As I changed clothes, I wondered what we had stumbled into. And I wondered if I could snag some of those shrimp puffs. I was hungry.
I adjusted the bow tie, then grabbed the phone out of my jeans, and shoved it into the pocket of my new uniform. I walked back to the kitchen and glanced over at Roxy. She slapped doilies on a tray, and by the look she gave me, she wasn’t happy about it.
I grabbed a tray on my way out of the kitchen and walked down an empty hall. The worn hardwood floors were dull in the dim light. There hadn’t been much updating in the place. It looked exactly like what it was — an old school.
Quiet voices came from a room on the left. I poked my head inside but didn’t see Packard. Pretty young women in dressy gowns with glasses of champagne in their hands stood close to three round baize tables. Men sat at the tables, cards in their hands, drinks at their elbows. Poker. Just like at the cigar bar. The air was thick with smoke in here as well.
I smiled and tried to be unobtrusive as I moved around with my tray. Only one woman took a shrimp puff. She sniffed it and placed it back. I gave Miss Manners a disapproving look and moved on. The men were involved with their cards, and the dealers didn’t even notice me.
I stepped out of the room and peeked into the one across the hall. Jackpot. Poker, pretty women, and Packard Graystone.
Packard sat at the table, his body contorted to look up at a dapper man in a tuxedo. I walked into the room and slipped behind a tall brunette in a stunning evening gown. I peeked around her and listened as Pack yelled at the older man.
“Don’t fuck with me, Robert. Don’t you know who I am?”
Robert spoke in a low, calm tone. I had no idea what he said, but it nearly gave Packard an aneurism.
“Like hell I will. You don’t fucking tell me that. You know I’m good for it.” Packard’s face was almost purple and a big vein throbbed in the middle of his forehead.
Robert glanced over Packard’s head and beckoned to a large bald man on the other side of the room. The bald man looked as if he used to bench press European cars for a living. His massive arms strained the material of his tux. If I’d been Packard, I’d have crapped myself if I saw that guy coming for me.
But Packard wasn’t scared, he was pissed. “I need more credit!”
The big guy simply lifted Pack’s arm and dragged his ass out of the room.
“What are you doing?”
The tall woman I’d been hiding behind glared down at me. She was very pretty, but had on way too much eyeliner. Sometimes less is more, ladies.
“That’s a great dress,” I said. “Where’d you get it?”
“Pour Femme, of course.”
A piece just clicked into place. I smiled and held up my tray. “Shrimp?”
“No,” she sniffed and walked away.
I meandered around offering my puffs to people who didn’t want them. These women were eye candy for the men who gambled. That’s what the saleswoman at Pour Femme thought I was. I wondered if the Pour Femmes did more than stand around drinking champagne. Might make things interesting.
I waited until I was sure Packard had left the building, then I booked it down the hall toward the kitchen. I got halfway there when Alice came out of nowhere and grabbed my arm.
“You’re very slow, Sue. Get in and out of the rooms at a much quicker pace.”
“Sorry. Where’s the restroom?”
“You don’t have a break for another two hours. Go upstairs. And remember, in and out.” With her clipboard pressed to her chest, she glared at me while I climbed the stairs.
Roxy was going to kill me or perhaps everyone in the building, if I didn’t get her out of here and shove a piece of gum in her mouth.
They layout was similar to downstairs with four rooms on either side of the hall, only these rooms hosted blackjack and roulette. I carted my tray from room to room and actually had a few takers. As I made my way down the stairs, my eyes locked on Manny, who was on his way up.
“You.” He pointed at me and ran on sandaled feet up the steps.
I panicked as he came toward me and nearly fell face first into the banister. He kept coming. I lifted the tray, tossed the shrimp over my shoulder, and slammed it into Manny’s face as hard as I could.
He staggered then tumbled backward, landing on his ass. I threw the tray at him and ran down the stairs. I almost made it past him, but he grabbed my ankle and brought me down.
My knee slammed into the corner of the hard wooden step and I grabbed the railing. I tried to shake my foot free from his grasp, but couldn’t. I reached back and slapped the top of his bald pate. “Let go, asshole.”
Alice looked up from the bottom step and gasped so hard I thought she was choking. “What is going on here?”
“Ben Franklin…tried to…cop a feel,” I said between slaps to his head.
“She’s lying. She’s not who she says she is.”
I kicked out with my other foot and made contact with his nose. He finally let me go to grab his face with both hands. Blood poured through his fingers.
“You bitch,” he said, sounding like he had a cold.
I ran down the stairs, flying past Alice. Her wide eyes and gaping mouth said she couldn’t quite believe what was happening.
I ran to the kitchen and saw Roxy out of the corner of my eye. “Run,” I yelled, not slowing down as I fled the kitchen and sped out into the cold night.
Footsteps pounded on the gravel behind me. I looked back to make sure it was Roxy. To my relief it was.
I ripped open the driver’s side door and flung myself into the car. Roxy hopped in the back.
Ma, who had been dozing, sat up. “Bingo.” She looked around as I put the car in gear and stomped on the gas. Rocks flung from my tires as I sped out of the lot.
“What the hell is going on?” Ma asked.
I told them about Manny between ragged breaths. My knee throbbed as I drove back to the deserted old highway, glancing in the rearview mirror every few seconds.
Once we made it back into Huntingford, I pulled into a McDonald’s parking lot so I could calm down and catch my breath. “Just give me a minute, guys.” I laid my forehead on the steering wheel. Pulled off the bow tie and unbuttoned the top button on the white blouse. It occurred to me I left behind my gray hoodie and my second best pair of jeans. Damn.
“So Manny’s the guy who called Packard and they were both in the old school tonight. That can’t be a coincidence, can it?” Ma asked.
I raised my head and looked at her. “No. And we told the woman in charge that NorthStar hired us.” Just then my phone buzzed. I dug it out of my pocket with trembling hands and glanced at the text.
“Eric wants me to come over. He has something on Sullivan.”
Chapter 20
Ma yawned and stretched in her seat. “Tell me again who this Eric person is. You’re not dating him, too, are you?”
“He works with Axton. He’s helping me find information on Sullivan and NorthStar,” I said as I pulled back on the road.
When we got to Eric’s, I introduced him to Ma. “Nice to meet you,” he said.
“I need to use the little girls’ room. Would you like some Chex Mix?” She held up the plastic container.
“Yeah, I love this stuff.” After setting down the beer he’d been holding, he lifted the lid, grabbed a handful of cereal, and popped it in his mouth.
Ma walked down the hall and Roxy flopped onto the loveseat in front of the TV and began flipping through the channels. While Eric munched, I felt amped up and antsy.
When Ma stepped back in the room he asked, “You guys want a beer or something?”
“I’ll take one,” Ma said, settling down next to Roxy.