Ink Flamingos

Harry took my arm and pulled me along. “This way,” he said without answering my questions.

My head was spinning, and I felt my heart begin to pound. Something wasn’t right, and it didn’t exactly take a rocket scientist to figure that out. I kept my eyes peeled for any sign of Tim or Jeff or both, but I didn’t see either of them anywhere in the sea of the casino that spread out before us. I tried to shake off Harry’s hand, but he gripped me tighter as we sidestepped the gaming tables, the slot machines. The ding-ding of the machines rang in my head, the wheels turning to show no one was winning any jackpots. I certainly was a big loser today.

“What’s your angle?” I asked Harry, but either he didn’t hear me above the din or he chose not to answer. Probably the latter. I frantically tried to figure out how to get away.

As we went up the steps, that bronze flamingo in front of us, I yanked quickly on my arm, hoping to break free.

No dice. He merely gazed down at me, a smile on his face.

“Trust me,” he said. “I’m taking you somewhere safe.”

I screamed. At the top of my lungs. Harry’s hand was so tight I wondered if I would lose circulation.

“Shut up,” he hissed. “What is wrong with you?”

I continued to scream as I swung around with the arm he wasn’t holding, and my fist slammed into his face.

I hadn’t even noticed he’d let go of me.

“You’re crazy, you know that?” Harry asked as he turned around and ran down the hallway, past the little shops. I’d stopped screaming now but began hyperventilating. Out of nowhere, Tim and a security guard appeared, and then Tim’s arms were around me as I heard him explaining to the security guard that he was my brother.

I couldn’t speak to tell him to go after Harry; had he even seen Harry? I struggled to catch my breath, taking in air in large gulps and then hiccupping.

I was a total mess.

“What’s wrong, Brett?” Tim was asking over and over.

I willed myself to calm down, to take a few long, slow breaths until my heart began to settle down. Finally, I said, “Harry.”

Tim frowned. “What?”

“Harry Desmond. He had my arm. He wouldn’t let me go. I punched him, he took off, and then you showed up.”

“Where did he go?” Tim’s face was etched with concern.

I pointed down the hall. “Down there.”

He started in the direction I’d indicated, but I grabbed his shoulder. “Don’t leave me alone here.”

The security guard who was still standing mute must have felt as though he were the proverbial chopped liver, but I wasn’t trusting anyone I didn’t know right now. Heck, I knew Harry, and he’d been up to no good.

Hadn’t he?

Doubts began to settle in. Harry had said to trust him, but then he wouldn’t let go of me. He said he was taking me somewhere safe. But my instincts had screamed louder than I had.

He’d said the woman with Ace was his wife.

His wife. Right.

I told Tim what he’d said.

“Did you find her?” I asked. “And Ace? Where’s Jeff?”

“You shouldn’t worry about anything right now. You need to stay calm, and you need to go someplace safe.”

Again I was reminded of Harry, but I pushed the thought away. “Where?” I asked. “Can we go home?”

“I can’t go right now, but maybe Jeff can take you. He can stay until I get there.” Tim must have seen the look on my face, the one that was saying, I’m not sure I want to deal with Jeff alone right now, so he added, “Or Bitsy can come stay with you, or you can go back to Bitsy’s. It’s up to you.”

I wished Joel were there. Joel was a lot bigger than Bitsy, and while I loved Bitsy and she was one of my best friends, she was a little person, and I needed someone who might be able to protect me if I needed protecting. Although I had punched out Harry, hadn’t I?

I rubbed my knuckles, which were red and smarting from said punch. I hated it that I needed any sort of protecting at all. I’d always been able to take care of myself just fine, thank you very much, and this was so lame.

“How about your shop?” Tim suggested then. “I can pick you up there in an hour or two.”

That sounded like a plan. But I asked again, “What happened to Jeff?”

Tim shook his head. “I don’t know.”

Jeff had been following Terri and Ace, and now all three were missing. Great.

“Joel’s still hanging out at Ainsley’s apartment building, watching her sister, Ann,” I said. “At least I think so.”

“He called me,” Tim said. “I sent a cruiser over there. That’s where I’m heading, actually. To see exactly what her story is.”

“Let me come along,” I said. “I won’t be a bother.”

He didn’t give me an answer, and I realized he was still wet from the pool.

“You need some dry clothes,” I said, indicating one of the shops.

We found him a pair of sweats and a sweatshirt, both with the Flamingo logo on them. I made a mental note to throw them in the garbage after he was done with them. I didn’t want anything reminding me of any of this after it was all over.

“You look like a tourist,” I teased as we went out to the parking garage to his Chevy Impala.

He rolled his eyes at me, and we got in the car.

The whole ride over I replayed the scene with Harry. The last thing he’d said was that I was crazy. Had I imagined that he was up to no good? I’d been a tad paranoid the last few days, so maybe I had imagined it. But what was the whole thing with him having a wife?

I figured that Tim would take me to the shop and he’d head off to Ainsley’s, but now I noticed that he was taking me along with him. I decided not to say anything, because he could change his mind.

“It’s safer if you’re with me,” he explained as we pulled into the apartment house’s parking lot.

A cruiser was waiting for us, and a uniform climbed out to escort us to Ainsley’s apartment.

“Where’s Joel?” I asked the uniform. “My friend.”

“The big guy? He took a cab.”

He probably went back to the shop.

“She lives here,” I said then, assessing the building.

Tim looked at me like I had two heads. “No kidding, Brett.”

“No,” I said, “not just Ainsley. Terri, the woman with Ace. We saw her here this morning.”

Tim stopped and stared at me. Uh-oh. I hadn’t told him about our little field trip. Time to come clean.

“Bitsy and Joel and I came over here,” I said quickly. “We met Terri on the stairs; she said she lived here.” But as I thought about it, I wondered if she really had. I didn’t think she’d actually said that; we’d just assumed it. I said as much to Tim. “Anyway, there’s got to be a connection between Terri and Ainsley.”

Tim was fighting back the words I knew he wanted to say: Why can’t you stay out of police business? But to his credit, he pursed his lips, tensed his jaw, and merely nodded.

We went up to Ainsley Wainwright’s door, and the uniform knocked.

We waited. No sound from inside.

He knocked again.

Tim assessed the door, then nodded at the uniform. The two of them slammed their bodies against it, and it swung open, the sound of the doorframe cracking ringing in my ears.

The place was cleared out.