Jingle of Coins (28 page)

Voices sounded in the background as Emily splashed cold water on her neck and face. Whatever it was, Sara would have to handle it. She’d had enough for one day. More than enough. Ignoring the din, she reached for a paper towel.

Sara eased back into the workroom and hovered nervously. “I hate to tell you this, but there’s somebody else who wants to talk to you.”

Shaking her head vigorously, Emily picked up a cutting knife and a square of floral foam. Holding the foam firmly in her right hand, she slashed at the edges. Flecks of green flew as the blade sliced repeatedly. “Tough. I’m not talking to anybody. Tell them to come back later.”

“What do you want?” Emily asked ungraciously. “We haven’t taken any more counterfeit money. Once was enough.” She sighed softly. The last thing she needed was a Fed breathing down her neck.

Dozer stared at the blade still clenched between her fingers. “Let’s go back to my office.”

“You go ahead, Emily,” Sara volunteered. “I’ll watch the shop.”

Emily lowered her arm and turned to the sink. “It shouldn’t take very long,” she surmised as she rinsed flecks of foam from her forearms.

“Take all the time you need, Emily. Just keep me out of it,” Sara whispered nervously as Emily walked past.

Dozer’s office still resembled the inside of a damp, dark closet. “What’s so important it couldn’t wait?” Emily demanded as she perched on the edge of a chair. She stared at Dozer for a moment. “Didn’t I see you at the apartment complex last night?”

He nodded. “Yeah, we need to talk about your neighbor, Kate Avrill. She was helping us with a very important case. Did she mention anything about it?”

Dozer picked up a pen and tapped the edge against a yellow legal pad. “Everything I’m going to tell you stays in this room. Is that understood?” Emily nodded, and he continued, “I’m looking for a recording Kate made at Mike Dragonisi’s villa. She died before she could give it to me.”

Stunned, she leaned forward. “Was that why she got shot?” she asked in a low voice. “Did Stu do it?”

Dozer walked to the back of the desk and sat down. “We don’t know who shot Kate. Did she have anything with her when she collapsed?”

“No. She didn’t even have car keys.” Emily leaned forward rested her chin on her hand. “You didn’t answer my question. I repeat: Was helping you why she died?”

“Really?” She traced the outline of her lips with her index finger. “What about the apartment manager’s office? Could she have hidden it there, thinking she’d come back later?”

“It’s not there. We’ve checked.” He shook his head. “Tell me everything that happened since Kate knocked on your door, including your visit from Stu Bogrand a few minutes ago.”

Why couldn’t he check the statement she gave to the cops? He shifted impatiently, and she sighed. So much for a quick getaway. This was going to take time. She uncrossed her legs and moved to a more comfortable position. “Where do you want me to start?”

Chapter Thirty-One

Mike grunted, then shifted a stack of papers on his desk. “The cylinders have passed the last checkpoint. They hit Reno at 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday. Go up there and make sure nothing goes wrong. There better not be any problems this time.”

Stu shifted nervously. “I got it covered.”

Mike’s cold gaze didn’t waver as he removed a switchblade from his pocket and laid it on the desk. He slowly drummed his fingers along the inlaid mother-of-pearl handle. “You better be right. If anything happens to ruin this deal, I’ll cut you into enough pieces to feed the coyotes for a month.”

Emily’s mind felt like a wad of cotton wool. Her conversation with Dozer left her numb and exhausted. His suggestion to her boss that Emily be given the rest of the week off was the answer to her prayers, and once Clarise acquiesced, Emily quickly accepted.

“Well, did you get sacked?” Sara asked the moment she entered the shop.

“No, but I’ve been ordered to take a week off.” Emily ignored Sara’s gasp of surprise and continued toward the workroom. “Hopefully I’ll still have a job when I come back.”

She shook her head in exasperation, and tried to keep the frustration she felt out of her voice. “Sara, people walk by the shop all the time.”

“Yeah, but they don’t stare into it every time they go by like they’re looking for something. I think he was looking for you. I called security, but the minute they showed up, he disappeared. Don’t you think that was strange?”

Oh God, not more trouble. Emily reached for her leather purse. “What did he look like?”

“He had black hair and wore a beige shirt. I only noticed him because he had an ugly dark spot on the side of his face.”

Emily noticed that her hands were shaking. She clenched her fingers around the shoulder strap of her purse. “Thanks. I’ll watch out for him.”

She gave Sara a quick hug and slowly walked to her car. Mindful of Sara’s warning, Emily glanced over her shoulder several times, but no one resembling the man Sara described appeared. Maybe Sara’s imagination had been working overtime. She certainly hoped so. The last thing she needed right now was to worry about somebody following her.

It wasn’t until Emily turned to unlock her car that she noticed a man leaning against the building. The oddly shaped birthmark on his face was clearly visible in the afternoon sunlight. She tried not to stare as he flicked his cigarette to the ground and started toward her.

