mother
emphatically
. “I simply cannot try on another dress.” I heard her protesting behind me as I headed
to
t
he dressing room
.

I needed a break. I wanted to go back to my room at the hotel and relax. I had to be at work in the morning, and maybe spending some time going over my notes and preparing for meeting new people would help to calm my nerves.

Mom was apologizing to the salesgirl for taking up so much of her time without producing a sale. Darby was standing near the door wait
ing for us. “Go ahead and go
out with Darby, Mom,” I told her as I handed the dress I had just removed to the salesgirl. “I’ll be out in a minute.” I knew Mom had loved many of the dresses, a
nd I really did feel
bad
I hadn’t been able t
o choose one. I waited
while they stepped out onto the sidewalk.

“I’m sorry, Diane,” I told
the salesgirl. “I
wasn’t in the right frame of mind today to shop for a wedding dress. Maybe I’ll come back in a couple of days and try on the Sottero again. I liked it the best.” She nodded her head and said she hoped to see me again. I left the shop to join Mom and Darby on the sidewalk. They had moved down from the door
way
a few feet and were chatting by the car.

Just as I opened my mouth to apologize to them for being such a downer, my heel caught in a crack in the sidewalk, and I pitched forward. It was a slow motion moment, with multiple things happening within a split second. I knew it was going to hurt when I hit the pavement, and I was trying to get my hands out in front
of me to break the fall. A
bove my head, something whizzed by. I briefly saw the blur, heard the blur, and I even slightly felt it go by. It had to be some strange Nevada insect. Darby was moving quickly and managed to get his hands on me enou
gh so
only my knees lightly skimmed the pavement.

As he helped me
get on my feet, Diane screamed from the bridal shop. We turned to look
,
and could see
through the window
that
she
was standing over a
toppled
mannequin. She had one hand over her mouth, and was pointing
at
the plate glass window with
the other
. It had a bullet hole in it!

“Get down!” Darby yelled at her as he jerked me toward the car and pushed me do
wn onto the sidewalk
. He grabbed Mom by the arm and told her to get down, too. My heart was racing, and I wasn’t entirely certain of what had just happened. He squatted down beside us and called 911.

“Someone shot at the bridal shop? Was it a drive by?” Mom
asked
incredulously.

“I don’t know, Lilah,” Darby
said
breathlessly. His heart must have been pounding, too.

I started to feel sick, really sick. My mind started to spin out of control. A bullet! We had been in the
bridal shop for over two hours which was
plenty of time for someone to set up
to
take a shot at me. If I hadn’t tripped, I would have
stepped
directly into the line of fire, probably at chest level. It could have easil
y been a fatal shot. I was
near tears and would surely be blubbering by no
w if my mother hadn’t been with us
. I looked at Darby, and he gave me a pleading look as if to say, “
hold it together, Susan
.”

Two police cars arrived within minutes. One officer went into the bridal shop, while one stayed beside us on the sidewalk. The other two officers ran across the street to
a
stylish apartment building.

“Susan, honey, let up on your grip,” Mom
said
to me
as she patted my arm. I didn’t realize
she had put her hand in mine, and I was giving it the death grip.

We weren’t in a position to see, but twenty m
inutes later, we were told
they had the suspect in one of the cruisers. A police officer ushered us off of the sidewalk and into the bridal shop. Diane was sitting in a chair and weeping softly. I
glanced down
at the mannequin. The bullet had hit dead center in the chest, ruining the beautiful dress.

“He was cleaning a 9 millimeter Glock
,
and forgot one was still in the chamber,” one of the officers
said
. “It was an accidental discharge out his window.”

“Does he have a permit for the gun?” asked the second
officer
.

“He does, and we didn’t find a criminal record for him, so there isn’t any reason not to believe his story. The guys are taking him down to the station for processing.” The officer turned to all of us and said, “Ok folks, I need the four of you to fill out these forms
,
giving us your statements as to what you saw and heard.” He handed a form to each of us.

I noticed
the patrol car with the gun owner was pulling away from the curb. As they passed by the front of the shop, I tried to get a look at the man in the backseat. I couldn’t see clearly, and he was facing toward the front of the car, but he wasn’t completely unlike the man I had seen with the crowbar last night. I turned to the officer and asked, “Did that man have tattoos?”

Darby shot a startled look
my way
, and I knew
he wanted me to shut up. The officer asked warily, “Why? Have you seen him before?”

I coul
d have kicked myself for asking. “I
caught a glimpse of him as the cruiser pulled away, and I thought I might have seen him earlier in the day. Must be my mistake,” I said sitting down in a chair and looking at my form.

The officer
frowned as he
watched me take m
y
seat,
but
said, “He had tattoos on both arms. If you saw a man like that today, put it in your statement.”

I
sat motionless for a
few m
oments
. I kept my head down and closed my eyes tight willing the tears
back
. There w
as no doubt in my mind now
the bullet was meant for me. The accidental discharge was the story they were going to go with, so I assumed the man only had one shot
to take, and he
almost made it. My stomach was churning even more. I tried to fill out my form.

There was
little any of us could write. We hadn’t seen or heard anything prior to the gunshot. I was able to give a little more information only because I was aware of the bullet whizzing past my head. I didn’t mention the man with the tattoos. If they aske
d me outright, I would say
the man I thought I had seen only had tattoos on one arm. I didn’t want to lie, so I was hoping it wouldn’t come up again.

When we left the shop, I gave the keys to Darby and said, “
You’ll have to
drive. I can’t do it.” My head was pounding, and I
just
wanted to get back to the hotel room.

“W
hat a lot of excitement
!” Mom said from the backseat. “We’re all
fortunate
the bullet missed us. And
poor Diane! She was standing right by the mannequin when the bullet went through the window and knocked i
t down. That was a $3,000 dress, and it’s
ruined
!
” Mom was clucking and shaking her head is dismay.

We were quiet for the rest of the short ride back to the strip. Darby valet parked the car, and we made our way into the hotel. It was shortly after 6:00. The shooting and the police had added nearly two hours to the time we had already spent at the bridal shop.

“Susan, you don’t feel good do you?” Mom asked me sympathetically.

“I’m sorry, Mom, I don’t
,” I told her
.
“
And I have to be at work in the morning, so that’s wei
ghing on my mind, too. I’m
going to spend the evening in my room. You guys find something fun to do without me.”

“Well,” she said looking around, “I’ll need to find your father and see what he wants to do. I’m sure he’s ready for dinner.”

“Lilah, you and Earl go on without me this evening, too,” Darby said to Mom. “I’m going to take Susan back to the room, and then I’ll probably check out some of the
night
clubs.” He gave Mom a kiss on the cheek, and then put his arm around me.

“Ok, kids,” she said. “Get some rest, Susan. I’ll see you after work tomorrow.
” She gave us a little wave as she turned toward the casino to look for Dad.