Double Down (9 page)

“
Yes.”

“
Why ya talking to my boss?” Shorter than me, he stayed on the step above me, leaving him at eye level. He leaned in so his face was close to mine and gave me an intimidating glare.

I leaned away, but stayed where I was, looking him in the eyes, and resisting the urge to back down a step. The staircase was empty. It occurred to me that I could be looking into the eyes of a murderer. One good push and I could easily break my neck falling down the rest of the steps. No witnesses, no one to say it wasn’t an accident. The smart plan would be to turn and run. Instead, heart pounding, I stood my ground and said, “Why is that any of your business?”

He pointed his finger at me and said, “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll stay out of my business and keep your mouth shut.”

Such charm. This guy was really beginning to grow on me. “Or what?” Anger had edged out any sense of self-preservation, so much for being careful.

“
Or maybe you’ll get the same thing she got,” he said.

I gasped, but didn’t move.

Apparently thinking he’d made his point, he threw me a malevolent look before he turned and raced up the stairs.

Now that the imminent threat was gone, my brain kicked in and I felt slightly dizzy. I held on to the banister, and slowly descended the stairs. Walking down the hallway to the cafeteria, I thought, “Now what do I do? Arnie Waters just threatened me.” I couldn’t even write him up for it because I couldn’t prove it. It would be my word against his. Was he really a murderer, or just a bully who liked threatening people? If he did kill Monica, why? Had she threatened to talk to his boss about the harassment claim?

I got a Coke and sat down at a table. The lunch crowd was gone. Four or five dealers on a break sat at one of the tables playing hearts. That always amazed me. You’d think they wouldn’t even want to touch a deck of cards after dealing for several hours. I knew I should get something to eat, but my stomach was still churning. I sipped on my drink and stared off into space, trying to make some sense of what just happened.

Alan sat down next to me. I hadn’t even seen him walk in. He put his hand on mine and said, “Hi, sexy, what’s got you so deep in thought?”

I laughed. “You must have a really warped definition of sexy.” I couldn’t tell him about Arnie’s threat without revealing the sexual harassment complaint, and I’d promised not to talk about it until I could meet with Doris, so I told him about the break-in at my house last night.

“
I hope you didn’t stay there.” His hand still covered mine.

It felt warm and comforting, but after learning about Monica’s offers, I was uncomfortable with any show of affection in such a public place. I didn’t need any rumors circulating about me right now. I tried to gently withdraw my hand, but he held on. “No, I stayed with Charlene and Evan.”

“
You think they were looking for something?” His thumb rubbed circles on the back of my hand.

“
That’s what it looked like, and that’s what Delgado believed.”

“
What was he doing there?” He released my hand.

I put both of them in my lap. “He came with the police. I guess he was at the station when the call came in and thought it might have something to do with the investigation.” I sounded defensive even to me.

He grunted his disbelief. “Probably just used it as an excuse to come see you.”

“
What . . . no, you couldn’t be farther from the truth. Trust me. Delgado has absolutely no interest in me.” I said it with confidence.

“
Val, you’re a smart lady, but when it comes to recognizing someone coming on to you, you’re a little dense. So forgive me if I don’t trust your instincts on this one.” He looked into my eyes.

Okay, I got it. He was interested. I looked down. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t change the fact that it was still against the rules. Because of that, I didn’t want to explore my feelings for him any further. I loved my job, not just what I did, but working here for Tony. I wasn’t ready to jeopardize that for a maybe. I got up to leave. “I have to get back to work.”

He stood too. “Hey, I’m sorry. Let me walk you back. I have some things I’d like to discuss with you.”

I wasn’t anxious to have another run in with Arnie, so I didn’t object. Once we were out of the cafeteria, we walked outside to escape the noise. The heat radiating off the sidewalk felt good compared to the frigid air inside. We stayed in the shadow of the building.

“
Yesterday afternoon, one of my officers was seen going into an empty guest room and staying awhile. I’m pulling the security tapes of the hallway, and the room TV information. I suspect he was watching an adult channel.”

I laughed. “It wouldn’t be the first time.” We’d just terminated two surveillance officers we’d caught watching porn videos instead of monitoring the casino floor.

Then he asked, “What’s this about Monica and Rose’s husband?”

While we walked back to my office, I told him the whole story about Rose catching them in her bed and kicking Danny out. I also told him about what Angie and Linda told me about Monica’s offers to prostitute herself and fix problems for something in return. “You didn’t know about any of this?” I asked. When he shook his head, I persisted, “You’re usually the first one to hear the rumors. Apparently this wasn’t a real well-kept secret.”

He stopped and looked at me. “If I had known about any of this, I would have told you.” I nodded and we continued to walk.

“
Getting back to the break in, did Monica ever give you anything to hold for her?”

“
No. That’s what is so strange. I hadn’t even talked to her this week. Obviously we weren’t all that close since I didn’t have a clue what was going on.”

He stopped in front of the doors to HR, took me by the shoulders, and told me to be careful, waiting until I had gone in and relocked the doors before he left.

Back at my desk, I started sifting through the mail when I heard someone pounding on the glass doors of the foyer. Delgado stood outside, looking like a male model straight from the pages of GQ.

I stopped just inside the doors so he could see me. Putting both hands in front of me, I shrugged and yelled through the glass, “I’m sorry. I promised Charlene I wouldn’t let anyone in.”

He rolled his eyes and held up his badge.

I motioned for him to wait a moment. Then I walked slowly back to my office to get the keys to the door, taking several deep breaths to slow down the pounding of my heart that just the sight of him always produced. I told myself it didn’t mean anything; it was just my natural appreciation for masculine beauty, like looking at an exquisite statue, except I don’t remember ever having that reaction to a statue. Since that wasn’t working, I reminded myself that he was already afraid I was becoming one of those infatuated women he probably had to fend off on a regular basis. That worked. I had too much pride to become a Delgado groupie. By the time I opened the door and let him in, I was in control, or at least as much control as possible. His first words solidified my resolve.