Emily dropped her keys and, cursing at her ineptness, retrieved them. It took three tries to fit her key into the driver’s side door panel, and when the door finally opened, she threw her purse into the car and jumped behind the wheel, shoved the key into the ignition, and gunned the engine. The moment she backed out of the parking space, she grabbed her cell phone and punched in Glen’s work number.

He answered on the third ring.

“It’s me. I’ve got company. Somebody followed me out of the casino. Sara said he’s been lurking in the hallway all afternoon, waiting for me to return to the shop. I don’t think he’s a cop or a Federal agent. I’ll bet he’s one of Stu’s men. What do you think I should do? Make like I don’t see him or try to lose him?”

“Where are you?”

“Leaving work.” Another thought occurred to her as she drove out of the casino parking lot. “You don’t think he’s the man who killed Kate, do you?”

“Nah, probably just a tail somebody set on you to see what you’re doing. Tell you what, don’t go home,” Glen advised. “Come over here.”

She took a deep breath. “There’s something else.”

“Not now. Save it until later. I’ll meet you by the dollar slots on the back wall. Be sure to park in valet parking and come through the glass doors. Just do what you normally do whenever you enter a casino. Strike up a conversation with somebody next to you, chit chat with the parking guys, take your time moving through the doors. Remember, you need to blend in; the last thing you want to be is conspicuous. You stand out, you get noticed. Okay?”

Emily drove slowly to the casino where Glen worked and pulled into the lane reserved for valet parking. The green sedan following her bypassed the valet turn-off and disappeared into the five-story parking garage.

“Come on, come on,” she urged the attendants. Finally, it was her turn. She glanced toward the garage to see if her stalker had found a place to park. He had! He and another man moved toward the casino’s main entrance. They must have found a parking space on the first level. Damn!

She ignored the urge to run and handed her keys to the attendant. Now was not the time to panic. As long as she remained calm, she kept the advantage, not her stalker. Emily hurried into the casino and spotted Glen standing next to a bank of slot machines. “He’s right behind me,” she whispered. “And now he’s got somebody with him.”

“Not through here,” Glen replied as he hustled her down the hallway. “He wouldn’t risk a run-in with security. Besides, he’ll probably check the casino floor first. It will take him at least ten minutes to figure out you ditched him.”

He paused, looked at Emily for a moment, then told her to wait in his office.

“Where are you going?” Emily asked.

“To get you a long wig from the lost and found department. You need to look different, just in case the second guy is waiting in the parking garage. Try to make your skirt and blouse different if you can; lose the neck scarf.”

Emily waited until he closed the door, then rolled up the waistband of her skirt until the hem moved about four inches up her leg. Unbuttoning her blouse, she removed her bra, stashed it in the bottom of Glen’s wastebasket, then tied the lower portion of her blouse together under her breasts and pulled the sides and back of her shirt halfway up her back.

Glen returned a few moments later with a long, black wig. He handed it to her and, once she put it on, nodded.

“Okay. All you need is a lot more makeup and even I wouldn’t recognize you.” He waited until Emily added more eye shadow, eyeliner, and lipstick, then nodded. “Good. You certainly look a lot different than you did when you came in.” He held up a pair of silver, dangle earrings. “Put these in your ears. The ones you have on look expensive; they don’t go with your outfit now.”

Moments later he led Emily to the garage elevator and placed a restraining hand on her arm as they emerged onto the top level of the parking garage. “Wait here. As soon as I drive up, get in the back.”

“And tell them what? There’s no way you can prove those guys were following you. You’re better off with me. I know the manager of a small hotel in Henderson. You’ll be safe there.”

He watched her for a moment out of the corner of his eye, then turned his attention back to the road. “So…what did you want to tell me?”

Emily exhaled deeply and leaned her head against the headrest. “One of the Secret Service agents investigating the disappearance of some Federal agents called me into his office. He told me Kate was working with them to convict Mike Dragonisi for murdering the missing agents. I’m pretty sure that’s why she died the way she did.” Emily briefly summarized her session with Dozer and finished with the fact that Dozer’s men were still searching for the recording.

“Shit. This really complicates things.” He turned onto a service road. “There’s the hotel. Sorry, but you’ll have to get in the back again. We can’t risk one of Mike’s goons spotting you.”

Emily felt a painful throbbing in her temples as she waited for Glen to register. The moment she entered their hotel room, she unzipped her purse and dumped the contents on the dressing table.

“What are you doing?”

“Looking for my pain pills. I’m getting a migraine. They’re brought on by stress. With everything that’s happened, I’m surprised I haven’t already had one.” She grabbed the errant pill bottle, popped open the lid, and swallowed two tablets. “Whenever these headaches hit, I usually stick a cool towel across my face, turn on some classical music, and lie down.”

He fingered the CDs that had spilled out of her purse on the dresser. “Looks like you’re prepared for anything.”

“I grabbed those on my way out of the apartment this morning. I figured I’d listen to them in the car, but never got the chance.”

“I’ve got a portable CD player in the car. Want me to get it?”

She nodded. “Please. If I don’t get rid of this headache now, I’ll be flat on my back for hours.” The pain behind her temples escalated as she soaked a washcloth in cold water and stumbled to the closest bed.