Trixie filled her mouth with more lemonade, swallowed, and then said, “I think money laundering. You two might think I’m crazy, but…”
She shifted again. Rubbing the back of her neck, she thought over what she was about to say.
Would Jack and Ace say she was crazy?
Or perhaps they’d believe her but still wash their hands of the whole mess, not wanting that kind of danger.
There was no turning back now, she decided. She’d come this far. Might as well put all her chips in and lay down her cards, as they’d say in Vegas.
So, she offered the men a smile and then just spit her words out, eager to say it before she chickened out.
“I think the company I worked for is a mafia front.”
Chapter Five
“A mob front?” Jack repeated, clearly shocked.
Trixie watched as both men exchanged glances once again, only this time they were clearly more serious in their gazes.
They didn’t react too strongly, though. They’d told her they were former LAPD officers. It probably took a lot to shake them.
Good. She needed someone with nerves of steel in her corner if her fears about her former employer were right.
“Yeah,” she confirmed before spending the next twenty minutes detailing the reasons why she thought that.
Once she was finished, both guys were nodding.
“I’d say the evidence is stacking up pretty well in your theory’s favor,” Jack admitted.
“Funny you use that word. Evidence,” Trixie said.
Both men leaned in a little, starting unblinkingly as they waited on her to elaborate.
“I have some evidence. Documents and stuff I’ve been tucking away. I couldn’t just turn a blind eye to what was going on.”
This got the biggest reaction yet from Jack and Ace.
After a few moments, Jack said, “Honey, did you get caught while securing this evidence?”
She shook her head. “Not that I know of. I was really careful. Never took original documents or anything. Just made copies.”
“Okay,” Jack said, nodding as the wheels in his mind clearly turned. A moment later, he asked, “Where is all this evidence?”
“Locked in a safe in a storage unit back in Vegas,” she replied. “I need to get it! If I did, I could turn it over to the FBI or something and then maybe get these guys off my back!”
“But you can’t go to Vegas,” Ace stated.
It wasn’t a question. He’d clearly put two and two together, realizing the predicament she was in.
“We could go,” Jack said.
“Well, that’s just the thing,” Trixie said. “The safe is keyed to open with my fingerprints.”
“Oh. Secure,” Jack noted. “But makes things kind of hard now.”
Trixie bobbed her head. “And it was just too dangerous for me to risk grabbing the files on my way out of town.” She shuddered and rubbed her arms. “The first time they came at me it looked like a mugging. I was just walking along Fremont Street. There were lots of people around. I was going to get some kettle corn from a vendor who sets up there under the giant awning with all the lights? Have you ever been to the Fremont Street Experience? They do these neat shows with the…” She sank in her chair a little. “Sorry. I was getting carried away again.”
“Honey, you’re just fine. Tell us what happened, please,” Ace said reassuringly.
