What the Hex? (A Paranormal P.I. Mystery Book 1) (15 page)

“I like getting lucky.” Derek turned off the car and I opened the door.

Derek and I fell into step. I had no idea what we were going to do. How long would we follow him? I thought we should just run up and start asking questions. I’d give it a few more seconds before I actually carried out that plan.

We followed him into the coffee shop. He was across the room looking at a mug. Something told me he wasn’t really interested in making a purchase. 

“I say we go over and ask him.” I gave a little punch through the air when I finished the sentence.

“Calm down, Rambo. Let’s see what he does first.”

I shook my head. “We can watch him any time.”

Derek’s eyes widened. Before Derek could stop me I hurried over. Derek was right behind me. Fake Elvis looked up and noticed us. He glanced around as if he wanted to hide. I was sure he recognized us. He was probably surprised that I was actually coming to confront him. He knew we were there to see him. That was kind of obvious.

“We’d like a few words with you.” I crossed my arms in front of my waist. It probably sounded more like a scolding than questioning.  

He frowned. “Is there a problem? I thought I told you everything I know.”

It seemed as if he’d left out a few important details. “I have a few more questions, if you don’t mind.” 

“I haven’t talked with anyone, so I don’t have any new information for you. Sorry.” He looked over my shoulder at the door.

“Were you going to see the loan shark? Justin Mark?” I asked.

“No.” He scoffed.

“Dude, we just saw you try to walk into his store.” Derek sounded as frustrated as I felt.

He chuckled nervously. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I just came in here. Doing a little shopping.”

I placed my hands on my hips. “We just saw you at the door.” There was no way he was getting out of this one.

“I did nothing wrong.” He moved to the left a couple steps. Was he getting ready to run?

“If you did nothing wrong then you wouldn’t even have to tell us that.”

He gave me a confused look. “You all need to leave me alone. Unless you’re the police, I don’t have to talk to you.”

Derek stepped closer. He was easily taller than Bobby. “Did you kill Amber?”

I hadn’t expected Derek to come right out and ask.

“No,” fake Elvis snapped.

“You have some association with Justin and I intend to find out what.”

“Look, Justin Mark wanted me to pay off Amber’s debts, okay? I have nothing else to say.” He stormed around us. “Just leave me alone.”

I had a feeling he would have to speak with the police sooner rather than later. Derek and I exchanged a look.

“I think you scared him,” Derek said. 

I shook my head. “Me? Quit goofing off. This is serious.”

“I’m taking it seriously. What do you think about what he said?”

People were staring at us strangely.

“I don’t believe him. What about you?” I asked.

“I don’t believe him either.”

“We should get out of here,” I said, walking toward the door.

Derek came after me. “Cece, you need to slow down. I think you’re a little too wired.”

“I don’t have time to slow down. There will be time to slow down when this case is solved.”

“I like your spunk,” Derek said.

He hadn’t seen half of it yet. I didn’t want to intimidate him too much though. I could be tough if I had to be.  

We walked back to the car. The guy was nowhere in sight. He’d gotten out of there quickly. I refused to believe Derek. No way had I scared him away.

“Where do you think he went?” I asked.

“I guess he was parked around here.”

What if he had a gun again? I glanced over my shoulder. Now I wanted to hurry to the car.

“Come on, we’ll get out of here.” Derek pulled on my arm to hurry me up. Apparently he was thinking of potential deadly bullets aimed at us too.

Thank goodness we reached the car safely without gunfire. Of course we hadn’t retreated behind locked doors yet. Plus, bullets could rip through glass or metal with ease. Now that I thought about it, we wouldn’t be safe until the killer was caught. There was nowhere to relax.  

I buckled my seatbelt. “Now what?”

Derek started the car. “Obviously this isn’t a coincidence.”

I glanced at him. “I don’t think so either.”

“We just have to find out what kind of connection these men have.”

