Jingle of Coins (25 page)

Desire exploded within her, blocking out conscious thought. She slid her hands up under his shirt to caress the muscles across his back and shoulders. Moaning softly, she tilted her head back as he licked the hollow of her throat. Her shirt slid to the floor as he buried his face in the valley between her breasts.

The sound of a doorbell ringing incessantly wormed its way into Emily’s consciousness. She drew back to listen and realized someone was at her door.

“I’m sorry,” Emily mouthed against Glen’s lips. She slipped out of his arms and picked up her shirt. “Coming,” she called as she shoved her arms through the sleeves and hastily did the buttons.

She opened the door to find Kate standing on her doorstep. Kate weaved back and forth for a moment, then collapsed in the doorway as Emily reached out for her. “Emily, help…”

“Oh my God.” Stepping back onto the carpet, Emily tried to ease Kate onto her back, felt something warm and sticky on her hands, and realized it was blood. Looking closer, she saw that one side of Kate’s white dress was soaked with the thick red liquid. “Glen, get in here!” she screamed as she raced across the room to call for an ambulance.

“I’m here, Kate,” Emily murmured in a soothing voice as she cradled the injured woman. “The paramedics are coming. Hang on.” Kate’s cries of pain changed to whimpers as Emily grabbed a towel off the edge of the coffee table and pressed it against Kate’s side to stop the flow of blood. She thought about moving Kate to the couch, but decided against it when she realized that moving her might make her wound bleed more profusely. Better to stay where they were until the paramedics arrived.

“Yeah.” The blare of sirens sounded in the background. “I’ll get the paramedics.” Emily raced barefoot to the parking lot. “This way,” she shouted as the ambulance screeched to a halt. “Hurry.”

“Don’t try to talk,” Glen whispered as Kate opened her eyes. “The ambulance is here.”

“Sorry.”

He squeezed the soft fingers wrapped around his hand. “It’s okay, Kate. You’re going to make it. The ambulance is here. Just hang on for a few more minutes. You can do it Kate, I know you can.”

The paramedics worked frantically for a few minutes, trying to keep the tiny spark of life within Kate’s body alive. Finally, one of them shook his head and stood up. “I’m sorry,” he said. “We did everything we could, but she lost too much blood. She’s gone.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Emily slumped against Glen’s side as tears streamed down her face. “She’s can’t be dead,” she whispered. “Check again. Please.”

The paramedic shook his head and slowly covered Kate’s body with a sheet. “Why don’t you wait inside?” he suggested.

Glen kept his arm around Emily’s shoulders as they stepped into the apartment. He guided her to the couch, then walked over to the liquor cabinet and poured two glasses of brandy.

“I can’t believe she’s gone,” Emily said as pushed away the proffered drink. She glanced down at the dark red stains etched across her hands. “There’s so much blood. I’ve never seen so much blood.”

Glen pushed the glass into Emily’s hand. “I’ll be right back. The cops want to talk to me,” he announced as he stood up. “You okay?”

“I’m Detective Walgren. This is my partner, Detective Monroe,” one of the men said as she joined their small group. “We have a few questions.”

“What do you want to know?”

Three men dressed in suits joined their small group.

“Everything. Any details you can give us will help our investigation.” Walgren glanced at the crowd of interested on-lookers, then shook his head. “Just tell us what happened.”

Emily struggled to find a way to explain what had happened without telling the cops that she and Glen had been in the middle of making love. The detectives listened and scribbled notes while she spoke.

“No. I was in my apartment when this happened. How could I see anybody in the parking lot? Look, I’m sorry, it doesn’t sound like I’m being much help, but I really don’t know anything.”

Detective Walgren stared at her for a moment, then handed her a business card. “Thanks. Here’s my card. If you think of anything else, give me a call.”

Once the coroner finished his preliminary examination, two men stepped forward to transport the body to the morgue. Emily looked away as they lifted Kate’s body off the floor and eased it into a body bag. Tears flowed nonstop when the gurney carrying the bag rolled past.

Detective Walgren gently tapped her shoulder. “Why don’t you wait inside while the forensic team finishes up?”

“I think I’ll do that.”

He waited until Glen and Emily went inside to address the crowd of nosey on-lookers. “Okay, everybody. Show’s over. There’s nothing else to see. Why don’t you all go back to your apartments?”

The noisy throng of residents disbanded, and the only people left outside Emily’s apartment were the cops and three men dressed in suits. Walgren looked around to make sure nobody was listening before he addressed them. “Well, well. If it isn’t Agent Curtis,” he remarked. “What brings you here?”

Curtis sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Kate Avrill was working with us on a big case.” He glanced at Walgren, then ran a hand through his hair. “Do you mind if I ask the woman a couple of questions?”

