Bob Moats - Jim Richards 01-03- 3 for Murder Box Set (29 page)

Wally came over and look a bit shocked when he saw Jamie, since she and Lisa looked so much alike. I introduced her and took Wally aside. I explained that Jamie lost her job up at Fitzgerald’s and was a union crewmember. I asked if he could get her into the Flamingo, if possible. He said, anything for Lisa’s sister, he’d give it a good try, no guarantees, but he’d try. I told him to tell her the news. He did, and she started to cry, hugged Wally and then me.

My cell phone rang. It was Deacon calling to say their show was ending, and they needed to be picked up. I told him we were at the Flamingo and would pick them up in a little while, that we had some things to take care of there. He said, no problem, and then I asked if he and Maria could go across the street to our hotel and wait in the lobby for us. He said they could do that. I said thanks and hung up.

Most of the stage crew were finished with closing down the show and came over to see me. It was like I never left. We all shook hands and even hugged a bit. I introduced Penny, Buck and Jamie to everyone. Mark, the sound guy, said he saw Penny on some network show about the incident in Michigan and was honored to meet her. He winked at me.

We talked a while. Most of the stage crew had worked with Lisa after I had left, and a few of the guys had stories to tell Jamie. She was thankful to everyone, and I said we had to leave but would be back one night and we could all go out and party. They cheered to that, then I took my little band of excited followers, and we departed but not before I thanked Wally.

We drove back to the MGM Grand, and I pulled into valet and told them I was just picking up a couple of friends. Deacon and Maria came out and piled into the car. I introduced Jamie to everyone, and we headed to Maria’s house. Maria said to stop at a party store for refreshments.

We got to Maria’s place about 11:30 p.m., and she invited everyone in. She apologized for not having a hot tub. I laughed when she said she had a little wading pool out back we could use. I asked if she was going to stand by and stir up the water. I told her that we saw Donnie Osmond tonight. She swore and said we weren’t allowed to go back there unless she was with us. I promised.

I corralled Jamie in the kitchen and told her that I really missed her sister, that she was a great, sweet person. She got teary again, and I told her to hang on to her memory. I promised I would find out who killed her, even if I had to stay in Vegas till I did. She kissed me on the cheek, thanked me for trying to help get her a job, and then went out to the living room with everyone else. I was going out, too, but was stopped by Penny.

“I was just coming into the kitchen to get another beer, and I heard what you told Jamie. Are you applying for sainthood?” She smiled.

“I really liked Lisa, and I felt sorry for Jamie, having to lose her sister and be in deep doo-doo. I like to help people.”

“Well, I guess I’ll have to give you your sainthood later tonight.” She grinned wide, grabbed the beer out of my hand and went back out to the living room.

I yelled, “Hey!” but she was out of earshot.

Around 1 a.m. I said I had to take my children home, and poured Penny and Jamie into the car. I dropped Jamie off at Harrah’s to get her car and asked if she would be all right. She said she would, and I drove on to the MGM Grand.

We got up to our room, pulled off all our clothes in speedy time, and headed to the bed. We wrestled around for a while, and Penny asked if I felt saint-like yet. I said no, work harder at it, and damned if she didn’t.

Penny fell asleep after she canonized me, and I lay there like I usually do in bed. I thought about the day again and couldn’t believe Lisa was dead. I had a small crush on her back when we worked together, mostly because she was so cute and lively. She had an innocence about her that made me wonder what she saw in Nicky.

I always hear how women go after the “bad boys” but never seem to learn a lesson when they always end up getting hurt. Bad boys are just that for a reason. They don’t care about anyone else’s feelings. They think only of their own needs and how they can use women to their advantage.

Nicky was a womanizer. He had a streak of good in him that I saw occasionally, but he loved having his way with women. Now the death of Lori Davis was the most immediate concern, and she was another of Nicky’s conquests. But even if she was pregnant, was that a reason to kill her? Why?

Would it make any difference to Nicky? Having two women on a string with one of them pregnant wouldn’t hurt his career if the scandal came out. Nowadays that wasn’t much of a scandal. I decided I’d worry about it later, turned and cuddled my girl, then tried to go to sleep.

*

Chapter Seven

I was up early, didn’t sleep much, too many bad dreams about dead women. I wondered if my becoming a P.I. was attracting crime like Penny said. I got on the phone and called Buck. After he answered sleepily, I said good morning. He grunted some obscenity and said good morning back. I said I would pick him up in about an hour. He told me to hold on. He held his hand over the phone and talked to someone…Deacon, I supposed.

He came back on and asked if Deacon and Maria could drive him there and meet us so Deacon could wander the convention. That way Deacon would have Maria’s car and they could leave anytime. I said that was a good idea, plus Deacon could watch Penny while Buck explored, too. He liked that and said they would meet us at the exhibitors’ entrance just before 10 p.m. I said that worked for me.

I told Penny what was happening, and she said that would give us a little extra time to eat breakfast at an enjoyable pace. We went down to the buffet and had a nice quiet meal. I drove Penny to the convention center, met with the gang and dropped her off.

“What are you going to do today?” Penny asked.

“I’m going back to Metro and talk to Weber about the dead girls, see if I can find out anything. If any of you guys need me, just call.” She leaned in and kissed me, and said not to get in any trouble. I said, “Who me?” She went off to get her charges into the center.

I drove over to Metro, and the same officer was on the desk. “Hey, P.I., talk to Trapper lately?” He grinned.