“That won’t be easy.” I tapped my fingers against the car seat. “Maybe he borrowed money… and then he partnered with the loan shark Justin to kill Amber and Morgan so he could pay off his gambling debt.” I punctuated my sentence with a point of my finger.

“Nice detective work, but we’d have to have some kind of proof of that. It wouldn’t make sense for Justin Mark to kill Amber and Morgan if they owe him money. Now Justin will never get repaid by Amber or Morgan, plus he won’t get repaid by fake Elvis, er, Bobby Carroll either.”

“I suppose you have a point. Regardless, I have confidence that we’ll find out.”      

It was a rare occasion when I was in the office alone. Usually the chatter from George and Derek talking filled the air. Today Derek had a meeting so he said he’d be in late. I was just surprised that he’d actually told me he would be late. Most times he just showed up late and offered no explanation. He’d been kind of secretive about his morning plans. Knowing Derek, I probably was better off being left in the dark about what he was up to.  George had a checkup at the doctor’s office. I’d spent the morning working on an insurance fraud case. 

It was almost eleven and I figured I’d slip out for lunch soon. I stepped out of my office to retrieve a bottle of water from the mini fridge by Derek’s desk. As I peered around the room I realized it was kind of lonely without Derek and George. We’d actually started to feel like a team… well, kind of anyway. I grabbed the bottle and turned around to see that Derek had papers on his desk. I smiled. It couldn’t be that he was actually taking this job seriously now?

When I spun around to go back into my office, I noticed something on the floor. There was a piece of paper. Right away I recognized it. Someone had left another letter. Why was it on the floor and not on the desk? Furthermore, how had the person gotten in? Since I had no appointments and George wasn’t here I’d decided to leave the door locked. The person could have shoved the letter under the door, but it was pushed back quite far. I doubted they could have pushed the letter that far. I walked over and checked the door, but it was still locked. I reached down and picked up the letter.

It was on the same type of paper and looked just like the other. I unsealed the envelope and pulled out the paper. My heart sped up as I unfolded it.

Meet me at the Eiffel Tower at 12:00 p.m. today.

Nothing more was written. This was weird. The person had to mean the Paris casino. I looked around to see if there were more letters or any other clue. Nothing seemed out of place. I’d thought the letter was for George since the other one had been left on his desk. I mostly still thought that, but I suppose this letter could be for anyone in the office.

It could have just as easily been for Derek. That would make a lot of sense with his social life. I was sure there were plenty of ladies after his attention. For a moment, I wondered if it could actually be for me. I laughed. Who would possibly send me a letter? The only people in town I knew were at Desert Palms. I suppose I could go to Paris casino and see if anyone actually showed up. Would it be wrong of me not to tell Derek and George and give them a chance to meet this person?

The way I saw it I was doing them a favor. I could check out the person first and make sure it weren’t a lunatic. Yeah, that was my story and I’d stick to it. I grabbed my bag, stuffed the letter inside, and headed out the door. I doubled checked the lock, making sure that the door was secure. It was only eleven now, but I figured I’d grab lunch and then go over to Paris. Maybe I’d even get lunch there. How would I know who I was looking for? This person obviously knew what I looked like.

Even if looking for George or Derek the person had to know that I was the Cash in Cash and North Detective Agency. Oddly enough, I was kind of excited about this adventure. On second thought, what if this letter was only used to lure me out of the office? After all, there was a killer out there.

As I walked to the parking lot I made sure to survey my surroundings. Of course I was still trying to figure out who could be leaving the notes. I suppose the reason I was so interested in becoming a private investigator was because I loved a mystery… and this was definitely a mystery.

Solving one would be even better. My thoughts went back to what if the invitation had been left for me. I’d never had a secret admirer. I take that back, in high school I’d had a guy with a crush on me. It had turned from a secret admirer situation to full blown stalker. I’d felt sorry for John Jennings. The notes in my locker were sweet at first, but then he’d progressed to peeking in my bedroom window. I hoped this didn’t turn out to be another situation like that. What if John had found me in Vegas?   I hadn’t heard anything about him in years. I hoped he hadn’t moved on to stalking other women.

