Tears.
That was always harder, but they came. She could feel the tears flow down her cheeks. “Thomas…” She reached out with a shaking hand to check the pulse in his neck. Strong. Steady. He’d be out no more than the twenty minutes she’d told Gallo.
“Pardon me, Mrs. Brookman.” A plump man was pushing his way through the crowd surrounding her. “I’m the casino manager, Anthony Solano. May I help you? Your friend is ill?”
“My brother.” Her voice broke. “His heart. The doctor told him to stay away from gambling. He had his last heart attack after he lost at Monte Carlo.” She gazed pleadingly up at him. “Can you do something for him?”
“Catherine.” Gallo was suddenly beside her, his expression mirroring frustration mixed with concern. “I told you not to come, dammit. He doesn’t deserve it. Is he dead?”
“No, but his pulse is so weak…”
“I saw him fall and called an ambulance. They should be here any minute.” He dropped to his knees and was searching through Jacobs’s pockets. He pulled out a prescription bottle and opened it. “This has to be his medication. Put two under his tongue.”
She took the pills and did as he told her. Then she sat back on her heels, gazing at Gallo in an agony of despair. “Why would he do this? Why wouldn’t he listen?”
“You’ve been asking that for ten years,” Gallo said grimly. “Just because he raised you doesn’t mean you have to follow him around and pick up the pieces every time he goes off the rails.” He turned to the casino manager. “Do you have a defibrillator on the premises in case we need it, or do we have to wait for the ambulance?”
“No, I’m sure we have one in the first-aid room,” Solano said. “I’ll send someone to check and bring-”
He was interrupted by the shrill whine of a siren.
“Never mind,” Gallo said. “The EMT should have one in the ambulance. I’ll go meet them.” He jumped to his feet and was gone.
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Brookman.” Solano was bending over her. “Your brother was a good customer of my casino. I can’t tell you how much I regret this happening. Naturally, we’ll do everything we can to help.”
“There was nothing you could do. You couldn’t stop him.” Her lips were trembling. “I don’t blame you. He is a sick man in more ways than one. Perhaps after this attack, he’ll come to his senses.” The tears began to fall again. “If he lives…”
“He will live,” Solano said as he reached out a hand and gently helped her to her feet. “I feel it. I will personally come with you to the hospital and see that he has everything that he needs.”
“You’re very kind.” She leaned against him, her eyes lowered. Ten minutes. Where the hell was Gallo with the ambulance EMTs? “And I’ll be very happy to see you tomorrow morning. Tonight it’s better if it’s only family with him. You understand?”
“Of course. Whatever you wish is-”
“Stand aside.” Gallo was pushing through the crowd, leading the EMTs with their stretcher. “How is he? Has he stirred, Catherine?”
“No. He’s too quiet.”
Gallo bent over him. “Still breathing.” He turned to the EMTs. “Get him in the ambulance and get that defibrillator ready. You may need it.” He glanced at Catherine. “Do you want to ride in the ambulance or in the car with me?”
“I want to be with Thomas.” She turned to Solano as they took Jacobs out to the ambulance. Keep him close. Don’t let him have time to think and change his mind before the ambulance pulled away from the casino. “You’ve been so very kind. Could you walk to the ambulance with me? I don’t want to impose, but I feel-”
“No, it is my pleasure and duty.” Solano took her arm, and she leaned against him as they walked through the lobby. “I’ll give you my card, and if you need anything tonight at the hospital, just call me. I have many friends in New Orleans, and they’ll be happy to help you.” He opened the front door for her. “And I will be there for you tomorrow.”
“Thank you.” She let him help her into the ambulance. She gave him one last look from beneath tear-wet lashes. “If God is merciful, Thomas will live, and I’ll be able to tell him what a good friend you were to both of us.”
Gallo slammed the doors of the ambulance shut.
Fifteen minutes.
The sirens started wailing as they pulled out of the driveway of the casino.
She smiled at the EMT bending over Jacobs before she leaned back and drew a deep breath.
Done.
The ambulance sirens were cut off three minutes later as the driver pulled to the side of the road.
Gallo opened the doors. “Is he awake yet?”
“We’re close.” She jumped out of the ambulance. “But he has two minutes left.”
“Two minutes. You have it down to a science.”
“No, Hu Chang does. He gives me a chart with precise measurements.” She watched the EMTs quickly bind Jacobs’s wrists before putting him into the backseat of the car. “You should give them a bonus. They did very well, and Solano will probably be out looking for them tomorrow.”
“I don’t doubt it,” he said dryly. “Solano’s going to be frustrated as hell that he’s not going to get his chance to get you into the sack. You had him practically drooling.”
She shrugged. “It was just sleight of hand. If he was paying attention to me, he wasn’t paying attention to you and the EMTs.” She smiled and waved at the EMTs as she slipped into the passenger seat of the car. “Hurry. Solano may start to process what happened.”
“You mean your effect isn’t as scientifically perfect as Hu Chang’s? I beg to differ.” He turned away, and she watched him distribute cash, smiles, and a few words to the EMTs before he walked back toward her. “Yes, a bonus big enough to keep them quiet and out of Solano’s sight for the foreseeable future. But I’d already arranged it with them before you made the suggestion.”
“I just thought that-” She shrugged. “I haven’t worked with anyone in a long time. I’ve gotten used to running things.”
“I noticed.” He got into the driver’s seat. “But I didn’t resent it. I found it very interesting watching you work in a civilized venue. You came across as Cleopatra meets Lara Croft.”
“I hope only to you.” She began to pin her hair back into a chignon and reached into the backseat for her black pants, shirt, and boots. She couldn’t wait to get out of the gown. “Both of them are wily and strong. It was important that I be helpless and pitiful to disarm Solano.”
“And sexy enough to keep his mind on his dick and not on what was happening.” He started the car. “Personally, I think your magic potion was better than Hu Chang’s.”
She heard a muffled groan from the backseat. “Jacobs is beginning to stir.”
“He’s a minute late.”
“No, your watch is probably wrong.”
He gazed at her with amusement. “I won’t argue with you.”
“Where are we taking Jacobs? You said you’d rented a house in the bayous somewhere?”
“Yes, it’s about eighty miles from here and very deep in the bayous.” He was no longer smiling. “And it will give us the privacy we need to have our discussion. I only hope that he can tell us what we need to know.”
“You said that he knew everything that Queen knew. That means he would know who killed Bonnie.”
He was silent. “And what if he says it’s me?”
“Then we decide if we want to believe him or not.” Her lips tightened. “Stop borrowing trouble. There had to be a reason why he hired Nixon to kill you.”
“Because he knew I’d probably be on his ass for the rest of his life.”
“Or maybe there was another reason. We won’t know until he talks to us.” She glanced back at Jacobs again. “Let’s get moving. He’s going to be squealing and cursing as soon as he’s conscious enough to realize what we’ve done. I’d rather be off the road and away from the local police.”
IT TOOK THEM OVER TWO HOURS
