Momentum (16 page)

Harry rolled his eyes. “I’ll take the middle. Geez, this really sucks.”

“Let’s just make the best of it,” Kellan suggested. “It’s not like we haven’t shared sleeping space before. Remember a few years ago when we went camping? We had to share the same tent. Let’s pretend we’re camping again.”

“Yeah, well camping sucked. Remember?” It really had. “We swore we’d never go again. Remember those nasty bugs and toilets? Ugh! And I hated sharing that tent with the two of you,” I moaned.

“Oh, come on. It wasn’t all that bad. Plus, we won’t have the bug issue here, and there’s a regular toilet.”

I wasn’t convinced. The room looked like it might have its share of bugs, and I didn’t hold out any high hopes for the bathroom. I was right. Yuck. I got into bed first while Harry and Kellan took turns using the shower. I didn’t notice them getting into bed; I must have been well asleep before then.

Harry woke me up the next morning at nine. He’d brought up breakfast. I had slept surprisingly well, considering. Wishing I had a change of clothes, I got up and took a shower. Somehow I needed to either buy more clothes or figure out a way to wash these. Once dressed, I sat down to breakfast with Harry and Kellan.

“So, what’s the plan?” I asked between bites of my egg muffin.

“Clara offered me a job!” Harry beamed. “She told me to come back later when she starts her shift, and she’d put me to work.”

“Awesome. Hopefully you won’t need to, but it’s good to know, just in case,” I said. “What are we going to do, though? Do you think it’s safe to go back to the Bellagio?”

“I don’t know. I’m thinking of going and checking it out on my own while you and Kellan hang out at one of the casinos.”

“No way!” I protested. “We need to stick together.”

“Shrimp, I don’t know,” Kellan said. “You’re the one they–whoever
they
are–seem to be after. It would be much better if you stayed away from the Bellagio until we know it’s totally safe. In fact, I’ll go, Harry. You stay with Arizona. You may be a target, too. I don’t think anyone’s after me.”

“No way, Kellan. You’re not going on your own!” That would be totally ridiculous. He wasn’t even directly involved in all this. For him to put himself in danger for me was insane.

“I agree.” Harry stood up. “We stick together. We’ll have to be really, really careful, though. Okay, let’s go.”

As we walked back toward the strip, I had a light bulb moment–about clothes. It might have seemed like an insignificant concern considering, but we seriously needed a change of clothes. We looked like we hadn’t washed for days, even though we had just showered. We obviously didn’t have any money to spend on clothes, but it had just occurred to me that we could perhaps use Mom’s account at Hermès. The last time I had visited Las Vegas, Mom had a shopping spree at the store. Her sales assistant knew her by name and had offered her champagne as soon as she’d seen her walk in. I racked my brain trying to recall the salesperson’s name. I couldn’t, but I did remember what she looked like. It was worth a try. “Harry, let’s stop at the Bellagio Hermès store and get some clothes. Mom has an account there. We look really rough.”

Harry nodded. “Yeah, it’s worth a shot. Come on, let’s pick up the pace.”

It seemed to take ages just to get to the strip, and then we had to walk all the way up to the Bellagio. I normally enjoyed the walk past the Wynn, Venetian, and Caesar’s, stopping in to do some shopping, but not today. The walk left me exhausted and hot. We decided that I would step into Hermès first to check to see if Mom’s SA was around. It was a long shot.

I spotted her in the corner, busy putting away some scarves. She had changed her hair color, but otherwise looked exactly as I remembered. She recognized me right away.

“Arizona! How nice to see you!” She came over and kissed both of my cheeks.

“Hi! I was hoping you’d be working today.”

“Is Dr. Darley with you?” she asked, looking behind me.

“No, just my brother and a friend.” I nodded toward Harry and Kellan. When they walked up to us, I introduced them.

“Looking for a gift to bring back for your mom? I have just the thing.”

“Actually, we have a problem and were hoping you could help us out.”

“Of course.”

“Our airline misplaced our luggage. We need some clothes to get by until they find our bags.”

“Oh, that’s a shame! You know, I always travel with carry-on only these days.” She sighed. “We’ve got some lovely new pieces in, let me show you….”

An hour or so later, the three of us walked out of the store looking pretty awesome. When I asked Mom’s SA to put it all on Mom’s account, she didn’t bat an eye, so I added a Gypserie bag to our haul. I would need something to carry stuff around in. Plus, I knew Mom wouldn’t mind.

“You look good,” Kellan remarked on our way to the elevator.

I checked him over. He looked really good. Hot. I smiled and, when he grinned back at me, I felt that tingle. I had the strongest urge to touch him, to feel his skin. I hastily turned away and slipped my hand into Harry’s.

Harry turned in surprise. “You okay?”