I climbed in my car and headed toward the casino. There were restaurants at the casino so I’d pick up something while I waited. Although with my stomach in knots, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to eat. The drive over to the casino was kind of a blue. My thoughts were lost in figuring out who would show up. If Derek found out about this he probably wouldn’t be happy with me. However, the way I saw it, there was really no need for him to know.

I pulled up to the parking lot and found a space. Was it a coincidence that the Paris casino was the most romantic place on the Strip? Never had I been on edge this much before. With the repeated glances over my shoulder everyone probably thought I was paranoid. Right now I couldn’t help it. Would someone pop out from behind the next palm tree? I was looking for any familiar face, but honestly, I had no idea who would show up here today. I checked the time on my phone. Ten minutes after eleven. I had fifty minutes to waste. I refused to go inside and spend any money on gambling. There was no way I would be lured in again by the sparkling lights and hypnotic music. 

I found at casual café for a quick salad. Maybe I should have stopped at La Creperie. They had delicious crepes. No, a salad would be better for me. The café had chairs outside the front door where I could sit and potentially see the mystery secret admirer person stroll by. There were a lot of people walking around though so it would be easy to miss someone even if I knew who I was looking for. Of course in this case I had no clue.

After placing my order, I looked around at the faces in the restaurant, wondering if the person was in here. The chances of that would be unlikely. After picking up my order, I headed back outside to the little tables and sat down. Just as I had suspected, I wasn’t really hungry. I just pushed the spinach around on my plate. I wondered if the person would show up early. My nerves increased by the second. I had no idea what to expect. The more I thought about it the more I worried that the killer might be the one sending the letters.

Finally, I looked at the time again. I blew out a deep breath. It was time to go back up to the Eiffel Tower. Since the letter hadn’t instructed me where to go, I was just assuming they meant by the tower. That was the only logical thing to assume. I collected my plate and left it back inside the café and then hurried toward the tower. Every few seconds I peered around, but had no idea who I was looking for. I weaved around a group of people and made my way back up to tower.

As I stood close to the door it brought back memories of when I’d been kicked out of the other casino. When was I going to let that go? Of course with that brought thoughts of Derek. I kind of regretted not telling Derek about this. I wasn’t entirely sure why I hadn’t told him. Was it just because he wasn’t there at the time and I wanted to come alone? Was it because I thought maybe the secret admirer letter was for him? I didn’t know how I felt. I’d never been the jealous type, but maybe I was just looking out for Derek. Heaven knows he needed someone to look out for him.

I waited and then I waited some more. I checked my phone several times and it was now twelve thirty… the person was late. Maybe this had all just been a game, but for what reason? I would give the person just another ten minutes and then I was out of there. No one so much as glanced my way. I knew because I watched every face around. No one acted suspicious. Well, other than me. I probably looked a little strange. I checked the time again. Another ten minutes had past and I decided that I wouldn’t wait a minute longer.

“Cece, what are you doing here?”

I turned around.

“Agatha, what are you doing here?” I waved.

“I came with a few friends, but I decided to leave.” She adjusted the large brother purse draped on her arm.

“I didn’t think you liked casinos, Agatha.”

She waved her hand. “I don’t, but I thought a change of pace might be nice. You still didn’t tell me why you’re here.”

And I wasn’t going to either.

“I just came by for lunch. They have great restaurants here.”

She looked around. “All by yourself?”

“Yes, well, sometimes you just don’t have a date.” I chuckled, but the sound seemed forced.

“That could all change if you would just open your eyes.”

I studied her face for a moment. “What do you mean by that?”

“I’m just saying there might be someone right in front of you and you don’t even pay attention.”

If she meant Derek, then she was extremely wrong. 

“Well, it’s time for me to go. It was nice seeing you. I’ll call you soon.” She tossed her hand up.

“Bye, Agatha.”

