Stilettos & Scoundrels (56 page)

“Tobey, why would Helen care? What does
she
have to gain?”
I
asked.

“She wanted to divorce Tom
,
but he wouldn’t hear of it. Said it would hurt his political career and she owed him. She convinced Chris that Tom would relent under the blackmail scheme
,
and she pushed him until he gave in.”

“Why would that matter?”

Tobey looked at me as if I
were stupid. “Because he loves her, Presley. She said if he blackmailed Tom and was able to get a divorce then she wanted to marry him. He’s doing it for her. In fact, I think Chris killed the Senator
for Helen
.”

“What!”
Katy and I
exclaimed.

“I think Chris killed the Senator for Helen.” Tobey was beside himself with emotion
.

“Tobey, why would you think that? Blackmail is one thing, but murder
?
Chris isn
’t that kind of guy.” As I said it, however, I wondered. I
hadn’t had much contact with him in years, so anything was possible. This just seemed so surreal.

“I know he was at their house the night the Senator was killed. I asked him if he had seen anyone else or had any ideas about what happened. He wouldn’t say anything. He just clammed up. I got the feeling he was trying to protect me.”

“But to kill someone?”

“You don’t understand, Presley. He’s head over heels for Helen. He would do anything for her. Sorry
,
Katy.” Tobey realized too late
how all of this would affect Katy, but b
etter she hear it now than to go on thinking Chris was her knight in shining armor.

Katy just shook her head and grimaced.
I
just stood by feeling helpless.
H
opefully this would be the final straw
for Katy and she’d finally
stay away from Chris
.
Tobey shifted his weight impatiently. “We need to go to the warehouse. Every minute we waste talking about it could be fatal for Chris.”

“We need to call Dirt,”
I
said to
Cooper
. His back was to
me,
and he stepped a few feet away. He already had his phone out and was dialing. Someone
must have picked up because I
could see him talking into the phone. He snapp
ed it shut and turned back to me
.

“Wonder where he’s at. He never showed up to talk to the FBI
,
and I have left him several messages.”

“
Was that who you were just talking to? The FBI?
Maybe something else happened and he’s tied up?”

“Could be. Just funny
that
no one at the station knew where he was at
.
”
Cooper
shrugged. “Pres, you and Katy take Tobey back to your house and wait for us there.”

I
glared at him with what
I hoped to be my
dirtiest look. Had h
e not learned anything about me
? Did he really think he would be a
ble to get away with leaving me
out?

“Oh
,
no you don
’t. I’m going with you,” I
said.

“Pres, I don’t have time to argue with you,”
Cooper
said exasperatedly. “It’s not safe.”

“Then don’t argue. Just face it, I’m going.”

“Fine! Katy, take Tobey
’s car
back to the Thurmans
’ and
s
tay there until you
hear
from us.”

Katy nodded in agreement. She had no desire to be involved in this
, e
specially where Chris was concerned. She took Tobey’s arm, but he snatched it away and looked at
Cooper
.

“You can’t go without me either. I’m his brother.”

“Don’t worry
,
Tobey. Let Katy take you back to the house. I will make sure nothing happens to Chris. Just trust me.”

“No,” Tobey said firmly. “I would rather be in danger than to have to wait and wonder what was going on.”

If the situation w
as
n’t so dire,
I
would have to laugh at
Cooper
’s face.
I
could tell he would have been happy locking both
me and Tobey
up
somewhere so he could leave us behind
. The clenched jaw and throbbing temple gave
me
a clear picture of how much effort he was
using to
stay calm.
Poor Cooper.
H
e would have to get used to having sidekicks.

We
sped down the road to the old warehouse
, and I
could tell there were a million things running through
Cooper
’s head. He stared stone-faced at the road.

“What’s the plan?” I
sai
d, gripping the door handle. I
peeked at the speedometer and
saw that
he
was pushing ninety. This made me
a little nervous
—n
ot that he was speeding
—hell, I
did that all the time and had the tickets to prove it
,
but rather that he felt such
an
urgency to speed. “Do we r
eally need to go this fast?” I
asked, looking over at him. His side profile was quite nice
,
even with his jaw set and the cords in his neck taut
. He was ready for something. I
just wasn’t sure what yet.

He glanced over at me
. “I can only hope we don’t come across any cops. If Dirt doesn’t get my message…” he trailed off
, looking at me
again.

“What if bringing in the police makes it worse
?
”
asked
Tobey.

“It’ll be fine, Tobey
.
Cops are trained for this.”

“But still
…
” Tobey started again.

“Tobey,” I
interrupted. “You can trust
Cooper
.”

“I’m just so worried.”

“It’ll be ok
ay,
Tobey.”

“So, what’s our plan?”
I
asked
Cooper
again.

Cooper
just look
ed
at
me
with a dirty expression of his own.
I
punched him in the arm.

