Page 52 of Blind Luck

“How about Shane Wallins?”

“He was at college, but rumour says he was struggling to keep up with tuition payments, so he was on the lookout for freelance work.”

“Any idea who hired him?”

Ari shook her head. “I’ve tracked down his old roommate and several other acquaintances. They all said the same thing—he was trying to go straight. But he did hang out at the Mamba Room, which isn’t the most reputable of bars, and I’m trying to find someone who’ll talk to me about what goes on there.”

“So we’re still fishing around in the dark?”

“Unfortunately so.”

Sin was staying with Rusty again tonight. On Sunday, she’d recharged the batteries on the cameras in the yard, made small talk while eating pizza, and left before Rusty got out of bed in the morning. And last night? Last night, she’d knocked on the front door to ask whether Maverick Johansen had a dog allergy, and when Rusty confirmed he didn’t, Sin lugged in a dog crate and then fetched Trooper from her car. The vet said he needed at least six weeks of crate rest. Was Rusty annoyed that she’d shown up with an extra houseguest? No, not one bit. He’d spent most of theevening petting the dog while Sin monitored the temporary security system.

“Do you think we’ll get a break soon?” I asked Ari.

“Honestly, I do, especially with Alexa involved. And this case won’t just break—it’ll shatter wide open.”

With that, Ari disappeared into the bathroom I’d vacated while I got dressed. I only hoped that if the case did shatter, we wouldn’t get hit by shrapnel.

CHAPTER 17

ARI

Six p.m. on Friday. Eight days into the case, and I had little to show for my efforts, so the last thing I needed was another call from Jerry. I had nothing to tell her. In fact, I’d spent this morning catching up on background checks for AnyBet while Digby Rennick alternately journeyed through the Galaxy’s accounting records and raked the Zen garden in his office. Every time he took a break to walk barefoot through the gravel, my teeth ground of their own accord, but I couldn’t complain, not when he’d stayed in the office late just to help me out. Lila was there too, keeping us both hydrated and making sure we had plenty of snacks.

Erin’s case wasn’t going anywhere either. Now that she could track Kelsey’s phone, there was no need for such a tight surveillance net, and on Thursday, Kelsey had only left the Neptune to go to work. Today, she hadn’t left the hotel at all.

Reluctantly, I answered Jerry’s call. Better to get the “update” over with.

“Hi, I know you’re busy, so I’ll tell you right now—therehaven’t been any further developments since the last time we spoke. We’re kind of running out of leads here.”

“I have a development.”

“You do?”

“We’re calling him T-Rex at the moment.”

“T-Rex? He’s a…dinosaur?”

“No, a human asshole and a second-rate thug. Actually, no, more of a tenth-rate thug. A hundredth-rate. We caught him this morning at the Sunrise Diner. Apparently, he was meant to give me a message about this loan we can’t find, but his delivery left something to be desired. I’ll have to get back to you on his real name.”

Well, damn.

“What did you do? March him out with a gun to his back?”

“You’ve been watching far too many movies. We wheeled him out on a stretcher.”

“A stretcher?” I groaned. “Is he dead?”

“Not yet.”

“Then where is he?”

“In a holding cell. The previous owner of the house left a handy set of shackles in the basement.”

Honestly, I didn’t want to know.

“Did he tell you anything useful?”

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