Rarities Unlimited 02 - Running Scared

as Socks would recognize that purse if he saw it again, no matter what the woman looked like who was carrying it.
    Carefully she wrapped each of the gold pieces in toilet paper so that they wouldn’t clank. Then she put the objects into the various nylon pouches that had been designed to carry cash, credit cards, and small jewelry against a person’s body and away from pickpockets. Safety pins flashed as she fastened straps to other straps, pouches to other pouches, and straps to neighboring pouches.
    By the time she was satisfied, she had rearranged the gold around herself five different times and was down to her last card of safety pins. Carrying all the gold on her body was turning out to be a big ol’ bitch of a job. Even after she took out the two heaviest gold pieces and hung them under her arms, she still waddled instead of walked. When she finally had everything strapped into place, she felt like a mule and looked like a burrito.
    “How do they do it?” she muttered, balancing her weight over her hips by leaning slightly back. “Pregnant women gain, like, fifty pounds and still walk around. Shit, I’m not carrying near that much and I’m staggering.”
    She jiggled up and down experimentally. Nothing clanked. Everything stayed put, more or less. After a last jiggle she grabbed the maternity cushion and strapped it on over all the lumps.
    The jeans barely fit over her bizarre “pregnancy,” but the tough denim helped to keep everything in place, especially after she used the last of her pins. She yanked the sports bra on, swore, and shifted herself cautiously until the bra stopped pinching and the gold stopped biting her tender underarms. The gaudy black and gold T-shirt hid a multitude of strange bulges. So did the blue nylon shell.
    Five minutes in the bathroom took care of all her makeup and got the wig pulled into place. She dumped her huge leather purse upside down on the bed. Driver’s license, car keys, cash, cell phone—all went into the jacket pockets. The rest went into the trolley.
    She settled the baseball cap gently into place over the wig and her own hair stuffed up beneath it. The hat was almost as gaudy as the casino shirt, but she wasn’t going for invisible. She just didn’t want to look like a well-dressed blonde with great tits.
    Two more minutes at the mirror assured her that nothing showed that wasn’t supposed to. She grinned at herself in the glass and then laughed out loud. There was nothing she liked more than conning the dumbs.
    Too bad Risa couldn’t come along for the fun, but her old friend would just have to do what Cherelle was doing.
    Take care of herself.

Chapter 32
    Las Vegas
    November 3
    Afternoon
    A ll the way down the hall to her apartment, Risa told herself she was dragging her feet because she was tired, not because she simply didn’t feel up to a second night of playing Remember When with Cherelle. The shared memories only made the present distance between herself and her friend more obvious, more painful.
    The discreet magnetic card that requested no service please was stuck on the door above the lock to Risa’s room. She let out a relieved breath. If her luck held, Cherelle would either be out shopping or adrift in another sea of bubble bath. Whichever, Risa would have a chance to get her second wind before she had to be sociable.
    For the space of several breaths she stood and savored the quiet elegance of the carpeted hall, the fragrance of fresh flowers in their bronzed wall niches, and the gilded yet simple frames of the botanical drawings that dotted the long, peaceful hall. But she couldn’t put off going inside forever. With a muted sigh she shrugged out of her sensible business jacket, kicked off her high heels, tucked everything under one arm, and slipped her key into the lock.
    “Cherelle?” she called out from the doorway. “It’s just me. Don’t—” Her words stopped abruptly. “My God, what happened?”
    Everything had been ripped apart. The contents of drawers, cupboards, closets—everything that could be lifted and thrown had been. The mess was incredible.
    She started to call out to Cherelle again before old habits of fear kicked in. Her friend might have had a fit and trashed the place, but not likely. Which meant that someone else had been here.
    Might still be here.
    Waiting.
    Risa started to spin away. She wasn’t fast enough. A thick hand closed around her wrist and yanked her through the doorway into her own