Checkered Thief (A Laurel London Mystery Book 3) (15 page)

“It’s not a big deal.” I got a fist full of material and jerked.

“It is a big deal,” Willie Ray didn’t hold back. He looked as if he were bursting at the seams to tell her. “She’s a millionaire.”

“Shut up, liar.” Gia chomped. She looked at me with amusement, and then her eyes narrowed. “You are! You’re a millionaire!”

“It’s not that big of a deal and no one knows but Trixie, Ben Bassman, him and now you.” I pointed to each of them. It felt like a big weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

“Dish!” Gia jerked me down on the bed and pulled her oversized purse to her. She dug down and pulled out a big zipper bag of makeup.

No wonder I never wore a lot of makeup. It was overload. Gia never left the house without the stuff plastered all over her face.

“It’s not a happy ending because not many people can know or I’ll be dead.” I tilted my head up when she tugged on my chin. She applied all sort of crap to my face as I told her about The Gorilla and my family and how the money was really blood money and my feelings toward it. “That is how I’m going to save Derek.”

Now that she knew, she could be the one to go get it out of the house and Trixie would never think a thing about it.

“Oh no. I’m not going over to lie to Trixie. She has guns and she believes in aliens and shit.” Gia’s lips pressed together like a duck. “She won’t think twice about shooting me.”

“You only have to go over and act concerned for my well being. That’s it. She will doze off and you can go into the office where the radiator is and grab the money.” It was a perfect plan and simple. I wasn’t going to take no for an answer and she knew it.

I gave her careful instructions on where the money was and Charlie would bring her back here as if making another drop-off of flowers. Easy peasy.

“I’m a little scary.” I took one last look in the compact mirror in Gia’s hand. “But my eyes look like my eyes.”

“Here.” Gia grabbed a pair of Curly’s readers that were stuck in a jar full of pens on the counter. I put them on. Gia smiled and put the mirror compact up to my face. “Perfect.”

Charlie was a pro when we pulled up to the employee entrance and parked at one of the unloading ramps in the back of the casino.

Curly was all in too. She had created several large flower arrangements that would cover most of my face if I carried them in. I made sure Gia was set with the instructions I gave her, which she said she was. Willie Ray and I grabbed a couple of vases of flowers and headed in.

I tried to get him to stay behind, but he insisted he had to go, just in case I found myself in a tight spot.

Initially I had planned on going to the casino, Gia was going to come back with the money, and I could confront him and stop Trent T. Lyle’s plan. Until then, I knew I would fit in fine, play the slots and keeping my eyes open for anything strange.

“I’ll be over there keeping an eye on you.” Willie Ray pointed to a corner of the casino. “Got it?”

“Yes,” I gurgled in my best old lady voice. Willie looked at me strangely before he trotted over to his hiding spot.

The casino was in full swing and no one even glanced my way when I passed.

“Can you tell me where the penny slots are? My eyes aren’t so good.” I tapped the edges of Curly’s readers.

“Yes, ma’am,” Jax Jackson gestured across the room. “They are right over there. Do you need help?”

“No, sonny boy.” I reached out and squeezed his bicep. “You sure are a strong fellow. I bet your momma is real proud of you.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He clasped his hands in front of him and rocked back on the heels of his shoes. “Is there anything I can help you with tonight?”

“No.” I shook my head, happy to know I had just fooled him. I scooted my shoes along the casino floor like I had seen Sharon Fasa do and made my way over to the penny slots and sat in the exact same chair I had seen Trixie in.

One after the other, I fed pennies to the machine and continue to tap the spin button, only doing one penny at a time so it would take up more time. I hadn’t seen Trent T. Lyle or Gia since I had been there. I was expecting Gia any minute. There was only twenty minutes left until six o’clock.

“Hey, you.” I felt the butt end of a cane shove up against my arm. “Move it. This is my friend’s machine.”

I turned around to find Sharon and Trixie, both with tinfoil hats on staring me down. Sharon leaned toward me, exhaling with agitation.

“Where’d you get that shirt?” Sharon’s brows drew together in an angry expression. “That looks a lot like the shirt I stuck in the Goodwill bin near the Kmart.”

“Yea,” Trixie snarled. “Move it.”

