Donna Joy Usher - Chanel 02 - Goons 'n' Roses (10 page)

‘I really want to wear my pretty sun dress,’ I said.

‘After yesterday?’

I sighed and picked another pair of pants out of the cupboard, teaming them up with a tank top.

‘Do you think we should go to the police?’ Martine asked.

‘I’ve been wondering the same thing,’ I admitted. ‘But Trent said there were crooked cops. What if we get one of them?’ I was worried sick about Mum and Trent, but didn’t know if the risk of going to the police station was worth it. What if I made things worse?

‘You’re right,’ Martine said. ‘After last night…’

It was possible a crooked cop could have been told to keep an eye out for us.

‘Anyway, I’ve got a lead.’

Martine perked up at that. ‘You told Billy?’

‘Of course not. I’m not even sure who he is. I mean he was watching the Russians. He could be with them.’

‘Did they see him watching?’

I thought about it. ‘No. In fact he made sure they didn’t realise.’

‘Then odds are he isn’t with them. What lead did you get from him?’

‘I know where I might find Big H. It’s possible he may know why Mum was taken.’

‘Do you want me to come with you?’

‘No. You go out with the girls and pretend everything is normal.’

‘Right, normal,’ she said. ‘I can do normal.’

***

I caught a cab to the Pink Flamingo. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do once I got there, but was leaning heavily on the hope that the Universe would intervene on my behalf. It never had before, but there’s always a first time for everything.

For the want of any better plan, I marched up to the front desk and said, ‘I’m here to see the owner.’

The woman looked over her glasses at me and said, ‘Really?’

‘Yes.’ I nodded my head.

‘If you have a complaint perhaps one of the managers could help.’

‘No complaint,’ I said. ‘I just need to talk to him. It’s urgent.’

She let out a big sigh and said, ‘I’m sorry but unless you have an appointment that’s impossible.’

‘It really is urgent,’ I said. If this didn’t work I didn’t know what I was going to do.

‘It’s against company policy.’

I could feel tears starting to well. What if I never found her?

She looked sympathetically at me but said, ‘I’m sorry.’

I turned away and walked a few steps before stopping.
Damn it.
This was my only lead and I wasn’t going to give up that easily. I strode back to her and said, ‘Can you please ring him. Tell him Tess’s daughter’s here and she needs to talk to him.’ I wiped my eyes with my hands. ‘If he doesn’t know who I am then I’ll go.’

It was a long shot. A
really
long shot. There were many factors against me: Big H may not still be the owner; or he might not remember Mum; and even if he did he may not care that her daughter wanted to speak to him. But I had a feeling that if Mum had assumed it was him that wanted her, then for whatever reason, he would remember her.

The woman let out a long-suffering sigh, shaking her head as she picked up the phone. ‘I’m sorry to disturb you Sir,’ she said, ‘there’s a woman here. She says she’s Tess’s daughter and that she needs to talk to you.’

She was silent for a few moments before hanging up. ‘Someone will be down to collect you shortly. Please take a seat over there.’ She pointed to a lounge across the foyer.

Hope burnt bright in my chest and I could feel myself grinning at her. I took a seat where she had told me and waited about five minutes for a pretty, young woman in a pleated, black skirt and white blouse to come for me. Her polished blonde hair was pulled back in a perfect bun and her make-up was modest.

‘I’m Rebecca,’ she said, holding out a manicured hand.

‘Chanel.’

‘Please follow me Chanel. Mr Milano is waiting for you.’

Geez, I really hoped Mr Milano was formerly known as Big H or I was going to look like a right idiot.

Rebecca took me up to the penthouse suite. I felt extremely under-dressed as she led me out of the elevator and onto the plush carpet. There was an ornate wooden desk at the other end of the enormous living space. It was orientated so that the user had views out over Las Vegas to the hills.

A man with silver-streaked, dark hair sat at the table, his fingers dancing over the keyboard of a computer. As we approached, he stopped and turned to face us.

‘Please, sit,’ he said, beckoning to a lounge suite. He rose, smoothed down the fabric of his suit pants, and came to join me. ‘Rebecca, please bring a pot of tea and some pastries.’

My stomach grumbled at the sound of the pastries and I realised I hadn’t eaten since the pie the day before.

He looked at me and said, ‘Bring
lots
of pastries.’

It was impossible to perch delicately on the edge of the couch. I sank into the softness of its cushions feeling defenceless. Mr Milano sat opposite me, separated from me by a simple, but elegant, coffee table.