“
What the hell, are you doing here?”

“
And good afternoon to you too,” I said, turning and walking back to my office.

He grabbed my arm, and pulled me around to face him. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

I jerked my arm out of his grasp and continued walking. “I am trying to get some work done,” I said through gritted teeth. I took a deep breath and tried for a more reasonable tone. “As you can see, I have taken the precaution of locking the doors. You’re the only person I have let in.” Back in my office, I walked around the desk and sat down, effectively putting the desk between us.

He took a deep breath as well, but he was still glaring at me. “I guess it never occurred to you that whoever killed that girl has a key to this office.”

I frowned. “What are you talking about?”

His tone was harsh with an edge of sarcasm, “Since we never found the murdered woman’s keys, it only reasonable to assume the murderer may have them, which would include a key to this office . . .,” I must have gasped because he stopped to look at me.

“
You don‘t have Monica‘s keys?” I asked.

Emotions flitted across his face as understanding dawned. “Oh, shit . . . I never told you that we couldn’t find her keys or her cell phone, did I?” He sat down running a hand through his hair, ruining his usual well-groomed perfection. Unfortunately, it just made him look more desirable.

“
No. I just assumed you were keeping them as a part of the evidence,” I said quietly.

He sighed. “I’m sorry. I don’t usually go around growling at people. There’s something about you that brings out the worst in me.”

Suddenly I was livid. I stood and came around my desk to face him. “You put me in danger by failing to give me a vital piece of information, and then you imply that your boorish behavior is somehow my fault?”

A pulse throbbed in his temple, his jaw tightened. Standing as well, he growled, “I would have remembered to tell you, if you weren’t always distracting me.”

Hands on my hips, my face inches from his, I snarled, “Exactly how am I distracting you, Detective?”

Instead of answering, he grabbed me around the waist, pulled me to him, and kissed me hard on the mouth.

I was so shocked that my brain refused to work. My body, however, was having no difficulty responding. My arms just naturally encircled his neck. I kissed him back, lips parting, my body hugging his, leaning in as close as possible. No one had ever stirred that kind of passion in me until now. I doubt that I could have stopped if I wanted to.

Apparently, he had more control, because after a few minutes, he broke the kiss and pulled back.

I opened my eyes.

He looked as stunned as I felt. His voice was husky when he said, “Every time I get near you, that’s all I have been able to think about. Wondering how you would taste.”

The best I could manage was, “Oh.” I knew I should have had some sexy Lauren Bacall comeback like, “Did it meet your expectations?” and then he could have said, “It was even better,” but I was still having trouble just breathing. My heart was pounding so hard, I was sure he could hear it.

We just stood there looking at each other until he said, “We need to get out of here. Go someplace public.”

I nodded. Still a little unsteady, I walked back around my desk and grabbed my purse and keys.

With his hand on my elbow, we went out the front door to where he'd parked his car. I was expecting the discreet black cruiser parked outside my house the night before. Instead, he led me to a silver Porsche convertible, opening the passenger door for me. He drove a short way down the strip and pulled into a fast food restaurant.

It was perfect. It’s hard to feel sexy sitting on plastic seats surrounded by windows with kids laughing in the background. Suddenly I was ravenous. I ordered the works, cheeseburger, fries, and a large coke. He ordered two burgers, large fries and a large coffee. We took our food to a table next to the window as far away from the play area as possible. For a while, we ate without talking. I think we were both feeling a little awkward.

Finally, he looked up and said, “We need to talk about the case. I want to make sure there’s nothing else I’ve neglected to tell you.”

I agreed. “I have stuff I need to tell you too.”

“
Like what?” He said, sitting back and sipping his coffee.

“
You know about Monica sleeping with Rose’s husband?”

He nodded munching on a French fry.

“
Well, apparently she wasn’t very exclusive with her favors and was a big fan of the barter system.” He looked confused so I explained, “I talked to a couple of the directors who told me that when their supervisors came to her with a problem, she offered to make the problems go away for something in return. The ones I talked to declined her offer, so I don’t know what she had in mind, but, rumor has it, she also offered sex for a price. You probably couldn’t tell from her corpse, but she was a beautiful woman. I would be surprised if somebody didn’t take her up on her offers.”

He crossed his arms, looking up thoughtfully. “That explains her bank account.”

“
I don’t understand.”

He uncrossed his arms and leaned forward. “She had several cash deposits not explained by the salary she was earning.” Taking out a pen and notepad he said, “You realize I‘m going to need the names of the people who told you this.”

I nodded. Tony was not going to like it, but I couldn’t see any way around it. I gave him Angie and Linda’s names and phone numbers, vowing silently to call first and give them a heads up. “I have one more name for you. I think I know who the AW on her calendar is.” I hesitated. I’d promised not to discuss the sexual harassment claim, but it wasn’t fair not to give Delgado all the information I had. I try very hard not to accuse anyone, including a scumbag like Arnie, of anything that I couldn’t prove. Still, this was a murder case and Delgado was a police officer. I watched enough TV to know that holding back information was what got people killed. Besides, if I didn’t tell him now and he found out later, he’d kill me himself.

I blurted out, “Arnie Waters. He’s a pit boss on the casino floor. When I talked to his boss, Lou Bushold, today he said that he couldn’t think of any reason why Arnie would come to Human Resources. Arnie saw me talking to Lou and followed me down the stairs to the cafeteria. He said if I didn’t stay out of his business and keep my mouth shut, the same thing that happened to Monica would happen to me.”