Salazar’s face drained of color. Michelle leaned forward and put a hand on his shoulder, as if to comfort him, and he raised his palm to cover it, as if he needed the lifeline to take in the news. “What is her condition?”
“Not good,” I told him.
“Which hospital?” Michelle asked, lifting her cell phone.
“St. David’s,” I said. “But you won’t get any information on her. She’s listed as Candice Fusco, and if I were you, I wouldn’t alert the authorities to the error, or you’re going to have the FBI down here asking you a whole lotta questions, Mr. Kato.”
Kato and Michelle exchanged a look. “I’ll be discreet,” she said, getting up to walk around the bookcase and out of sight.
“What questions would the FBI want to ask me?” Kato said as Michelle’s murmurs echoed from the other side of the room.
“Well,” I said, hoping that mentioning the FBI would keep me alive, “I know they want to ask you why you hired Candice to shoot Dr. Robinowitz.”
Kato’s brow furrowed again. “Why would I hire Candice to shoot my good friend?”
I shrugged. “Maybe because the Feds think you loaned him some money and he couldn’t pay it back. Or maybe it’s because he had dirt on you and was willing to share it with the Feds.”
Kato’s gaze shot over to Arlo. I wanted to turn around to see the silent exchange, but decided to keep my eyes on Kato. “That’s absurd,” Kato said. “David was my best friend, Ms. Cooper. He would never betray me. And as for the money, it was I who owed him. A great deal, in fact. I would have given my own life for him if it came to it, and now he’s dead because of your best friend.”
I sat there for a moment considering the fact that my lie detector hadn’t gone off even once since I’d sat down. Was Kato telling me the truth? “Well, then who hired Candice to kill Dr. Robinowitz?” I asked.
“That’s what I was hoping you could tell me,” he said, leaning forward to study me again.
Just then Michelle came back around the bookcase, wearing a grim frown. “She’s stable,” she said softly, taking up her chair right behind him again. Placing a hand on his arm, she said, “Her prognosis is guarded, though, Sal. She’s sustained some head trauma and they don’t yet know how her recovery will go. I’m so sorry. I can head to Austin immediately if you want.”
Sal covered her hand again. “Thank you, Michelle,” he said. “I’ve asked quite a lot of you in recent weeks when you were having so many of your own difficulties, haven’t I?” She smiled fondly at him, as if it were no trouble.
“You were there for me. I want to be there for you,” she said.
He took her hand and kissed it. “Yes, please go, bella. Be with her and report back to me if there’s any change.”
Michelle got up and kissed Sal’s cheek. “I’ll book the first flight out and call you as soon as I get an update on her condition.” Then she nodded to Arlo. “Watch over him while I’m gone,” she practically ordered. “I’ll tell Andy to cover security.”
And then she moved off toward the elevator, walking with a grace and confidence that was hard not to envy.
When she was gone, Kato turned once again to me. “Why do you think Candice was hired by me to kill my friend?” he asked.
“Because the Feds showed me a photo of you giving her money.”
Kato pursed his lips. “Ah, that,” he said, but didn’t elaborate. “And you think Candice has returned to Vegas because . . . ?” he asked next.
“Because I thought she’d come here to collect her payment for killing Robinowitz.”
Kato tapped his fingers on the desk. “You came looking for her here, at my casino?” He said that as if he couldn’t fathom someone doing something so stupid.
“In hindsight it might not have been the smartest idea,” I admitted. “But I need to find her, Mr. Kato, and get her to explain. This isn’t Candice.”
“Oh, I beg to differ with you, Ms. Cooper. I’ve known Candice since she was still wet behind the ears. She’s quite capable of something like this. What I can’t reconcile, however, is why she would betray me so cruelly. To kill David and hurt Saline . . . Candice knows what I’m capable of. To cross me in this way isn’t just suicidal—it’s setting herself up for the most hideous death imaginable.”
