Roll the Dice (19 page)

She wondered if she’d ever figure it out. Then she looked down at the
now sleeping child and a well of gladness washed over her, lightening her
spirit. Waves of love, stronger than any she’d ever felt before, filled up
every tiny empty crevice in her soul. Whatever choices she’d made in the past,
she thanked God now for those decisions.

How could she ever live without … Okay! It was more than time baby had a
name. Reality warned that the moniker she’d always wanted wouldn’t be
tolerated. Not by her or Cory and that was understandable. She needed to let it
go and come up with something totally different.
 

Gazing down at the bald-headed angel whose bluey-grey eyes were enclosed
under startlingly long reddish eyelashes, she let her mind wander. Cory had
told her his father’s name was Al short for Allan. Not a title she particularly
liked. Her father's second name was Alexander. Nope too long. But maybe there
could be a way to meld them.

Alec? That had a nice ring. Went with Smart Aleck but then being called
smart never hurt anyone.
 
She rocked in
her chair and didn’t hear the man who quietly entered her room. Not until he
stood close enough for her to see the naked desire his eyes flashed boldly.

She covered both her baby and her breast in one movement and reached for
the water glass with the other hand. He sprang forward and wrenched it from her
hand.

“Nope. We don’t want to bring any attention to ourselves, now do we?
First you’re going to step away from the chair, get dressed and then you and
the babe are coming with me. That’s if you don’t want anything bad to happen.”
Evil glowed from his smarmy eyes and seemed alive in the sneer of his fleshy
lips. “The gun in my pocket is aimed straight at your head, so I’d advise you
not to make any sudden moves.”

“What do you want? Why are you here?” Honestly perplexed, Debbie’s mind
sought for answers. Then in a flash she knew. Maybe it had been his quick
glance at Alec, or maybe a mother’s instinct overrides confusion. Whatever
happened, she knew. And this time she’d die before giving him what he wanted.

“I’ll be taking those tapes back to headquarters, Bill. If you need a
copy, we’ll be glad to bring you back one.”

"Sure Detective. I'll get that organized." Bill hurried away,
importance a cloak he wore well.

Aurora had scrutinized every second on each of the videos at least five
times. One showed Rhondo wearing a police uniform, entering the hospital. Then
he appeared again when he approached the main desk on the maternity floor.
 
Business finished, he moved down the
hallway, strutting to room 505, his hand resting on his gun as if he’d worn it
for years. He disappeared and a short time later re-appears with Debbie who
carried her baby close.

And the important tape when both he and Debbie were leaving the main
entrance of the building.
 
They'd made
their way to a waiting police car parked so the flowering bushes hid the
numbers. On purpose? Was he that smart?

I’m missing something!
She knew it, but wasn’t sure what. Rubbing her
eyes, she cleared away the moisture gathered at the corners.
I need a break
.

But her mind couldn’t be turned off so easy. It kept revisiting the data
stored in her memory.
 

Dressed in her old maternity clothes, Debbie looked strange after only
wearing the hospital’s gear for the last while. Her jeans sagged and the blue
t-shirt, that used to cling around a protruding tummy, now hung limp and
creased. Her normally bouncy hair stuck to her head, the curls missing.

She looked young and somehow vulnerable. It didn’t sit well on the woman
who Aurora had worked with for years. A cop who’d carried a gun and been forced
to use it during multiple operations. Not that either of them had ever killed
anyone, but bullets had flown and danger lurked. They’d survived through grit,
a love of danger and a code that lived in each. I have your back—you have mine.

Aurora knew Debbie hid fragility, who didn’t? But her core strength had
always shone through in those moments when steel had to override soft. The
woman could be trusted to act smart and stay alive if at all possible.

Still, it irked her to have to watch Debbie walking proudly next to the
man whose hand gripped her arm. To anyone else watching, it seemed a thoughtful
gesture from a young police officer. To her it was a threat, a control that
made her stomach clench.

As they walked past, Debbie had stared directly into the overhead camera
for a second and her eyes had spoken. Aggravated, Aurora just didn't know what
she'd tried to impart.

Swallowing the rising emotions that threatened, she gritted her teeth.
Wouldn’t do Debbie a damn bit of good for her to turn girlie now. She needed to
stay clear and focused.
 

Something niggled at Aurora and be dammed if she knew what. Watching on
the older hospital monitor didn’t help at all. They’d need the technology
available at the precinct.

Kai emerged just as Bill handed over the precious evidence. “Thanks,
Bill. You’ve been a real help. If you think of anything else that might be
helpful, you have my card.”

“Glad to be of assistance Detective.” Bill turned and strode back into
his office, a man with a load of responsibilities that sat well on proud
shoulders.

Aurora waited for Kai to share.

“The nurse said Rhondo stopped by the desk and told them Mrs. Ashton was
in danger and her husband wanted her released into his custody as soon as
possible.”

Aurora shook her head and smiled. Not humorously.

"I found out something also. Bill gave me Debbie's chart and her
doctor's name shows clearly—Jane Montgomery. The same woman whose office got
broken into, right?"

"I believe so. Didn't Ham check the victim's names in the journal
with her client's list. Strange this didn't jump out."

"Not so strange. She's shown here as Mrs. Ashton. On the journal
Rhondo had written her in as Debbie Jackson, her maiden name."

"Fuck!"

"My sentiments exactly."

Frustration curled the lip on one side of her face—a caricature of
self-denigration. “All the time we thought he was after Wayne, he’d been
inspecting the lay-out to get to Debbie. But why her? Out of all his victims,
why Debbie?”

