"Is there any news on the Golgotha cabin?"
Rick shook his head. "It's off-limits after Al fucked up."
'Ibat's what I thought."
"I'll have a plan ready by tomorrow. I'll phone you tomorrow morning with details and hopefully a new location. I'll also have all the equipment you'll need for shooting. I should have Lisa in twenty-four to forty-eight hours."
"What about the husband?"
"What about him?"
"What if he causes trouble?"
Rick shrugged. "He'll be dealt with." "
"Oh" Tim knew not to question him further. Rick was probably going to hire one of his goons to snatch Lisa in a stealth move. There was no doubt that she was being not only extra cautious, she was probably too scared to leave her home. Rick was pretty good at employing guys that could snatch anybody-businesspeople who had cheated him, lawyers that had not gone to bat for him the way they said they would, suppliers that skimmed from the top. Rick had a way of getting to people who were cautious and always looking for danger. Whatever it was Rick did, it worked every time.
"Don't worry, Tim," Rick assured him, grinning as he leaned back behind his desk. "It'll work out fine. I've got tabs on the Millers. I'll make a few phone calls and pool!" He waved his hands like a magician. "She'll cease to exist. Next thing you know, she'll be before your very eyes screaming for mercy as you capture her final moments on film."
Tim smiled as he rose to his feet. "I'll be waiting for your call, then "Then he went home and prepared for the upcoming shoot.
Twenty-four
Brad Miller woke up late the following morning. He knew he was sleeping in, but he allowed himself the luxury. After all, Lisa was sleeping soundly beside him and they were in a plush hotel room, twenty floors above a sprawling casino in the Luxor in Las Vegas.
Brad lay in bed, his mind tracing the events of last night. Lisa and Billy had returned late last night before nine-thirty. Brad had thrown the suitcase he had packed into Billy's car and the lawyer had driven them to John Wayne Airport, explaining to him what had happened in Big Bear. "We should have a search warrant by tomorrow morning," he'd told Brad. "Big Bear PD. and the FBI will be searching that cabin. Golgotha Multimedia has threatened to file an injunction to prevent the search from happening, but I don't foresee that happening."
The police had informed Golgotha of the intent to search based on the testimony of the victim of a kidnapping and attempted murder who alleged she had been held at the cabin and that she'd witnessed a second attempted murder there. She also hinted at the possibility that two homicides had been committed at the residence. A lawyer representing Golgotha had politely informed Big Bear that they would petition a higher circuit judge to circumvent a search warrant being issued. Meanwhile, the FBI had been contacted and was working with them on the case. Lisa had been driven to the Golgotha cabin, and despite being unable to identify the cabin by sight, she thought she could identify it as the place she'd been held captive. "She said she remembered a dip in the driveway," William had explained as they drove to the airport. "There's a noticeable pothole in the driveway. Plus we poked around and saw evidence that the windows to one of the rooms on the south side had been boarded up. There were fresh nail holes in the shutters consistent with this."
They had tried peering through the windows but had been unable to catch much of a glimpse of anything; the curtains had been drawn over all the windows. There were also spatters of fresh paint dotting the porch, indicating that the place had been fixed up rather hurriedly within the past two weeks. Sheriff Sweigert had tried the front door, but it had been locked. "There wasn't a damn thing we could do without a proper warrant," Billy had said wearily, shaking his head. "We sat there and waited for word to come down, and an hour later it did in the form of a phone call and the arrival of a representative from Golgotha, who ordered us off the property" William had glanced at Brad as he drove. "The search warrant was suspended by a higher-court circuit judge, and the appeal is being heard tomorrow"
After dropping them off at the airport, William had told him whom they would meet in Vegas. "His name is John and he used to be a professional wrestler. He's worked security for a bunch of people. You'll like him. He's already got you set up. And don't worry about the money. We'll have you temporarily set up at the Luxor until John can find some other digs for you in another part of the city."
The Luxor?"
"Yeah." William had grinned. "Hey, it's the best I could do under short notice. It was either that or some fleabag piece-of-shit hotel off the strip where there's no security. John's hooked up with the security at the Luxor, and he's gonna have them keeping an eye on things. Thist me." He'd clapped Brad on the shoulder. "You'll be under not only tight protection, but well-armed, twenty-four-hour protection. Know what I mean?"
The flight had been short. Lisa had dozed, and when they arrived in Las Vegas he had helped her out of her seat and escorted her down the walkway. Their contact, John Panozzo, was waiting for them. He'd recognized Brad, nodded, then approached them casually. "Got a car waiting outside," he'd said. John was in his mid-forties, with an olive complexion, long black hair, and a black goatee. He was about six feet tall, probably tipped the scales at two-fifty, and his fingers bore silver rings with skulls and bats on them.
John didn't talk much on the drive to the Luxor, but then Brad and Lisa hadn't been in the mood for conversation. John drove them to the strip in a Ford Explorer. When they reached the massive hotel and casino, he led them past the lobby to the elevators. Lisa temporarily snapped out of her dazed expression and looked around at the dazzling lights and explosions of activity at the casino. "Got you a room in the pyramid itself," John said as he ushered them into an elevator. "You're registered under the names of Brian and Katherine Hopkins. You're in room twenty-seven twenty-seven. Everything's all taken care of. If you want to leave your room and walk around the casino, press this button and dial star nine eight" He'd handed Brad a cellular phone." hat will get you directly to me or a member of my staff. We won't be hanging all over you, but we will be watching you quietly in the background. I'd suggest that you lay low the first day you're here, though, just to play it safe and until I hear from Billy."
They'd crashed almost immediately upon arriving at the hotel. Brad had made a quick call to his parents to tell them where they were, and had spoken to his father. "We're at the Luxor," he'd said, quickly giving him the room number. "Billy's got us hooked up here and we're safe. He's got a bodyguard looking after us, and I don't know how long we'll be here" Naturally, his father was worried, and his mother had come on the line and begun asking him a lot of questions. "I can't talk too much about it right now," he'd said. "Look, I'll try to call you tomorrow, okay?" Then he'd placed a call to Lisa's parents and given them the same brief message, giving them the same information on where they were staying before hanging up and going to bed for a mostly sleepless night.
Brad stood in front of the window, looking out at the Las Vegas morning. This was the weirdest hotel room he'd ever been in. Being in the pyramid of the Luxor meant that one side of the room slanted upward at a forty-fivedegree angle. That side of the room was composed almost entirely of windows. Such an angle made it nearly impossible for anybody outside to see their suite. The interior of the room was decorated with hieroglyphics; they ran along the walls and doorways, were imprinted on the tiled floor of the large bathroom. The bed sat along one wall in the middle of the room. The carpet was light beige and felt deep under his bare feet. In short, he and Lisa were hiding out in relative luxury.