Double Down (18 page)

Almost a week had passed since the last time I was there. The house felt strange, slightly musty, and definitely empty. At least no one had tried to break in. Everything was exactly where I had left it. Since I’d slept most of the afternoon, I wasn’t tired. I took my time packing, thinking about all that I had learned that day.

I realized I’d never had a chance to tell Delgado about Monica’s email or the other documents. I hadn’t wanted to bring it up in front of Mom. Monica had saved the email in her computer, so she must have sent it to herself. Was this just the start of her campaign to discredit me? I knew that she told Arnie I was in on the blackmail. I wondered how many others she'd told the same thing. Who else was Monica blackmailing, and who wanted her dead? Was the murderer also the same person who searched my house and cut my brakes? By going to St. Louis, was I leaving the threat behind, or going closer to it?

Even once I was back at Mom’s, snuggled into my old bed, I had a hard time falling asleep. My brain refused to turn off. I finally slept on the questions. By morning, I still didn’t have any answers.

Actually, by my standards, four-thirty a.m. didn’t qualify as morning. My body refuses to recognize morning until the sun comes up. Even then, it takes a couple of hours of being up before I can tolerate cheerful. I dragged myself out of bed and got dressed. Mom, who was a morning person, got up at five. She tried to persuade me to eat something, but just the thought of food turned my stomach.

Although relatively conscious by the time Delgado and Detective Long arrived, I still thought Brian seemed disgustingly alert and chipper. In a happy voice, he explained that when Delgado mentioned the trip, he offered to drop us off at the airport. The minute Brian backed the car out of the driveway he started to whistle.

I nudged Delgado and whispered. “Is he always this happy in the morning?”

He closed his eyes and shrugged. “Yes. It’s one of the reasons I have several cups of coffee before going into work. Sorry. I wouldn’t have accepted, but I didn’t want to have to try and find a parking place.”

When Brian started whistling tunes from Disney musicals, I decided it was the perfect time to tell them both about the documents that Mike found, and my conversation with Dee. I would have confessed to the murder itself, if I thought that would stop him. Music in the morning was worse than happy. Happy music was more than I could stand.

To distract him, I explained, “Asking Monica to destroy notes on a sexual harassment claim would not only be unethical, but it could set the company up for a huge lawsuit. If the employee filed suit, and this memo came out, it wouldn’t matter if I was guilty or not, or even if my boss believed me. The company would have no choice but to fire me in order to protect them from liability. It was the perfect set up.”

“
Doesn’t that give you a motive to murder her?” Brian asked.

“
Not really. Monica was too inexperienced to know, that in order for it to work, she would have to wait to produce the memo until someone filed a lawsuit. If she produced it any time before that, I could simply start an investigation and fix the problem. However, if she waited to produce it, then it would condemn her as well, proving that she had known about the harassment and failed to take action. The company would have been forced to fire her too. She would succeed in getting me fired, but it wouldn’t help her.”

I told them about the newspaper article on the felony conviction of Martin, the crazy cook. “He lied on his application and Monica knew about it. Then there’s that the page out of the teamsters’ accounts. It’s possible that Jerry was skimming money from the fund. Maybe that’s what he met with her to discuss. Dee, the HR Director from the St. Louis property, told me she suspected that Monica was into blackmail prior to coming to Vegas. I told Mike to make sure the detectives knew about all this.”

Brian dropped us off at the curb in front of the ticket counters. “I’ll check in with the detectives on Monica’s case while you’re gone, and make sure they’re investigating these new leads.”

Delgado just nodded. He’d remained unusually quiet during my whole recitation. I wondered what he was thinking.

It wasn’t until we got to the gate and checked in, that I realized Delgado had upgraded my tickets to first class. They’d already started boarding so I didn’t have a chance to say anything. However, I had to admit, stretched out in a roomy seat, with my complimentary booties on, and a drink in front of me before we had even taken off, I decided I could get used to having a rich boyfriend.

Delgado made the mistake of flashing those fabulous green eyes and dazzling smile at our stewardess, Nancy, who hovered over him. If he was aware of the effect he had on women, he didn’t show it. It was a three-hour flight to St. Louis. Once we had taken off, Nancy served breakfast, a delicious egg frittata with fresh fruit, a variety of breads and sweet rolls, and lots of coffee. Nancy made sure that Delgado’s coffee cup never went down even an inch. After what seemed like the tenth refill, she began to get on my nerves. I reached over and gave Delgado a passionate kiss, which he returned. Opening my eyes, I looked over his shoulder, happy to see that the smile had left Nancy’s face. If I wasn’t mistaken, she was actually grinding her teeth.

“
What did I do to deserve that?” Delgado asked, looking somewhat surprised.

I smiled. “I’m finally awake and you’re here.”

“
I think I could get used to being here when you wake up,” he said giving me one of those smoldering looks that made my toes tingle.

Apparently, Nancy got the hint because she left us alone for the rest of the flight. Landing in St. Louis, we picked up our rental car and drove out to the hotel. It was located about a half hour drive outside of town. I’d never stayed at this hotel, but I knew St. Louis only allowed casinos on riverboats, so I’d expected to see an old-fashioned paddleboat cruising up and down the river. Instead, we drove up to a huge parking lot almost filled with cars. The St Louis Royal hotel and casino looked like any other land-based structure. It did sit on the bank of the river but, as far as I could see, it wasn’t capable of going anywhere.

Walking into the casino, there was no sensation of floating or movement. However, it was much smaller than, and not nearly as luxurious as the one in Las Vegas, which featured several gourmet restaurants, an upscale shopping arcade, three pools, and a luxury spa. The St. Louis Royal had no spa, only one gift shop and dining was limited to a buffet, coffee shop and one steakhouse open only for dinner. Even the customers in the casino looked and sounded different. Loud and boisterous, they ran around sporting several strings of colored beads. I assumed it must be some kind of slot promotion.