“Is there a problem, ladies?” Jax stood behind them.

“This old broad is in my seat.” Trixie pointed her bony finger toward me. “Damn visitors.”

“Now Trixie, you can’t claim this machine to be yours after you get up.” Jax was cute how he tried to reason with her. “Why don’t you go find another one?”

“I won’t do it. This is my machine.” Trixie stomped. Her hat fell on the ground next to my feet. Both Jax and I bent down to get it. He got there first. He hesitated for a second and I popped back up. He handed the hat to Trixie.

“Yeah, her machine.” Sharon poked me again.

“That’s enough,” Jax warned her and put his hand on her cane.

“It’s fine.” I cracked my voice to try to imitate theirs. “I’ll go somewhere else.”

“That’s right, you will.” Sharon slammed the rubber bottom of her cane on the ground.

I got up and made my way across the casino, only looking back once. I was relieved to see they weren’t looking at me. For a moment I felt like Jax knew it was me, but he clearly didn’t or he would’ve said something or arrested me right there.

When I turned back around, Trent T. Lyle was having a heated conversation with Bethany and Gia was standing a few yards from them. She was curled up on her toes, trying to see above the crowd. When she saw me, she tilted her head toward Bethany and I tilted my head the opposite direction so she’d meet me to drop off the money.

“Trixie wasn’t even home.” Gia handed me her purse. “I had to take all my shit out so I could put all the money in here. I cannot believe my best friend is a freaking millionaire. Millionaire,” her voice escalated.

“Shh.” I hushed her. “No one can know.” I slung the purse over my shoulder. “I’ll call you when I’m done.”

“What? I didn’t come this far to be thrown to the curb. I’m all in.” She crossed her arms. “I’m not going anywhere until I see you emerge without that purse.”

“Fine.” I rolled my eyes and headed toward the employee entrance where I knew Trent T. Lyle had coordinated the heist.

“And I expect you to buy me a better purse with your millions,” Gia spouted from the distance.

I didn’t even turn around in fear her big mouth was going to give me away. The casino was so packed, it was easy heading down to the underbelly of the casino where I had gotten caught in the camera room. And being an old lady made it even better. Everyone who noticed me asked me if I needed assistance or if I was okay. I was beginning to think this was a perfect heist disguise. No one would ever expect a granny to rob anyone. If only I was in my petty criminal mindset. I wasn’t.

The voices ahead of me caught my attention when I recognized one of them as Bethany’s. I eased around the corner and found her and Trent T. Lyle had carried their conversation down here.

Trent was pointing at her, looking down at her and she had tears streaming down her face. She must’ve seen me out of the corner of her eye because her eyes slid toward me.

“It’s me.” I mouthed and pointed to myself just in case she didn’t recognize me in my disguise.

Bethany gave a bleak, tight-lipped smile. She opened the door and she and Trent disappeared. My mind raced wondering what was going on inside the room. Should I bust in? Did Trent have her held at gunpoint? I had to give her the purse. The money would solve this whole entire mess.

Unsure of what to do, I waited. In a few minutes, Bethany emerged and signaled me to come to her.

“What is going on?” I asked.

“Is that the guy you saw?” Her voice trembled. I nodded. “He’s going to give his hit men the go ahead.” She sniffed.

“Are you serious?” I asked. I shoved the purse toward her. “I have the money. It’s all here.”

“But they want the tape too.” She sniffed. “I’m afraid we are too late.”

The door opened and Trent T. Lyle stood there.

“Excuse me, I’m lost,” I said in my little old lady voice, “and it would be so nice if you could give me directions.”

“I’ll be right back,” Bethany said to Trent.

“Don’t go far,” he warned, his pointy chin jutted up. The skinny man was suddenly looking much bigger and scarier to me.

Bethany took me by the elbow and slowly walked beside me.

“Can you please try to go to the camera room and get that footage?” she asked. “Please. You are my only hope. You are Brittany and Derek’s only hope.” She shoved her badge in my hand. “There is a closet in there. Glitz and Glam keeps the SIM cards on file in little Ziploc baggies. You can look for the date and grab the Ziploc.”

I looked down at it. It had her photo and Brittany’s name on it. She dropped my elbow and turned back around.