I gulped. Kato said that casually, as if he were commenting on the weather. “Listen,” I said to him. “I know you’re going to want to get your revenge, but I’m telling you, Mr. Kato, that there’s more to this than meets the eye. I know you might not believe in psychics, but I swear, I’m legit, and I’m good. Really good. If anyone can find Candice, it’s me. So, please, I’m begging the part of you that’s known her since she was wet behind the ears, if you ever cared about her at all, let me try to find her and tell her side of the story before you do anything . . . er . . . drastic.”
Kato inhaled deeply and let out a sigh. “Very well, Ms. Cooper,” he said. “You have seventy-two hours to find Candice and bring her to me to explain herself. If, at the end of those seventy-two hours, you either fail to find her or you don’t bring her to me, I will hunt both of you down and make her punishment yours.”
My mouth went dry, because Kato looked at me and I could tell he wasn’t kidding or even exaggerating. He’d find a way to kill me if I didn’t get to Candice and bring her to him.
The best I could hope for if I didn’t find Candice was to seek the protection of the FBI, but would they protect me when they discovered I’d come to Vegas knowing full well that the woman in the hospital wasn’t my BFF?
“I understand,” I told Kato, simply because I knew I had no other choice at the moment but to accept his terms and hope I could get the hello Dolly out of there.
The corners of Kato’s mouth quirked in the slightest of smiles. “Arlo,” he said, waving to his goon. “You may escort Ms. Cooper to the lobby.”
Chapter Eleven
• • •
I got out of the casino as fast as I could. Luckily, I hadn’t unpacked much of my suitcase from the night before, so it was mostly a grab and go. As I exited the lobby, I could sense lots of eyes on me, and I looked around nervously, feeling very exposed. My gaze landed on a camera mounted to the ceiling, and I just knew that security was watching my hasty exit.
I hustled through the parking lot, glancing over my shoulder as I went. No way was Kato going to let me go without putting a tail on me; of that I was certain. And I doubted that he’d let me bring Candice back to him for a chitchat when I found her. He definitely felt like the kind of guy who would sic his goons on us the second he knew I’d discovered her whereabouts. As I trotted down the asphalt, I didn’t see anybody in the parking lot who looked like they were keeping tabs on me, but that did little to settle my nerves.
After throwing my stuff in the car, I pulled out of the lot and sure enough, my radar pinged and I spotted a dark brown SUV in my rearview mirror, tucked just a few cars back. I made a right turn the first chance I got. Like I knew it would, the SUV turned right too.
“Amateurs,” I muttered. Well, Candice had taught me several ways to lose a tail, and I drove until I found an opportunity at a Burger King about two blocks down. I entered into the lot and made like I was about to pull into a parking space, and just as I’d hoped, the SUV followed suit and began to pull into a parking space a few down from me. I kept the engine idle, however, and as a maroon minivan was about to enter the drive-through, I gunned the engine and zipped ahead of it, pulling up to the order window first. I saw in the rearview mirror that the mother driving the car was pretty furious at me, but better her than a mobster goon.
Behind her the SUV began to pull out of the space, but now there was the minivan between us, and because of the close proximity of the building next door, if they wanted to continue to tail me, they had to get into the drive-through line. What’s more, by the time the two guys in the SUV figured out that the
y’d been tripped up, another two cars had pulled in behind them. They were trapped and I couldn’t help but laugh.
At the order window I ordered a ton of food: burgers, fries, Cokes, shakes, and even a few goodies for dessert. When I got to the payment window, I handed over two twenties, took one of the fries and a Coke, and told the girl that the entire rest of the order was for the minivan behind me, with my compliments. Then I simply drove out of the exit and back onto the street.
For the next twenty minutes I put some serious distance between me and the Burger King. I figured I had at least a five-minute head start on the goon squad, but I wanted to make sure they couldn’t possibly catch up with me.
