“In another three hours. I could have gotten a connection through Atlanta a little earlier, but it would have only been arriving an hour before the nonstop.”
“An hour isn’t going to make a difference.” She picked up her suitcase. “Let’s go.”
* * *
BUT IT TURNED OUT TO BE nine hours. The entire Gulf Coast was fogged in, and their Delta flight had a six-hour delay. They didn’t arrive in New Orleans until close to noon. It was still damp and foggy when the plane landed at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International, and the forecast was for more heavy fog later in the day.
“Where do we go from here?” Catherine asked as she retrieved her bag. “Where’s this casino? A high-rise off Bourbon Street or a riverboat on the river?”
“Neither, it’s outside the city. The Cadalon is across the Mississippi and has a very exclusive clientele of jet-setters and high rollers. We’ll register at the hotel as man and wife. We’ll use the Brookman name I used on the airline ticket.” He checked his watch. “It’s a little early for play, but in a few hours the casino should be humming. We should wait until after midnight to make a play. Though probably Jacobs is at the tables right now. He’s going to be very focused.”
“You should know a lot about casinos. You made a great deal of money from them, didn’t you?”
He nodded. “I taught myself card counting in prison. It’s the most valuable lesson I learned in that rathole.”
“It’s going to be difficult extricating him from a crowded casino. Have you thought about a plan for taking him?”
“A tentative plan.” He smiled as he opened the door for her. “But I’m sure that you have one that’s not at all tentative. You were very quiet on the plane.”
She shrugged. “Simplicity is best. We find out in what room he’s playing. I go in and pretend to greet him. He falls unconscious, and we are very upset. He’s obviously ill, and we have to get him to a hospital. We take him away from the casino. End of scene.”
“Yes, very simple,” Gallo said dryly. “Up to the time that he falls unconscious. That might get a little complicated. One of your friend Hu Chang’s magic potions? Hypodermic?”
She nodded. “It will keep him out for at least twenty minutes. That should give us time to get him away from the casino.”
Gallo opened the passenger door of the rental car for her. “Unless the casino manager wants to handle his transfer to the hospital himself to prevent liability issues.”
“That’s why I allowed twenty minutes. Otherwise, we could have Jacobs out of there in seven. I’ve had Venable send me a dossier on the manager of the casino. I’ll study it and see how I can get around him.” She looked at him as she got into the car. “Or I’ll let you handle it. I’d judge you’re very good at manipulating people to suit yourself. I’ll do everything else. You get us out of that casino before Jacobs wakes up.”
“I’ll work on it.” He got into the driver’s seat and started the car. “Anything else?”
“Yes.” She took out a slip of paper from her notebook. “Stop at this address on the way out of town. Neither of us has suitable clothes for that kind of casino. It’s a boutique that will supply me with a gown that will make me look as if I belong in a casino frequented by the jet set. I told Venable to arrange for a tux for you, too. It won’t be designer, but it will be okay. I’m the one who all the attention will be focused on.”
“You don’t need a designer gown to garner attention. You walk into a room, and every man will do a double take.”
“That is true,” she said calmly. “Do you expect me to pretend modesty? That would be foolish. Good looks can be a valuable weapon. They can also be a handicap if you want to fade into the background. Either way, you have to accept what you are and make the most of it.”
“I gladly accept what you are,” he said softly. “I celebrate it.”
Sensuality.
She looked away from him, feeling the familiar rush of heat. How many men had hit on her through the years? Why was Gallo different? She didn’t know, but she’d better learn to handle his effect on her.
“You’d better not celebrate anything until we get Jacobs,” she said flatly. “And I know you like the way I look. I’d have to be blind if I wasn’t aware that I turn you on. But it doesn’t mean anything. Looks don’t matter.”
“Looks don’t matter. Age doesn’t matter. What does matter, Catherine?”
“Kindness. Love. Fighting for what you believe and the people you believe in.” She paused. “And, again, knowing who you are.”