“Hurry,” she whispered. Her expression was tight and strained.

There was a terror in her eyes that told me time was of the essence and there was no way I was going to let her down. Brittany down. Derek.

I hustled down to the camera security room and zipped the badge through the security lock. The lock clicked and I grabbed the handle and took one last look behind me before I turned the handle. The coast was clear and I disappeared into the room. The machines were still there, but this time I went straight to the closet.

The SIM cards were lined up and placed in small zip bags with a date label and location code of camera. There was a code list hanging on the door. I ran my finger down the list until I saw the parking garage code was PG. I went back to the bags and took the two labeled PG.

“Which one of you is going to help me save Derek?” I grasped the small card in my palm. My eye met the player where the SIM card had recorded the event. The only way to know which one had Brittany’s kidnapping on it was to watch.

I stuck the first one in and hit fast forward. There wasn’t a sign of Brittany on there nor Trent T. Lyle. I put it back in the bag and hung it up in the closet before I stuck the other one in and hit fast forward. The picture was clear and there wasn’t a sign of any struggle between anyone or of Brittany and Trent T. Lyle anywhere in the parking garage. The kidnapping must not have been seen by one of the cameras. I could just take the money back to the room where Trent and Bethany were and assure them the camera didn’t get the footage. Then Trent could release Brittany and the threat against Derek would be gone, Bethany would be free of her past and be able to tell the truth to set me free.

Carefully, I opened the door and looked out. There was no one around so I shut the door behind me. I had to get back to the room where I saw Trent and Bethany go into and hopefully get this all straightened out.

I slid the employee card down the security lock and opened the door. In the pitch black room a moaning sound came from the dark. I ran my hand up the wall and flipped on the light.

Shock and awe struck my gut when I saw Trent tied up, bound and gagged.

“You sneaky bastard,” venom shot out of my mouth. Bethany must’ve broken free of him and tied him up. “I knew you were behind this.” I circled the chair Bethany had stuck him in. His eyes followed me. “I’m so glad Bethany overtook you and I hope to God she is finally reunited with her sister.” I tapped my finger on his shoulders. “You screwed with the wrong person when you decided to threaten Derek.”

Trent shook his whole body. The chair teetered back and forth. He mumbled through the gag in his mouth.

“Shut up!” I yelled at him. I began to wipe all the makeup off of my face so he could see who I really was. “You are going to go to jail for everything you have done! I know about all the heists. I know you have been blackmailing Bethany because she doesn’t want to do it anymore.”

The more I talked the angrier he got. The more violent his flailing became.

“When you threatened Derek, I knew I had to help Bethany. Only you.” I jabbed his chest with my finger. “You had to keep asking for more. First the money, then the tape. Little do you know, there is no tape of you taking Brittany, so you could’ve just taken the money and run.” I jabbed harder.

He rocked back and forth, knocking something out of his pocket.

I picked it up.

“What the hell?” Strange and disquieting thoughts began to race through my mind. Something was wrong. I was holding what looked to be a Federal of Bureau Investigation badge. A real one. Not like the fake one I had made months ago.

“What is this?” I ripped the bandana down Trent’s bony chin, allowing him to explain what had fallen out of his pocket.

“Untie me.” He spat. “Or I will arrest you for interfering with a federal investigation.”

“You aren’t the mastermind behind the heist?” I asked. My mind felt boggy from the confusion.

“No. I’m Agent Trent Lyle with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Bethany Hawthorne has been under surveillance for several casino crime sprees.” He jerked his shoulders back and forth trying to free himself. “Now untie me!”

“But she’s not.” I walked behind him and worked on untying the knot. “She is only trying to get her sister back.” He wiggled his hands. “Stop squirming.”

“What are you talking about?” Trent let out a big sigh when I finally got him free.

“Brittany was kidnapped by the heist boss, who I thought was you,” I was feeling like a dumbass at this point, realizing this sleuthing thing just wasn’t for me. “And he is making Bethany steal the casino money as her last hurrah before he will let Brittany go. Plus they threatened Derek.” I closed my eyes hoping Bethany got to Brittany in time. It was well past the six p.m. deadline. “I’ve seen the pictures of Brittany all tied up.”

The door opened. Trent and I stood there.