An hour and a half later I had pulled in to the apartment Candice had rented, tucking myself neatly into the parking space I’d taken up before. I wasn’t exactly happy about being back here, but I had a feeling that Candice had kept this place on the down low, and it was as good a place to hide as any other.
After looking around for a few minutes to make sure no one suspicious came into view, I got out, grabbed my luggage and my purse, and headed to the door. After working the key and getting inside, I came up short.
During the time I was away, someone else had been inside the apartment.
It wasn’t any one thing that alerted me—it was a shift in the energy of the place that I noticed immediately. For several seconds I stood stock-still, hoping that whoever had come into the apartment wasn’t still hanging out. I strained my ears to listen, but I heard nothing. “Hello?” I called, keeping one hand firmly on the door handle should I need to heave it open and bolt the hell out of there. (Swearing doesn’t count when you’re getting ready to make run for your life.)
There was no reply, which didn’t necessarily mean I was alone. “Candice?” I called again. Straining my ears to pick up even the slightest sound, I continued to hover in the entryway, until I sort of convinced myself that no one was in the apartment besides me.
Still, I kept my purse slung over my shoulder and the bag by the door while I moved farther inside to investigate.
Peering around the living room, I saw that all the mail I’d tucked back into the mailbox had been taken out and opened up to be organized on the dining room table.
Looking toward the kitchen, I saw a set of pots drying on a cloth on the counter, and the place had the scent of roasted garlic about it. Someone had cooked a meal.
I then moved into the bedroom, and although I couldn’t be certain, I felt the bed looked different than it had the day before—as if someone had slept in it and made it back up again, but rearranged the pillows in a different order.
There was no telltale half-packed suitcase lying about, but still, I knew someone had come here, cooked themselves dinner, and slept in the bed the night before. And the only person I could think of who might’ve done that would be Candice. Perhaps most telling of all was what I found in the bathroom. A wet towel hung over the rod, and there were several small, brown rusty stains, about the size of a quarter, in one patch that definitely looked like dried blood. I shivered a little as I inspected the towel.
In the wastebasket were some discarded cotton balls, also stained with blood. A tube of antibiotic ointment was set to the side of the sink next to a bottle of painkillers. I wondered if Candice had cut herself on a knife while preparing dinner or something. Still, the towels and the cotton balls made me a little queasy, so I moved out of the bathroom and searched out the rest of the apartment, finding no further trace of Candice.
When I’d finished my search, I put my back against the wall of the living room and tried to think of what to do.
I reached for my phone and started to call Dutch, then thought better of it and dialed Brice instead. “Where have you been?” he demanded the moment he picked up.
“Vegas. Just like I told you,” I snapped back. After the day I’d had, I was in no mood for the third degree.
“Abby, you’ve been gone for over twenty-four hours without checking in. Your husband has been threatening to quit the bureau and go chasing after you, you know.”
“Well, talk him out of that!” I yelled. God, why was everybody always so ticked off at me?
Brice took a deep breath and tried again. “Listen, I’m sorry. I’ve just been worried, and now that Dutch knows you’re not in Boston and in Vegas, he’s getting more worked up by the second.”
“Is he there?” I asked.
“No. There was a death threat against the governor this morning, and he’s been rerouted from San Antonio back here to help with the investigation.”
“A death threat against the governor?”
“Yeah. We get them every once in a while. They’re usually nothing, but this one had enough markers in the threat to take it seriously. Rivers should be tied up most of the day, that is, if he doesn’t quit midshift and catch the first plane to Vegas.”
“Does he know you know where I am?”
Brice sighed. “Not yet. But when I tell him I knew you were going, he’ll probably punch me in the face.”
I smirked. “I’ve seen your face. It looks like it could take the punch.”
Brice actually laughed. “Ouch,” he said. “Talk about coming out swinging. What do you have for me on the Vegas front, Rocky?”
