“Why?”
“I have no idea,” Mendoza said.“But I think I should come home with you and check things out.Just in case.”
Diana nodded.Obviously she was just fine with that.I would have been fine with it, too, if it had been my house under possible attack.
“You can drop me off at the Apex on your way past,” I told Diana, since that suited me just fine.“And if you still want to hear that recording, you can stop by the office any time tomorrow.Someone’s there from nine to five, pretty much.Rachel, if not me.”
She nodded.Mendoza gave me a suspicious look.“I’d have thought you’d want to come with us.To see for yourself.”
Was that a subtle—or not so subtle—insinuation that I was nosy?
I gave him a sweet smile.“I have other plans.I left Edwina in the penthouse alone, and I don’t want to be gone that long.She isn’t that used to the place yet.And the floor-to-ceiling windows are a little scary.”
Not to mention that the rugs were white.But probably better not to actually mention that.
Mendoza still looked suspicious, but he nodded.“Let me take that for you.”He reached for the bag.Diana handed it over, and we all headed for the exit.
“I’ll meet you there,” he told Diana when we were outside.“Don’t go inside until I get there.”
She promised she wouldn’t.He turned to me.“Good night, Mrs.Kelly.”
There was something pointed about the words.Something along the lines of, ‘I want you to go home and stay there, and not give me any more trouble tonight.’
“Good night, Detective,” I said politely.“Be careful.”
He grunted.I hid a smile as I watched him walk across the plaza with the duffel hanging from his hand.
“Come on,” Diana said, tugging on my arm.“I want to get home to see if Steven’s there.”
He probably wasn’t, although I didn’t want to say that.So I went obediently to the car, and got into the passenger seat.
The trip back to the Apex was just as uneventful, but took longer than the trip to the Arena.The streets were filled with people and cars going home after the hockey game, so it took us more than twice as long to make the short drive.
As we crept along the city streets, I had the idea that someone might run up to us from one of the sidewalks and yank the door open and demand the bag of money.
But of course the car doors lock automatically, so there’d be no yanking.Anyone yanking on the door would meet resistance.I did scan the crowds on my side of the street as we drove, though.A couple of women with long, blond hair merited a second look, but other than that, I didn’t see anyone of interest.And of course no one actually ran up to the car and asked for the duffel.A good thing, too, since Mendoza had taken the bag when he left.
Diana pulled up in front of the Apex and I slipped out of the car.“Call me when you get home.Let me know if you find anything.”
“Are you sure I shouldn’t wait until tomorrow?I don’t want to wake you.”
“I’m not going to bed for a while yet,” I said.“But if you’d rather, you can send a text.I just want to know if anyone’s there.Or has been there.”
She nodded.“I’ll do that.Sleep well, Gina.”
“You, too,” I said, while I reflected that it would be a while before I saw my bed.
What I’d told Mendoza was actually valid.Edwina was new to the condo, not used to it, and I probably shouldn’t leave her alone any longer than I had to.So I went upstairs and got her, before I called Rachel to tell her that the Arena Sting was over, and I was on my way to Stella’s to meet her.
“How did it go?”
“Nothing happened,” I said, while I put Edwina in the passenger seat and shut the door.“Nobody came for the money.We stood there for thirty minutes while the Arena emptied out.Then Mendoza took the duffel bag with the newspaper in it and left.”
I opened my own door and slid behind the wheel.“He had this idea that maybe the whole thing was a setup to get Diana out of her house for an hour or two.If they wanted access, they could have gone there at any time during the day, but maybe they didn’t realize that.Anyway, he went home with her to see whether anyone had been inside while she was gone.”
I reversed out of the parking space and drove through the garage toward the exit.“At this point I’m in the car and on my way south on Granny White Pike.I guess I’ll get to the nightclub in about twenty minutes or so.”
“I checked how to get up to the apartment complex behind the nightclub,” Rachel said in my ear.“Here’s what you do.”
