A Dozen Deadly Roses (18 page)

When Jade returned, she was surprised to see her SUV parked in the driveway and Mac chatting with Mona and Angus.  Donnie played nearby.

“I finished sooner than I’d planned.  I thought we might as well hit the road as soon as we can,” Mac explained.

“Works for me,” said Jade.  “Dad, can we leave Mac’s truck in the driveway?  It’ll make the place look like someone is home.”

“Sure thing, lass.”  A bright blue and green van pulled to the curb. “Okay, daughter, this is it.  We’ll see you in Vegas.”

Jade hugged her father and his bride-to-be while Mac helped the driver load the luggage in the storage area.

“Bye, Grandpa.  Bye, Mona,” Donnie said as the couple climbed into the van.

Mac, Jade and Donnie stood on the sidewalk waving as the shuttle drove out of sight.  A few minutes later, they too were on the road.

"Mommy, how far is Las Vegas?" Donnie asked from the back seat of Jade's SUV.

She turned to face him from the front passenger seat.  "It's a very long way.  I think if you can fall asleep it would be a good idea."

Her son scowled at her.  "I just woked up, I'm not tired."

Mac gave Jade a sidelong glance.  "Don't argue with the logic of children, they'll beat you every time."  From the driver's seat he looked into the rear-view mirror at the boy.  "I don't think your mother expects you to go to sleep now, Donnie, but it's going to take us about five hours to get there.  That's a long time.  You may want to sleep later."

The little boy nodded back at him. "Okay, Mr. Stryker.  I'll let you know if I get tired."  He picked up a book about firemen from the seat where Jade had set a bag of books and small toys for him to play with.

"What time is the wedding tomorrow?" Mac asked.

"Not until seven.  Mona wanted a candlelight service."

"Good.  That will give us half of today and most of tomorrow to see the town."

# # #

A few hours later, Mac swung the SUV into a parking spot outside a fast-food restaurant in Barstow.  Although the day was sunny, the ambient air was cool as they got out of Jade’s car.

"Donnie, hold Mommy’s hand.  Cars are pulling in and out and they can't see you."

"Come here, Champ.  I'll carry you," Mac offered.

The little boy sprang into Mac's arms as they made their way through the crowded parking lot.  Mac had forgotten the sense of contentment that came from holding a small child.  Ashley had loved it when Mac carried her.  She always told him he was the “strongest Daddy in the whole world.”  God, how he missed her…and Susan.

Inside the restaurant, Jade and Donnie sat at a table while Mac got their food.

"Mama, can we go outside to the playground?"

"Not right now, Donnie.  Here comes Mac with the food."

Mac placed the tray laden with burgers and fries in the middle of the table.

Jade used a plastic knife to cut Donnie's burger in half.

"I can't believe how crowded it is in here," she said.  "I think everyone going to Vegas must stop here."

Mac looked around at the crowd.  His eyes assessed two muscled, leather-clad bikers.  They sat across the dining area, their hardened stares focused on Jade.

Mac wasn't sure if their interest was in Jade's toned body wrapped in black jeans and moss-green sweater, or if there was a more sinister meaning behind their attention.  Mac glared at the men, the weight of his handgun in a shoulder holster comforting.  They must have felt Mac watching them because the larger of the two men said something to his friend who laughed, displaying a smile with several missing teeth.  The biggest man wadded the wrappers from his meal and hurled them at a trashcan as they swaggered from the burger joint.  The big guy glared a challenge to Mac.

If Jade was aware of the men, she gave no indication.  She encouraged Donnie to finish his hamburger.

Mac purposely stalled for a few minutes to give the bikers plenty of time to get on their motorcycles and leave the parking lot.  If he had been alone, he would have confronted the tattooed scumbags.  But with Jade and Donnie here, he'd take the path of least resistance.

"All set, Champ?" Mac asked.  At Donnie's nod, he turned to Jade.  "How about you, Mom?  Ready to go?"

"Yes, but I think Donnie should use the bathroom before we go.  Would you mind taking him?"

"I think I can handle that.  Come on, Donnie."

"You mean I don't have to go in the girl’s bathroom?  Oh boy.  Mama always takes me in with her," Donnie explained, grasping Mac's hand.

