Laina Turner - Presley Thurman 01 - Stilettos & Scoundrels Read online

  Disappointed and ready to give up, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the edge of a yellow envelope sticking out from behind the bed towards the floor. Eureka! I pulled on the corner of the envelope, and a bunch of papers fell out, scattering onto the floor. Crap! I had no idea what order they were in, so I had no way to put them back. I was sure Cooper would notice they were out of place. Oh well, I might as well look at them now. I picked up the stack of papers and sat down on the bed to look through them. There were many news clippings - many of the Senator and Helen, some from the Las Vegas Sun of different men. I only recognized Garrison Palazzo, but I assumed the other men may be involved in the same business as the Palazzo family. There were even some of Dirt, mostly from when he won the election to become sheriff. How nice. Cooper was interested in his friend all this time. However, that warm and fuzzy feeling quickly was replaced with surprise when I scanned the next clipping from when Cooper and Dirt were in the military. The author of the article discussed how Dirt was charged with running a gambling ring. It went on to say that Dirt, Cooper, a guy named Tom Reynolds, and some more names I didn’t recognize were accused of illegal gambling. My eyes skimmed down the rest of the article when all of a sudden, a name jumped out at me, and I slowed down to read the passage. It said the gambling ring was discovered when Private Simon Palazzo came forward with the knowledge that his Sergeant, Derrick Robinson, was running an illegal gambling ring on the premises. It went on further to say that the charges weren’t substantiated and were later dropped.

  Dirt was doing a great job of not letting on he knew Simon. And no wonder. What was going on here? What had really happened? I had a hard time believing either of them would be involved in something like that. Maybe they weren’t though, since the charges were dropped. But if Dirt was totally innocent, why would Simon say that? Even more confusing to me, why would Cooper still be friendly enough with him to have Simon work for him if it was a lie? None of this made sense. One day Dirt was saying Cooper was selling drugs, and then the news clippings said it was Dirt running a gambling ring. This painted a different picture altogether. I wondered why Cooper would even take a job that he knew would at some point bring him back to Alkon and expose him to this. Obviously, there was more to this situation than met the eye.

  I bent down to put the papers back in their place and noticed something shiny sticking partially out from under the bed. I bent down and my eyes narrowed when I realized what it was: a lipstick tube. Picking it up, I tried to rationalize that it could have been left by the last person who stayed in the room. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that probably wasn’t the case. Cooper had been here over a week at least, and had the previous occupant left it, the maids would have knocked it further under the bed while vacuuming. This was right by the edge, as if someone had their purse on the nightstand and the lipstick fell out and rolled slightly. I frowned as I thought about the beautiful brunette that had just been leaving Cooper’s room when I got here.

  I felt a pain in the pit of my stomach. I had no right to be mad or jealous that Cooper may have had another girl up here in his room. Was it the Senator’s girlfriend who was just here? If so, why would she have been over by the bed? It was across from the sitting area. I was more upset than I should have been, but realized this was none of my business. After all, he was a red-blooded male, and before a couple of days ago, I hadn’t seen him in years. So why would I think he had any more than just that old-friend-type feelings for me? I didn’t know what it was, but I really felt we had some kind of connection. Maybe I was just feeding in to my mother’s theory that I needed a man.

  I’m overreacting, I thought. I set the tube on the nightstand and walked away, closing the door behind me. I wasn’t going to let this bother me.

  Chapter 18

  I left Cooper’s hotel to head over to the grocery store, at my mother’s bidding once again, and to pick up a few things. This was one of the biggest drawbacks of coming home. I was immediately turned into a go-fer. I first decided to take a detour into Betty’s Baked Goods. It was getting easy to stop in there for muffins on a regular basis. If I didn’t go back to the city soon, I would weigh five hundred pounds. For some reason, there was a feeling in the pit of my stomach that something wasn’t right with the news clippings I found in Cooper’s room. There was too much hostility from Dirt toward Cooper when clearly, judging from the clippings I had read through, the story Dirt had told me wasn’t the truth. And Dirt had pretended he didn’t know Simon. It didn’t make sense. It gave me a headache just thinking about it. What the heck was the real story?

  Maybe things would be clearer after a muffin. A warm, fresh, oozing cream cheese muffin would be a great snack and surely make me feel better. And who knew? Maybe Betty would have some more information for me. Betty had been too busy waiting on customers to talk this morning when I got my coffee and ran into Simon. Was that only this morning? It had been a long day and it wasn’t half over. I wanted to fill her in on what had happened outside since I felt I owed Betty some gossip for a change. As I sat down at the worn counter, Betty motioned to me with a finger that she would be a minute and turned back to chatting with one of the regulars. I looked up at the chalk menu board to see what the muffin of the day was. None of them looked to be better than my favorite peach cream cheese, so I walked around the display case to help myself and wait for Betty to come over. This was one of the advantages to small towns. You couldn’t serve yourself like that in the city. People would think you were crazy and call the cops. At the very least, they would think you had cooties or something and be horrified at the thought of you touching the muffins.

