Roll the Dice (13 page)

“Dammit!” No luck—nobody in sight that fit his description at all.
Although she did manage to scare the hell out of an older couple when they came
around the corner.

“Did you see anyone running past here? A man wearing a gray sweatshirt?”
Her voice sounded agitated due to lack of oxygen.

“Neither the gray-haired man nor the overweight woman could talk.
Instead they huddled together and stared at the gun in her hand.

She holstered it and said. “Sorry, I’m a detective with the LVPD.
 
There’s a suspect on the loose and I thought
he might have come this way. I guess I’m mistaken.” She attempted a smile and
it seemed to do the trick because the woman stopped crying instantly.

As she turned to go back up the stairs, she heard the older fellow
muttering, his voice wavering a great deal. “Scare the hell outta folks, waving
a gun around. What’s this world coming to?”

Knowing it would be useless; she did try the bottom lot and turned out
she was right. No sight of any disturbance whatsoever. Disappointment made her
cuss.
 

Finally, she worked her way back to the main floor and approached the
area where three security guards were congregated. One was holding a piece of
gray clothing in his hand and the others were wearing disgusted expressions.

The oldest of the three stepped forward, his stomach protruding past the
waistband of his navy uniform. “Sorry ma’am, he gave us the slip. We covered
the elevator as directed, but after we arrived a woman exited carrying this. He
held up a gray sweatshirt exactly like the kind Rhondo had been wearing. “She
says she found it lying in a heap in the corner and intended to turn it into
the lost and found.”

 
“Where is she?”

“We’ve held her over there in the office in case you had some
questions.” The pride in his voice made her aware that he expected some
recognition for making the call.

“You were a cop?”
 

“Yes ma’am, twenty years. Had to quit, my wife couldn’t take it
anymore.”

“It’s our loss.”

Walking straighter, he pointed out the room where the woman sat waiting.
“Thanks. Appreciate that.”

Before she left, she added. “Our suspect is called Earl Rhondo, one
hundred and seventy-five pounds,
maybe six feet, short
dark hair and dark brown eyes. He’s mean and likes to hurt people.
 
He wore that sweatshirt when I happened to
run into him in the nursery. Then he ran.
You got any security tapes I can see—especially of the nursery area?”

“Sure, I’ll organize that for you pronto.”

“I’ll send someone to pick them up, Mr…?

“Name’s Bill. Bill Ruele.”

“Right Bill. Thanks for your help.” She shook his hand, and pulling her
phone from her pocket, she stopped to make the call that would bring the rest
of her team running.

Entering the small space where a short woman about fifty sat waiting,
she pulled out a small book and a pen.

“Good evening. My name is Detective Aurora Morelli. And your name?”

“Mrs. Alice Chalmers.”

“Mrs. Chalmers, can you tell me what happened?”

“I caught the elevator on the fourth floor and joined a young man who
seemed charming. He pointed to the sweater in the corner and mentioned that
someone must have dropped it, but he didn’t have time to take it to the lost
and found. I offered, and he gave it to me. Then he got out on the next floor.”

“Can you remember which floor that was?”

“Yes it was the one before this stop.”

“Did he say anything else?”

“No. But he seemed very nice.”

“What did he look like?”

“Tall! Dark! With brown eyes full of humour, if you know what I mean.
Like he had a secret and was laughing inside. It was a bit infectious I must
say.”

The bastard! Anger gathered inside Aurora. If she'd had her punching bag
in front of her, she'd have given it a full workout. Once again her acting
ability kicked in and no one suspected.

“Thank you, ma’am. Can I ask you to wait for a few minutes? An officer
will be here shortly and probably have a few more questions. I appreciate your
co-operation.”

After motioning for Mrs. Chalmers to be patient, she met the rest in the
hallway. Peripheral vision had caught the team meeting up in front of the
elevator and striding towards her. Sure enough, Ham arrived at the same time
that Kai showed up.

Kai looked perturbed and she knew exactly how he felt. To be so close
had to eat away at the guy’s mind. “Sorry Kai, I lost him.” She explained to
both what had happened and then asked Ham how he’d gotten there so quickly.

“Drove the Lieutenant over to see his son.
 
He'd been raising a glass to the new boyo and couldn’t drive
himself.” The grin totally convinced her that Ham had something to do with the
celebration. Her raised eyebrow had him confessing. “A few of us took him to
the Lookout to buy him a drink. He’s a Father. We needed to welcome him to the
Daddy club.”

“You know what? TMI." She held her hand up in front of the big
Irishman whose face beamed with delight. Succinctly, she described the action
that had taken place and asked Ham to get the statement from Mrs. Chalmers and
be sure that the security tapes would be delivered to their office ASAP.

Then she asked Kai how Wayne had fared.

“He’s better than could be expected. Mind you, he took a horrible
beating. But he’d fought so hard, Rhondo took pity on him. Didn’t rape him.
Said he didn’t deserve it cause he was a man.”

“I don’t get this dude. I keep thinking he’s a monster and then he does
something like this. It’s sick. I should hate him for the beating. And I do.
But dammit, I can’t help but be thankful that he didn’t scar Wayne with the
other. Something like that could have affected the rest of his life as a man.”

“True.”

“I have to tell you. When I first saw the male approach the maternity
window to look at the babies, he seemed happy. I only saw his profile, but at
first his smile seemed sort of prideful. Then he changed and started pounding on
the glass. I'd wondered if he’d lost a child. I could almost smell his pain.”

“You didn’t recognize him?”

“Not until he hurried away and then it hit me who he was. I could kick
myself for having missed it.”

“Hey, don’t beat yourself up. You had a lot on your mind.”

