“You wouldn’t kill me, my boy.” But for the first time, Cosmo didn’t sound quite so blissfully sure of himself. “Didn’t they send you with my money?”
“They sent me with a gun, Cosmo.”
“But I always thought you liked me, my boy.”
“Yeah, well, given a choice, I like myself a whole lot better.” Mickey disobeyed all the traffic barrels and drove through a tight opening in a cement barricade onto the hotel construction site. A flick of his wrist dimmed the headlights, and the car eased forward, guided by an amber glow. He wove through heavy machinery before drawing to a stop near a large crane and a row of giant concrete tubes.
Hopefully, Cosmo’s silence meant he understood the severity of his situation. “Well?” Mickey cut the engine.
“Killing me will do you no good. I don’t have them on me.”
From his inside breast pocket Mickey withdrew a pair of leather driving gloves and took his time pulling them over his calm fingers. Unnerving his prey-this he knew how to do. “But you’ll tell me where you’ve stashed them.”
“You can’t force me.” The first trace of fear glimmered in the magician’s eyes, and he clutched the rabbit to his chest.
Mickey cocked a brow. “Come on, Cosmo. Like it wouldn’t be a bonus for me to shoot the rabbit first?”
As if he understood, Edgar tried to burrow into Cosmo’s tuxedo jacket.
“I don’t need to force you,” Mickey continued smoothly. “You’ll talk, because tonight, old man, you’re going to do a final disappearing act. And if you don’t tell me where those jewels are before you do, I’m going to pay a visit to your daughter Iris.” Mickey withdrew a gun from his shoulder holster and checked the empty chamber. “And when I’m done with her, I’ll visit your other two daughters.”
Cosmo’s chin fell limp. “How did you know?”
“Oh, come on. You were the one who taught me to study my adversary when I joined this little operation. Now I make it a point to learn everything about anyone I do business with. You’re nothing but a common grifter, Cosmo. You’re in way over your head with these guys.”
“I know,” Cosmo whispered.
Mickey drew a breath and eased his shoulders back. Ahh, the headache had disappeared. “Then what’s it going to be, my friend? Remember, you won’t be here to protect those little girls of yours. The best thing you can do is tell me where to find the jewels so I have no reason to visit any of them.”
The magician huddled in his seat and clung to the rabbit like it was a talisman against evil, but Mickey saw the telltale glistening of sweat in the older man’s thinning hair. Come on, give it over. Any moment, Cosmo would break and tell him what he wanted to know. And maybe, just maybe, no one would get hurt.
Mickey stole another quick glance at his watch. In less than an hour he needed to contact his employers, a group of men who didn’t understand failure. They certainly never forgave it.
With a little exhalation of breath, he looked over at Cosmo, prepared to strong-arm him more if necessary.
But the magician suddenly shoved the rabbit at Mickey’s face. “Take Edgar-I’ve gotta whiz!”
Mickey tried to get the rabbit off his chest and arms, but the animal held on with the tenacity of a bobcat. The oversized back feet kicked at him, digging in with long claws, and to his chagrin, he dropped his gun. He bent to the floorboard to retrieve it, and the damn rabbit bit him in the thigh. “Sonofabitch!”
By the time Mickey found the gun and locked the rabbit in the car, his headache had returned with a vengeance.
And Cosmo Fortune had disappeared.
The problem with wearing her hair up at these functions was that she never could guarantee the style would stay intact. Iris glanced around the crowded hotel ballroom. No one was watching her except some guy near the door who’d obviously crashed the black-tie affair. With his leather jacket and beat-up jeans, it wouldn’t take long for security to escort him out.
Pity, he was vaguely familiar and kind of sexy, in that tall, dark and dangerous sort of way. Not that he was her type. No, she wasn’t about to make the same mistake her mother had when she fell in love and married a Vegas magician.
Iris touched the back of her head, her smile firmly in place as she re-anchored three loose bobby pins.
Wending his way through the crowded party, David approached with two glasses of white wine and handed her one. “Do you need to go to the powder room to fix your hair?”
“I can’t tell. Do I?” She turned her head and awaited his judgment. David liked things perfect and orderly, just like she did. He led a normal, trustworthy and uncomplicated life, and that’s why she’d accepted his marriage proposal two weeks before. She tightened her left fingers, to reassure herself that she hadn’t forgotten to put on the engagement ring.
“Actually, it looks fine,” he said. When Iris faced him, he raised his glass. “To the most beautiful woman in the room.”
David really was sweet, and he openly adored her. Handsome in a blond news-anchor sort of way, he looked polished and well combed with just the right hint of tan. He’d made a success as junior partner at the law firm and made friends with his easy-going charm-important attributes to launching his political career. The man was practically perfect.
She rose on her toes to kiss him, but David stepped back. “You’ll ruin your lipstick.”
“Right.” She smiled up at him, and he bussed her on the cheek. Much better for both of them.
She clinked her glass with his, and they sipped in unison. She pursed her lips at the white wine.
“Is the Chardonnay all right? I know you’d prefer red.” His tone was apologetic, which only made her feel worse. She never wanted to say or do anything to drive him away. She needed-craved-David’s normalcy. A life with someone like him would make up for all the years when she hadn’t been able to count on her father.
“No, this is just what I wanted.” She sipped again with better control. She’d asked for white wine to protect her expensive ivory dress.
David waved to three men she didn’t know. “Smart choice. Red wine and that dress could be a disaster.”
Another trait they shared-smart choices. David was perfect for her in so many ways. She sipped her wine with a smile to assure him she was content.
After all, the illusion was as close as some people got to the real thing.
“Excuse me a minute.” He leaned close to her ear. “Those gentlemen all contributed to my campaign fund. Give me three minutes with them, then join us.” He left before she could answer.
Iris scanned the partygoers in the crowded ballroom, but didn’t see anyone she wanted to make small talk with for three minutes. Political events made her nervous, though she did her best to hide it from David. She intended to be the model wife for him, and she’d do whatever was necessary to further his career. She sipped her Chardonnay, alone.
A tingling at her neck warned her someone had approached from behind. Warm fingers whispered up her bare spine to rest at her nape.
“One of your pins is loose.” The male voice lured her-rich, dark, and promising the same jolt as a good espresso. “Allow me.”
His fingers slid about her neck, past her ears, sending alarms from every nerve ending. Her entire body shivered with heat, a sensation beyond anything she’d experienced before. A pin slid deeper into her hair, but his touch lingered. She liked how it lingered.
Not a good sign.
Stifling the unwanted anticipation, Iris turned to thank the mystery man and send him about his business. Instead, her lower lip slackened as the party crasher withdrew his hand. At close range, his chin and cheeks were chiseled like the local mountains while his nose bent a little to the left, as if he’d broken it once. Dark hair curled slightly around his ears, and a day’s growth of beard carpeted his jaw. The smell of leather and oil and desert dust clung to him.