“Admirable,” he said quietly. “We’re alike on many levels. I’m just a bit more shallow and far more attuned to the physical. I’m afraid I can’t get over that particular barrier.” He paused. “And I believe you may be having a few problems in that area, too. It’s been there since the first time we came together, and you’ve been trying to ignore it. But it keeps coming back, doesn’t it, Catherine?”
“Yes.” She wouldn’t lie to him. That would be a defeat in itself. “But I’ll find a way to not let it get in my way. That’s not why we’re together.”
“No, we’re together so that you can help Eve and bring me along for the ride.” He was looking straight ahead. “And I’m trying to stop being an ungrateful son of a bitch and forget how you looked in all your rotting-leaves glory. I have to warn you—it’s not working too well.” He gestured to a street up ahead. “I think that’s where the address you gave me should be. Do you want me to wait or go inside with you? I have some calls to make to set up my part of our exit plan.”
She felt a little of her tension leaving her. His voice was much more crisp, and it was obviously the end of the intimacy that had caused the tension. She was grateful to ignore anything connected to that intimacy at the moment. Honesty and boldness were fine, but she had to regroup and step back from Gallo. “I’ll go in alone.” When the car pulled to the curb in front of the elegant stone house, she opened the door. “If they need you to be measured for your tux, I’ll give you a call. My fitting shouldn’t take long. I’m a standard size and Venable knows my measurements.”
“Venable must know a lot about you. How long did you say you’ve been together?”
“He’s been my superior since I was seventeen. He recruited me.” She slammed the car door and headed for the front entrance. “And by the time I had Luke, he knew more about me than even my husband did. I was an agent and that’s all part of the job.”
“If I’d been living with you long enough to have a child, I guarantee that no one would have known you better.” He smiled and leaned back in the seat. “And to hell with the job.”
Cadalon Casino
2:35 A.M.
“I’M READY.” CATHERINE CAME OUT of the bedroom into the sitting room and gazed at him critically. “You look very polished.”
“I was aiming at being very James Bond.” He tilted his head. “I have to keep up with the competition. But 007 never had a Bond girl like you.”
She was totally breathtaking, he thought as his gaze moved from the top of her shining dark hair to the silver heels peeping out of the slit in the dark burgundy strapless gown she wore. The golden skin of her shoulders and upper breasts gleamed under the lights, and he wanted to reach out and touch her, stroke her. Exotic, sexy, and so vibrantly alive she lit up the room.
“I’ve always thought the Bond girls lacked a certain strength of will.” She smiled. “But they usually managed to get things done. Did you locate Jacobs?”
“He’s playing blackjack and doing very well. He’s excited about it. His cheeks are so flushed, you’d think he had a fever.” He opened the door to the hall. Don’t touch her. Not the time or the place. “I can stay out of Jacobs’s way until after you’ve taken care of him. But both he and Queen must have read the dossier on you that they gave to me. The photo didn’t do you justice, but he’ll probably recognize you.”
“Then I won’t give him time for it to register. I can’t let him see me until
the last minute.”
“He’d have to be distracted not to notice you.” The hall was decorated in the same elegant nineteenth-century décor as the rest of the hotel casino. Catherine looked like a splendid peacock strolling past the soft pastels of the wall hangings and faded Aubusson rugs, he thought. “But I’m sure that you’ll find a way to do it.”
“I’m sure I will, too,” she said absently. “Eve just phoned me. I tried to call her earlier, but I got her voice mail. They’ve canceled all the flights out of the Midwest to New Orleans, so they were on a plane to Atlanta. But they ran across the same problem there. They’re waiting for a break in the weather. Damn this fog.”
“I thought she might be here by now.” He gazed out the window at the thick mist that obscured everything beyond two feet. “It’s as thick as any London fog.”
“Yes, I hoped it might lift before this.” She got into the brass-and-beveled-glass-paneled elevator. “I’m glad that they’re not here yet. I told them what we planned, but I don’t want Joe and her coming into this mess until we have Jacobs secure. If everything blows up in our faces, I don’t want them involved.”