  I was happily munching away when Betty walked over and sat a glass of milk on the counter. I just looked at her. Milk? Seriously? Yuck! I hated milk, unless it was in cereal. I wanted…no, I needed coffee.

  “Drink it,” Betty barked in a friendly way, not at all threatened by my look. Betty put her order pad in her apron pocket and stuck her pen in her loose bun. It must be a habit as I noticed three other pens stuck in there already. “You young people drink way too much coffee. Besides, it’s almost expired, and I don’t want to throw it away. Cost too damn much and needs to be used up,” she grumbled.

  Of course, that makes all kinds of sense, I thought sarcastically. Better I drink the almost spoiled milk than to throw it away. I grimaced since I didn’t really like milk much anyway, much less milk too close to its due date, but I wasn’t about to argue with Betty. You had to pick your battles.

  “So there’s been quite a ruckus here lately with the murder and all,” Betty said to me, giving the counter a swipe with her towel. “Who would have thought something like this would happen here in Alkon? Figures it happened to someone famous now bringing in all these outsiders.”

  Betty didn’t look too happy at the mention of the “outsiders,” as she put it, but that was a pretty common thought for this small town and probably most small towns. The folks here tended to like things just the way they were and anyone not from here was viewed with suspicion. It was a complete cliché, but true.

  “I know. Crazy isn’t it? What have people been saying?” I figured this was my opportunity to see what information Betty had. Not that I needed to try to be all secret agent about it—Betty was a huge gossip and loved to share what she had to tell.

  “Most folks feel it’s a jealous husband. That man did have a roving eye. Should have been happy enough with Helen.”

  “But to follow him to Alkon? Wouldn’t that make more sense if he was murdered in D.C.?”

  “I’m just repeating what folks are saying. He should have been happy with what he had. Helen loved him, at least in the beginning, but men like that aren’t happy when a woman starts to reach a certain age.”

  “And my mother wonders why I am still single.”

  “Sweetheart, you just have to know how to pick ‘em. Not all men are bad. I did all right with my Bob.”

  “I could only hope to have that someday, Betty
.”

  Betty and Bob had been married for probably a hundred years. They bickered in public all the time, but everyone knew how devoted they were to each other. He worshiped the ground she walked on, as it should be. Retired from a factory in a nearby town, he usually hung out in the bakery with the old farmers, keeping an eye out for any old man who might be too friendly with his Betty. I hadn’t seen him the entire time I had been there though.

  “Where is Bob keeping himself these days? I thought he usually stayed here and hung out, keeping you company.”

  Betty snorted. “I don’t need that man hanging around. Gets in my way.” Betty might have sounded gruff but I could tell she was joking. “He’s been spending time at the Anderson farm working on something. Hell if I know what that man does all day while I’m here slaving away.”

  It was cute to see that after all these years she still loved him enough to complain. I wanted that someday, just not on my mother’s terms.

  “So you think it was some hot babe who already had a husband that led Tom to his demise?”

  “There’s no accounting for taste.” Betty laughed. “Though you think he wouldn’t have been too quick to screw around on all that money.”

  “Betty, you said that Helen used to love him. Do you think she stopped and decided to kill him? You know, to not pay him alimony?”

  “You have quite an imagination. Now she should have, if you ask me or some of the people around here. Folks certainly would agree he deserved it, but, nah, not Helen. She’s too classy for that. Old money buys people off, it doesn’t kill them.”

  “Do you think Helen was trying to get rid of him that way then?”

  “I hadn’t heard that, but I suppose it could be true. If you believe everything you hear, he was involved with the Mob. But the way some people here gossip, who knows.”

  At this, my ears perked up. We were finally getting on the right track. This was more like it. If people knew about the Senator’s gambling problem and his involvement with the Mob, could someone have wanted him dead for it? Other than the people to whom he owed the money? It seemed more likely to be the other way around.

  “Who did you hear that from, Betty?”

  “Ruth Johnson was in here buying a dozen donuts, as she does every Saturday morning. I think she was the one who made that comment.”

  Figures, though at first I couldn’t understand out why on earth Ruth would have any knowledge of such things. Betty noticed the puzzled look on my face.

  “I already told you that Bobby said the Senator was in Vegas arguing with some men. He probably told her.”

  While I already knew that, I couldn’t believe Bobby told his mother. Poor mama’s boy had more issues than I thought. Mob dudes were definitely the kind of people who would kill you over something like money. I told all this to Betty and asked her not to say anything, knowing it was a waste of breath, as Betty wasn’t the type to keep quiet.

  “Honey, I already know. Cooper was in here earlier. He told me all about this, doing same as you. Seeing if I had heard anything.”

  My jaw dropped. I couldn’t believe it. That bastard. Here I was worried about him being wronged years earlier and Dirt being too hard on him. Not to mention feeling a teensy bit guilty about snooping through the stuff in his room, even though it looked like he had a girl up there, and he didn’t even care enough to share that he had already talked to Betty. I guessed I shouldn’t be surprised at that; it wasn’t as if he had been extremely forthcoming thus far. He had a misguided notion that he needed to protect me.

  “Also some lady named Lisa, Lisa Simmons I think her name was, was in here today asking questions. I wouldn’t tell her anything, of course. None of her damn business if you ask me.”

