Secrets That Kill (16 page)

An older man sat at the table with the best view, looking over the crowd like a king seated on a throne. He was practically bald, with a long nose and a distinguished salt and pepper goatee that conveniently disguised a double chin. This was Carson. His cold blue eyes zeroed in on us, and the two men sitting beside him stood, bracing their feet in a protective stance.

As we approached, Carson heaved his bulky frame to a standing position, and a wry smile twisted his lips. He motioned his men to back off while he studied me with undisguised curiosity. His gaze travelled to Ramos, and a stab of discomfort pierced his calm exterior. He hoped Manetto didn’t suspect anything, and that Ramos was only here to talk about their business arrangement.

The man standing behind Carson jerked his head toward me, and recognition flashed in his eyes. My step faltered. Damn! This was the same guy who had followed me to the airport. The man quickly leaned over to whisper my identity into Carson’s ear.

My heart started to gallop, and my legs felt like rubber. My instinct to run turned my breathing shallow. Noticing my distress, Ramos patted my hand and kept repeating in his mind that I shouldn’t worry, and that this was part of the plan.
I won’t let anything happen to you. Pull yourself together. It’ll be all right.

Yeah, that was easy for him to say since he couldn’t hear Carson thinking he wanted me to die a slow and painful death. All at once Carson put it together that it must have been Ramos who had killed Cobra. Cobra? The freaking snake guy was called Cobra? Wasn’t that a G.I. Joe character? Did people really name themselves after cartoons? Unbelievable!

“Shelby,” Ramos whispered into my ear, tugging on my arm. “Come on.”

I hadn’t realized I’d stopped. I swallowed and took a step closer to my doom. I trusted Ramos, I really did, but this was nuts.

Carson lost all pretense of friendliness, narrowing his eyes and turning his lips into a vicious scowl. He was seriously pissed off.

“Mr. Manetto is not real happy with you, Carson,” Ramos said with cool disdain. “It seems you’ve been cheating him out of a lot of money.”

I watched, fascinated, as all the bluster went out of Carson. “That’s preposterous,” he said. He was thinking that if Manetto knew the truth, he wouldn’t have sent Ramos to talk to him. He’d be here to kill him. It gave him hope that maybe it was all a bluff, and he could work his way out of this.

“Please, have a seat and let’s get this misunderstanding cleared up. Please, sit down.” Carson motioned to the seats on the other side of the table, and Ramos pulled out my chair, nodding for me to sit. “Would you like a drink?” Carson asked.

“No,” Ramos said quickly, sitting beside me. “But there is something you can do for us.” He was thinking,
die
, and I nearly choked on my spit. Ramos ignored my throat clearing and continued. “Mr. Manetto is a reasonable man. He’s not one to tolerate cheating, but he still values the business arrangement he has with you.”

“But I haven’t cheated him,” Carson interrupted. “Whatever gave him that idea?” He flicked a disgusted glance my way. “This is because of her, isn’t it? You can’t believe anything she says. I knew the man she was with. Sure, he was trying to bribe me, but he had nothing. He claimed to have some information, but he made it up so I’d pay him. None of it was true. It’s all lies!”

Ramos’ mouth twitched. He was enjoying this. “You’d better not say any more until I introduce you, since I don’t think you’ve actually met. Carson, this is Shelby Nichols, Manetto’s niece.”

I narrowed my eyes at Carson, giving him the most venomous look I could think of. Carson’s brows rose, and sweat popped out on his forehead. “I have the thumb-drive,” I said in a low voice. “Warren may have been stupid, but he was an amazing hacker. Uncle Joey suspected you’d been cheating him. Now he has proof. If there’s one thing I know for sure about my Uncle, it’s that he has no patience for double-crossers. Makes you wonder why you’re still alive doesn’t it?”

Sweat actually ran down the side of Carson’s face. Wow, what a rush. I inhaled through my nose, smelling his fear, and realized I was enjoying this way too much. Now I understood how Ramos felt.

Carson leaned back in his seat and chuckled to cover his fear. “You think you can just walk out of here?” He held his arms out. “I’ve got my men everywhere.”

Ramos smiled coldly. “And if anything happened to me or Shelby, do you think any of this would be left once Manetto got through with you?”

Carson sighed, deflated that Ramos had won this round. Then an idea popped into his head. “How much money are we talking about?”

“At least five hundred thousand,” Ramos answered.

