Double Down (25 page)

The police finally arrived. Once they took our statements, Charlene and I were free to go. It was too late to see Rose, but we still needed to eat. Charlene, craving Mexican food, headed south on the interstate and exited at Sahara pulling into her favorite Mexican Restaurant.

I wasn’t ready to talk about Alan, or how his involvement would affect the case. Instead, while we munched on chips and salsa, I told her about the entries I’d read in Marcia’s diaries. “I felt sorry for her. Even Joey kept her at arm’s distance, never letting her know how to reach him. Then when she really needed him, he disappeared.”

Charlene tossed her head. “So she had a difficult childhood, so what? Lots of people do. They don’t all turn into prostitutes and blackmailers.”

The waiter came back with our drinks. I ordered the seafood enchiladas and Charlene ordered the fajitas. Once he left I continued. “Since her mother kicked her out when she was sixteen, she really didn’t have any other choice.”

Charlene shook her head. “There are always choices. She could have gone to the police, or the nice Mrs. Combs next door. The trouble with you is that you’re a sucker for a sob story.”

I bristled. “That’s not true. I terminate and discipline people with sob stories all the time.”

“
You follow the rules and do what you have to do, but that doesn’t mean you don’t feel sorry for them.”

“
And you don’t?”

She put down her drink. “I believe that most people live the lives they’ve chosen. Even if life's dealt them a rotten hand, they can choose to learn from it, or they can choose to let it dictate the rest of their lives. How many battered woman have you helped to get away from their no-good husbands? You’ve given them a chance to change their lives, and the next thing you know, they’re back living with the guy. They had options, and this is the choice they made. Why should I feel sorry for them?”

I frowned. This attitude was so unlike Charlene. “That’s a little harsh, isn’t it?”

She shrugged. “Monica may not have had options when she was young, but once she had a job and was in total control of her life. She was free to make other choices. Instead, she chose to blackmail and hurt people. I hold her responsible for those choices.”

I sat back wondering what was going on with Charlene. I’d never known her to be so judgmental. Then it dawned on me. “You and Evan still haven’t gotten together?”

Before she could reply, the waiter came back with our orders on sizzling platters. She dug into hers, eyes down.

“
Why don’t you two just go away for the weekend?”

She sighed. “It’s not that easy. Lincoln’s on the basketball team, and Patty’s in drama and drill team. Practically every weekend, either the kids are in something we don’t want to miss, or they need a ride somewhere. If both of them had a weekend free, I’d worry that they would either kill each other, or decide to host a party.”

I looked at her sternly. “I don’t feel sorry for you. You chose to have children.”

She laughed. “Touché. As hard as it is, it’s also amazing.”

When we could no longer avoid the subject, she said, “Is it possible that Alan did it?”

Now, forced to consider it, I had to admit, “Possible, yes. By having a relationship with Monica, he was breaking the rules and placing the hotel at risk for a lawsuit. I guess she could have threatened to expose the affair. But so what? It’s not as if they would fire him. Considering that half the corporate executives are married to cocktail waitresses or dealers who used to work for them, the most he would have gotten was a slap on the hand, and one of them would have to transfer to another property.” I signaled the waiter for another coke.

“
It could have been an accident.”

“
If so, why not just report it?”

“
Maybe he got scared.”

I gave up trying to eat and pushed my plate away. “Okay, just for arguments sake, let’s assume he killed her. He did have a key to my office, although I can’t imagine why he would let her in there. His only alibi was that he was home alone when she was murdered. No one questioned it, because he didn’t seem to have a motive. I guess he could have taken her keys, and searched her house between the time she was murdered and when security reported finding the body. He would know where the cameras are. Easy for him to redirect one while he cut my brake lines, but there was no need for him to search my house. He must have known that Monica would never send me anything. Even if she had, he could just wait until I told him about it.”

She carefully filled her last tortilla. “She could have threatened to send you proof of their relationship.”

