Double Play (32 page)

“
How
manly.” Cat immediately regretted the careless remark.
She added a cute smile to let him know she
was only teasing.

But Benji didn’t
take offense. “Well that, and I had to singlehandedly take on the
rugby team, you know, show ’em how it’s done.”

“
Of
course.”

She flashed her
ID to the security guard at the entrance and the two of them
entered the seedy riverboat. They maneuvered around the game tables
on their way to the sportsbook station. A wolf whistle rang out
from over the jingle of the slots. Sure enough, Webbs waved at her
from a perch in front of a slot machine.

“
Webbs! Have you seen—”

“
I
don’t have a clue where your big bro is.”

Cat shared a
suspicious look with Benji. “I didn’t even ask you
anything.”

She circled one
of her lengthy fingernails in Cat’s face. “You didn’t have to,
Strawberry Shortcake. It’s written all over your face like those
freckles.”

“
Come
on, Webbs, give me something. Can you at least tell me, has he been
here today?”

Webbs turned back
to the slot machine and pulled the crank. The marker landed on
three different fruits. She frowned and faced Cat again. “Nope.
Trust me, I’d know if he had. He stands out in this
crowd.”

She followed
Webbs’ nod to the craps table across the room. It was surrounded
with an obese group of women, each squeezed into glittered dresses.
A gaunt man in a stained white tank top and torn jeans walked up to
them and put his spindly arms around two of them. A cigarette hung
from his mustached lips.

Webbs wrinkled
her nose. “As you can see, the Snow Bird isn’t known for its
discriminating guest list. Yummy eye candy like your brother tends
to attract notice on top of this compost heap.”

Cat took a deep
breath. “Yes, well, his edibility aside, I need to find him. He
left town without giving me a forwarding address. Since you were
the person he was closest to in town, I thought maybe you could
help.”

Webbs took a slow
drink from her martini glass. “Sorry, can’t help ya. I figured he
was out of here after that last bet. He cleaned up on the Soldiers’
demise.”

“
How
much did he get?”

If Cat knew how
much he’d taken with him, she might have a good idea where he was
going.

She
raked her blood-red fingernails through
her spiky black hair.
“You know I can’t tell you
that.”

“
Why
not?” Benji asked. “Are you handcuffed to some bookie/better
confidentiality clause?”

“
As a
matter of fact, Blue Eyes, that’s correct. It doesn’t have to be a
law to be my policy. Keeping my lips shut keeps my clients happy.
You’d be surprised how many estranged spouses come in here asking
the same questions you are.”

Cat snapped her
fingers to get Webbs’ attention back to her. “I’m not trying to get
a juicy divorce settlement, I just want to find my brother. If I
knew how much cash he had on hand, it might point me in the right
direction.”

“
Ah.
So you want to know if his budget is more Paris, France or Paris,
Illinois?”

“
Something like that.”

“
Okay.” She finished off her martini and twiddled the toothpick
before plucking off one of the olives between her teeth. “I’ll play
along, but only ’cause you asked nicely. If I was checking
passenger manifests, I’d go international.”

“
I
see.”

That narrowed the
hot spots down considerably because Quinn didn’t fly. He had said
it was because he didn’t like the invasive nature of airport
security, but Cat figured it had more to do with a pathological
need for freedom, which he was guaranteed with his motorcycle and
the open road.

“
That’s all I can tell you.”

“
Can’t
you give me a ballpark figure? Please?” She pulled the trigger on a
begging smile and pleading eyes.

“
Damn
it. That irresistibility must run in your family, you know it?” She
held up four fingers. “I’m serious now. That’s all you’re
getting.”

“
Four
thousand dollars.” Cat shrugged at Benji. “How far could he get on
that?”

“
No
darlin’.” Webbs rubbed her thumb and forefinger together. “You got
the four right, but keep going.”

“
Whoa.
Forty thousand?”