“I did, and he said he was glad he wasn’t putting up with you people anymore.” I smiled wide. He laughed.

“Feeling’s mutual. You want to see Weber?” he asked. I said I did, if it was possible, and he got on the phone.

Minutes later Weber popped his head out the door and waved me in. Detective Sergeant Carter was seated in his office. She asked if Deacon was with me. I said, sorry, he was at the convention center exploring. She looked disappointed.

“Richards, I’m glad you came in. I was going to call you. I wanted to see if you had any more news for me on the Lori Davis murder. I’m sure you’ve been snooping.” He smiled knowingly.

I told him about finding out Lori Davis was pregnant, which Carter confirmed from the autopsy. I filled them in on talking to my snitch about the possibility that Nicky was the father. Then I told them about the connection between Nicky and Lisa James, a girl murdered last year who was a former squeeze of Nicky’s, and who, her sister thought, might have been pregnant, also. I said the coincidence was a bit strong. Carter and Weber both agreed. Carter said she would look back into the James case and see what they had on it. I asked if it would be appropriate for me to be informed on what they found.

Weber said that would be no problem since I was sharing my knowledge with them. He appreciated the cooperation, and I could confer with Carter any time. I knew Carter would prefer to confer with Deacon, so I told her Deacon would be helping me with my investigation on Lisa James’ murder and that I was working on it for her sister. Carter seemed to perk up to that and said she looked forward to working with both of us. The woman was so obvious.

I told them of my experiences while working for Nick, and a few details about his love life. Weber warned me not to get in too deep, connecting with Nick. He didn’t want me to tip his hand. I said I preferred to stay as far away from him as possible. Besides, I knew enough people who knew him for me to get details without Nick knowing. He liked that, said he had other business and sent us out.

“Detective Carter, I have a feeling that you take an interest in my friend, Deacon?” I said quietly outside the office.

She smiled slightly. “Yes, I do find him interesting.”

“Well, he finds you interesting, too,” I offered. Her eyes grew a bit larger on that. I continued, “You should give him a call and ask to confer about the case over a coffee or maybe drinks, if you indulge. I think he’d be agreeable to that.”

“I’ll do that. Thank you for the heads up, Mr. Richards.”

“Oh, please, call me Jim.”

“Well, call me Lynn, then.” She smiled, turned and walked down a corridor, to her office I imagined. Probably rushing for the phone. Poor Deacon. But now I had her on our side. I’m so devious at times it amazes me.

I sat in my car in Metro parking and looked through my contact list on my Palm. Aaron’s number was still listed. I was glad I hadn’t cleaned out my list. Aaron was one of Nicky’s personal assistants back when I was there, before Kris Wallace came along and took over.

I called him but got a recording saying the number was no longer in service. It was five years, so I wasn’t surprised. He wasn’t the best for taking care of finances, and Nicky fired him for supposedly doing too many drugs. That was stupid, because it was Nicky who was supplying him with the drugs. Aaron was pretty independent, and Nicky didn’t like it, couldn’t control him.

I drove out and headed to an animal rental place that Aaron used to work for. They rented animals to shows, and you could get anything from Boa Constrictors to tigers. Anything wild or exotic. I found the building and went in the front door, working my way through cages of birds, snakes and small predators. The placed smelled like it needed a good hosing down.

“Can I help you?” a voice came from behind a stack of cages with tons of rabbits. A skinny, poorly dressed, pale man came wandering out.

“Yeah, I’m looking for Aaron Goldman. I’m a friend who worked with him back in 2003.”

“Wow, man, that’s a name I haven’t heard in a few years myself. Last I heard, he was working for that chick that does exotic dancing with boas, the real kind.” He smiled a toothy grin, missing a few.

“What’s the name of the dancer?” I asked.

“She went by Wanda Wicked, over at the Pink Slipper Lounge. It’s a strip club.” I knew the place, never been there, but knew it.

“That’s all you can tell me about him?” I pushed.

“All I can remember, sorry.”

I thanked him and left. I sat in my car thinking about that strip club. Buck would want to go with me on that. I remembered back to my younger days working at a design shop in Warren, Michigan. I worked the afternoon shift making the strips for billboard signs, and when we finished for the night, the four of us who worked there would head down Van Dyke Avenue and hit the strip clubs between 10 Mile Road and Seven Mile. One place in particular we hung out at was the Duchess Lounge. There was this really beautiful, short, blond-haired girl named Pixie working there.

I had an image in my memory of her one night when she was dancing to “Lady” by Styx. She did this sort of veil dance under a strobe light. Twirling, spinning as the music got faster, she would do all these acrobatics, and it just mesmerized me. I never forgot her or that dance. Every time I hear that song, I think of her. I came out of my trance and drove out of the parking lot.

I decided that it was time to go catch Nicky’s show, but incognito, so he didn’t know I was there. I wanted to see if he had finally changed his act. I could do the damn thing by heart. I heard it six nights a week for months. It was also the same act I saw him do about twenty years ago at a comedy club in Detroit. I guess when you have something that works, why screw with it.

I went back to the convention center, flashed my exhibitor badge, and went in. There was a good crowd around Penny’s booth. She saw me and got a big smile on her face. I walked up and said aloud in front of the crowd, “Excuse me, ma’am, may I kiss you?” I grabbed her and bent her over the table, planting a big wet one on her. I let her up, said thank you, and walked away. I had to get her back for the little things she pulled on me. Deacon was off to the side laughing his head off as I came around the crowd. He shook my hand.