“But they are involved, Catherine. One might say more than you.” He held up his hand to stop her from speaking. “Since we’re almost sure that they won’t make it before we’re done here, I’m not going to worry about it. Though I have plenty of time to devote to worrying since you haven’t left me much else to do until after the finale. Where’s your hypodermic? You’d have trouble hiding it in that gown.”
“It’s under the nail of my right index finger.” She glanced down at her gleaming scarlet nails. “It was the most practical place.” The elevator doors opened, and they were assaulted by voices, music, glittering mirrors, and sparkling chandeliers.
“The blackjack room is beyond the gold arches to the left. Table three,” Gallo said.
“Right.” She moved out of the elevator. “Give me a few minutes, then follow me.”
He nodded. “I’ll let you make your entrance. But don’t expect me to miss the performance. I’ve been looking forward to it.”
“I don’t know why. I told you it’s going to be short and simple.”
“Whatever you say.” He watched her move across the brilliant foyer toward the blackjack room. He was far from the only person staring at Catherine. Who could help it? She was graceful, stunning, completely confident. She was as different as night and day from the fierce huntress who had stalked him in the woods. He wasn’t sure which Catherine fascinated him more, and it was too soon to make a choice. He was certain that he’d be seeing other facets of her that would prove equally interesting.
But for the moment, he’d better follow her and be ready to step in and back her up when she needed him. It was a strange role for him. All his life, he had been a loner, and his missions had definitely been solo. Yet he had accepted Catherine’s plan, which had not only put him in tandem with her, but in a semipassive position.
And he had done it with no resentment and even a touch of amusement.
Strange …
CHAPTER
16
CATHERINE PAUSED IN THE DOORWAY, her gaze searching the room.
Table three.
Yes, there he was. She’d had Venable send her a picture of Thomas Jacobs on her phone. He was a small, wiry man in his middle or late fifties dressed in a tux that looked a little too big for him. His thin brown hair was receding to such an extent that he was totally bald in the front. But his cheeks were as flushed as Gallo had told her, and his gray eyes were sparkling with excitement as he gazed at the dealer. He had a stack of chips in front of him, and his expression was totally absorbed.
But he might not stay absorbed if he saw someone glance in her direction. She’d better put the play in motion.
She glided forward, moving to the side to approach Jacobs from the rear.
Be anxious.
Let everyone see her concern.
Okay. Stop short as she pretended to see Jacobs.
She inhaled sharply, her eyes widening with panic.
Now clinch it.
She ran toward Jacobs and touched his shoulder. “No, Thomas, you know you can’t do this.” Her voice was shaking with emotion. “Why don’t you listen? You know what the doctor said about your heart. No excitement. This addiction could be the end—” He was turning to face her, his expression wary. As soon as he saw her, he’d recognize her. She had perhaps thirty seconds. “Do you want to kill yourself?” Her tone was agonized. “I won’t let you do it. I know I told you I wouldn’t stop you if you were this crazy, but I can’t let it happen.”
He was looking at her face, and she saw his expression change as he recognized her. He jumped to his feet. “Get away from me.”
“You have to listen to me, Thomas.” Her hands clasped his shoulders near his throat. “I’m only trying to help you.”
“The hell you are.” He was trying to push her hands away from his throat. “What are—”
“Just leave here and we’ll talk.” Her grasp tightened, her nails pressing into his skin. “You don’t look— Thomas?” His eyes were glazing. “Thomas!”
Jacobs’s knees were buckling, he was falling.
She instinctively put out her arms to catch him.
No, be weak, be helpless.
She let him fall to the floor as if he were too heavy for her to hold.
She dropped to her knees beside him. “No!”
Tears.
That was always harder, but they came. She could feel the tears flow down her cheeks. “Thomas…” She reached out with a shaking hand to check the pulse in his neck. Strong. Steady. He’d be out no more than the twenty minutes she’d told Gallo.