‘Big H?’ I said.

He settled back into the couch, a thoughtful look on his face. ‘Now there’s a name I haven’t heard for a while.’

‘But it is, I mean
was
you?’

‘A long, long time ago.’

‘And you remember my Mum?’

‘Tess is a hard person to forget.’ He paused for a moment, his eyes searching my face. ‘You know you have family here? Family that would love to meet you.’

Great. A family that contained Sam the Suits, and Jolly Jims. I shook my head. ‘Thanks, but no thanks.’

We sat for a few moments examining each other. He looked like a nice enough man. Admittedly, my radar seemed to be a bit defunct in that department, so he
could
have been a raging psychopath.

‘Mum’s been kidnapped.’ I hadn’t meant to blurt it out like that, but the relief of having someone to share it with was overwhelming. Especially someone who might know something that could help.

His body language became more alert and he leant forward. ‘When did this happen?’

‘Yesterday afternoon.’

‘Have you contacted the police?’

‘I was told not to; that they might be crooked.’

He leaned back while he contemplated my words and then he nodded. ‘Probable. My son is a cop, but he’s not stationed in Las Vegas, otherwise he might have been able to help.’ He was silent for a few more moments. ‘What
have
you done?’

I gave him a summary of last night, leaving out some details like farting clown shoes. I didn’t want him to think we were totally incompetent.

‘Let me get this straight,’ he said, ‘you’ve been in Las Vegas for 24 hours and you’ve already had a run in with the Russian Mafia?’

‘Well, we’re not sure they were the Mafia.’

‘Tall guy with teeth filed to points?’

‘Yep.’

‘That’s the Mafia.’ His mouth stretched into a smile and then he threw his head back and laughed out loud. ‘Well, I can see the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.’

‘If you’ve gone legit,’ I said, eyeing him warily, ‘how do you know they’re the Mafia.’

‘I’m legit, not dead,’ he said.

‘Why don’t the cops do anything about it?’

He looked at me and raised his eyebrows.

‘Right. Crooked,’ I said.

Rebecca re-appeared carrying a tray that held a teapot, a pair of fine china teacups, and a plate piled high with pastries. I watched the plate eagerly as she placed it on the coffee table.

‘Eat up,’ Big H said.

I placed a couple of apricot Danishes on a plate while he poured me some tea. I bit into the first one ravenously.

He took a sip of his tea. ‘I must say, I’m a little confused as to why you’re here.’

‘As Mum got taken she asked how you were and they laughed and said they didn’t work for you any more. I thought you might know who they worked for.’

‘It would help if I knew who
they
were.’

‘Oh sorry.’ I had gotten ahead of myself. ‘Mickey, Riley and Tommy Tiger.’

He nodded his head thoughtfully. ‘Mickey and Riley were my men. Tommy was a small boy but I knew his father. He was an arsehole.’

‘So I’ve heard,’ I said.

‘I wish I knew who they worked for now, but a few years ago The Mob, as we knew it, dissolved. A new crime leader emerged. One whose identity only a few are privy to. The name they use on the streets is The Rose.’

Suddenly I wasn’t hungry any more. My only lead had come up empty. I put the half-eaten pastry down, and slumped back into the couch.

‘If only we knew why she’s been taken,’ I said.

‘It certainly doesn’t make any sense to me,’ he said. ‘Tess was never an active participant in the day-to-day running of things. The only thing she ever got caught up in was Lou the Brain’s disappearance, and that was more a case of wrong-place-wrong-time.’

Lou the Brain. Where had I heard that name before? I sifted back through my memories of the last 24 hours till I had it.

‘When she moved to Australia, Interpol tried to get her to testify as a witness in his disappearance,’ I said slowly. ‘But the body never turned up.’

Big H stood up and walked to the glass wall overlooking Las Vegas. ‘Surely not?’ he mused. ‘After all this time?’

‘What?’ I asked, sitting forwards.

‘About a year ago there was a burst water pipe under the ornate garden at The Bellagio. Workmen discovered the remnants of a human skeleton. DNA testing found it was Lou the Brain. I’ve heard they’ve re-opened the case on his disappearance.’

I pushed out of the couch and paced over to him. ‘So you think…’

‘That that’s why Tess was taken.’

A chill ran down my spine and goose bumps broke out all over my arms. ‘So now we know who took her,’ I said. ‘Who killed Lou the Brain?’