Weaving in and out between noisy guests apparently having a wonderful time, we made our way to the tiny front desk to check in. Dee had reserved me a room. My ego took a hit when Delgado asked for his own room. While I wasn’t sure I was ready to take our relationship further, I was disappointed that he wasn’t even going to try to seduce me. So far, he’d been a perfect gentleman, pulling away whenever things started to heat up. I was used to fending off men trying to get me into bed during the first date, so I found Delgado’s restraint confusing, and frankly a little insulting.

Once we checked into our rooms, we met in the coffee shop for lunch. Afterward Delgado told me he needed to go back into town to check in with the local police. He suggested I take a nap. He would call me later. I gave him a few minutes to get out of the building, and then I went down to the casino floor to the casino manager’s office.

I hoped I’d find Stan in. He’d worked as an assistant casino manager at my hotel until a year ago. Then he moved to St. Louis to take over the casino manager position. I knocked on his door. He was sitting at his desk, watching the games on a monitor. When he saw me, he jumped up and came around the desk to give me a hug.

“
I heard about your accident. What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be home in bed?” He motioned for me to sit down. He then took the seat next to me, stretching out his long legs. Stan would have made a good scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz. He was tall and thin with a long thin nose, small eyes, and a non-existent chin. He wasn’t to the point of combing over his thinning hair to cover the bald spot, but it wouldn’t be long. While no one would ever call him handsome, he was honest and hardworking. We had become fast friends. I’d missed him.

“
I came to attend Monica’s funeral. I know that she left shortly after you arrived. Did you get a chance to get to know her?”

He hesitated before answering, the same way almost everyone did when I asked about Monica. The company promoted Stan, not just because he was good at his job, but also because he was always politically correct, saying all the right things. He knew when to speak up, and when it was best to say nothing. Still we were old friends. He knew he could trust me.

“
While she was here it was a strange set up. Since Dee was the head of HR, I dealt mostly with her, but everyone else went directly to Monica. I don’t think she was well liked, but it was understood she had pull in high places. When she left, it’s like everyone took a collective sigh of relief.”

“
Who was her connection?”

“
Someone in corporate. Some people said Darryl, but I’m not sure if that’s due to inside information, or if he was tagged because of his reputation. I can’t imagine Darryl threatening anyone.”

“
Maybe she just used his name.” I told him what we suspected about her blackmailing people. “She told them I was in on it.”

He patted my hand. “No one who knows you would believe that.”

“
Thanks.”

When I asked if she was close to anyone, he gave me the same name, Connie Rigdon, which Dee had given me. He said she was working now and offered to introduce me.

Connie worked the cocktail lounge. It was late afternoon. Business was slow, with only a couple of tables occupied. I sat at the bar next to the cocktail station, so we could talk without disrupting her work. I watched her as she made her rounds. Short, probably not more than five three, she carried a little more weight around the middle than some of the younger cocktail waitresses. I estimated that she was at least forty. She wore heavy makeup. She’d pushed the girls up so high they were almost falling out of her uniform. She didn’t look anxious to talk to me, but could hardly avoid it, considering where I was sitting. I told her I was here to attend Monica’s funeral and I felt bad that I hadn’t gotten to know her better.

“
I heard that you were good friends.”

She nodded

.“ Were you able to keep in touch after she left?”

“
Yeah, I called her a couple of times.”

“
How did you two meet?”

She seemed reluctant to answer. She looked over the lounge as if searching for a reason to leave, but both tables had fresh drinks in front of them. Finding no escape, she mumbled, “Her ex-husband introduced us.”

She slid me a sideways glance, looking for a reaction. I kept my face neutral. That could explain a lot. If she knew Jimmy, then she must have known Monica as Marcia Sullivan. “So you knew her before she came to work here.”

Slightly more relaxed now she said, “Yeah, you could say I helped her get the job. After Jimmy was sent up, she came to visit me one day at work. Told me she changed her name and was looking for a fresh start. Mr. Collins, who’s one of those VPs from the corporate office, was here. Monica couldn’t take her eyes off him, so I offered to introduce her. They seemed to hit it off right away, spent a long time talking to each other. The next thing I knew she was working in HR.”

So Darryl hadn’t really known Monica all that long. “Did Monica ever indicate to you that she was afraid or in danger?”

“
Nah. The last time I talked to her, she seemed happy, said she had something in the works that was going to solve all her problems.” Two men walked into the lounge and sat down at a table, so she left to take their order, making a round of the other tables to pick up empty glasses and check on the other guests.

I waited until she had delivered the new drinks before I asked my last question. “Do you have any idea why someone would want her dead?”

Tears filled her eyes. “Monica liked knowing other people’s secrets. I think one of those secrets got her killed.”

I had to agree.

Chapter Twelve

I returned to my room just in time to change for the funeral. I slipped into my favorite little black dress, a sheath you could either dress up for an evening out, or pair with a jacket for work. Without jewelry, and with a sedate pair of black heels, it was also appropriate for funerals. Delgado knocked on my door as I was putting on black jade earrings.

As usual, he looked stunning in his black suit, white shirt, and sedate gray stripped tie. He took me by the shoulders. Holding me away, looked at me critically. “You didn’t take a nap did you?”

“
No. Do I look that bad?”

He smiled and took me in his arms. “You look beautiful. I just worry about you. I promised your mother I would take care of you, but so far I haven’t done a very good job.”

I reached up and caressed the back of his head. I ran my fingers through his thick black hair, and then pulled him down for a kiss. “I think I know how you can remedy that,” I said after coming up for air.

He chuckled. “We better leave now so we won’t be late. It’s very rude to arrive late for a funeral.”