Trapped by Revenge: A Shelby Nichols Adventure (7 page)

“That’s nice,” I said. “Do you work for my uncle?”

“No, we’re just friends.”

“You must be one of the friends he’s helped,” I said, playing dumb about him being a judge. “He helps a lot of people. What I don’t understand is why some of them don’t seem to appreciate it.”

“What?” he asked, alarmed.

“Yeah, he’s had some threats lately. There was even someone who spied on him a while ago. Can you believe that?”

“No,” he said. “I had nothing to do with it.” His face had gone a little ashen, and he glanced at me with trepidation. Did Manetto put me up to talking to him like this? Did Manetto suspect he would do something like that? He’d be nuts to even consider it. “I think the ball is right over there somewhere.” Desperate to get away from me, he tried to leap out of the moving cart. Surprised, I pushed a little too hard on the brake and the cart jerked to a stop, throwing him off balance. He tumbled out and landed on his face.

“Mr. Parker are you all right?” I jumped out of the cart and ran around to the other side. He rolled over and sat up, holding his arm. Blood was oozing from a deep gash on his forearm where he’d cut it on a rock. “Oh no, you’re bleeding! Let me help you up and I’ll take you back to the club house.”

“I’m fine,” he said, holding his arm out to stop me. “I can get up myself.”

While he struggled to his feet, I found the towel in my golf bag and took it to him. “Here, put this on it and get in. It looks like it might need stitches.”

He didn’t argue and took the towel. Seeing all that blood had convinced him he needed to get it checked. I helped him sit down and quickly slid behind the wheel. Catching sight of the club house in the distance, I decided to take a detour through the brush to the road. From there it was a lot faster than driving along the fairway.

I started off and almost made it to the road when the cart quit working. It just stopped for no reason.

“What the hell?” Parker glanced up from his arm. All of his attention had been on wrapping it up in the towel. “Where are you going?”

“I thought I’d take a shortcut to the club house,” I said, surprised at how upset he was.

“Well shit,” he exclaimed. “Don’t you know the carts have a built in GPS and if you take them off the course, they quit working?”

“Um… I guess not. Sorry. How do we get it to start then?”

“You have to push it back onto the course.” He couldn’t believe I was such an idiot.

“Okay, I can do that.” I jumped out of the cart and started pushing for all I was worth. It didn’t budge. I tried again, but nothing happened. Parker just sat there and looked at me. He couldn’t believe what an idiot I was.

I wanted to tell him he’d already thought that. Seriously, couldn’t he think of a different word? Or was being an idiot the best he could come up with? “Maybe if you got out of the cart, it would be easier to push.” I snapped.

He hastily got out and was thinking it would probably be safer if he got away from me and just walked to the clubhouse. I helplessly watched him walk away, and then pushed against the cart with all I had. I even groaned a little. It still didn’t budge. A moment later I heard voices through the brush and Ramos emerged.

“Hey Babe,” he grinned. “Trying to run off with the judge?”

I shrugged, but smiled back, relieved to see him. “Something like that.”

“Let me give you a hand with that.” He came around to where I stood and started pushing. The cart moved easily, and I wasn’t even helping much. “What happened to him?” he asked. “Was that blood I saw?” He knew I didn’t like the sight of blood, and thought maybe that’s why I’d tried to make my escape.

“I was trying to take him to the clubhouse. But how was I supposed to know the cart would stop?”

“Oh,” he smiled. “Yeah, I guess you didn’t know. So how did he get hurt?”

“He fell out of the cart and gashed his arm on a rock or something. But it wasn’t my fault. He was trying to get away and jumped out while we were still moving. When I pushed on the brake, he fell out.”

“Why was he trying to get away? Did you say something that spooked him?” By now Ramos had the cart back onto the fairway and it started right up.

“I just told him that someone was spying on Uncle Joey. I didn’t say it was him or anything, but it still freaked him out. Anyway, at least we know he’s not the judge who did it.”

“Yeah, that’s good,” Ramos said. “So that’s one down, and how many more?”

“Two. Uncle Joey wants me to play poker with one, and then go to church with the other.”