"I'll meet you at the car," Jade said, heading toward the ladies room.

Mac didn't realize how long it took to get a small, curious boy to use necessary facilities.  Finally they were done.  "Come on, your Mom will think we fell in."

Stepping into the cold, crisp air, Mac spotted Jade by the SUV. From her rigid stance, and the way she scanned the parking lot, he knew something was wrong.

CHAPTER 9

Lifting Donnie to him, Mac jogged to Jade.  Then he saw the box in her hands.  Sunlight glared off the gold foil.

“Where’d you get that?” he demanded.

"It was on the hood of my car."  Her face was devoid of color and her shoulders slumped. "He's following us."

Mac pressed the car keys in her hand.  "You and Donnie get in the car and lock the doors."  He jogged into the middle of the parking lot and did a quick surveillance.  There was no one who stood out or looked as if they were paying any attention to Jade.  Although Mac didn't think the bikers were involved, he checked for them but didn't see them.  He returned to the SUV.

Jade unlocked the door and he climbed into the driver's seat.  "When you came out, did you see anyone around the truck?"

Jade shook her head as a single tear slid down her cheek.

"Mama, why are you crying?  You got a present.  Let me open this one.  Pretty please?" he whined.

"You know what, Champ?  The boxes are a special present, just for adults.  But you know what I'm going to do?  When we get to Las Vegas, I'm going to buy you your own special present.  How would you like that?"

"Oh boy!  Do you think I could get a fireman’s badge?"

Jade's voice was flat.  "You know, you don't have to do that.  Keep giving him gifts, he'll expect a present every time he sees you."

Mac ignored her barb.  "Go outside and take the box to the back of the truck.  Let's see what you got this time."

Jade clutched the box and slammed the door as she got out of the car.

"Your Mom and I will be outside, behind the truck," Mac said.  He handed Donnie a toy fire engine and firefighter before closing the driver's door.

Jade thrust the shiny box towards Mac.  "I
know
what’s inside,” she said.  “You open it.  The frigging psycho is following us to Vegas.”  Her low tone was shot with fear.

Mac opened the rear hatch of the SUV and set the box in the storage area next to their luggage.  For the second time in two days, Mac produced a black-handled folding knife and flipped open the blade with a reassuring snap.  The sharp edge severed the scarlet ribbon encircling the box.  Lifting the lid off of the container, he saw she was right.  Nestled in the green tissue paper lay three roses, brittle with decay.  There was something else inside.  A piece of paper, folded in half.  In the afternoon light he could see letters of the alphabet had been cut from various publications and affixed to the page to form a cryptic message.

“There’s a note inside,” he said.  “Maybe there’s prints.”  She stood next to him as he used the top of the knife to expose the writing.

Thought you could hide didn’t you?  I'm coming for you bitch.  You AND your kid
.

"When I find out who's doing this, Mac, I'm going to kill him."

"We can't fool around with this anymore.  Not with him following us and threatening Donnie.  We've got to let the Department know what's going on.  You've got a gun, right?"

She lifted the edge of her sweater to expose the barrel of the black semi-auto holstered to her belt.

“There’s no need to let the Department know about this,” she said, her lips forming a thin line.  “Lasko didn’t want to know about it when I tried to tell her, and they sure as hell aren’t going to send anyone out here to the desert to investigate.  Let’s just get going.”

“You know, you are fucking crazy.”

“What?”

“Someone has literally destroyed your house and threatened your son in the last twenty-four hours and you still refuse to let the Department or the captain know.  You’re letting your pride get in the way.  I thought you were smarter than that.”

“You don’t get it, Mac!  Neither the Department nor the captain cares!  For all we know, maybe the Department is behind this.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m just saying that at this point I don’t trust anyone, including the Department or the captain.  The Department didn’t care before and they aren’t going to care now.”  She tossed her hair behind her back.  “We’d better get back to Donnie.”

“Jade, is there something more going on?  Are you under investigation for something?  Is that why you’re refusing to get help from the LAPD?”

She shook her head.

“Well then, what you’re saying doesn’t make any sense.”