Agatha walked away. I still couldn’t believe that I had been stood up. This was why I didn’t like dating. Things like this happen. It was bad when I didn’t even have a real date and was still rejected. Maybe the secret admirer had changed his mind. But maybe he had seen me and decided to leave. I couldn’t say that I would find that too surprising. If they wanted to meet someone else and got me instead. I was sure Derek would find that amusing.

One thing was for sure, I would tell no one. Especially Derek. Now I wondered if another letter would appear. Would the person mention this meeting? They couldn’t really expect another meeting when they hadn’t shown up for the first one. Maybe something had happened, like being arrested for murder. I wasn’t sure if I was leaning toward this being an innocent thing or if someone had more nefarious intentions.

I secured my purse on my shoulder and headed toward the parking lot. When I spotted someone nearby, I stopped in my tracks. He hadn’t seen me though. Justin Mark was headed toward the Paris entrance. Was this a huge coincidence or was he somehow responsible for the letters? What would be his reason? Was it to lure me out? Well, he had me now, what would he do? Maybe I didn’t want to find out the answer to that question.

What was Justin doing here? I mean, I knew it was a casino, and he probably lived at these places, but I hadn’t expected to see him. Actually, I hadn’t expected to see anyone here today that I knew. Now I’d already spotted two people. I wasn’t happy to see this guy though. He just gave me a bad vibe. Maybe it was the scowl always plastered on his face. Or that he threatened people and could possibly be a murderer. I’d go with all of the above. The way he stared with his beady eyes didn’t help either.

Could he really be the person who sent the letter? I’d thought it was a secret admirer, but that could have just been a trick. I wouldn’t think a killer would want to lure me out to a public place if he wanted to harm me. After all, the killer had taken Amber out to the desert. The thought sent a shiver down. Nevertheless, this situation had now made me even more anxious. I had to come up with a plan. 

Justin was watching me. Actually, he hadn’t taken his eyes off me. Was he coming over to talk to me? We were staring at each other now and it was kind of weird, but I wasn’t about to be the first one to look away. I didn’t want to show him fear. That was probably what he wanted, and I would never give him the satisfaction. How long would we stand this way? Could I really out stare him? I’d always beat my brother when we had staring contests. That only lasted a minute until he gave up though. I wasn’t exactly the national champion in staring, and this wasn’t a childhood game. At least not that I thought. He may have other ideas about playing silly games.

Just then he turned and walked away. Where did he think he was going? I couldn’t allow him to just walk away. I wanted answers. I took off after him, weaving through a group of tourists. Justin glanced back and saw that I was coming after him. Apparently, he didn’t like this because he picked up his pace. 

He might not have won at the staring, but he would probably be able to beat me with the walking. His legs were much longer with a bigger stride. As long as he kept walking though, I could run and possibly catch him. He made a right and turned toward the restaurants. If I didn’t hurry I would never find him there. With all the shops, restaurants, and the casino, he could easily blend in with the crowd. I thought about giving up right then and forgetting the whole thing, but I was no quitter, so I had to keep up the chase.  

I might as well continue after him. After all, this was my job. I made it to the middle and I guess he thought I had stopped chasing him because he was standing in the middle looking out over the crowd. He hadn’t turned around to see that I was headed his way. I hurried my steps, but I didn’t run. I didn’t want people to think there was some kind of emergency. Finally, I made it, standing right behind him. He still hadn’t noticed me. After a couple seconds, he must have felt my presence because he slowly turned around.  

“Hello,” I said, as if I was talking to an old friend.

He narrowed his beady little eyes. “What do you want?”

He was one of the rudest people I’d ever met. But I wasn’t in this to make friends so what did I care. If he wanted to be cold-hearted that was his problem. It would probably come back to bite him in the butt.

“Did you leave a letter in my office? Actually a couple letters, but the one today asked me to meet you.”

He stared at me from a moment, expressionless. Then he laughed.  “Are you crazy? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

I placed my hands on my hips. “Are you sure about that?”