“A bit scared of what we’re going to find when we get up to the suite.”

“I know what you mean. Still, we don’t have any choice. We need to find out what’s going on. You could stay down here, though–”

“No way! Let’s get in.” I pulled Harry into the elevator, and Kellan walked in close behind us. I took a deep breath and pressed the button.

The door to the suite was covered in yellow
Crime scene–Do not cross
tape.

The three of us stared at each other.

“We should go.” Harry turned back to press the button for the elevator.

“What do you think happened?” I asked, as we got back in.

“Something serious, or that tape wouldn’t be there. Let’s walk around in the casino and listen in on people talking. Maybe someone heard something.”

We walked around the casino floor stopping at the tables to watch the various games. Everyone seemed engrossed in their bets, not really chatting at all.

“What now?” I was tired of walking around; we’d spent at least half an hour doing that.

“Let’s hang out by the bar,” Kellan suggested.

We looked older than we were, dressed in our Hermès outfits, but we were still underage, and there was no way we would actually be allowed into the bar, so we walked around outside listening in on whatever conversations we could tune into.

Kellan suddenly raised his finger to his lips and flicked his eyes to a group of ladies deep in conversation. I turned my full attention to them.

“You’re kidding! How did you hear that?” a blonde with a Chanel bag muttered in disbelief.

“Why would I make that up?” snapped her friend.

“In one of the suites? Do you know who?”

“No. I just heard the cop talking about a
murder
.”

T
he journey from Leeds to San Francisco had been less than ideal–two stops. Dillard had first boarded a British Midland flight to Glasgow, wishing that he’d time to stop in for one of their legendary curries before he had to transfer to the United Airlines flight to Philadelphia.
 
He had managed to get a standby ticket, but his seat was in the back. And it was a middle seat; he was sandwiched between a large lady and a woman with a baby, a baby that didn’t stop crying for the entire flight. He didn’t blame it; he wanted to bawl himself. What was with flights these days? The legroom was practically nonexistent, everyone squashed in like sardines in a tin. And whatever happened to the lovely, friendly airhostesses? They seemed to have been replaced by a bunch of crabby, unattractive women practiced in the art of eye-contact avoidance. He practically had to smack one over the head to get any attention at all.

He didn’t really have a plan for what he was going to do when he reached San Francisco. The man–Raj–had indicated that Dillard had money coming to him. How? Had Olivia died and left him money in her will? He doubted that would be the case. Olivia would leave all her money to a cat shelter before leaving him a dime. What little he’d found out seemed to point to Raj being a dangerous criminal who’d been involved in kidnapping Olivia’s children last year. By all accounts, the FBI was still looking for him. The children were back with Olivia so he must have got what he wanted, a lot of money, presumably. So, what did he want with him? What use could he be to Raj?

Had Raj taken off without the money, perhaps hiding it somewhere and needing him to retrieve it? Why him? Why not get someone closer to home to do it? Maybe the money was in Olivia’s house, and Raj thought that he, her ex, would be welcomed inside. If that’s what Raj thought, he was stupid. Olivia wouldn’t let him anywhere near her. However, if there was money to be had, and he was the one asked to help, he’d get it no matter what, even if he had to break in. He didn’t even have money for the fare home. Not that he particularly needed to go home again. A life in the States might be nice, especially if he got money out of this deal. Why waste it on a flight back? In time, he might even convince a rich American woman to marry him. They did love the British accent over there; he was sure he’d be a hit with the ladies. A nice house overlooking the Pacific Ocean–he’d never seen it, but he’d watched
Baywatch
–would be perfect. There were the earthquakes to consider, of course. That was something that had always put him off considering the west coast of America as even just a vacation getaway. Well, once he was done, he could settle on the east coast, maybe Florida. Wait, the hurricanes. Dillard fell asleep mulling the possibilities.

He had a three-hour wait in Philadelphia until he boarded the last flight, feeling slightly euphoric as he did so. This was the flight to paradise. He knew it! There would be money at the end of this flight. With that happy thought and a bonus window seat, he fell asleep only to be awakened by a flight attendant as the airplane approached San Francisco.

“Sir, we’re getting ready to land. Have you fastened your seatbelt?”

He looked down to make sure that it was on, and nodded at her. Then he looked outside, taking in the view.

He practically danced through the terminal to baggage claim. When he made it to the arrival lobby, his mood changed. What now? Where was he supposed to go? He had enough cash for a few nights in a hotel, but which one? And how would he get there? He certainly didn’t have enough money to treat himself to car rental or anything like that.

He pulled out his phone and dialed Raj’s number again. This time, someone actually picked up.

“Hello, this is Dillard Stevens. You left a message for me?”

“Dillard! What do you know? I had given up hope, thinking I’d never hear from you. I’m glad you called. I need you to come over to–”