Carson swore in his mind, but none of it showed on his face. “That’s a lot,” he said. “Giving you that much money all at once could nearly bankrupt me. But I’ll make a deal with you. I’ll give you all the money up front, if you’ll just let me try and win it back with a friendly game of poker. I’ll spot you five hundred thousand to my five hundred thousand. At the end of the night, we take our winnings and call it good. What do you say? You could end up with a cool million if you take it all.”

Ramos smiled, and my heart sank. Was he really going to make me play poker with Uncle Joey’s money? What if I lost? I didn’t even know how to play.

“What do you think, Shelby?” Ramos asked. He was thinking,
Go for it…jump on this…be excited…convince him you want to play so you can win all of that money, and that your Uncle will let you do it! This is our big chance. You can’t lose! Come on! Hurry up!

I smiled brightly, hoping Carson couldn’t tell how much I was faking it. “Wow. You’d put up all that money just for a little game of poker?”

Carson shrugged his shoulders. “Why not?”

“And if I win, you’d let me keep it all?”

“Of course,” he said, just now realizing it was me who’d play. “It would be a pleasure to lose to such a beautiful woman.”

I smiled coyly. “Then it’s settled.”

Chapter 9

“Very good.” Carson was thinking it was obvious I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

“Can we play Texas Hold’em?” I asked. “That’s the only kind of poker I really know how to play.”

“Of course,” he agreed. “Whatever you want.” He was thinking this was the best deal he’d ever made. He was good at reading people, and with my face showing every single emotion going through my pretty little head, it would be a cinch to win back all of his money. This was getting better and better. Glee fairly rippled over him, but his face was a mask of stone, showing nothing but a polite smile.

“Shelby, are you sure your Uncle will be okay with this?” Ramos interrupted, feigning unease.

I blew out a breath, sending him an annoyed frown. “You’re forgetting that he sent me to take care of this problem, so it’s my decision, not his. And I say we play.”

Ramos sighed, letting his shoulders sag in pretended defeat, then straightened with purpose and pinned a no-nonsense gaze on Carson. “We’ll want to play on neutral ground,” he said forcefully. “And I’ll be there as Shelby’s bodyguard.”

“Agreed,” Carson said. “I know of several venues that will let us play a private game for a small fee.” He took a pen and notebook from his jacket pocket and scribbled their names and addresses down. Handing it to Ramos, he continued, “Why don’t you pick the place and let me know?”

Ramos nodded. “How soon can you get the money together? We’re kind of on a time frame.”

“Would tomorrow be all right?” Carson asked. “I can have the money and meet you at the venue by five o’clock. We can agree to call the game at midnight… unless one of us is out of money before that. Does that work for you?”

“Sure,” Ramos said. “I’ll check these places out tonight and let you know where the game will be in the morning. We can meet there and agree to the terms then.”

“Good.” Carson stood. “I shall look forward to it.” With a gleam in his eyes, he turned his sugary sweet smile to me, and I wanted to gag. He thought he had it in the bag, and was so pleased with himself that he couldn’t help letting his delight show.

We shook hands, and he held mine a little longer than necessary. He was thinking about bringing my hand to his lips for a kiss, but I quickly pulled it away, smiling demurely so I didn’t offend him.

“See you tomorrow,” I said. I turned my back, letting the smile fall from my face, and tried not to grumble. I didn’t know how I’d be ready by tomorrow, but I’d give it my best shot. Beating him now became my number one priority, and since it was just going to be the two of us, I wouldn’t have to divide my attention between other players. I couldn’t imagine how I’d keep everyone’s cards straight, but just his? Yeah, I could do that. Now all I had to do was learn how to play. With a name like Ace, Ramos had to be an expert, and with him teaching me, it couldn’t be too hard, right?

I couldn’t wait to get out of there and started toward the stairs with Ramos at my heels. I slowed at the top of the stairs, and he came beside me, placing my hand in the crook of his arm to escort me out of the club. He was thinking this was working out better than he’d planned, and that Carson was in for a shock when I bested him and won all his money.

“Are you sure I can do it?” I asked. “That’s a lot of money. What if I mess up?”

“Trust me, you won’t,” he said.

How could I argue with that? I sure hoped he was right. We pushed through the crowd again, and I could feel the attention of Carson and his goons looking down on us from above like an itch between my shoulder blades. He was already making plans for the big game, and I caught something about a person he needed to call for a favor. He probably needed help getting all that money. Before I could hear more, we made it to the doors where Nick stood guard and pushed through to the other side and out of the club.

Nick followed behind, and waited until we were in the car before he spoke. “So, how did it go?”

