St Kilda Consulting 02 - Innocent as Sin

and handcuffs. If she found them, she’ll run to the police. If the guard found them, he didn’t mention it to me, probably because I haven’t seen the guard since Kayla disappeared.”
    Despite the cold fury of Bertone’s voice, Gabriel forced himself to shrug. “You want I find the dude?”
    “His name is Jimmy Hamm,” Bertone said, stuffing a sheet of paper in Gabriel’s hand. “This is his employment application form. It has his last known address. Find him. The girl may be with him. If she is, kill them both.”
    Gabriel shook out the sheet of paper and frowned.
    “You do know how to read, don’t you?” Bertone snarled.
    “Yeah. Sure. Got my GED, no sweat.” But some of the words were puzzling just the same.
    Knives were much easier to use.
    Bertone pushed into Gabriel’s personal space. It was a silent threat. Both men knew it.
    Gabriel took it.
    Bertone slapped an envelope against Gabriel’s chest. “Here are copies of the records in Kayla Shaw’s employment file and the files of her closest friends at the bank. Don’t bother to check her ranch or apartment again. She’s not that stupid. Concentrate on the friends. Look for her car near their driveways, see if there are any signs of her inside their houses.”
    “Shit, man. I prowl a banker’s house in the middle of the night and the cops come screaming.”
    “Use some of your homeboys,” Bertone said, jerking his head toward the bar. “If they’re surviving out of the joint, they must be good on the prowl.”
    He tossed a round cylinder into the air.
    Faster than a cat, Gabriel’s hand flashed out to catch the roll of fifty-dollar bills.
    “Bring her to me,” Bertone said.
    “Breathing?”
    Bertone opened the driver’s door of the Humvee and looked across it at Gabriel.
    “Find her, kill her, and bring me proof of death.”
    The door slammed and the big engine fired up. Bertone backed out quickly, then flipped on the bright headlights, spearing Gabriel. Bertone held that position for a few moments, making the hit man feel exposed, vulnerable.
    “Chigna tu madre, cabrón,” Gabriel said under his breath. “But maybe you don’ even have a mother.”
    The Humvee rushed off into the night, leaving Gabriel standing alone with papers in one hand and a roll of fifties in the other. He stuffed Jimmy Hamm’s address into the envelope, stashed it under his shirt, and went back into the Jumping Cholla.
    Smiles flashed through the smoke when he started spreading money around.

35
    Royal Palms
Saturday
10:40 P.M. MST
    K ayla shook her head sharply.
    How did I get myself into this?
    Just when she thought her life couldn’t get any more bizarre, she found herself getting dusted with face powder for an interview with a famous name she’d seen only on the news. He’d be the handsome star in suit and tie.
    She’d be the talking silhouette.
    A well-powdered one.
    And her voice would be disguised.
    Probably sounds like a frog on speed.
    Ted Martin, who had been introduced to her as the field producer for the show, came over just as the woman called Freddie switched from powder to comb and scissors.
    “Don’t waste your time,” Ted said to the woman. “She’ll be backlit and shadowed.”
    “So was the dude,” Freddie said without backing up. “If I hadn’t trimmed him up, he’d have looked like a gorilla in silhouette.”
    Kayla wondered who “the dude” was. Then she glanced at Rand. He had a freshly barbered look.
    “Him?” she asked Freddie, pointing toward Rand with her chin.
    “Him. I took off about a foot of fur.”
    Kayla snickered.
    “You have good hair,” Freddie said. “Just need a brush and some gel so that nothing sticks out. If you weren’t going in stealth mode, I’d put some more cold packs on your eyes. Crying is hell on ’em.”
    Martin made an impatient sound. “We’re ready.”
    “I’m not,” Freddie said. “And tell Mr. Gorgeous his nose is shiny.”
    “Do you know what overtime costs?”
    “I know what I’m charging and I know what I’m doing. Get out of my face and let me work.”
    “How long?”
    “Long enough for you to go over it once more with her.”
    Martin gave in and turned to Kayla. “Okay, no need to be nervous. This is only a fast interview so we have something for the files if the story breaks early. We can cut and paste and retake, redo the whole thing, whatever we need to so that you look good. Okay?”
    Kayla didn’t nod—Freddie was waving her scissors