“What the hell did you do that for? You know it’s not smart to hit the driver when they are trying to concentrate on the road.”

“I have the utmost confiden
ce in your driving ability,” I
said hotly. “But, if you don’t start including me
,
I’ll hit you again. Harder,” I
threatened.

He grimaced slightly. “I think that Chris and Helen are meeting Simon at that warehouse.
Maybe even Garrison.
It’s the only thing that fits.”

“Do you think that somehow Chris is a partner
with Simon in all of this?” I
asked.

“No,” he replied. “I think Simon has his own agenda
. I’m just not sure what it is. I am almost positive it’s not the same as his dad’s. That’s not who Simon is.”

I
started to follow his logic. “So
you don’t think
Simon is trying to get Helen to make good on the debt and Chris is stepping in to defend her?”

“Not really. But to be honest, I’m not really sure of a lot right now
.”

“That’s crazy,” I
continued. “What the hell is Chris thinking?”

“That’s what I’m afraid of, Presley. He’s not thinking. If he were, he wouldn’t think he could go up against a member of the Mob. He doesn’t need to worry so much about Simon
,
but the rest of them…” he trailed off.

“Oh
,
my God,” Tobey
groaned
from the back. “He is no match for someone like Simon. Can you drive any faster?”

“Surely Chris would know that he would lose
going up against them,” I
said, ignoring Tobey in the back.

“I would think so, Pres.”

“They say love is blind,” I
said sarcastically
, shrugging.

“And stupid,” he muttered under his breath.

Cooper
slow
ed as we neared the warehouse. We
could see lights
illuminating
the bottom floor. The other fi
ve floors were pitch black. We
could see Chris’ red Impala and Helen’s Mercedes sitti
ng in the lot. As we pulled in, we
also saw Simon’s car in the lot, alon
g with a black Lincoln, which I
recognized to be the car of Garrison Palazzo
.
Then,
to my surprise, we
also spotted
Bobby’s rattletrap truck.

I
nudged
Cooper
as he dialed Dirt again. “That’s Bobby’s car
,
and the other car belongs to Simon’s dad, Garrison Pala
z
zo.”

“Dammit,” he swore softly. With a resigned look on his face, he put the phone back in his pocket. “Dirt’s still not answering. I can’t wait any longer. I’ve got to get in there.”

“You mean
we’ve
got to get in there,” I
corrected. He was crazy if he thought he
was going in there without me
.

“No!” he yelled. “
You
are not going in there. It’s dangerous. You and Tobey just wait here until Dirt comes so you can fill him in.”

“You are not leaving me here,
Cooper
. I’m coming with you. Besides, Dirt might not even get your message. What then? You need som
eone in there to help you,” I
said firmly,
defiantly
staring into his eyes.

“No
,
you’re not
coming
, Presley. I don’t need your help
!
I can take care of myself
,
” he
yelled
, not taking his
eyes off me. For a moment, we stared at each other. I
wasn’t exactly sure what this
was going to accomplish, but I
wasn’t going to be the first one to look away.

Cooper had a hard time not losing focus when he was looking at her.
“Listen, Pres,” he said in a rational tone. “I’m not going to put you in danger. And I can’t think clearly if I have to worry about you.”

“That’s sweet,
Cooper
, and I appreciate it, but I’m not going to sit out here and let
you face the danger alone,” I
said defiantly, feet planted,
my jaw tight
. “Besides, Tobey can stay out here and wait for Dirt.”

Tobey looked at me as if I
were
crazy. “Am I safe out here?”

“You’ll be fine
, Tobey,” I
said. “Wait here for Dirt and tell him what’s going on. I’m going with
Cooper
for back up.”

“Fine
.
W
e don’t have time to argue about this,”
Cooper
gave in. “Just stay behind me and do as I say.” He muttered a few choice words under his breath
that I
chose t
o ignore, and then looked at my shoes. I
noticed his gaze
as it traveled over my body. It was making me feel very warm
. The feeling, however, was short-lived
when
Cooper made a snide comment about my
shoes.

“What’s wrong with my shoes?”

“Take them off. You will be able to hear those heels from miles away. We need the element of surprise.”

“Well, excuse me. I didn’t plan on this when I chose my outfit,”
I anwered
sarcastically.

“All the more reason to stay here,” he said pointedly.

I rolled my
eyes at this
last ditch effort to get me to stay put and took my
shoes off. I
didn’t relish walking in the nasty warehouse with bare feet
—I
was probably risk
ing
tetanus or something
, b
ut
I
wasn’t about to stay in the car.
Cooper
locked the car door with Tobey inside. He put the keys in his pocket
, and we
head
ed
towards the warehouse. We
had parked around back so
that
if anyone else showed up they would only see the
other
cars
, u
nless, of course, they drove
around the building. Then, we
were screwed. Hopefully Dirt would have th
e same idea so he would see our
car.