  “She’s a reporter from D.C., trying to get information on the murder too.”

  “That’s what Cooper said. She came in with him and he introduced us,” Betty said, looking at me to see how I would take that bit of information.

  I bristled. “He brought her here?”

  “They walked in together, so I guess it could have been a coincidence,” Betty shrugged.

  Not only did that bother me in a way I didn’t want it to, but it also made me feel competitive. I had to get this figured out before that Lisa person.

  What I needed was more information from Bobby. Even though I was sure he told me the truth yesterday, I also knew that he knew more than he was letting on. But how could I get him to tell me? Maybe I should just go to Tobey. That probably wouldn’t work, with his loyalty to the Senator and to Bobby, but it was worth a shot. Where could I find Tobey right now? Screw Cooper. I would find out the information I needed on my own and then keep it from him and see how he liked it.

  “Betty, have you seen Tobey Stone today?” I said abruptly, interrupting something Betty was saying about the price of fresh produce.

  “Not since early this morning when he came in to get his daily coffee and bran muffin. That boy is all about being healthy. I can’t ever entice him to eat one of my special muffins.”

  Maybe he was still at the hotel dealing with the Senator’s affairs. I jumped off the stool and put some money on the counter.

  “Thanks for the great muffin, as usual, Betty.”

  “You’re welcome, honey.”

  As I reached out to grab the door handle to leave, Betty started talking again. I turned back to her. “If Cooper stops back by, do you want me to tell him you were here? He seems to ask about you every time he’s in here.”

  “If you could keep this between us, that would be great, Betty.”

  “My lips are sealed, but that Cooper’s a smart fellow, not to mention cute. Don’t think you can keep it from him for long.” Betty had a smile on her face. I was sure she thought there was something going on between Cooper and me. Don’t I wish, I thought. Well not, right this minute, because I was mad at him again, but I would get over it and then I would want him. My tires kicked up some gravel pulling out of Betty’s a little too fast. I was mad at Cooper, but even madder at myself for thinking he wouldn’t stop hiding things from me. I knew the Senator’s murder was connected to the Mob in some way. Everything kept coming back to that relationship. Besides, who else would take the risk of killing him? I needed to find Tobey at the hotel first, and if he wasn’t there, then I was going to go to Helen’s. I needed to talk to her anyway.

  I didn’t bother to stop at the front desk to ask for Tobey because I didn’t want him to have the chance to sneak out, and the desk clerk probably wouldn’t even notice me slipping by. I was pretty sure Tobey wouldn’t want to talk to me after I had barged in last night. I assumed he was just trying to keep his private life private and was less concerned about my investigation into the Senator’s murder. Surely he wanted to know who killed his boss.

  The staff at the front desk didn’t even look up from what they were doing when I walked by. Good customer service is dead, I thought sarcastically. I walked around the corner to the area the Senator and his staff had been occupying. I was surprised when I saw the offices bustling with activity through the glass window of the main office. Frankly, I assumed everyone would be gone except maybe Tobey, and even that had been a long shot. I saw Helen and Tobey hunched over a bunch of papers, and they looked engaged in a heated discussion. They must have sensed me staring at them, because at the same time, they looked up, instantly put on their happy faces, and walked out of the office closing the door behind them.

  “Why, Presley, what a nice surprise. We were just getting ready to go to lunch. Care to join us?” Helen asked.

  Nice surprise, my ass. Helen was just a professional in social etiquette, probably something I could learn.

  “That’s a nice offer, Helen, but I don’t really have the time. I actually was looking for Tobey. Although I am glad to find you both here because I really needed to speak to you both. What are you doing here anyway? Are you shutting things down?” If anything, it seemed more active than when the Senator was alive.

  �
�Well, we weren’t going to tell anyone just yet, but I guess you can be the first to know,” Helen said coyly, looking at Tobey for confirmation. What was going on here? What were these two cooking up? I looked at both of them expectantly.

  “I am going to campaign to replace Tom in the Senate for the remainder of his term,” she continued. “Isn’t that wonderful?”

  She couldn’t have shocked me more if she had confessed to Tom’s murder. What possible interest could she have in politics? What happened to wanting to get away from the people who killed him? This would put her right back in the spotlight. Helen seemed much more the trophy wife than an activist.

  “Are you advising her to do this?” I asked Tobey.

  “No one is pushing me, Presley,” Helen interrupted. “I want to do this. For all his faults, Tom started a lot of great things in his time in office, and I feel I can continue those initiatives and contribute.” She was doing a good job of looking put out. I wouldn’t even question her.

  I couldn’t for a minute believe Helen had changed her mind about the way she felt about politics, after what she said yesterday. What is going on here?

  “But what about what you said the other day, Helen? That you wanted to get out of the limelight, especially in light of recent circumstances.”

  “Presley, don’t you listen? I changed my mind. I want to be a part of things bigger than me. Maybe it will help me accept Tom’s death if I can help some of his dreams to live on. You know, continue the cause. Give him a legacy.”

  Please! Did she really expect me to accept that? No way. I wasn’t born yesterday.