Fast and Loose (22 page)

“Assuming we might know a
little something
, will you let us leave here if we share it with you?” she asked.

“Now, that depends on what that
little something
turns out to be,” Sparrow said, tongue in cheek.

“So we have this little club. So what!” the redhead said. “We bash Dixson Kelly for breaking our hearts. It makes us feel better. There's nothing wrong with that. We didn't harm anyone.”

“Didn't you leave something out?” Sparrow asked as more feathers, yellow this time, floated up and about.

“Well, it goes without saying, we all hate his guts. You being a man and all, plus being the director of the FBI, I thought you would figure that out on your own. Can we leave now?” a silver-haired dancer said.

“I'm talking about the plot, the plan, whatever you want to call it, that Kelly and your pal Kitty Passion, aka Clare Andreas, hatched to heist the armored car with Babylon's money in it,” Sparrow said.

The women as one tried to get up, but their feathered wings got snarled together, and they were forced to remain in place. There were feathers everywhere. Sparrow thought he looked like a rainbow, as the feathers stuck to his sports jacket and trousers.

“Are you going to confirm or deny?” Sparrow roared.

“We want a lawyer!” the blonde with the glitter on her eyelashes bellowed in return.

“Well, of course you do.” Sparrow turned to the agents and said, “Put them all in a holding cell. If they give you any trouble, shoot them.”

“Yes, sir!” one of the agents said.

Sparrow bolted from the room as he tried to pluck the feathers from his clothing. He stepped into a small, cramped office that was empty and pulled out his cell phone. He gave Charles an update on what had just transpired. He could hear Charles's suppressed laughter and winced. He turned serious when he listened to Charles tell him what Abner had sent Maggie.

“Well, if that's the case, then I can leave my agents here to take care of things and head back to Babylon.”

Sparrow poked his head in the door and motioned for one of the agents to step outside.

“First things first. For God's sake, don't shoot anyone. What I said in there was pure theatrics. Second, find them some clothes and don't let them out of your sight,” Sparrow instructed. “Even though we can legally hold them for seventy-two hours, we'll let them call their attorneys in the morning. But don't do it until you check with me first. Let the ladies cool their heels until then, and I guarantee they'll be falling all over themselves to get out from under. And get someone to clean up those damn feathers and that other junk. The place looks like a bordello.”

“Yes, sir.”

“You did good, son. You did good. All of you will get a good report. You need me, call.”

Sparrow walked outside and into the cool evening air and took deep breaths. He did not envy the agents, given what the rest of the night held in store for them. As he walked along, trying to hail a taxi, he couldn't see the people turning to look at his back and the trail of feathers that were being plucked from his jacket and pants by the gentle breeze. If he had seen the people staring, he wouldn't have cared.

“Women!”

Chapter 20

J
ack Emery knew that he looked like half the tourists in Las Vegas, so he wasn't overly concerned about his quasi disguise as he leaned up against the side of a plate-glass window so he could keep his eyes on the door of Chezmarie, where Dixson Kelly and Kitty Passion were dining. He yanked at his baseball cap and settled it lower on his forehead as he talked on his cell phone to Charles Martin. As a disguise, he realized it was on the pitiful side, but it was the best he could come up with on his own, without the benefit of Alexis Thorne's red bag of tricks.

“I'm good so far, Charles. They should be finishing up shortly. Harry and Dennis are several buildings away. I can't see them, but I know where they are precisely. Any news?”

“Avery's female operatives out at the chicken ranch are on the way back to town. They came up dry. Aside from several changes of clothing—mostly casual wear, shorts, jeans, that kind of thing—there is nothing in the house to indicate anyone plans on staying there. As Maggie said earlier, at first glance, to her it all looked temporary. Little to no food in the refrigerator, the bare essentials in the bathroom. The women spoke to the foreman, who, they said, was quite chatty. He said his orders have always been not to interfere or mingle with anyone staying at the house. He also said he has always been given the name of the current guest for mail purposes.

“The woman who stayed there before Kitty Passion was someone named Diane Sarrocco from Summerville, South Carolina, along with her daughter, Lisa Pepin, and Ms. Pepin's young son. Mr. Pepin, the daughter's husband, was to be a later arrival. Those guests are personal friends of the Boltons. They stayed for two months and left. Very nice people. A week later, Kitty Passion showed up. He said the only time he knows when she's there is if she throws a party, like she did a few days ago. He can't be sure, because he minds his own business, but he thinks the party people are the same each time.”

“So,” Jack said, “where are Snowden's operatives now? And where is Snowden?”

“The operatives are on the way back. I don't know where Avery is. He hasn't checked in as yet. Maggie got antsy and took Cyrus for a walk, and she ran into Pete Justice on the casino floor. They talked for a few minutes, and no, he has not heard from Kelly, either. Neither have I. Bert checked in, and he is furious at being unable to contact his number one man.”