Ramos was surprised at the church part. “Well, the poker should be easy for you, and I know the judge he’s thinking of.” He was thinking that it couldn’t be him, but it was still worth checking out. “Get in. Manetto and Parker are just down there, we can pick them up on our way back.”

He pulled the cart onto a small cart lane I didn’t know about, and we caught up to them. Parker didn’t have any qualms about getting in with Ramos driving. For having a bad gash, he was pretty chipper about stopping early and getting away from us, but it was mostly me he was thinking about. I didn’t think I could scare a judge, but I guess with Uncle Joey involved, anything’s possible.

After Parker left, Uncle Joey suggested we get some breakfast. Since I was actually hungry, that was a no-brainer for me. Plus I’d never eaten there before and wanted to see what it was like. The dining room was beautiful, done in dark wood and floor-to-ceiling windows. The heavy wooden table and plush chairs we sat in were comfortable, and the view out the windows was amazing.

We placed our orders, and Uncle Joey turned to me. “So it’s not Parker?”

“No. I don’t think you have to worry about him. He’s terrified of you.”

He chuckled. “Maybe, but I think he was more scared of you today than he was of me. What happened to his arm? He said you stopped suddenly and made him fall out.”

“That’s exactly what happened, but he was trying to jump out in the first place, that’s why I stopped. Then he thought I was an idiot when the cart quit working, but how was I supposed to know that would happen?”

“Oh, now it makes sense,” Uncle Joey said, thinking that bringing me along always brought out the unexpected, but it certainly made things more interesting. “Well, that leaves us with the next judge. Thursday night is our usual poker night, but I can see if we can do it tonight.” Today was Tuesday, but he didn’t think moving it up would be a problem. As long as the judge was there, it didn’t matter who else showed up. “I don’t need to tell you that we need to move on this quickly.”

“I know. That should work,” I said.

“Good. We usually start at nine and go until midnight, but you can quit whenever you like, unless you’re winning.” He was actually looking forward to playing with me.

“You’re playing?” I asked. He nodded and I continued. “Who else?” I glanced at Ramos.

“Oh no, not me,” Ramos answered. “I know better than that.”

“Just a few close friends,” Uncle Joey said. “Not anyone you have to worry about. And you don’t even have to worry about winning this time.”

I smiled. “That’s a relief.”

“We play at The Comet Club. Get there a little early, say eight forty-five. Just tell them who you are at the door, and the attendant will bring you to our room.”

“Okay. But what if Chris wants to come? Should I bring him?” A loud no came from both their minds, and I raised my brow. “Then what am I going to tell him? I don’t think he’ll like me going there alone. Have you heard about that place? I haven’t ever been there, but I’ve heard it’s a pretty wild crowd. I think it was even under investigation for drugs or something not too long ago. Are you sure that’s where you want to go?”

Ramos was thinking I should stop talking, and Uncle Joey pursed his lips into a hard frown. He was a little offended that I doubted I’d be safe at his club. Even if he didn’t run the place, he still owned it, and he didn’t like that I thought it was bad. There were all sorts of celebrities and prominent people who liked it.

“Oh, sorry,” I grimaced. “I didn’t know it was your place. I’m sure it will be fine then. I must have heard wrong.” I offered an apologetic smile and shrugged. “So the investigation was probably more like harassment, right?”

“Don’t worry, Shelby,” Uncle Joey said. “It’s all taken care of.”

“Good. Okay, I’ll try to get there without Chris.”

“I’ll pick you up and bring you home,” Uncle Joey said. “Chris shouldn’t have a problem with that, but if he does, I’d be happy to talk to him and explain the situation.” He was thinking that if Chris was going to be a problem, maybe it was time to have a much needed conversation with him to let him know how things stood.

“Um… okay about the ride, but I’m sure talking to Chris won’t be necessary. He’ll be fine.” Yikes! Uncle Joey’s idea of a conversation involved more than a nice little chat. In fact there was nothing nice about it. Knowing how Chris felt, he’d probably just make it worse, so there was no way I ever wanted that to happen. I’d have to handle Chris myself, even if it meant not being absolutely honest with him.