Webbs smiled, a
big Julia Roberts at the Oscars kind of smile. She clearly loved
every minute of this. “How about you add one more zero, and make it
as wide as those green eyes of yours?”

“
Four
hundred
thousand?” She gaped at Benji.

He didn’t notice
because he was too busy staring at Webbs with his own gaping jaw.
“Dollars?”

Webbs laughed. “I
don’t deal in pesos.”

“
Oh my
God.” Cat scanned the room for the closest casino waitress. She
needed a drink.

“
You
think that’s bad? That’s peanuts compared to what another one of my
clients won on the same game.”

“
Wait.
I thought you said Quinn was the only guy betting against the
hometown team.”

“
He
was, until last night. Then another one came in for a lot more
money than your brother was putting up.”

“
So
someone else bet against the Soldiers with you?”

“
Well,
not here but online. I run a gaming website, too. It has a
different name but all the bets still come through here. Mostly for
people who don’t want to be seen in this establishment.” She
pointed to the craps table again. “Can’t say I blame
them.”

Benji put his
hands on his hips. “And yet, you tried to convince us to get
married here.”

“
Hey,
if I had more yups like you around here, it might class up the
joint.”

Right now Cat
couldn’t care less about the class of the clientele, she was too
busy putting two and two together and coming up with
four … 
hundred
thousand dollars. She cleared her
throat. “Webbs, I really need to know that name.”

“
What
name? The online bettor?” She crossed her long legs, pointing her
peep toe ankle boots toward the two of them. “Now that’s
information I really couldn’t give you, even if I wanted
to.”

“
But
you know it?”

“
Of
course.”

“
What
if I guess it?”

“
I’m
not really into playing Twenty Questions.”

“
I
don’t have twenty, just one. Who placed that other bet?”

“
What’s going on, Cat?” Benji asked.

She shook him
off, wanting to keep Webbs in her sights. The last piece of the
puzzle was in sight. As large as Quinn’s $400,000 was to her and
Benji, that jackpot still wasn’t enough to pay off Damien, Joel and
Adam.

“
You’re really piquing my curiosity and that’s not easy to do.
Why do you want to know?”

“
I’ll
tell you mine if you tell me yours.”

Webbs cast a
surreptitious glance around the room then waved them in closer,
dropping her voice to a sultry whisper. “I don’t know the name, but
bettors online place under usernames they select themselves. And
before you ask, I don’t even remember it.”

“
But
you could find out, right?”

“
I
suppose, but there is a certain level of confidentiality I have to
uphold.”

“
Webbs, I have to know if the name that placed that bet was
Adam Alvarez or Joel Faulk.”

Webbs pulled her
head back. “The ballplayers?”

Cat
nodded.

“
You
think they
threw
the game?” Her eyes danced at the notion.
“That might explain Joel’s botched bunt. I thought the boy was
having a seizure at the plate.”

“
That’s not all it would explain.” She cocked her head.
“Please, Webbs, I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t dire. I really need
your help. Quinn really needs your help.”

Cat hoped
dropping her brother’s name would play on Webbs’ obvious
infatuation for him, but it wasn’t just a trick. Finding Quinn
would help him. If she could drag him to the cops and have him
break the story first, they might cut him a deal in exchange for
his knowledge.

“
Aw,
shucks. Why do I have to be such a sucker for redheads?” Webbs
hopped off the high stool, smoothing out her lacy dress before
striding away. She turned around and waved her hand. “Come with me.
You, too, Blue Eyes, we’re going on a field trip.”

They followed her
through sportsbook tables where giant screens flashed scores above
a counter. She lifted up the counter breakaway and led them to a
door labeled PRIVATE. There were two other tellers behind the
counter, but their attention was focused on the baseball game. With
all the Soldiers’ drama, Cat hadn’t even had a chance to pay
attention to the other divisional series. Webbs pulled her ID card,
dangling from a lanyard around her slender neck, and swiped it
through the door lock. The door opened
in
to a large office with drab eggshell walls, old
steel file cabinets and metal desks. The florescent lights
flickered above them. It was a far cry from the glitz on the other
side of the door.