“Okay,” she argued, “try this on for size.  If you and I go to the Department, or even the FBI with this, we’ll both be under investigation and probably lose our jobs because we aren’t supposed to be socializing off duty.  I can’t bend the truth and say that I found the box by myself because detectives will come out here and pull surveillance video to see who left the box.  They may not see the psycho, but you can bet they
will
see you, me and Donnie looking like a big happy family on vacation!  I
need
my job, Mac.  I can’t get fired over this.  I’m sure the two of us can get this figured out.  Let’s get to Vegas, get my Dad married and then we can buckle down and get this bastard.”  Turning on her heel, Jade marched to the passenger side of the SUV and got in, slamming the door behind her.

Wordlessly, Mac put the lid back on the box and stored it behind the luggage in the cargo compartment.  Then he did a quick walk around the vehicle making sure none of the tires had been flattened or some other booby-trap had been set.

Mac was really puzzled.  For some reason, Jade refused to go to the organization that could help her the most.  She was right about them possibly losing their jobs, but the danger she was in was so much greater of a threat.

"We'll get to Vegas and check into the hotel in my name,” he said.  “Maybe we’ll call the captain and let him know what's going on.  I'm sure he'll make arrangements to have Vegas Metro P.D. assign someone to watch us."

“I already told you how we were going to handle it,” Jade said, pointedly looking over her shoulder at Donnie.

As they drove off, Mac checked the rear view mirror for a tail while moving along the highway.  He didn’t see anything unusual.  A few hours later, the SUV sped down the highway towards the large assortment of various shaped buildings forming the infamous "strip."

"I think we should play it safe,” he said.  “I know we’ve got reservations, but let’s stay at a different hotel.  Once we get settled, you can call your dad and Mona and let them know where we are."

"What am I going to tell them?  I don't want to tell them the truth."

"Mama, you told me to always tell the truth," Donnie said.

"Gosh, Donnie, you were so quiet, I thought you were asleep," said Jade.

"Mama, look at the castle," Donnie said pointing a plump finger.  He twisted in his seat.  "That one's shaped like a triangle.  Wow.  Hey look at that tall pointy one."

"That hotel has a roller coaster on the very top," Mac said.

"Cool.  Can we go on it, Mr. Stryker?"

"I'm not sure you're big enough, Donnie, but we'll check it out."

"Great," Jade said to Mac, "on top of everything else going on, I've got to worry about my son becoming a Vegas junkie."

“I think that’s one worry you can let go,” he said.  “We’ve got enough to keep us busy right now.”

# # #

They checked into a hotel with a tropical theme.  Mac insisted they stay in a suite where the three of them could all stay together.  He’d braced himself for an argument from Jade, but she didn’t say a word.  He felt sorry for her; she looked so tired and discouraged.

Donnie was wide-eyed but quiet, holding on to his mother’s hand as they wound their way to the bank of elevators to take them to their accommodations.

“Can I press the button?” he begged.

Once in their room, Jade perked up a little.  "Oh, Mac this is beautiful.  Look at the view."

Donnie ran over and peered through floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the pool area.  “Look, they got a slide that goes in the water.  I wanna go down and do it.”

“Donnie, it’s too cold to go swimming.  But maybe I’ll take you down to the pool later so we can check it out,” Jade said.

"You two take the bedroom with the king size bed.  I'll sleep on the fold-out couch," Mac said, glancing at the king-size bed in the bedroom.  He imagined Jade wrapped safely in his arms beneath the blankets in that bed.  Better get those thoughts out of your head, he thought to himself.  Your mission is to focus and keep Jade and Donnie safe – not get her into bed.

“I’d better call Dad and Mona,” she said.  “They must be wondering where we are.”

Mac easily carried their luggage to the bedroom.  “Tell them we’ll meet them for dinner over at their hotel.  That will give us time to check out the grounds here, and see what else they have to amuse a little boy,” he said, ruffling the hair on Donnie’s head.  In return, Donnie erupted in a melody of giggles.

A couple hours later, Mac, Jade and Donnie stood in the lobby of Angus and Mona’s hotel.  Decorated in an old west theme; the casino was easily in view.  Melodic chimes of the slot machines beckoned, while cocktail servers dressed as saloon girls moved with surgical precision through the throngs of people.  Employees working the table games wore brocade vests and long-sleeve white shirts with black ribbon ties.  Animated videos and music from the slot machines competed with excited shouts from the dice tables.