“What time should I be ready?” I asked.

“The car will be there at eight-thirty,” he answered.

“Okay. I’ll be waiting.” Wanting to take his mind off roughing up my husband I asked, “So, have you found out anything else?”

“No.” Uncle Joey felt bad about that. He glanced at Ramos who quickly explained that so far they didn’t have much to go on, but they hadn’t heard from all their sources yet.

“Don’t worry,” Ramos said. “I’m sure something will turn up. I just wish I could get my hands on Killpack’s files. It would help to know who his clients were, and if any of them wanted him dead.”

“Yeah, the police have them locked up tight,” I said. “They won’t even let me help.”

“I should think not,” Uncle Joey said, narrowing his eyes at me. He was peeved that I helped the police at all. “I’ll see if I can find out anything from my source. What about you, Shelby? Have you found anything useful?”

“Well, actually, I have.” I wasn’t sure I should tell them about Billie. They’d probably think I was nuts to work with a reporter. On the other hand, if them knowing what I knew could help me, I should probably tell them everything.

“I know this reporter, and she’s given me some interesting information. She’s been working on a case that’s similar to mine, and I thought we could check it out together.”

“That’s a bad idea,” Uncle Joey said. “You can’t trust reporters. They’ll print anything they want whether it’s true or not.”

“But she’s different,” I said. “And with this case she’s really trying to uncover the truth, not just say what everyone wants to hear, or spin it to benefit someone. She’s thinking of a Pulitzer Prize.”

“What case is that?” Uncle Joey asked.

“There’s this guy, Jim Porter, who’s scheduled for execution next week, but he claims he was framed. Just like me. He’s supposed to have killed his girlfriend, but Billie, that’s the reporter, believes he was set up… and the circumstances are similar to mine.”

I held up my fingers as I explained, and counted them off. “One, they found his gun in the bathroom. Two, it’s stuffed in the garbage can, and three, it’s in a zip-lock bag with gloves and a rag. It’s exactly the same as how my gun was found. So that’s the lead I’m following right now. In fact, I’m going to the prison today to talk to him. I’ll know for sure if he did it. Good thinking, huh?”

“Yes,” Ramos answered. Uncle Joey was less enthusiastic and only grunted.

“So, all I have to do is find the connection between Killpack’s murder, and the girlfriend’s murder.”

“Maybe Killpack was looking into it and found out who the real killer is,” Ramos mused. “That could mean that if you looked into it, you could be in danger.” He was thinking that’s why he needed access to Killpack’s files.

“Yeah that would help,” I agreed.

“Would help what?” Uncle Joey asked, irritated that he was left out of the conversation. Oops.

“Taking a look at Killpack’s files,” Ramos said quickly. He arched his brow at me and thought,
don’t do that to Manetto. You don’t want him upset with you
. I frowned, but gave Ramos a grudging nod, hating that he was scolding me, even if he was right.

“Yes,” Uncle Joey agreed. “I’ll see what my contact at the police department can do about that.” He glanced at me. “In the meantime, you should follow that lead of yours. It might turn out to be useful.”

“Okay, good. I will. In fact, I’d better get going if I’m going to be ready in time.” I stood up from the table and pushed in my chair.

“We’ll see you tonight then,” Uncle Joey said. I nodded and turned away.

“Wait Shelby,” Ramos said. “I’ll walk you out.” He was thinking I was upset with him, but didn’t know why, and he wanted to smooth things over with me.

I glanced at Uncle Joey, who was thinking that no matter what we said, Ramos and I were involved. He wasn’t sure he liked it, but he understood it. I’d done something for Ramos that had earned his trust, which no one but Uncle Joey had ever done before. Uncle Joey didn’t know what it was, but it had changed Ramos. As long as it didn’t interfere with Ramos’ job, he supposed it was all right.

This time, I nodded at Uncle Joey to let him know I’d heard his thoughts. I turned back to Ramos and found him scowling at me. He was wondering what Uncle Joey had just told me, and I knew I’d have to explain it to him, which I figured I could do, but for Pete’s sake! Couldn’t they just say stuff out loud and get it over with?