“Ted and Espinosa?”

“Pretending to gamble. They're scouting the casino floor for anything that seems odd or out of place. Just a minute, Jack. Director Sparrow is reporting in. His agents rounded up the showgirls, and they're being held at the field office.” A minute later, Charles said, “I understand there was a bit of a to-do with the women, but for now it's all on lockdown. Of course, they are all demanding lawyers. I think that's about it. What do you plan on doing, Jack?”

“I'm going to do my best to stay with Kelly, but this cab situation stinks. There's no way, with this never-ending traffic, that I can successfully follow him. It would be great if Avery's people could somehow make it at least halfway here so we could switch off if I lose Kelly. There are hundreds of people milling about in the streets. Harry and Dennis are on Kitty Passion. She drove here from the chicken ranch. The question is, is she going back there after dinner or staying in town? We never did find out if she has a place here. How did that get by us, Charles?” Jack said fretfully.

“I'll have Maggie get on it right now.”

“Since Kitty drove in from the ranch, she might give Dixson a ride, drop him off somewhere. Or he might decide it's a nice night and opt to walk to wherever he's going. It's ten o'clock now, so they should be coming out soon.”

“Unless they left by the back door, through the kitchen. That's what they always do in the movies,” Charles said, with a chuckle in his voice.

“No actual egress. I checked earlier. Deliveries are through the front door. Space here is at a premium. He has to walk through the front door. Anything else?”

“Not at the moment. The minute you have eyes on, call me. We need to make a decision. Hold on. Hold on, Jack. I have a text coming in from Avery.”

Jack waited, tapping his foot impatiently, until Charles's voice came back on the line.

“Avery said he has a hunch that Kelly is going to go by his own condo. According to the street map I have here, Mr. Kelly could walk to his home from Chezmarie
,
and that might be why he chose that particular restaurant. But why would he do that when he is supposed to relieve Mr. Justice?”

Charles's voice was now as fretful sounding as Jack's. “Here's the address, Jack. Remember it, as I know you can't write it down. Just in case Mr. Kelly gets away from you. Avery will be waiting for you all. Let's hope his instincts are right.”

Jack broke the connection and shoved his phone into his pocket. He looked at his watch. He fought the urge to run into Chezmarie and physically drag Dixson Kelly outside so he could beat the hell out of him. Wishful thinking.

Jack blinked, then blinked again. Straight in his line of vision were Dixson Kelly and Kitty Passion. The couple moved off to the side to allow a party of four to exit through the same door. From where he was standing, it looked like the two of them were deep into an intense conversation. From what he could see from where he was, neither one looked happy. He looked around, hoping Harry and Dennis were seeing the same thing he was seeing.

Jack was starting off, trying to do his best to remain invisible, when it dawned on him that what he was doing didn't feel right. He stepped out of the way and leaned against a brick building. He brought his phone to his ear so people wouldn't give him a second thought or glance. What they were doing was all wrong. He questioned himself, replayed all that Charles had confided.

If this were the girls' mission, what would they be doing right now? How would they handle Kelly and Kitty Passion? He needed to think and think fast. What was it that was bothering him? What? The girls always had it going on, and they didn't make mistakes, and on the rare occasion when something did go awry, they somehow turned that something to their advantage. Maybe because they were so tuned in to one another, so united. That was the word he wanted,
united
.
We're scattered. You can't run any kind of operation if your people are scattered. Even a dumb-ass fool would know that.

The phone already in hand, Jack pressed the number three on his speed dial. Charles picked up on the first chirp.

“Just listen, Charles. Call everything off. Have everyone return to the hotel. That includes Ted and Espinosa. Now. Do it
now
!”

Jack jammed the phone into his pocket, turned around, and sprinted off, going down side streets and alleys to avoid the crowds. Thirty minutes later he was in front of Babylon, winded and breathless. Still breathing hard, he entered the massive building and headed straight for the casino floor. The sound level was deafening. He hated the intense looks he saw on the gamblers' faces. Didn't they know the house always won? Obviously, they didn't care, or else they had money they didn't care about. He shook his head to clear his thoughts as he made his way to the elevator.

Charles's suite was crowded, almost to the point of overflowing, when the door opened, courtesy of Maggie. Cyrus yipped his pleasure at seeing his master.

“Harry and Dennis are ten minutes out. Five now,” Maggie said. “What's going on, Jack?” she hissed. “You have everyone in a tizzy here, and I do mean a tizzy.”

“Yeah, I know. That's why we're all here. We're going to correct the situation right now, just as soon as Harry and Dennis get here. What time is it?”

“Almost eleven. Is the time important?” Espinosa asked.

“Maybe yes and maybe no.”

Someone knocked sharply on the door. Maggie and Cyrus both ran to it, with Cyrus winning easily. He barked happily as he greeted Harry and Dennis.

