Jingle of Coins (18 page)

“This trip has to be kept quiet.” She debated telling him that she was fleeing from Mike, but decided against it. “It’s important, Paul. If you do this, I won’t ever contact you again.”

Silence.

“Please.”

“All right. I’ll have to check and see what’s available.” Paper rustled in the background, then he came back on the line. “I don’t have anything open. Two of my planes are down for maintenance, and the rest are scattered across the country. There is somebody I know who might take the job, but you’ll have to pay him, and it’ll be expensive.”

“He’s not going to agree to that. That’s got drug deal written all over it. What kind of trouble are you in? I can’t afford to get involved in any kind of scandal. You know I’m up for re-election.”

“Paul, there’s no drugs involved. I have to get out of town. That’s all. I swear. I know this is a lot to ask. Believe me, if there was anybody else I could call, I would.”

“He’s going to do it, but only because I vouched for you. I told him it wasn’t drug related or anything illegal. You’re on the level, right?”

She listened for the click on the other end, then placed the receiver in its cradle. Then, for the third time in less than an hour, she wiped her fingerprints from the number pad and receiver. When she was satisfied, she left in search of another pay phone. One more call and her plan would be set.

It didn’t take long to make arrangements for the pilot to meet with her once she offered to pay him an extra thousand dollars for the late night trip. She gave him the address of her business apartment and told him to make sure he parked in the space marked “Carlyle” on the fifth floor of the parking garage.

She hadn’t been in her apartment more than twenty minutes when she heard a knock at the door. Her heart skipped a few beats. Was it the pilot…or Mike?

Kate nervously moved to the peephole. It was a stranger! “Who’s there?” she asked in a voice that sounded nothing like her own.

“Mike Tomatodos. You told me to meet you here.” The stranger ran a hand through his sandy-colored hair, then rammed his hands in the pocket of his camel colored jacket.

She checked to make sure the photos matched her visitor. “Sorry about that,” she apologized as she closed the door. “You can’t be too sure of strangers these days.”

He scratched his head. “Look. I know Paul told me this job was on the up and up, but I gotta tell you, I don’t like it. I’ve never done this kind of thing before, and I’m still not sure I’m going to do it now. You seem nice enough, but if you’re in some kind of trouble, I don’t want no part of it. I got a wife and two kids, and I run a legitimate business. I can’t afford to lose my license, and I don’t need anybody’s trouble knocking on my door.”

Kate shook her head, her mind reeling. This guy was no dummy; she was going to have to come up with a good excuse to convince him to fly her out of here. “It’s nothing like that,” she said. “I have to go to L.A. to meet someone, but we haven’t worked out the details yet.”

“My…friend’s in the middle of a nasty divorce. Not only that, he’s high profile. If word got out that I was meeting him, things could get messy. He doesn’t want his wife or the reporters to find out that I’m coming. He’s supposed to call me the minute he gets away from the studio. Once I hear from him, we take off. This will be a one-way trip to a private airport near Los Angeles. I’ll find my own way back.”

Tomatodos didn’t respond, and his frown deepened.

Damn, she was going to have to do better than that. She took one last breath, then mentally crossed her fingers. “Look, if his wife found out about our relationship, her attorneys wouldn’t hesitate to use that as an excuse for the divorce. Even though I met him after they split up, Sharon would end up with everything he owns. Surely you can appreciate why he wants to keep my visit a secret.” She took a quick breath. “Besides, if I decide not to go see him, you still get to keep the money.”

He shook his head. “I still don’t like it. If Paul hadn’t set me up in business, I’d be out of here. You’re lucky he vouched for you.”

“How much do I owe you for the charter?” she asked.

“Same as I told you before. I won’t do this job for less than twelve grand, plus the extra thousand you promised. If you want, you can give me seven now and pay the other six when you get to the airport.”

She strolled over to the antique mahogany desk near the window, grabbed a nine-inch by twelve-inch manila envelope from the drawer, and retraced her steps. “Here you go.”

He scooped up the money and shoved it into the envelope. As he walked toward the door, he folded the package in half and tucked it inside his jacket.

“Would you like a guard to escort you to your car?” she asked. “There’s one on duty.”

“No. I can manage.”

She pointed to her two suitcases stacked in the foyer. “I don’t suppose you’d take those to the plane for me? That way I can drive straight to the airport as soon as I hear from Harry.”

He held up a hand. “I don’t know, lady. This is getting weird. I’d rather you brought them yourself.”

She touched his arm and tilted her head to one side. “Please? It’s only clothes.”

He studied her for a moment, eyes narrowed, then sighed. “I guess I could take ‘em, seeing as how you already paid in full. But there better not be any drugs.” He zipped the front of his jacket, then bent over and grabbed the handles.