Kai didn’t answer. His face clearly showed thought processes perplexed
as hers. They both turned as Cory arrived. Never before had Aurora seen him in
this state. Eyes red-rimmed, hands visibly shaking, he was a mess.

“What have you got?” He growled, but not in his regular bellow. It
sounded more like him begging for a miracle.

“The tapes reveal Rhondo arriving and then leaving with Debbie and
Alec.”

“Alec? Who the hell is Alec?”

Shit! When would she ever learn?
“Sorry! Just a slip of the tongue. I meant to say baby.”

“Yet you said Alec. Debbie finally chose a name.” He turned his face
away, but not before Aurora saw his lip quiver threateningly.

“She signed them out at the desk. Debbie and Alec Ashton.

“Alec it is. My Dad will be stoked. His name is Al.” The big guy glanced
back and his sad smile forced hers in reaction.

“Right, let’s get busy. I want my wife and son home by the end of this
hellish day.”

Back at the office, Aurora couldn't sit still. Like a wild animal caged,
she shuffled papers, fidgeted with the computer and ignored Kai's grunts of
displeasure.

Cory finally broke the tension. “I’ve gotten a hold of Veronica Marks.
She’s the best profiler in Nevada, and luckily, she happened to be here at a
convention. Coercing her to help us worked as soon as I admitted the victim was
my wife.”

Aurora’s heart lightened. The woman’s expertise for pinning down serial
rapists like Rhondo was universal. Cory moved in on Aurora, sat on the side of
her desk, and grabbed the other half of her sandwich automatically. He took a
bite and she shoved over the bottle of iced tea for him to finish.

“Where’s Kai?”

“My restlessness drove him away. He’s hounding the techs to get those
tapes set up so we can scan them properly. We need that car number. Meantime,
I’ve been on to every precinct for a missing black and white and so far,
there’s no one who’s been reported AWOL.

“He had to have overpowered an officer in order to take the vehicle.
Someone has to be missing.

“I know. Just don’t know who.”

“Ham said to tell you Eddie’s pretty ripe now. He’s been crying uncle
for some time. You going to break him loose?”

“I’m on it.” Aurora sighed when she saw the last of her supper disappear
into Cory’s mouth.
Guess it’s either one of those stale donuts in the coffee
room or starvation
.

Grabbing two bottles of water from the dispenser that was usually empty,
she strode over to the interrogation room that housed her new snitch, not that
he knew it yet. She decided to play nicey-nice this time. At least for a while.
After all, there was due process to consider, but when it came to Debbie and
Alec’s welfare, due process be dammed.

“Wake up Eddie. I’ve brought you a cold drink. Man it’s hot in here.

“No shit, Einstein. They turned off the air conditioning.” His tone held
a distinct sneer. In the meantime, he guzzled the cold drink and swiped at his
dripping forehead.

“Yes, after you complained you were cool. We’ve got it recorded, ace.”

He eyed her, slits for openings. She returned his glare trying to look
innocent.

The man hadn’t any signs of coming down off drugs, not that she could
ascertain. And by this time, he’d have been a mess if he’d been using anything
other than weed.
 
Guess Luke had been
correct in thinking this dude might work out taking over his role. Now all she
needed was for him to agree.

There were two ways to keep an informant faithful—with fear or
friendship. Not sure how she could turn this around to make Eddie care. Guess
there was only fear left to work with.

“Two-time loser. You must like it in the can to take the chance on going
back for good.”

“Those are old offences. Ran with the wrong crowd as a teen.
 
I didn’t do anything this time and you know
it.”

Weirdly, his language skills had improved after his hour of sweating.
“You’re on probation. Do doubt it says something in the rulebook about carrying
an illegal weapon. Oh yeah, and how about the drugs?”

“You had no reason to search me. I was minding my own business.”

“Well now I want you minding mine. I need eyes working for me. Interested?”
She watched the play of relief versus rejection on the skinny unshaven face.
Clear eyes, brown intelligence lurking behind the dummy-down look, had her
silently congratulating Luke on his choice.

He leaned back in his chair, his hand rifling through the surprisingly
clean albeit sweat-dampened hair.
 

 
“You want Rhondo, am I right?”

Aurora sensed something coming. “He’s kidnapped my partner and her new
baby. So yeah, I want him—as much as you want to breathe the free Nevada air.”

“So there’s a deal here?” Astuteness sparked and took hold. Our friend
Eddie had good acting skills, something else in his favour for working with
her.

“Depends.”

“On how good I am at getting you information.”

“That and…”

“And…”

“How much I can trust you. What’ll you do to stay out of prison?”

This time the man looked her straight in the eye, no flinching, no
lying. “He raped a good friend of mine. A girl by the name of Ruth Grainger. I
want him almost as much as you do. As a kid who had no home life to speak of,
her mother used to let me sleep on the couch. Made me lunches for school. Made
me feel like someone cared. Take it from me, Detective Morelli, I’ll be more
than willing to be your eyes and ears. In fact I already have some information
you might not already know.”

Aurora couldn’t believe her luck. You hung out at the bar to get the
skinny on Rhondo. And what were you intending on doing with him once you caught
up?”

“He raped my friend.”

Aurora glanced at the window and then at the speaker visible on the
wall. “Then you planned to call us, right.”

Eddie followed her gaze and nodded. “Right!”

“So what’s the info?” She felt a humming begin and knew his next words
would make a difference to their investigation.

“His father lives here in Vegas. Heard they don’t get along so well, but
Rhondo visits with him from time to time. Could be he’d know where Earl would
take a hostage. Or, could be, he’d bring them home to daddy.”

“So where does Daddy live?” Her pulse had quickened and she just knew
this lead was solid.