“
I guess, but again, so what? She had more to lose than he did by telling me. Even if I could convince myself that he killed Monica in a fit of anger, I still have a hard time believing that he would try to hurt me or kill Danny in cold blood. Why kill Danny at all?”

“
The same reason anyone else had, because Danny knew or saw something.”

“
I just don’t see how keeping the relationship secret was enough to kill for. He couldn’t be certain that Danny was the only one who knew. They couldn’t have been that careful. I think Jeff in surveillance knew about the affair. He told me that he thought Alan knew Monica better than he was letting on.”

“
I see your point. Why do you think Alan gave his gun to the security officer?”

“
I’m guessing that he knew the police would want to question him, and he didn’t want to be armed when they took him in. That’s one of the things that makes me believe he didn’t kill her. If he was so determined to cover up the relationship that he would kill Danny and try to harm me, why call security and report Monica’s car to the police? Why not try to make some excuse to you and me for the presence of the tie, and then make sure the cops never find the car?” Instead, he immediately reports the car, and admits having an affair with Monica.”

She laid a napkin across her now empty plate. “I think you’re right. Either he’s innocent, or he’s trying to cover up a lot more than just having a relationship with Monica.”

There were just too many questions and never enough answers. When Evan called to say he was home, we asked for the check.

I thought I’d feel better after we ate, but what little I’d managed to get down now sat like a lump in the my stomach. I really needed to be alone and sort through the events of the day. Charlene took me back to the hotel, where I picked up my car and drove home. My call to Delgado went to voice mail, so I left him a text telling him about finding the car.

I wondered if they found anything else in Monica’s car. Had they taken Alan down to the police station? Was he still there? Even though I was exhausted, I was too restless to sleep. I changed into sweats and got Marcia’s diaries out, starting with the third one. Marcia didn’t write anything about Louie’s arrangement for how she was to pay for the room, but it became clear what had happened. Instead of newsy anecdotes, this one was filled with what looked like appointments. It read more like a day planner than a diary. Occasionally she listed information she had gleaned about her clients. In addition to the girls, she discovered that Louie was running numbers. She kept track of when and how the money was delivered. That’s how she met Jimmy. He was one of the runners. He intervened when one of her clients got rough with her.

I flipped through the next two diaries not finding anything else of interest, until I found the entry where they ran away together to get married.

“
Jimmy asked me to marry him. I thought why not? He’s a nice enough guy. He says he wants to take me away from all this, get a legitimate job so we can settle down to a normal life, and raise a family. I wish I could believe that, but I don’t. Even though he’s older than I am, he’s a dreamer. He believes that just because he wants it to, everything will somehow work out. I know that he loves me, and I figure I don’t have much to lose. Life with him can’t be any worse than this. He wanted to just slip away, but I made him tell Louie. These are not people you can run away from. Louie wasn’t happy, but in the end, he gave us his permission. I don’t think he was surprised. In fact, I’d be willing to bet he already had our replacements picked out.”

Clearly, Jimmy wasn’t the love of her life and her predictions about him proved to be true. I skimmed through the next entries. Jimmy really did try to go straight. While Marcia went to night school and got her GED, Jimmy had a number of odd jobs from mowing lawns to construction. Whatever money he accumulated, he spent on one get rich scheme after another. Finally, Marcia suggested they break into the Senator’s place. Jimmy didn’t know anything about her former life, or ask how she came into possession of the security codes. All he cared about was getting enough money to make his dreams come true. The burglary went off without a hitch. For a while, they were able to enjoy life. It was only when all the money was gone and Jimmy decided to try to hock Mrs. Senator’s jewels, that they were caught.

