Dark Carnival Murders (8 page)

"I’ll get what I can.
There’s a gang of gypsies I know that are a tight knit mob family,
they run shady sideshow games and fleece customers. I’ll check on
it with them."

"Good, thanks. Call me as
soon as you get anything." I turned to Penny and said, "I should go
call the Walkers and let them know we are still on the
case."

"Just don’t give them too
much hope, this may not go like you hope it does," she said licking
her syrupy fingers.

"You’re just a ball of
sunshine. Eat your grub and I’ll take care of the Walkers." I left
the kitchen and went to my home office and sat. I didn’t really
want to make the call, Penny was right, this may go bad.

*

Chapter 10

Jacob Dark entered the
high end jewelry store on a hallway corner inside the Boulevard
Mall on Maryland Boulevard just north of Flamingo Road. He wasn’t
wearing his top hat and was dressed conservatively in a dark suit,
so the attractive brunette behind the counter gave the handsome man
a broad smile and asked if she could help him.

"I’m looking for a
necklace for my sister in Florida. Something in gold with a good
number of diamonds and jade if that’s possible," he spoke smoothly
as he leaned closer to the woman over the counter.

She grinned, "I think I
may be able to help with that." She went to another counter
followed by Dark as she unlocked the back door of the cabinet,
reaching in to retrieve a necklace that fit near to Dark’s
specifications. "I hope this is close to what you are looking
for?"

"Ah, yes. This is very
nice." He glimpsed at the price tag, "Well, this is certainly not
cheap is it?"

The clerk smiled and said,
"All our jewels are real and, yes, expensive. We cater to the Vegas
tourists and locals who can afford the luxury of good jewelry. I
could find a less expensive necklace for you, if you wish. We have
some in the back in a special case with affordable
prices."

"As much as I love my
sister, I am not a rich man, please show me the special case then."
Dark handed the necklace back to the clerk.

She locked the piece back
in the cabinet and went off. Dark stood looking around the sales
floor, there were two others looking at rings, probably wedding
rings. He studied the overhead cameras around the room and then
mentally noted the layout of the room. Before the sales clerk came
back Dark was gone. She was slightly surprised, but figured the man
didn’t have that much to spend and probably would end up at Macy’s
jewelry department. It wasn’t unusual for a customer to bolt at
their prices.

~~*~~

I had arrived in my office
building after seeing Penny off to her job, if you could call it a
job. Sitting, talking to celebrities and getting a nice paycheck
for it all, hardly a job. Now I had a job, I had to work hard to
crack cases and face danger at every turn. Saving the city from
horrible catastrophes such as dirty bombs and virus attacks, yes, I
had a real job. Of course, I let Lynn and Deacon do most of the leg
work, I just gave them the directions.

I liked my job, it paid
well when I charged people, but I usually gave into pro bono work,
since it helped people to get on with their lives. Even if I didn’t
get paid for it. I didn’t care; I had a good deal of money from my
book sales which were selling quite well and the few cases that we
did charge for helped. Buck’s security guard service made up for
the biggest portion of our income; it was actually a small goldmine
for what we charged.

I came in the back door
yelling that I had arrived. Lacey was a great receptionist,
bookkeeper, secretary and girl Friday, but she was a nervous one. I
frequently startled her by my entering the lobby without announcing
I was in the building. One day she would either have a heart attack
or shoot me. I preferred the heart attack.

"Well, you do still work
here," she said with a grin as I entered the inner lobby and up to
the wall of a counter that kept the crazy clients away from
her.

"Have I been away that
long?"

"It seems like you breeze
in to scare me and then go off to save the world. Now I’m without a
husband because you sent him to join the carnival."

"He’s doing good, he and
Buck are going to kidnap a few women to put into slavery. Mac is
working hard."

Lacey just stared at me,
"Is that what he’s going to do? Is he going to be arrested for it?
Jessie doesn’t need a criminal father."

"Don’t worry, he’s going
to be safe and the women are going to be undercover police women,
so all is good."

"You are devious," was all
she said and went back to her paperwork, I went to my office and
sat. I was startled when Earl came flying into my room and plopped
down on the client chair.

"Okay, fill me in, what’s
happening?"

"Good morning to you too,
all is well so far on the carnival case. Buck and Mac are expected
to lure four women into slavery and we have a sting in place." I
explained what had happened since I last saw Earl and he was
nodding like a bobble head doll.

"There’s nothing we can do
now but wait and hope the undercover cops will find something. Buck
and Mac will need to be on their toes to pull this off. I hope the
bad guys aren’t too bright or suspicious to check the women too
closely," I said.

"I’m sure it will go well
from what you told me. There will be plenty of back-up, I’m sure
Lynn wouldn’t let anyone get hurt," Earl said as he stood. "I’ll be
around to help, call me when the plan starts. I love a good black
ops covert action." He smiled and went out of the room.

I just sat back and looked
around my office, I needed to redecorate.

~~*~~

Buck was sweating under
the hot Vegas sun; he had to wipe the salty drips from his eyes
frequently with the damp cloth he kept in a can of cool water
sitting by the control panel. Mac was busy running back and forth
escorting people to the huge machine. Buck leaned against a pole of
the cage where the controls were when he heard a voice to his
left.

"Hey big guy, do you
party?" said the voice from an attractive brunette. She was barely
twenty and had on a tube top that held back her enormous breasts.
Buck could tell right away she wasn’t a cop.

"Sorry babe, I don’t do
customers. Try the sideshow." Buck grinned and started up the
machine. The woman gave him a frown and walked away.

