The Case of the Sin City Sister (19 page)

“Maybe you should try something to help clear out the congestion,” she suggested.

“I don’t need anything,” he replied. “I checked and there’s no message in my mailbox,” he added.

“What’s the number?” Eve asked, swinging her legs over the side of the bed and reaching for a pen and paper.

He called out the number and Eve wrote it down but didn’t recognize it. The Captain was right—it was the Vegas area code. “Did you dial the number?” she asked.

“Did I dial the number?” he repeated sarcastically. “Of course I dialed the number.”

“And?” She chose not to react to the tone of his voice.

“And nobody answered,” he replied.

He coughed.

Eve waited.

“You still there?” he asked.

“Yes,” she replied.

“I don’t figure it helps anything, but I just wanted you to know,” he said, his voice a bit softer.

“Thanks, I’m glad you called.”

There was a pause.

“What else is going on?” she asked.

“Been out to Salazar’s place. He wants me to pick the spot to dig.” More coughing.

Eve didn’t respond.

“Oh, and that Alford fellow thinks he found a picture of his great-grandfather.”

“Where?”

“He was looking around at the What Not Shop, found some old mining pictures. There was a shot of a man holding up a set of beads like the one he got in the mail a few years ago. He’s certain it’s his kin.”

“Does he know about the marriage license?” She recalled the latest information on their client and that the Captain had wanted her to break the news when she returned.

“Nah, he doesn’t know about that.” The Captain blew his nose.

Eve thought about the man’s find. The What Not Shop was on the main drag of Cerrillos and carried a lot of old paraphernalia from the mining days. She had gone through a stack of old photographs herself since she’d returned home from the convent. It had not occurred to her that information about the missing miner might be found at the local shop.

“Anyway, I don’t know why I’m going on about that. I just wanted to tell you about the phone call this morning.”

“Okay, thanks,” she responded. “I’ll keep calling the number
and maybe she’ll answer. It would be great to hear her voice and know that she’s okay.”

Eve could hear him breathing on the other end of the phone. She waited to see what he wanted to say, wondered if he wanted to confess his fear or worry about his youngest daughter.

“I’m glad Daniel’s going to the police,” he finally said, breaking the silence.

“I think they’ll help us a lot,” she responded.

“Okay.” He coughed. “Be careful,” he said, clicking off before Eve could reply.

“Right,” she said to the line gone dead. She put down the receiver and fell back on the bed.

Eve went over what she had just learned, naming the details out loud: “Dorisanne calls home at four o’clock in the morning. She has a Las Vegas number, not her old one, dials our father’s cell phone, but doesn’t leave a message and doesn’t pick up when he calls her.”

She ran her fingers through her hair.

“Dorisanne, where are you?”

THIRTY-ONE

By the time Eve had showered and gotten dressed for the day, Daniel had returned from his visit to the Las Vegas Police Department. They were both starving and decided to grab a bite of lunch before heading over to the apartment building. They found a Chinese restaurant close to the location where they were heading and ate quickly. It was 1:45 when they arrived at the building, and they both agreed they should wait until after two o’clock to make sure Steve had left and gone to work, keeping things as easy as possible for Pauline.

“So we can’t file a missing person report because both Dorisanne and Robbie are missing, and there doesn’t appear to be any trouble at their apartment.” Eve was recounting what Daniel had already told her. “What did your friend at the department say about Robbie?” she asked as they sat in the parking lot. It was hot and she lowered the window. They had spoken about a few other events of the morning, but they had not discussed Dorisanne’s husband and whether or not there was any suspicion from the police cast in his direction.

“Like I’ve told you before, he’s had a little trouble in the past,” Daniel answered.

Eve waited. This wasn’t late-breaking news, she knew.

A few cars came and went from the parking lot. They both watched them, knowing that they wouldn’t really be able to tell if Steve was in one of them or not since neither of them had seen him during their first visit.

“Possession of stolen property, a few forged checks.” Daniel placed his hands on the steering wheel in front of him.

Eve could see he wasn’t finished. She remained patient.

“There’s talk,” he finally said.

“Talk?” Eve asked.

“My friend James Drennan thinks he’s involved in a credit card theft ring, stolen identities racket.”

“But no arrests?”

Daniel shook his head. “They’ve never really caught him in the act. Not enough evidence.”

“So when you told James who Robbie was, he knew about him.” She glanced ahead, watching the sights through the windshield.

“I told you I had him checked out when they first got married, so my friend was already alerted to Mr. Robert Miller.”

Eve recalled Daniel’s earlier trips to Vegas, the Captain’s confession about the background checks on Robbie. She didn’t realize, however, that one of them had talked to police officers about her brother-in-law.

“Was this credit card thing something from before they got married or is it recent?”

“A few months ago,” he replied.

Eve sighed, leaned her head back against the car seat. She had been hoping the best about her sister’s husband, hoping that this incident was only a bad debt that could be quickly remedied. But things were sounding a bit more complicated.

“James thinks Robbie was on the ground floor, a Dumpster diver, somebody who finds the numbers and passes them along to the smarter guys.”

“So he sorts through trash for credit card vouchers?”

“Maybe.”

“I thought most of that kind of theft happened because of computer transactions. I was going to do the banking online for the office, but the Captain was convinced the account could be hacked. He doesn’t trust computers.”

