“That’s another reason I asked Agent Shaunessy to bring you here. There was something strange left next to him.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a plastic bag. Inside it looked like a playing card. He showed it to her. It was the Ace of Spades.
He moved it closer. There was something written on it. “What does it say?”
“It’s a stamp. It saysPaid in Full. Do you have any idea what that means?”
Paid in full? Giving his life, was that enough to pay off Eddie’s debt? She touched the bag and smoothed out the plastic. The letters looked familiar.
“Wait. This stamp, Moreno has one just like it. See how part of the F is missing and it almost looks like a T.” She pointed to the letter on the card.
“I remember seeing it a few times on some invoices he left lying on the bar in the back room. I thought it was funny that it said Paid in Tull. I took ballet lessons for a million years and tulle is a mesh-type fabric they use in ballet costumes. This is Moreno’s stamp. And Eddie owed him a ton of money but he took off before he paid any of it back.”
“Are you positive about this stamp? If we could prove it was Moreno’s…”
She shook her head. “I never actually saw the stamp itself, just the mark it left. But knowing Mr. Moreno, he’d claim a lot of people have access to his office and anyone could have taken it.”
Chris stood next to her now and rested his hand on her shoulder addressing Rawlins. “We’re compiling evidence on this guy and if you go in now searching for a stamp, it could put a kink in our plans. If one of our guys has a chance to take a look, I’ll make sure it gets top priority. Unfortunately, Moreno has an uncanny ability to get off most charges we’ve been able to hang on him so far. A card with a stamp on it won’t get far in the courts. Not unless it accompanies a ton of other solid evidence.”
Rawlins sighed. “I was hoping for a slam dunk with this one. But at least we have an idea where to look and what questions to ask. Can you send me info on this guy, descriptions and known associates?”
Chris nodded and helped her up from her chair. “Absolutely. I’ll send you anything relevant. Ifyoufind anything, we’d appreciate knowing too. You can contact Agent Doolittle. He’s the one you spoke with earlier.”
She was tired of all this police talk. Unless they were planning on arresting Moreno it did her no good since she still had to work for the man. She started to walk down the hall.
“Miss O’Hara,” Rawlins called down to her. “I wondered if you wanted to take a peek at your phone before you leave. Seems Ballantine never deleted some of the texts and messages that I’m guessing were for you.”
Messages for her? The wobbles reappeared as her insides quaked. What would she find?
The phone, pulled from another of the detective’s pockets, was in a plastic bag. He opened it and handed it to her. “We already dusted it for prints so you can touch it. Just don’t erase anything on it.”
“Thank you.” She clicked a few buttons and noticed the message bank was full. Most of them were from the same number, her parents’ house. The texts were from her sister’s cell phone.
She clicked a few texts and they all said much the same thing.‘Where are you? Please come home. We miss you.’Tears filled her eyes again and she blinked them back. She couldn’t fall apart now. She’d done enough crying this morning.
One voice message was dated as her birthday last year. She couldn’t resist.
“Maggie, it’s Mom.” Her mother’s voice trembled as she spoke. “Happy Birthday, honey. I don’t know where you are or if you’re even getting this, but we miss you and we want you to come back home. Please, Maggie, if you’re in trouble or need money, we’ll help you. We just want you to come home. We love you. Remember that.”
A sob escaped from her mouth and she couldn’t stop it, or the tears that ran down her cheeks. Thrusting the phone back at Rawlins, she stumbled down the hall toward the elevator.
Chris was at her side before the elevator doors even opened. When they did, he guided her inside and pressed the button. Her vision was too blurry to see anything.
She leaned against the side of the elevator as it rose and when it stopped and the doors opened again, he pulled her into his side as they left. She didn’t remember the walk outside until the air conditioning was no longer surrounding them and the heat of the night pressed over her. It wasn’t any more oppressive than her thoughts.
She found herself at the car they’d used to get here and turned to him. “I’m sorry I--”
“No apologies necessary.” He looked at her concerned. It was the caring expression that did it to her. Her lip trembled and she lost it again.
He pulled her into his arms, rubbing her back and stroking her hair. She’d been here a lot today. Hearing her mom’s voice had been harder than working all day at the club in heels. It brought back to her everything she’d done wrong and how much pain she’d caused her family. They’d never done anything but love her unconditionally.
“My mom left a message on my birthday last year. She said if I was in trouble they’d help me out. I don’t deserve that.”
“Of course you do. They’re your family. They love you.”
She shook her head remembering all the stupid things she’d done when she was younger. “My track record with guys isn’t exactly stellar. A few years before I left with Eddie, I had this boyfriend that my parents weren’t crazy about. I foolishly let him use my car one night and he crashed into another car, totaling it. My car was an old junker and I didn’t have much insurance on it. It wasn’t covered for other drivers. I figured it wouldn’t be a problem. What could happen, right? Stupid. And the car that he crashed into was a BMW. It cost more than my dad made in a year.”
She remembered how hard they’d worked for their pay and guilt ripped through her again. “My parents paid off the owners of the BMW and I started paying them back slowly. But that’s why they needed a loan to pay for my sister’s wedding. They’d used the money they’d saved for her and still needed to take out more to pay for the damage. I can still see their looks of disappointment every time I was with them.”