“Pardon me, Mrs. Brookman.” A plump man was pushing his way through the crowd surrounding her. “I’m the casino manager, Anthony Solano. May I help you? Your friend is ill?”
“My brother.” Her voice broke. “His heart. The doctor told him to stay away from gambling. He had his last heart attack after he lost at Monte Carlo.” She gazed pleadingly up at him. “Can you do something for him?”
“Catherine.” Gallo was suddenly beside her, his expression mirroring frustration mixed with concern. “I told you not to come, dammit. He doesn’t deserve it. Is he dead?”
“No, but his pulse is so weak…”
“I saw him fall and called an ambulance. They should be here any minute.” He dropped to his knees and was searching through Jacobs’s pockets. He pulled out a prescription bottle and opened it. “This has to be his medication. Put two under his tongue.”
She took the pills and did as he told her. Then she sat back on her heels, gazing at Gallo in an agony of despair. “Why would he do this? Why wouldn’t he listen?”
“You’ve been asking that for ten years,” Gallo said grimly. “Just because he raised you doesn’t mean you have to follow him around and pick up the pieces every time he goes off the rails.” He turned to the casino manager. “Do you have a defibrillator on the premises in case we need it, or do we have to wait for the ambulance?”
“No, I’m sure we have one in the first-aid room,” Solano said. “I’ll send someone to check and bring—”
He was interrupted by the shrill whine of a siren.
“Never mind,” Gallo said. “The EMT should have one in the ambulance. I’ll go meet them.” He jumped to his feet and was gone.
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Brookman.” Solano was bending over her. “Your brother was a good customer of my casino. I can’t tell you how much I regret this happening. Naturally, we’ll do everything we can to help.”
“There was nothing you could do. You couldn’t stop him.” Her lips were trembling. “I don’t blame you. He is a sick man in more ways than one. Perhaps after this attack, he’ll come to his senses.” The tears began to fall again. “If he lives…”
“He will live,” Solano said as he reached out a hand and gently helped her to her feet. “I feel it. I will personally come with you
to the hospital and see that he has everything that he needs.”
“You’re very kind.” She leaned against him, her eyes lowered. Ten minutes. Where the hell was Gallo with the ambulance EMTs? “And I’ll be very happy to see you tomorrow morning. Tonight it’s better if it’s only family with him. You understand?”
“Of course. Whatever you wish is—”
“Stand aside.” Gallo was pushing through the crowd, leading the EMTs with their stretcher. “How is he? Has he stirred, Catherine?”
“No. He’s too quiet.”
Gallo bent over him. “Still breathing.” He turned to the EMTs. “Get him in the ambulance and get that defibrillator ready. You may need it.” He glanced at Catherine. “Do you want to ride in the ambulance or in the car with me?”
“I want to be with Thomas.” She turned to Solano as they took Jacobs out to the ambulance. Keep him close. Don’t let him have time to think and change his mind before the ambulance pulled away from the casino. “You’ve been so very kind. Could you walk to the ambulance with me? I don’t want to impose, but I feel—”
“No, it is my pleasure and duty.” Solano took her arm, and she leaned against him as they walked through the lobby. “I’ll give you my card, and if you need anything tonight at the hospital, just call me. I have many friends in New Orleans, and they’ll be happy to help you.” He opened the front door for her. “And I will be there for you tomorrow.”
“Thank you.” She let him help her into the ambulance. She gave him one last look from beneath tear-wet lashes. “If God is merciful, Thomas will live, and I’ll be able to tell him what a good friend you were to both of us.”
Gallo slammed the doors of the ambulance shut.
Fifteen minutes.
The sirens started wailing as they pulled out of the driveway of the casino.
She smiled at the EMT bending over Jacobs before she leaned back and drew a deep breath.
Done.
The ambulance sirens were cut off three minutes later as the driver pulled to the side of the road.
Gallo opened the doors. “Is he awake yet?”