“
You’re lucky my boss is out today.” Webbs walked over to a
desk and flipped on the computer monitor. “This here is an
employees-only area. Snow Bird management doesn’t like customers to
be anywhere they can’t lay down money.”

“
Yeah
well, I’m not exactly going to blog about this.”

Cat tore her eyes
away from the dingy, coffee-stained carpet and eyed the computer
keyboard with a twinge of envy. She hated being a backseat driver
when it came to computer snooping, but this kind of cooperation was
unfamiliar territory.

Webbs typed a few
things into the computer. “Okay, I got username.
‘Shotcallerballer.’ That mean anything to you?”

“
Not a
thing. That could be anybody.”

“
Baller? Like baseballer?” Benji asked.

“
Maybe. Or just a guy who likes baseball. Or an egomaniac. Or a
guy named Bob Baller.” Cat sighed. “I guess we’re back to square
freaking one.”

Webbs scooted her
chair forward, toggling the computer mouse. “Slow your roll,
girlfriend. We’re not done yet.”

Cat perked up and
came around the desk, peeking over Webbs’ shoulder. “We’re
not?”

“
People place bids with their username, but those bids are
backed with a form of payment. We can’t charge the credit card or
bank account without a valid name and address.”

“
I
just assumed it was a blind account.”

“
Blind? Hey, translate for the dumb.” Benji tapped on the desk
to get her attention.

“
A
third party payment processor that people use to send money,
thereby doing so without revealing their financial
information.”

“
Nope.” Webbs punched a few keys. “We only take direct bank
transfers and credit cards. I’m pulling up the billing page now.
Give me just a sec.”

As the page
displayed, Cat leaned over the back of Webbs’ chair and read the
screen.

“
Oh my
God,” they said simultaneously.

“
What?” Benji came around the desk and looked at the
screen.

“
George Hudson.”

“
The
team owner?”

Webbs burst into
laughter. “My horoscope said today was going to be a good
day.”

“
This
can’t be right,” Cat said. “How could he be so stupid?”

Webbs hit a
couple of keys and pushed herself back from the desk. “You don’t
have to be smart to be rich, but you do have to be stupid to lose
it. I see it day in and day out. If I had a dime for every fancy
pants that came up here and walked away with empty pockets, I’d be
rich, too.” She hopped out of the chair, danced over to the
printer, ripped out the sheet of paper and handed it to
Cat.

“
Don’t
say I never gave you anything.”

Cat read it
again. It was a bank transfer from Point Mutual, the team sponsor
on the field and preferred bank off the field. In the left-hand
corner was “George Hudson.” It even listed his address on
Mulholland Lane. This was not a case of mistaken
identity.

“
It’s
him, no doubt about it. This is huge.”

“
Cat,
screw Quinn’s side of the story.” Benji ran his head through his
hair. “You’ve got to take this to the police now.”

Cat met Webbs’
eyes cautiously. “They’ll probably come here and ask you some
questions.”

She shrugged. “I
got nothing to hide. I card my clients. I pay my taxes. They can
look at whatever they want to. Do your thing, chicken
wing.”

Cat stared up at
the looming four stories of brick and mortar. The downtown precinct
had been there for nearly a hundred years with no attempts at
renovation. Amid the historical landmarks and innovative
skyscrapers that surrounded it, the plain building was terribly out
of place, yet it stood in flagrant indifference to their grandeur,
as though taking pleasure in lessening their impact. Air
conditioners jutted from every other window and broken, mismatched
blinds filled the windows in between. The sidewalk around it was
cracked and littered with coffee cups and candy wrappers. The
building spanned the entire block, which was lined with an army of
squad cars, gassed up and ready for action the second a call came
in.