‘That’s the thing,’ Big H said, ‘there was only one witness to his murder, and that one person was Tess.’

***

I caught a cab back down to The Luxor, mulling over the information I now had. Even though it was a big piece to the puzzle, it didn’t take me any closer to finding Mum. Plus, I was now terrified that she might already be dead. If they had taken her so she couldn’t testify, why would they leave her alive?

I was clinging onto what Trent has said about if they had wanted her dead they would have done it in the hotel room.

Big H had offered to help me in whatever way he could, but apart from that information, I couldn’t see what else he could do.

A group of bikes was parked out the front of the hotel, their riders standing in a loose circle talking.

Shit.
I’d totally forgotten about my ‘date’ with Billy.

I strolled over to them and they stopped talking mid-conversation and turned to stare. One of them let out a wolf-whistle and elbowed Billy, and I felt my cheeks erupt into the warmth that normally meant they were bright red. Billy laughed and punched the man on the shoulder.

Oh Cripes.
I was in deep water without an oar.

‘Don’t mind the boys,’ Kingy said, ‘we were just leaving.’

‘We’ve got time for a quick drink,’ the wolf-whistler said, eyeing me up and down.

Deep water, no oar and no boat.

‘Actually you don’t,’ Billy said. ‘You have to go and check on that
thing
Tony just called in.’

I didn’t want to know what that ‘thing’ was. Witness protection might look like fun in the movies but I was betting it was a real drag.

They pulled on their helmets and with a few last racy comments to Billy, that I’m sure had my cheeks glowing, disappeared in a cloud of petrol fumes.

‘Sorry,’ I said, looking at my watch. I was 15 minutes late. ‘I was shopping with the girls and I lost track of time.’

‘Where’s your shopping?’ he asked.

‘Urmmm,’ I said, thinking as fast as I could. ‘Martine’s got it. I found a flaw in one of my shirts and she’s going to swap it for me. Do you mind if I go up to my room first? I need to freshen up.’ What I actually needed was a few moments to get myself together.

He held out an arm towards the foyer door and then followed me into the hotel. We rode up to the tenth floor and walked to my room in silence.

I fumbled around in my bag, searching for my swipe card, wishing desperately I had put it in the back pocket of my pants again. The added pressure of knowing that Billy was watching me, was standing
way
too close to me, only served to make me klutzier than normal. As my fingers brushed past the hard plastic of the card, Billy’s phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket, shrugged apologetically, and turned away.

I breathed a sigh of relief as I managed to snag the stupid card. I wrestled it from my bag and swiped it through the electronic door opener.

‘Hey Kingy,’ Billy said. ‘What’s up?’

I pushed the door open and froze.

Tommy Tiger was lying on my bed, staring at the door. I was guessing, by the perfectly round hole in his forehead, that he was dead. He was – to quote Twin Peaks – ‘wrapped in plastic.’

‘I can see that,’ Billy said, ‘any idea who’s responsible?’

I yanked the door shut and spun around, pressing my back against the hard wood. Billy had his back to me and was talking urgently into the phone. It didn’t look like he had noticed my visitor.

My heart was beating fiercely and I felt like I was going to puke, but I held it together and slowed my rapid breathing.

Billy looked over at me and I smiled at him. He put a hand over the mouthpiece of the phone and said, ‘You okay?’

‘Me? Fine,’ I said, nodding my head far too rapidly. ‘Hunky dory. Yes Sireee. All quiet on the Western Front.’ I slammed my mouth shut before I could say anything else ridiculous.

‘Get the guys to clean up the mess,’ he said into the phone. ‘Text me when you’re done.’ He hung up and placed the phone in the pocket of his leather jacket. ‘You sure you’re all right.’

I probably had crazy-person eyes.

‘You don’t look so good.’

‘I need a drink,’ I said, pushing away from the door and heading for the elevator.

‘I thought we could go to this cute little bar…’

‘I need a drink
now.
’

He raised his eyebrows but wisely said nothing. I followed him to The Centra Bar and Lounge and took a seat at the bar. I hadn’t yet given my mind any chance to think about what I had seen. I was planning to paralyse it with alcohol so that it wouldn’t get a chance, and then sleep in Mum and Trent’s room. I was also working on the very small possibility that I’d had some sort of stress-induced hallucination and that Tommy Tiger was not really lying dead on my bed.