Kate opened her door. “Don’t worry; there’s nothing illegal,” she assured him.

He edged toward the door, then spun on his heel. “Then you don’t mind if I have them checked, right? The customs guy at our hangar uses a trained dog to spot check for drugs. I think I’ll have Sebastian take a whiff of your cases before I load ‘em in the plane.”

She threw up her hands. “Fine. If that makes you happy, go ahead. But you better make damn sure that dog doesn’t chew up my suitcases,” she warned. “They’re expensive and so are my clothes. I don’t want you or any dog pawing through my things. Those cases stay locked. Is that clear?”

He nodded, walked the short distance to the end of the hall, then disappeared into the stairwell.

Kate exhaled slowly as the door swung shut. God, what a mess. The sooner she left this town, the better. Forty minutes later, she locked the door and walked to her car.

Chapter Nineteen

Emily’s mind felt numb as she walked back to her apartment. Talk about overload! Glen bombarded her with so much to remember that her brain felt like it was going to explode. She’d scribbled down two pages of notes and still hadn’t compiled a complete list of do’s and don’ts. Fleecing the casinos was turning out to be a heck of a lot more work than she’d anticipated. Who knew that there’d be so much prep work to being a crook?

She stopped as the implication of what she was thinking hit her. Her Catholic upbringing kicked in, bringing with it a mountain of guilt, and she quickly reminded herself that technically she wasn’t doing anything wrong. Glen was helping her to hone her talent so she could win enough money on slots for both of them to live comfortably for the rest of their lives. Besides, if God hadn’t meant for her to have this talent, he wouldn’t have given it to her. Right?

As she drew even with the courtyard, she watched Kate enter her apartment. Moments later a light flickered on, and Kate moved away from the window. Emily paused, trying to decide what to do. She’d wanted to talk to Kate about not referring any more clients to the shop, but was worried in case Kate took offense at her request.

A rustling movement in the shadows caught her attention. Somebody was standing in the group of trees at the edge of the pool! She peered through the darkness, trying to see who it was, being careful to stay behind the cabana. Hopefully whoever it was hadn’t seen her yet. She’d only heard the movement because of her intensified hearing. She crouched down when she heard the scrape of a match and recognized the face lit by the momentary illumination. It was Stu, watching Kate’s apartment!

Obviously Kate didn’t know she was being followed; otherwise she would have closed her drapes the moment she entered the apartment. Emily racked her brain for a way to let Kate know Stu was here without alerting Stu that they were on to him. Using the darkness to cover her movements, she crouched low to the ground and scuttled to the far side of the building.

Unsure of what to do next, she hurried to the safety of the parking lot’s overhead lights. What she needed was some kind of diversion. She surveyed the cars, then grinned. A car alarm! That would make a big enough ruckus to wake half the complex and force Stu to leave.

Keeping low, she moved down the row and pushed down on the fender of car after car until she set off first one alarm, then another. A steady stream of tenants exited their apartments to check on their vehicles. She joined the grumpy onlookers and waited for them to return to their apartments. By the time she returned to the walkway, every light in the courtyard was on, and Stu wasn’t anywhere in sight. She strolled over to the pool area to check, then walked back to her apartment. He had either left or found a better place to hide.

Her first instinct was to call Kate, but instead of dialing the number, Emily found herself staring at the receiver. Did she really want to get involved in Kate’s problems? Besides—what would she say? Sorry to have to tell you this, Kate, but the man you’re afraid of is watching your front door? Yeah, right. That ought to go over real well. Nothing like frightening your neighbor to death with a telephone call.

She decided to ask Kate if she’d seen anybody lurking in the bushes and mention that she’d seen somebody skulking around the courtyard on her way back from Glen’s apartment. Keeping her fingers crossed that she was doing the right thing, Emily punched in Kate’s number.

“Hello?”

“Hey, it’s Emily. Sorry to bother you. I just have one question. You didn’t, by any chance, notice any strangers hanging around the pool tonight, did you?”

“No. Why?”

“I walked past the pool a few minutes ago, and it looked like there was somebody hiding in the bushes, watching our apartments. I thought I’d check to see if you’d noticed anything before I called the cops.”

“I came in a little while ago, and I didn’t see anybody. It was probably your imagination.”

Emily paused, wondering what to say next. “Well, since you didn’t see anything, maybe I won’t call the cops. I’d hate to bring them out on a false alarm. Sorry to bother you.”

“No problem.”

The phone clicked off, and she stared at the receiver buzzing in her hand. What on Earth was going on? Kate’s words had sounded off-hand, but the fear in her voice certainly wasn’t. For whatever reason, Kate was scared. Big time, wet your pants scared.