22. Erin
CHAPTER 22
ERIN
K elsey was in Vegas. Vegas. Land of roller coasters and a hundred cuisines, twinkling lights and slot machines. After the Grand Canyon trip, I thought she might do something else fun, like take in a show or go see the fountains at the Bellagio, but no. She decided to visit the Galaxy again.
Rusty found a slot in the parking garage, and we followed our quarry inside. The fact that he decided to hold my hand wasn’t making the leg-shaking thing get any better.
“Where to?” Rusty asked.
“Let’s try the Library first. That’s where she went last time.”
Kelsey really didn’t have a sense of adventure, did she? Today, she was sitting at my not-so-favourite table, the one where I’d had the altercation with the BuzzHub bitches, and she wasn’t alone. Galaxy Guy was with her, which was kind of fitting, seeing as we were back at the Galaxy. Kina was there too, and she saw us right away and waved. That was a stroke of luck. She was with her friend Maddie—we’d met when Ari dropped off their payments—and there were two free seats at the table. Now we had the perfect cover story. I waved back.
“Hi, it’s so good to see you again.”
Rusty looked vaguely confused for a moment, but he quickly got into character and kissed both women on the cheek. Maddie fanned herself, and who could blame her for that?
“Are you here for lunch?” Kina asked. “Because I can recommend much better restaurants than this one.”
I lowered my voice. “More surveillance.”
“You’re still looking for that guy?”
“No, a different one. He’s sitting at the back there by the bookshelf. Opposite the lady with the blue shirt.”
Kina crinkled her nose. “You mean Jace Fuller?”
“Wait, you know him?”
“Unfortunately. He might come across as a charming and successful businessman, and he’s certainly handsome, but you want to stay as far away from him as possible. He’s been blacklisted by ninety percent of the sex workers in Vegas. The only girls who’ll fuck him are either new or desperate.”
Rusty’s gaze was ping-ponging between us, but I didn’t have time to explain. And the name… I’d heard it somewhere before.
“Why is he blacklisted?”
“He likes to smack girls around.”
“And he’s married,” Maddie added. “A total pig. Whoever that woman is, I feel sorry for her.” She cut Kelsey a sideways glance. “Think she’s a new girl?”
I shook my head. “No, she’s an architect. Part of another case. Her boyfriend’s friends think she might be having an affair.”
“So they sent you to watch her?”
“Something like that. ”
Kina’s expression said yikes . “An affair? With that guy? Is she insane?”
“No, I don’t think so, and that’s why this is even more puzzling.”
“Maybe he’s paying her plenty,” Maddie suggested. “He sure has the money. How much do architects make?”
“How do you know he has money?”
“His daddy owns the Neptune. Of course he has money.”
That’s where I’d heard the name before. The Neptune. His father was Stanley Fuller, the guy who wanted to buy the Galaxy and turn it into a golf course. A golf course…
Golf.
Clubs, balls, bunkers, greens, holes.
AceInTheHole.
Oh, hell. I needed to speak with Ari.
“I love you both,” I told Kina and Maddie. “But I gotta go.”
“What’s wrong with her?” I heard Kina ask Rusty as I hurried to the door.
“She’s had an eventful day. I should go with her.”
He caught up with me as I ducked into a quiet alcove, one with a couple of upholstered chairs that in no way matched the dusty blue-and-yellow vase sitting on a side table.
I dialled Ari.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
“No? I mean yes, well, maybe? I have no idea anymore. Kelsey’s been meeting with Jace Fuller—you know, the guy whose dad owns the Neptune—and there’s no way she’s dating him. I mean, I said all along she wasn’t, but Kina says he’s an absolute creep, and why would she date a creep when she has a hockey player who’s quite nice by all accounts?”
“A good question. ”
“And she’s here for work. She goes to work nearly every day.” Rusty leaned against the wall as I began pacing the tiny alcove. “Apart from a trip to the Grand Canyon with her colleagues, all she’s done is work and meet with an absolute sleaze. So the sleaze is probably part of work, so what’s she designing for Jace Fuller? Could be a mansion or something, but she worked on a tennis pavilion and an eco-hotel before. Sports and resorts. So I got to thinking, what if she’s been hired to design a golf course?”
“Do architects design golf courses? Isn’t that a specialist golf course designer job? I mean, it’s grass and sand bunkers.”
“Okay, the nineteenth hole. Rich assholes need a building to go drink in after they’ve finished playing with their balls.”
When I lived in Florida, I’d worked in a golf clubhouse for a few weeks, and let me tell you, those men were fond of putting their hands in places they shouldn’t be. If I’d had a dollar for every time a jerk patted me on the ass and called me “darlin’,” I’d have made a heck of a lot more money than they paid me.
“I guess it’s possible that the Fullers are doing some exploratory work, but there’s no guarantee Cole will agree to sell the Galaxy, especially with Jerry involved.”
“No, but there’s this dark web guy trying to scare Cole into paying back a loan he can’t afford and that might not even exist, and the dark web guy is called AceInTheHole.”
“So?”
“So, yesterday I mentioned the name to Rusty, about it being a poker term, and he said it was also a golfing term. And I didn’t even think. I didn’t even think. But then I saw Kelsey with Jace Fuller today, and I thought what if? ”
Silence from Ari.
“It’s another term for a hole-in-one,” Rusty whispered, and without thinking, I reached for his hand. He squeezed mine back, and rather than keep pacing, I let him tuck me against his side. Instead of feeling trapped, I felt…protected? And also a little sad. Because the more I grew to like him, the closer we came to leaving Vegas. And what about Florence?
Finally, Ari spoke. “The Fullers have been on our radar all along, but there’s been nothing to tie them to events except Stanley’s offer for the Galaxy. And even the offer was a casual one. But if they’re pushing forward with the project and investing money… You know, you could actually be onto something.”
“You really think so?”
“We’re all fishing around in the dark here, and those pieces fit, albeit loosely. I’ll talk to Alexa and see if she can find more information on this golf course. Where’s Kelsey now?”
“At the Galaxy with Jace Fuller. They’re in the Library.”
“Can you listen in on the conversation?”
“They might think it’s weird if we suddenly go back in and take the table next to them. We were sitting with Kina and Maddie before we left.”
“Yup, that would be weird. I’m at AnyBet with Dusk. We can get there in fifteen minutes, and we’ll listen in.”
“Did you find anything in the numbers yet?”
“Maybe. We’ll talk later, okay? You did good, Erin.”
I grinned; I couldn’t help it. I might not have been the best private investigator in the world, but I wasn’t the worst either.