“Nothing good, I’m afraid.” I then proceeded to tell him everything. I felt like I was in way over my head and I knew it was time to come clean to Brice. I told him all about the file Candice had left in her safe and what I’d found in it. Then I told him everything that’d happened since I landed in Vegas, including my little tête-à-tête with Kato.
He surprised me by yelling only a little. Once he’d calmed down, he said, “You need to get on a plane and come home right now.”
“Brice, listen to me. I can’t. Candice is here—I know it. I can feel that she was here, in this apartment, just a few hours ago.”
“Which is why you need to leave there right now, Cooper!” Brice said, his voice strained with urgency. “It kills me to say this to you, but you can’t trust that she won’t hurt you if she finds you there. She’s already murdered one person, possibly two. And two days ago she tried to kill an innocent woman to fake her own death. How many more signs do we need to realize Candice isn’t who we thought she was?”
His words hit me like a punch in the gut. “Are you giving up on her too, Brice?”
He was silent so long I thought he’d hung up. When I called out to him, he said, “I’m here. Listen, I still love her, okay? And I can’t believe I still love her through all of this, but I do and I probably always will. What I can’t allow is for you to take the chance of confronting her, and having her turn on you. So get the hell out of that apartment and give me the address so that I can call the Feds in Vegas to tell them where to pick her up.”
I eyed the door on the other side of the room. It’d be so easy to do what Brice suggested, but when I checked in with my own intuition, I had the opposite feeling. I needed to stick with it and find Candice. “It’s not how it looks,” she’d said. I closed my eyes to remember exactly the way she’d said it and I realized my lie detector had never gone off while I’d listened to her words.
Candice had spoken the truth. There was more to this than met the eye. I had to see it through.
“Brice,” I said levelly. “I know you don’t trust Candice right now, so I’m not going to ask you to do that. I’m going to ask you to trust me. Trust me, because more than I still believe in your wife, I believe in me. She couldn’t have fooled me and my crew all these years. She just couldn’t.”
Brice sighed again. “Then why, Abby? Why has she done all this?”
“I don’t know. The only person who does know is Candice. So I’m going to find her, and I’m going to ask her. And then I’ll call you and we can decide what to do after that.”
“I don’t like that you’re out there on your own
,” he said. “Setting Candice aside, Kato isn’t a guy to fuck around with, Abby.”
“I’ll be okay. For the moment, Kato doesn’t know where I am, and I’m careful.”
“Still . . .”
“Is there anything new on Saline’s condition?” I asked, hoping to change the subject.
Brice took the bait. “She’s stable, but still in a coma. I’m playing the part of concerned husband, and at least she has someone to hold her hand a couple of hours a day. Poor girl.”
“Yeah, on that note, if you see some woman with black hair and horn-rimmed glasses hanging around the hospital, it’s one of Kato’s people. Her name is Michelle, and I’m thinking she’s going to want to stick pretty close to Saline.”
Brice was silent for a moment and I figured he was processing that. “What’s Kato’s connection to Saline?”
“I have no idea. Like I told you, I learned that she was the fiancée of another casino owner, but when I read her energy at the hospital, I did get the feeling she was fooling around with someone else. Maybe she and Kato were lovers.”
“That would explain why Lenny Fusco was killed,” Brice said, and I remembered Oppenheimer and Gould’s theory about Lenny’s getting friendly with Kato’s girlfriend and that’s why he was offed. I realized that I’d never asked Kato about Lenny. Then again, by the way he and Michelle were practically purring at each other, I’d figured the two of them were a couple.
“How is the investigation into the crash going?” I asked next. It was probably only a matter of time before the Feds figured out Candice had staged it.
“It’s just like the rest of this case, more questions than answers. They found a fair amount of blood on a blanket near the crash site and they think it came out of the Porsche when it went over the bridge. CSI has already tested the blood on the blanket, and they know it doesn’t belong to the woman they pulled out of the car. They’re going to analyze the DNA before running it through the database to see if they can get a match to someone who could be in the system.”