“Guess so.” Her sore shoulders slumped as weariness attacked. “First I’m
going to say hi to Deb and see the baby, then I’m headed home. You coming?”

“Nope. I was there before Cory arrived. The doctor’s kicked me out of
Wayne’s room when Darlene showed up—said there could only be one visitor at a
time and family came first. So I checked up on the baby. See you in the
morning. Will you pick me up?”

“Sure.”

Wearily, Aurora made her way to Debby’s suite and saw Cory passed out
and snoring on the daddy’s cot at the far side of the room.

The two girls smiled surreptitiously, knowing that the man deserved to
kick loose every so often. And what better time than in commemoration for his
son’s birth?
 

“The baby lay at his mama’s breast, feeding blissfully. Unaware of the
turmoil around her, Debbie seemed to be surrounded by a golden light of joy and
comfort. The way it should be. Aurora again felt the stirrings of her secret
wishes.

One day!

“He’s beautiful, Debbie.”

Pride rang clearly. “I know. Do you want to hold him? He is your
Godson.”

“Not until you tell me what his name is. I need to think of him as a
little person from now on, not as ‘him’ or your baby.”

“We haven’t agreed yet. Cory wants to name him Bubba and I don’t.”

“He's joking, right?"

"He's say not, but his eyes tease. I can only imagine the ragging
the boy would get at school one day. I couldn't let it happen."

"That I can understand. So what do you want to name him?”

“I always wanted to name a son after my father.” The look she wore
didn’t bode well for that choice.

“What was his name?”

“Earl Alexander Jackson.”

“No kidding! Frigging small world. I can see where that might be a bit
of a problem.” Aurora flipped her hair towards her back and angled a grin at
the sleeping baby.

“Yeah. It’s not going to work, is it?”

“What was your mother’s name?” Aurora knew Debbie’s mom has passed on
the year she’d started on the force in Las Vegas and it had broken the girl up.

“Her name was Connie.”

“There you go. Call the kid Con, or Conrad. Then you have him named
after someone you loved.
 
If your Dad
were alive, he’d understand.”

“It’s not my dad I’m worried about.” She glanced over at the noisy lump
in the corner. Once again his clothes were dishevelled his hair stood on end
and his overall appearance so not Cory Ashton.

The baby released Debbie’s breast with a sucking noise that drove a nail
straight into Aurora’s nurturing heart. Debbie closed her nightie and
re-wrapped the little guy before handing him over.

Aurora waited with her arms ready. Nestling him close, she kissed the
downy red tufts on the top of his head and searched his features.

“Cory says he has my eyes and his chin.” Aurora sensed her friend’s need
for her to agree. And she couldn’t refuse the pleading look Debbie didn’t hide.

“Uh-huh. Looks that way.”

Relaxing back against the pillows, Debbie stuttered. “I-I guess I owe
you an apology for putting you through hell in the delivery room. I was a
bitch.” She hung her head comically.

“Whatever!” Aurora pressed her lips together to stop the smile wanting
to escape.
 

“No. I mean it. I’m sorry.”

“Forget it. After seeing this handsome little munchkin, it was worth
putting up with you. Anyway, they figure with plastic surgery my hand will
completely recover.”

“Not funny. By the way, I like your hair done that way, with the French
braids around the front and side and the rest swept up. It’s sexy as hell—shows
off your perfect face structure.” Coming from Debbie, the admiration sounded
like a sincere compliment and it touched something sweet inside Aurora, which
of course made her bristle.
  

“Quit suck-holing. I already accepted your apology.” Little could Aurora
admit that her hair appeared to affect Kai if his staring could be used as a
gauge? To get it hacked off could be considered extreme since it had taken her
months to grow it past her shoulders. So controlling the mass seemed the best
option.

Did I mention that Kai dropped in earlier for a few moments just before
Cory arrived?” Lying with her shoulders against the blue pillow, she waved her
hand towards the honkin big teddy bear on the other side of the bed.

“Cory went shopping—”

“Nope, he sent the flowers.” A huge arrangement of red roses was
displayed on the side table near to where a baby’s cot lay waiting with the
blue blankets fold over.

Debbie laughed. “Kai must have hit the hospital gift shop. It’s cool!”

“Yeah!” A warm feeling floated from Aurora’s pink-cheeked face to get
lost under the collar of her blue shirt. “It is cool.”

“You like?”

“Maybe. But don’t get any ideas. He’s messed up over this Rhondo guy and
not thinking clearly.”

“Hell, aren’t we all? Cory’s very fond of Kai—said he was one of the
good guys.”

“They were rookies together, weren’t they?”

“And close friends. Cory told me that Kai lived the good life. A nice
family, great childhood and smart as a whip. The girls loved him and he treated
everyone with respect.
 
When his sister
died, the bottom dropped out of his world.”

Pain, slicing through Aurora’s insides, made her take a bunch of small
breaths and keep her eyes shielded. How horrible to grow up feeling so entitled
and then have your world come crashing down. At least in her case, she never
expected much and got less.

If it weren't for the genes passed down from her stoic father, she’d
have buckled years earlier. Either followed the road of least resistance and
jumped on the drug circuit. Or worse, ended up living as some mean suckers’
plaything.
 

With her drunken bitch of a mother’s example, always putting her down
for being a goodie-two-shoes, sometimes it shocked the hell out of her that
she’d turned out as well as she had.

Gumption and hard work together with a "don't piss me off"
attitude had helped. Sure, she wore a chip on her shoulder big enough to cover
places where there were chinks in her armour, but through it all, she still
managed to have some pretty darn good friends.

“Hey, it just dawned on me. How did you get in here so late? You just
get off shift?”