“Good,” Ramos said. “He didn’t even ask for the thumb-drive. All he wanted was a chance to win the money back in a poker game.”

“What?” Nick asked. “That could be bad. I heard that Carson always wins at poker. He’s a professional player. You didn’t take him up on it, did you?”

“Relax,” Ramos said. “He’s not going to win. He doesn’t know about our secret weapon. Shelby’s going to play against him. He thinks it’s a joke. Is he ever in for a surprise.”

Nick was more confused than ever. “Shelby’s going to play him?” He turned his attention to me. “Are you that good?”

“Well, I’m sure once I learn how I’ll be good at it.” I glanced at Nick to find his mouth hanging open and his eyes bulging with alarm. I burst out laughing. “Sorry, Nick, but you should see your face!”

“I don’t see what’s so funny, unless you know something I don’t know.” His face darkened in a scowl. “So what is it?”

That sobered me up in a flash. “I get premonitions,” I answered quickly, before Ramos could say anything. I glanced at him, and he frowned, but kept his mouth shut. “That’s how I help Uncle Joey. I’m sure you’ve wondered about me. Well, now you know. Just keep it to yourself. This isn’t something we want people to know.”

Nick sat back in his seat, thinking I was nuts. He’d heard about people who thought they were psychics, but how could that help me win at poker? This was crazy. Psychics couldn’t read minds. “What, so did you get a feeling you’d win if you played him or something?”

I huffed. “Yeah, something like that.” I knew I wasn’t helping, but I didn’t feel like explaining it to Nick. Telling him I had premonitions was hard enough, and I didn’t want him to figure out I really could read minds. That would be lots worse.

He didn’t buy it and was thinking he’d better call Manetto and let him know something was going on between me and Ramos and we couldn’t be trusted. He hated to be the one to tell him we were double-crossers, especially when it came to Ramos, but someone had to do it.

“Listen Nick,” I turned in my seat to face him. “It’s a little more complicated than that, but I can’t explain it. You’ll just have to trust us. Go ahead and call Uncle Joey if you want. He’ll tell you it’s true.”

Nick’s eyes widened. Either I was the best liar ever or there might be something to my story. Still, he wasn’t going to take any chances. He’d call Manetto as soon as he could talk to him in private. “It’s just a lot to take in,” he said. “So what’s next?”

Ramos raised his brows at me, but didn’t question Nick’s comment, and explained how he needed to find a neutral location for the game. He handed Nick the paper with Carson’s suggestions. “We need to check those out, but also see if we can find something else. I’d be happier if we found a place Carson’s never been before. The game starts at five tomorrow, so that doesn’t give us a lot of time. Can you work on that? Manetto has a few contacts here. They might know where to look.”

“Sure, I can do that,” Nick agreed, thinking that would give him just the excuse he needed to talk to Manetto.

I glanced at Ramos. “You’d better call Uncle Joey first and let him know what’s going on. Do you think he’ll be upset?”

“No,” Ramos said forcefully. “This is my operation. He’ll be fine with it, but I’ll call him as soon as we get back if that’s what you want.”

“I think that would be best,” I said. Glancing back at Nick, I asked, “Do you know how to play poker?” He nodded, but he was thinking that he didn’t want to be involved in any part of my downfall. Sheesh, talk about a confidence killer. “Since we’re stopping for office supplies, maybe we should get a deck of cards and one of those dummies books on how to play poker. I could study that tonight at least.”

Ramos started to chuckle. “I’ll teach you how to play.”

“She has a point,” Nick spoke up. “It’s one thing to know how to play poker, but another to actually have the experience. She’s going to have to play all day tomorrow with one of us just to get the gist of the game, if she’s going to even have a chance at winning tomorrow night. Premonitions or not, most of playing poker is strategy.” He ran his fingers through his hair in agitation. “I can’t believe you’re actually going through with this.”

My heart sank. Was he right? Could I learn the strategy in time? “He has a point, doesn’t he Ramos? Are you sure this is going to work?”

“Yes,” he said, his voice firm with conviction. “With a little training and your advantage, it will work like a charm. Don’t worry so much. What you can do is every poker player’s dream. You’ll be great.”

“Okay,” I said, somewhat relieved. If Ramos thought I could do it, then I might as well start believing it myself. Plus, it was lots better than thinking I would fail.

We found a store, and while Ramos and Nick gathered the things we needed, I found the “Poker For Dummies” book and slipped it onto the counter just before Ramos got out his credit card to pay. He glanced at me with his eyebrows all scrunched together, thinking it was a waste of money, but shook his head and paid for it anyway.

