“Just a few more weeks.”
“I don’t have a few more weeks. I suppose you need me to stay local.”
“I’d appreciate it.”
I wanted to bang my own head on my desk.
Grier tossed back the rest of his drink and stood up. “Thanks for everything. I’ll give you the all clear when we nail this asshole, but in the meantime watch your back.”
After Grier left, I called Jackie.
“Hi,” she said, her voice happy and breathless. My gut unclenched. She was all right. “I’m going to stay over in Carson City another night. I want to see Lisa’s show.”
“Good. How did everything go?”
“Not as bad as I feared, but not as well as I’d hoped.”
“That’s the way it goes sometimes,” I said, wondering again how I was going to convince her to stay in Carson City.
“I’m going to crash on Parker and Lisa’s couch tonight, but I’ll be back on the first flight out tomorrow.”
“Yeah, about that, I’ve got some good news and bad news.”
“What’s going on? You sound weird.”
“The police may have found my uncle’s murderers.”
“That’s great! Why don’t you sound happy about that?”
“It’s going to take a while to build the case, but remember the local gang I was telling you about?”
“The Rivs?”
“Yeah, they’re extorting me for money, and they said if I don’t pay up they’re going to kidnap you and traffic you to someone who wants a blond sex slave.”
“What?!”
“They knew you were in Carson City and they knew you were looking at the burlesque show. I’m going to need you to stay close to Lisa and Parker.”
“I can’t do that after tonight. I’m already on tenuous ground. Having me for a houseguest for another week might destroy the peace Lisa and I have tentatively agreed to. Why can’t I just hang out at the Wynn and you can come visit me?”
“I’d love that. Truly. I don’t want to say goodbye so soon, but I believe the threat. I think maybe you should cut your vacation short and go back to New York. Save the week of vacation and come back down when the coast is clear.” I couldn’t believe I was saying this.
“When’s that going to be?”
“I don’t know. Hopefully not long, but it’s not going to happen in a few days. Leonidas has people in Pahrump and Carson City, as well as Las Vegas. I don’t want you in their sights.”
“I wanted to say goodbye to Darcy in person. And I never thought that last night would be the last time we saw each other.”
“It’s not forever. I’m not ready to end this, are you?”
“No,” she said shakily. “I’ve never done a long-distance relationship before. Is that what you want?”
“Yes,” I said firmly.
“Are we exclusive?”
“Yes.”