“What the hell is going on, Jack? We were
that
close to snatching Kitty Passion when Charles called. I almost didn't answer. We had her in our sights,” Harry said. “We saw her go into a condo complex and enter one on the first floor. We were about to do a snatch and grab when Charles's phone call came.”

“Yeah, what's going on?” Dennis asked. “We had it all lined up. It was perfect. I doubt we'll ever get a better shot at her. And the best part was there was no one around.”

“Look, everyone calm down and take a seat,” Jack said. “I had a good shot at Kelly myself when it hit me. We've gone about this all wrong. Well, not really wrong. When it blew up with Abner, and we need to take responsibility for that, we lost our way. When we get back to D.C., we'll make it right with Abner.

“I realized when I started to tail Kelly that it wasn't feeling right, so I stopped and asked myself what the girls would do. For starters, the thing with Abner never would have happened if they were in charge. That's when we got scattered.
Scattered!
We did not pull together. We did not unite. Each of us had our own idea, and in the back of all our minds was Abner. Are you all following me here?”

Heads bobbed up and down.

Jack went on. “We didn't let Charles form a plan for us. We were listening to Bert instead of Charles, and I want to be the first to apologize for that. We should have done more due diligence. As an example, we didn't know Kelly had a sister, even if she's only a half sister. We didn't know whether she had a place to stay in town. We didn't know she didn't own the chicken ranch. We should have had all that information at our fingertips. Even with PIP and Abner doing the scut work, we fell short.

“I don't think it's too late to fix this. But from here on in, we do not take our orders from Bert. From this point on, no one leaves this room until we have a concrete plan of action, and I don't care how long it takes. Now, let's run all this up the flagpole and see what we come up with.”

* * *

Abner Tookus flipped down the visor and pressed the remote that would allow him to enter the parking area that came with his converted loft. He was home. Home sweet home, though without Isabelle. Still, he was home. Even he had to admit he had made good time, having taken full advantage of his radar detector. For the most part, he had relied on his GPS and the detector and had driven eighty miles an hour. It was still a mystery to him how he hadn't been pulled over for speeding. The thing was, he never drove over the speed limit, just the way he never smoked. And yet he'd done both. He shook his head at his disbelief before he gathered up all his trash—the cigarettes, the coffee, and some soda cups, along with snack bags of cookies and chips. He dumped it all in a trash can next to the elevator, even the radar detector. His speeding and smoking days were officially over.

On the elevator ride up to the loft, Abner realized that he should have picked up his mail. Not that he ever got much, but he didn't like it to accumulate. He conducted all his business these days electronically. Oh, well. Tomorrow was another day.

Abner stood statue still when he stepped into the foyer of the loft. He closed his eyes as he sniffed. He could smell Isabelle's perfume and the lavender scent she sprayed the loft with. He looked at the coatrack and saw her yellow slicker with the matching hat. She always said she felt like a duck when she wore it. He smiled, but it was a less than valiant effort. He dropped his backpack and kicked off his Nikes. Then he headed for the kitchen to pop a bottle of root beer before he settled down in his favorite chair, which was right next to Isabelle's chair. He felt more lonely than he'd ever felt in his life. His eyes started to burn. He didn't even have a phone to call anyone. Then again, whom would he call? No one, that was who, so why was he even thinking about making phone calls? He wished he hadn't thrown out the cigarettes. He could use one right now.

The phone Phil had given him buzzed. He could feel the vibration against his leg. He pulled it out and grinned when he said, “Don't tell me you miss me already?”

“Nah. I just called to welcome you home. Mary Alice and I were talking, and we both decided you are probably feeling kind of lonely right now, so we called to cheer you up. You okay, pal?”

“Yeah, I'm okay. A little tired. I'm not even going to ask how you know I'm home. Where are you guys?”

“We're wherever you want us to be—thirty thousand feet in the air, the middle of the ocean, down under, in the desert. It doesn't matter, because we're talking. Did you take care of business?”

“I did, and then I left. I was just sitting here wondering what I'm going to do with myself now that I'm more or less a free agent. Guess I'll look for a job one of these days.”

“Sooner or later, something will fall into your lap, probably sooner than you think. For now, just kick back and sleep around the clock. Your body needs it. Spray some lavender on your pillow. It helps.”

Abner laughed, his first genuine laugh in days, because Isabelle was so into lavender, it was comical. She was forever spraying everything with the scent, because she said it was comforting and calming. “Is there anything you
don't
know, Phil?”

The big man laughed, a great booming sound. “Well, my friend, we're going to hang up now so you can get some rest. We'll be in touch. And, Abner, I'm glad you made it home safe and sound. Good thing I called ahead to all those trooper stations to alert them you were headed their way.”

“And all it cost him was a couple hundred thousand dollars for the troopers' widows and orphans fund.” Mary Alice giggled.