“
There was no way I was going to prison. I used my one phone call to call the senator. I told him that unless he came down and talked to me, he could read all about his little affair in the newspaper tomorrow. I told him that if I went to jail, I would be telling everyone exactly how I came in possession of his security codes. It didn’t take him long to decide to make a deal. I would make sure no one ever found out my maiden name, and he would make sure that I got probation and a nice little severance package”

It was getting late. I knew that shortly after this she changed her name and went to work at the hotel. I wasn’t sure I wanted to read about the secrets of people I might know. I flipped through several pages, looking to see if she mentioned anything about when she met Darryl, when this entry caught my eye.

“
I saw Joey today!!!! It’s been so long I wasn’t sure it was him. He recognized me right away. I saw it in his eyes. He tried to pretend he didn’t know me, that I’d mistaken him for someone else. Like me, he’s using another name.”

I searched for more, but she never mentioned him again. She went on to record that Connie helped her get a job in HR. Flipping through all the rest of the diaries, I couldn’t find Joey’s name again anywhere. I went back to her first journal. Unlike most teenage girls, she never gave any kind of a description of what Joey looked like. I was wide-awake now. I picked up my cell phone, but it was too late to call anyone. Absently I slipped it into my pocket. Marcia was obsessed with Joey. There’s no way she would simply walk away and never see him again. What had happened to him for all those years? I was dying of curiosity, and I never met the man. The fact that she never mentioned him again had to mean something. Was this the secret that got her killed? I paced up and down, thinking.

What I needed to do was sit down and read every entry from that point on looking for clues. As tired as I was, it was no use starting now. I’d be sure to miss something. Tomorrow was Friday. I would have all weekend. I decided to call Mrs. Combs first thing in the morning and get her to give me a description of Joey. Maybe she would even have a picture.

Knowing I needed to get some sleep, I made myself some hot chocolate and ran a hot bath. I was dumping in the bubble bath when I heard the front door rattle. I shut the water off and listened. Scraping noises, terrified I shut off the bathroom light. What should I do? Stay here or run? I nearly jumped out of my skin when the security alarm started wailing. Then the phone started ringing. I could barely hear it over the blaring of the alarm. Before I’d started reading, I’d made sure to lock and bolt the front door. Thinking I had time to answer the phone and tell the security people to send the police, I hurried to the kitchen. I was wrong. Before I could reach the phone, I heard a huge crash in the front room. It sounded like someone had broken in the front door. Ignoring the phone, I reversed directions, running down the hallway to the garage. Just before I opened the back door to the garage, I heard the crackle of fire and smelled smoke. There was no need to be quiet, so I threw open the door and ran. I barely felt the cold cement of the garage floor under my bare feet as I sprinted to the car.

Once there, I realized I didn’t have my keys. The car was unlocked, but I had no way to start it. I thought about getting in and locking the doors until help came. How long would it take? What if he had a gun? I heard footsteps thundering down the hallway toward me. Making up my mind, I opened the car door, reached inside, and hit the garage door opener, then ran and rolled under the slowly ascending garage door just as the back door crashed open. I was on my feet and running when I saw the second man dressed in black standing at the end of the driveway, too far away for me to see his face.

I veered to my left, and vaulted over the next-door neighbor’s hedge. My feet slipped on the wet grass, but I managed to keep my balance. Seconds behind me, I heard a grunt, as my pursuer cleared the hedge. Once I reached the sidewalk, I ran flat out, bare feet slapping the cement. I didn’t have to look behind me to know he was closing the gap between us. I could hear the soft sound of leather soles hitting the pavement, out pacing me. Arms pumping, I let the adrenaline push me faster. I could hear sirens in the background. Every step I took was taking me farther and farther away from the protection they could provide. If I turned back, he would catch me. He was too close for me to consider trying to hide. My only option to keeping running and pray I could stay ahead of him until I could circle the block. Already panting and puffing just to keep up the pace, screaming was out of the question. I should have spent more time in the gym. The muscles in my legs were beginning to burn. Apparently, he wasn’t in any better shape than I was because he was no longer gaining on me. I could hear him panting.