Walgren rocked back and forth for a moment, then nodded. “I guess it’s all right.”

“Thanks.” Curtis glanced over Walgren’s shoulder. Two men approached from the parking area. “I’ll be right back,” he promised. He moved to the front of Kate’s apartment and waited. “Did you find anything in the truck?”

One agent shook his head. “No, but Mike’s men were here, combing the parking lot.”

“Shit. They must have been looking for the recording. That means she had it with her when she left the villa. Did they find it?”

The agent shook his head. “No. They were in the grass area as we pulled up, but as soon as they saw us, they split.”

“Then it has to be somewhere between here and the villa. Retrace every inch of her route. We’ve got to find it.” He nodded to the two agents, then rejoined Walgren. “You ready?”

Curtis’ men departed for the parking lot as he and Walgren moved to Emily’s doorway. Detective Walgren knocked on the doorframe.

Detective Walgren motioned to the Secret Service agent. “Agent Curtis is working on the case with us. He needs to ask a couple of questions.”

An hour later, the forensic team finished their work. Emily watched them pack up and walk away. “Are they really leaving?” she asked as Glen closed the door.

“Yeah.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “You’re coming home with me. This is a crime scene now. You can’t stay here tonight.”

She shrugged out of his embrace. “I can’t think about sex.”

“Sex has nothing to do with it. You’re not staying here until a cleaning crew sanitizes everything. You can sleep in my other bedroom.”

Tears rolled down Emily’s cheeks. “I don’t know what got into me.”

He squeezed her shoulder. “Why don’t you get your toothbrush? You can come back in the morning to change.”

After she disappeared into the bedroom, he grabbed a paper grocery bag off the counter. It didn’t take long to round up the films of Emily in the casinos, plus the close-up he’d made, and shove them into the bag. Emily emerged from the bedroom a few moments later. “Ready?”

She nodded and handed him her keys. He locked the door and guided her around the pool of blood that started in her entryway and spread onto the cement outside. “Tomorrow’s going to be a better day,” he promised as he unlocked the door to his apartment.

Emily looked back toward her apartment and sighed. “I hope so. Nothing could be worse than what happened tonight.”

Dozer waited until his men entered the parking lot to emerge from his car. “Well?” he demanded. “What did you find out?”

The agent who’d spoken to Emily shook his head. “Nothing. Kate must have ditched the recording before she got here. She collapsed before Emily could talk to her, and it wasn’t on her when the coroner picked up the body.” He stared at Dozer for a minute. “Mike’s men were here, searching the parking lot. As soon as they saw us, the split.”

“Damn it to hell,” Dozer replied. “Do you have any idea how much territory we’re going to have to search? There’s got to be at least twenty miles between here and Mike’s villa.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “We’ve got to find that CD. Start tracking her route from the gate. You know what to look for. Maybe we’ll get lucky and find it.”

He watched his men disburse and trudged back to his vehicle. After pausing a few moments to rehearse his speech, he punched in his boss’ cell phone number.

“My informant died before she could hand over the recording. We know she had it when she left the villa, but she didn’t have it on her when she died.”

“That’s just fucking great, Dozer,” Patrick replied. “What the hell are you going to do now?”

Dozer chose his words carefully. “We’ve gotta have more men, boss. Now. Mike’s got to know about the recording by now, especially since Kate died. We’ve got to find it before he does.”

There was a long silence before Patrick spoke. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Dozer gritted his teeth. “I’m sorry, but we don’t have any other choice. There’s too much territory to cover. If Mike gets his hands on that recording, all our work and my informant’s death will be for nothing.”

“Any chance she might have hidden it in her vehicle?”

“No. Mike’s guys were here, which means she didn’t leave it at the villa.”

Patrick sighed. “I’ll call around and see what I can come up with.” He paused for a long moment. “You know there’ll be hell to pay when my boss hears about this, right?”

“I know. I’ll take the heat; it’s my fault. But we gotta find that recording before Dragonisi does.”

“Right. I’ll get back with you.”

Dozer snapped his cell phone shut and banged his fists on the steering wheel in frustration. Kate’s death had all but killed any chance he had of nailing Mike for the three agents’ disappearance. He should have known better than to use civilians for this kind of work. His entire plan had blown up in his face, and he’d be lucky to get out of this without being demoted to the lowest rung on the totem pole. Shaking his head, he pulled out of the parking lot and headed toward Mike’s villa. Right now, all he could hope for was that his guys found the recording before Mike.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Mike drummed his fingers on the top of the security chief’s workbench. “Well?” he demanded.

Sam Wazzle’s hand shook as he rubbed the edge of his jaw. “I’ve never seen anything like this before,” he replied. “It has to be government, maybe even CIA.”

“That doesn’t answer my question. How the hell did you miss it?”