About an hour later two
women came up and said the phrase Buck was waiting to
hear.

"I may have a party you
might like, it’s at the Luxor. Just a few good people who like to
have a good time, if you’re interested?" Buck said to
them.

The blonde smiled and
said, "Can I bring a couple friends?"

"Sure but only four is the
limit. Can you handle that?"

"I can, when shall we meet
you and where?"

"Eleven-thirty, right
here. And dress to party."

The two women laughed and
went off. Buck was ready to take a break so he called Skeeter Lynn
to cover for him and Mac. About ten minutes later, Skeeter and
another man came up and filled in as Buck and Mac went off to the
tent to eat. On the way Buck stopped in front of a porta-potty and
told Mac he had to take a pee. Buck entered the commode, locked the
door and pulled his cell phone.

~~*~~

I was in the lobby talking
to Lacey about Jessie and how she was doing in school when my cell
phone buzzed, it was Buck.

"Hey Buck, what’s the
word?" I asked.

"Not a lot, I’m in the
potty, I just made contact with the women, told them to meet us at
our ride at eleven-thirty. Have everyone ready to go." He hung up
and I dialed Lynn.

"Just talked to Buck, he’s
made contact with the officers, so all is good to go," I said when
Lynn answered.

"Warren found the room
where they may be, it’s a good bet since the room was rented to a
Lucius Cole. He’s either in town or they are just using his
name."

"I thought hotels need
identification to register now?"

"Easy enough to fake,
especially if they do this enough times. Anyway, we have both rooms
on either side registered to LVMPD. We have one woman wired, not
taking chances, but I don’t think the men will be worried that they
are being infiltrated. We couldn’t get into the room yet to bug it,
but we have a couple officers in custodial outfits going in to
plant one shortly. If you want to be in on the bust be at room 1035
by eleven and don’t look too suspicious."

"No problem, I’ll just
stagger down the hall like a drunk and come to the door. Are you
going to let the men take the women, or stop them in the
room?"

"We’re going to play it by
ear. I’d like to find out where they are going, so I may let them
go. I hope Buck and Mac are away from the area when that
happens."

"What if they drug the
women?"

"They’ve been warned about
drinking anything. One of the officers is going to actually drink;
the others are going to pretend. If the one woman starts to feel
like she is going out, the rest will pretend also. We have it all
covered so far. I just don’t like unknowns."

"Your people are all
professional, they’ll do the job. Besides, you have plenty of
back-up, so you can pull the plug anytime if it looks
bad."

"Yes, we have good people.
I hope all goes well and we can find the boys and shut down this
fucker. Dark will regret his coming to Vegas."

We finished and hung up.
Lacey looked to me, I told her Mac was going to be all
right.

"He better or I’m coming
for you," she said with an evil grin.

*

Chapter 11

Jacob Dark had been to
four different jewelry stores before he rested in his car staring
at the last one he had entered. He pulled his cell phone and made a
call.

"I’ve got a good one, get
Kenny and Ben and meet me at our arranged spot. We can hit this one
tonight." He hung up and put the phone away. He started the car and
drove out of the parking lot of the large Jewelry store, heading to
the restaurant where he would meet his men.

~~*~~

Earl was at our door by
six and eager to go see what would happen at the Luxor with Buck
and Mac.

"A bit early aren’t you?"
I asked.

"I just wanted to spend
some quality time with my favorite people." Penny heard that from
the couch and laughed out loud. "Hey, that offends me," Earl
responded.

"You are offensive," I
said, "Come on in and get comfortable, we’re just watching TV
waiting for eleven o’clock to get here."

"Eleven, is that when we
roll?"

"You can roll, we’ll
drive. Lynn said to meet them at the Luxor at eleven o’clock. Buck
and Mac are bringing the police women by midnight."

"Why so late?"

"The carnival closes by
then so they will be at the Luxor by midnight."

"Makes sense, whatcha
watching?" he said glancing at the TV.

"Make yourself
comfortable, we’ve been channel surfing, there’s not a lot
on."

Earl went to an easy chair
and plopped down, "No beer," he said when he saw the Pepsi bottles
on our snack tables.

"Nope, I’m driving tonight
and want to keep a clear head in case this goes sour. Do you want
one?"

"I’ll take a Pepsi too." I
knew he wanted a beer but he was being wise to wait.

We sat watching a cop show
as Earl complained about the plot. I just told him to shut
up.

~~*~~

Buck and Mac were closing
down the round-up and saw the women coming up the midway. Buck
called to Mac and he came over.

"Ladies, how are you doing
tonight?" Buck asked as the four women approached. They were
dressed to party in tight, flashy clothes. Buck thought they were
looking a little too much like hookers, but since they worked in
vice, it was probably standard dress for them.

The lead officer answered,
"We are ready to party." She looked around and saw there was no one
close enough to hear, "I’m Kim, this is Tina, Mary and Lindsey. I’m
wired so stay close to me to pick up conversations. Lindsey is
going to be our designated drinker, we’ll just pretend. Watch her
for any sign of drugs in her drinks. Are we ready to
go?"

Buck gave his famous
walrus grin and they went to their vehicles. Mac was driving his
pickup and the women would follow in their car. They drove out from
the carnival grounds and up Vegas Boulevard. The Luxor was just up
from the south end of the strip, so the ride didn’t take long. They
parked and Buck pulled the paper from his pocket that Skeeter gave
him earlier in the day, it had the room number. They entered the
huge pyramid shaped building and found the elevators to the tenth
floor.

~~*~~