“You know,” Sin said abruptly, “maybe I should go with you?”
Anson nodded. “Maybe you should. What do I say to him if he asks where your mother is? How do I answer him if he tells me he’s heard she’s gone missing?”
We all sort of looked at each other.
Sin made eye contact with me for a moment before turning back to his dad. “I think you tell him the truth and see how he reacts.”
“But then I’d be confirming what he knows. And then the world will know what’s happened. You know how fast news like that would travel in this town.” Anson’s anger had turned back into hurt. “Everyone would know she’s been taken. That I couldn’t protect her.”
“No one will think that,” I said. “What happened to her was in no way your fault.”
Birdie nodded. “Jayne’s right. The only person who deserves blame is the one who took Lila. She was doing what she was supposed to be doing when she was supposed to be doing it. So were you. That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less.”
“About that.” Jack rocked back on his heels. “Might be time to revisit who on your team knew about that tunnel. And who knew the timing of the trick. Then see if any of their bank accounts have had large payments made recently. Seems to me the timing of this thing would have required a little inside knowledge.”
Sin nodded.
“Seems someone might have told Lou something. Could be that someone got a bonus for telling him about Lila.” Jack shrugged. “Maybe not. Just a civilian guess.”
“And a brilliant one,” I said. “Birdie?”
“I’m on it just as soon as Anson can get me a list of employees.”
Sin’s dad took a deep breath. “I’ll do that now.”
“Then,” Sin said, “maybe you should try to get some sleep.”
Anson shook his head slightly. “Try would be all I did. I can’t sleep while your mother’s out there, who knows where. Probably scared. Maybe even hurt. Or being hurt.” He swallowed.
“They’re not hurting her.” I didn’t know that, but I felt it. “First of all, she’s incredibly strong. Secondly, the note said she’d be back soon. It read like her disappearance was a temporary inconvenience. Not something she was going to have to recover from. Plus anyone who knows you knows they’d better not hurt her or they will have hell to pay.”
Anson looked at me, new confidence in his gaze. “You’ve got that right.”
His phone vibrated. He took it from his pocket and checked the screen. “That was quick. Lou is calling me back.” He looked up at Sin. “Let’s see how fast he can fit me in.”
Chapter Nineteen
Sinclair
Lou managed to fit my dad in at eleven the next morning. Practically dawn by Vegas standards. Earlier would have been better, but an appointment was an appointment, so my dad agreed.
The rest of the night was spent speculating about who was behind my mom’s abduction, running every possible scenario we could think of and re-reading the ransom note.
We also helped Birdie dig through employee records. We even went back into employees who’d been fired or who had moved on in the last year. Anyone who might have an ax to grind. Of course, employees that had left in the last year wouldn’t know about the new trick, but they might know about the tunnel under the stage.
As had become our guiding motto in this search for my mom’s abductor, we were leaving no stone unturned.
Right around 3 a.m., Birdie announced, “I’ve got something.” She pointed at her computer screen. “An employee by the name of Buck Murphy deposited forty-five hundred dollars yesterday.”
My father shook his head. “I’m not sure that’s anything more than Buck having a good night at the tables. Pretty sure he spends at least an hour playing blackjack after every shift.”
Birdie glanced at my dad. “You think so? That seems like a lot of money.”
“Two years ago he bought himself a brand-new Dodge Charger. Paid cash. All from blackjack. Plus Buck’s been around a long time. Since before we took over the theater at the Oasis.”
“Which means he has to know about the tunnel,” Birdie said. “But he’s probably not going to do something to mess up his job. Then again…” She shrugged.
I got up and stretched. “He could be worth talking to. Maybe see if he suspects anyone.”
Jayne nodded sleepily. “Short-list him for later.”
And that was that until dawn broke, when we took a break to eat. No one was really hungry, except Jayne and Birdie, but we made breakfast anyway. Eggs and toast, nothing much. My dad went out and got doughnuts, too. I think more because he needed something to do than for any great desire for sweets.
We’d gone through more coffee, and in Jayne’s case, more Dr Pepper, than I think anyone had consumed since the last World Grand Tour Poker tournament.
And, because of everything going on, I brought Sugar and Spider into the house. With my dad’s permission, of course. Jayne and I certainly weren’t going to be spending much time in the RV with the search for my mom in full swing, and neither of us liked the thought of them being out there alone.
It was nice having them around. The cats were a welcome diversion from the dark cloud hanging over us, entertaining us with their exploration of the house and sudden bursts of speed through certain rooms.
I had a moment where I thought if my mom never came back, my dad should get a cat. Then I almost wept that such a thought had even entered my brain. It made me sick. My mother was absolutely coming back.
I would not think anything to the contrary.
Around ten, my dad and I got ready to meet with Lou. We were going to his office, which wasn’t nearly as swanky as his home. It was in a strip mall near Fremont. He liked to tell people that the office brought him good luck because it was the very spot where Tony had walked in one day, looking for representation.
Lou also liked to say it kept him humble.
Truth was, I don’t think he spent much time at the office anymore, but I got the luck part. This was Las Vegas. No one made light of such things.
Before we left, I made Jayne and Birdie promise to get some sleep. Even if it was just a twenty-minute nap. I told Jack to keep after them. We’d all be useless if we didn’t rest a little.
I drove my dad’s SUV with him in the passenger’s seat. The silence weighed on me. “How are you doing?” It was a dumb question, but commenting on the weather seemed like an even worse direction to go in.
My father sighed. “Not great.”
I nodded. “Me either. But we’re going to get her back. And she’s going to be fine.”
He shook his head. “I want to believe that.”
“You should. Listen, you don’t know Jayne like I do. She’s unstoppable. Especially when she has Birdie’s help.”
He just stared straight ahead, looking unconvinced.
I was out of words. Didn’t matter. There was nothing I could say that would help. We parked outside of Lou’s office. A Jaguar sat two spots over, probably his. On one side of his office was the Hunan Palace Buffet. On the other, Lucky’s Dry Cleaning.
It was kind of the perfect spot for him.