Stilettos & Scoundrels (47 page)

“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 migh
t 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
wan
ted 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
e
ars 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 notic
ed 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
alr
eady 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 ov
er 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
;
i
t wasn’t as if he had been extremely forthcoming th
u
s far
. He
had a misguided notion
that
he needed to protect
me
.

“Also some lady name
d
Lisa, Lisa Simmons I think her name was, was in here today asking questions. I would
n’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 i
t
also made me feel competitive. I
had to get this figured out before that Lisa person.

What I
needed was more informa
tion from Bobby. Even though I was sure he told me
the truth yesterday, I
also knew
that
he knew more than he
was
let
ting
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
wo
uld find out the information I
need
ed on my
own and then keep it from him
and s
ee 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 wit
h 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, B
etty 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 I
.
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 o
f Betty’s a little too fast. I
was mad at
Cooper, but even madder at my
self for thinking he would 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 t
ake 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 d
esk to ask for Tobey because I
didn’t want him to have the chance to sneak out
,
and the desk clerk p
robably wouldn’t even notice me slipping by. I
was pretty sure
Tobey wouldn’t want to talk to me
after
I had
barg
ed
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 h
is staff had been occupying. I was surprised when I
saw the offices bustling with activity
t
hrough 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 discu
ssion. 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?”
I
f 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?”

S
he 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
would
n’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.

“Was there something you wanted, Presley?” Tobey finally butted in and asked. “We are very busy right now.”

I
had been prepared to ask Tobey about what he knew regarding the
information in the clippings I
found in
Cooper
’s room abou
t the luncheon in Vegas. I
knew it was a long shot
,
but
I
thoug
ht it might gain something. I
wa
sn’t really sure I
wanted to divulge this informa
tion in front of Helen until I really knew what my
game
plan
was. Something wasn’t
right about this situation. I just couldn’t put my finger on it. I
also didn’t want to talk to Helen in front of Tobey. However, it seemed it was going to be increasingly difficult to get them apart if they were now g
oing to be working together. I
would ha
ve to think of another plan. I was smart, so surely I
could figure it out.