Daniel laughed. “A lot of folks don’t. But it’s actually not as risky as it was once thought to be. Most of the banking stuff is pretty secure. The truth is that the top methods identity thieves use to steal personal data are still pretty low-tech. These guys simply steal mail and try to get information from phone conversations. Stolen wallets, checkbooks, and credit and debit cards make up almost half of the reported incidents of identity theft.”

“Robbie was going around stealing from mailboxes?” Eve asked. “That doesn’t sound very lucrative, and it seems pretty stupid, actually.”

“Yeah, well, that’s why it’s the ground floor. But he was most likely not going around looking in mailboxes. He was probably going into hotels and casinos, hanging out around ATMs. There are usually a lot of drunks getting cash to gamble, and they tend to be a little sloppy with how they do things.”

“Easy targets,” Eve added, with a new understanding of credit card theft and her brother-in-law’s possible extracurricular activities.

They were quiet for a bit. Eve glanced at the clock on the dashboard. It was now fifteen minutes after two. She tried to push a thought out of her mind but finally had to ask Daniel’s opinion.

“Do you think that’s the trouble Dorisanne had gotten into at the lounge, why she was fired? Do you think she’s involved somehow with Robbie?”

Daniel turned to Eve. “I don’t want to think that about Dorisanne.” He turned back to look ahead. “But Robbie may have told her they didn’t have any options, told her she only needed to do a few hits, watch the ATM near the lounge, get a few numbers, and then they’d be out.” He drew in a breath. “You never know.” He shook his head. “There’s nothing predictable about your sister.”

Eve watched a motorcycle make an exit from the parking lot, wondered if the driver was Steve, Pauline’s boyfriend, but she had no way to know. She leaned back again and closed her eyes. Could Dorisanne actually be deep into this mess too? Could she be involved in a theft ring? These were thoughts Eve didn’t want to consider.

“Look, James said they had no record on Dorisanne. She’s not wanted for anything. She’s not been targeted by her boss. Let’s not jump to conclusions about her involvement yet, okay? Let’s just focus on finding her.”

Eve nodded. She knew Daniel was trying to make things easier for her.

“Did you notice your dad’s cough?”

“He said it was allergies,” Eve answered.

“Right, yeah, that makes sense,” he responded.

The conversation paused while they both watched the minutes tick away. When it was finally two thirty and they both agreed they had waited long enough, Daniel started the engine to move closer to Pauline’s apartment. He pulled into a spot just below the unit and parked. They were just about to exit the car when they heard the sirens blaring, coming in their direction. They watched as three police cars and two ambulances pulled into the parking lot complex and stopped right in front of them. Neither of them moved.

THIRTY-TWO

“What the . . . ?” Daniel appeared just as alarmed as Eve while the squad cars and emergency vehicles rushed into the lot.

They both watched from the car as the officers jumped out of their cars and headed up the steps and gathered outside Pauline’s door.

Someone from the apartments arrived at the landing and opened the door with a key. They all rushed in.

“Something’s happened to Pauline,” Eve said, reaching over to open the door.

Daniel grabbed her by the hand, pulling her back.

She turned to him quickly, surprised at his response, feeling slightly annoyed.

“Let’s just wait here,” he instructed her. “We can see what’s going on.”

Eve sat back.

Six police officers barreled through the front door while the
paramedics stood out on the landing. All Eve could make out was the group of uniformed men and women standing at the door.

“What do you think has happened?” she asked Daniel, who still had his hand on hers.

He shook his head. “I don’t know, but it doesn’t look good.”

“Can you call your friend?” she asked, wondering if the police officer he knew could tell him about the call to Pauline’s apartment.

“Looks like I don’t have to call.” He raised his chin at another officer who had just pulled up and was hurrying up the stairs to join the others. “That’s James,” he added.

Eve watched as the man, a large guy, African American, dressed in a dark suit, headed up to the landing where everyone else was waiting. He flashed a badge and entered the apartment. “I don’t think this is good news,” Eve said. She turned to Daniel. “Do you think Steve beat her up?”

Daniel didn’t answer.

“What if he found out she was helping us?” She pulled her hand away from Daniel’s. “I think we should go up and find out what’s happened. Maybe we can do something.”

“Just wait, Eve,” Daniel instructed her. “Just give it a few more minutes. We’ll find out something soon enough. We would just be in the way up there.”

As soon as Daniel’s words were uttered, the paramedics hurried into the apartment. Eve pulled down her rosary from the rearview mirror and began to pray.

When she finished her prayer and looked up, Daniel was opening his car door. “There’s James, let me talk to him.” And he exited.

Eve watched as Daniel hurried to the Las Vegas detective’s side.
She could see him filling in details. They would both look at each other and then up to the apartment. James, Daniel’s friend, kept shaking his head, making Eve fear the worst.

She fingered the rosary and said more prayers for Pauline and for the first responders at her side. In just a few minutes, Daniel returned.

She waited until he had gotten in and closed the driver’s-side door.

“Domestic violence,” he reported. “A neighbor called it in.”

“Is she okay?” Eve asked.

“She’s alive,” he answered. “Apparently she was beaten pretty bad. The guy used a baseball bat.”