I smiled my thanks at him, and he rolled his eyes, thinking that I had a lot of nerve after he’d promised to teach me. I feigned offense and smacked his arm. It lightened my mood until I caught Nick’s suspicious thoughts, wondering what was going on between us. Talk about ruining the moment. After that, I insisted on sitting in the back seat and perused my new book until we got home around ten p.m.

Ramos hurried out to the deck to call Uncle Joey in private, and Nick headed to the computer room to find information about the venues on the Internet. I needed to call my husband and dashed upstairs to my room.

“Hi Chris,” I said, out of breath. “Sorry I’m calling you back so late.”

“That’s okay.” His voice was gravelly, like he’d been asleep. “What’s going on?”

Taking a deep breath, I plunged right in. “I’m scheduled to play poker with Carson tomorrow night, so I should be able to come home day after tomorrow. What about you? How are things going at home?”

There was silence on his end for a few heartbeats before Chris finally spoke. “Isn’t Carson the guy who killed Warren?”

“Well, not technically, but yeah… his guy with the snake tattoos did. Oh and I found out his name was Cobra. Isn’t that nuts?” When he didn’t answer right away, I continued, “You know, like from the cartoon?”

Chris sighed heavily. “Where’s Ramos? I really need to talk to him.”

“Um… he’s on the phone with Uncle Joey, but he might be off by now. Just a minute and I’ll check.” I hurried down the stairs, hoping I could hand the phone over to Ramos and he’d take care of this, because seriously… I didn’t know what else to say.

Ramos was still out on the deck talking. “It looks like he’s still on his phone, but we can chat until he gets done.”

“Um… sure,” Chris said.

“What did you guys have for dinner?” I asked, needing to start somewhere. Chris answered, and we ended up talking about the kids for a while. “You know, someday we’ll look back on this and laugh.”

“I sure hope so,” Chris answered. “Are you going to be okay? I’m really anxious about this. Maybe I’d better catch a flight out there first thing in the morning.”

“Yeah? I would love that, but you’d probably better talk to Ramos first.” Hearing the sliding door, I glanced up. “It looks like he’s done. Just a minute and I’ll get him.”

Ramos came in frowning. Manetto had brought up some things Ramos hadn’t thought about, making it more complicated than he wanted, but it could still work. He just had a lot to do between now and the game.

As I came toward him, his gaze caught mine, and noticing the phone, he knew it had to be Chris. Sighing deeply, he took the phone from my hand.

“Yes?” he said, impersonally.

“Is Shelby going to be all right? Because if anything happens to her, I’m holding you personally responsible.” Chris was speaking so loud I could hear him over the phone. “What have you gotten her into? She said something about playing a poker game with Carson. Won’t that be dangerous? How can you let her do that?”

“She’ll be fine,” Ramos said, his tone harsh. “I have plenty of backup, and nothing’s going to go wrong.”

“Are you sure? Should I catch a flight out there in the morning?”

“No,” Ramos said. “That’s unnecessary. I won’t let anything happen to her. You have my word.”

More silence then, “You’d better mean that, because I’m holding you to it. Now let me talk to my wife.”

Ramos handed me the phone with a shake of his head, and stormed back outside onto the deck. Yikes! “I think you made him mad,” I said.

“Good.” He paused to get under control.

“Chris, I know this is hard, but I’ll be okay. I’ve got my super powers remember? I’ll know if anything bad is going to happen, and Ramos can take care of it. I’ve been in worse situations than this, and I’ve come out fine.”

“That’s true,” he agreed. “You’ve been awfully lucky. I just hope your luck doesn’t run out anytime soon.”

“Geeze! Lighten up. You’re giving me the creeps. Everything will be okay, and learning how to play poker is bound to come in handy, right? Now quit worrying.”

He sighed. “Okay… sure. Hey, Savannah’s here, she wants to say hi.”

“Sweet, put her on.”

Talking to Savannah was like coming home and remembering what it was like to be normal. I didn’t even mind answering all her questions about the friend I was helping, where I was, and when I’d be back, although I had to keep it light, without going into a lot of detail. It was easy to turn the focus back to her, and she chatted on and on about what she’d been doing the last few days. I enjoyed telling her all about the hair hat I bought at the airport, and she couldn’t wait to see it and try it on herself. Finally, she put Chris back on. To my relief, he sounded more like his old self, and after I promised to call him the next day, we said goodnight.