THREE

One year and six months later…

 

 

September 16th, 2016

Las Vegas, Nevada

 

LOTT FOUND IT still too hot out to park his car and walk to the entrance of the Bellagio Hotel and Casino. His car said it was a couple degrees over a hundred. So once again he used valet parking. He had more than enough money to not have to walk through heat if he didn’t have to. A simple pleasure in life.

Andor had called this dinner meeting for the team at the Bellagio Café, one of their favorite places. The café had just about anything a person could want at any time of the day or night. And it had plant-surrounded booths and tables that allowed for privacy.

On top of that, it was far enough from the casino that all the noise there was just background. Yet it felt alive and at his age, Lott liked feeling alive.

As Lott handed the valet a tip and started toward the hotel entrance, Julia pulled up in her SUV. He waved and pointed that he would be just inside the door and she nodded.

He had no doubt that over the last few years he had fallen in love with Julia, something he never thought possible after his wife’s death. And Julia was in love with him as well. He just couldn’t imagine why anyone who looked as good as she did with her bright green eyes, long brown hair, and incredible brain would find an older guy like him attractive. But thankfully, she did.

And most nights they stayed in her wonderful condo. They had talked about her moving in with him. And Annie, his daughter, had thought that would be a wonderful idea, but so far nothing had pushed them to that.

As Julia came though the door, he gave her a kiss. She had her hair pulled back and tied and wore a light blouse with a sports bra under it and tan slacks and sandals. She smelled wonderful. She always did.

“Good workout?” Lott asked.

“Still taking it a little easy because of the heat outside,” Julia said. “I’ll ramp it up more as we go into the cooler season.”

Lott nodded. Julia belonged to a gym a few blocks off the strip and unless they were busy, she always found time to workout, usually running on the treadmill.

He did some exercise, but not as much as she did. Mostly he walked when the heat allowed and did standard sit-ups and push-ups every morning, same as he had been doing for over forty years.

It made him feel like his day was starting if he kept that routine up.

They headed through the sounds of the bells from slot machines and the low hum of talking from the people flowing toward one part or another of the vast casino and hotel. Even late at night this place never seemed to be short of visitors. But now, around the dinner hour, the place was almost jammed.

Lott enjoyed that as well. He enjoyed people and being around people, he had come to realize.

“Any chance we might run into Annie and Doc here tonight?” Julia asked.

“Possible,” Lott said. “I could check the poker room to let them know we are here after we get settled.”

Annie and Doc often played in the larger nightly tournaments here when in town. But Lott couldn’t honestly remember if they were scheduled to be in town or not right now. Doc and his business partner, Fleet, had a private jet that took them all over the country to major tournaments. So Lott never knew for sure if his daughter was in town or not.

Lott had asked Fleet once if Doc made enough to justify flying to poker tournaments in a private jet. Fleet had just laughed and said that Doc and Annie made enough on most tournaments and ring games to pay for three jets to get there and back.

Sometimes it was hard for Lott to get it through his head that his retired detective daughter was now a jetsetter in the professional poker world. But Lott sure enjoyed the help Doc and Annie and Fleet gave them on some cases. Having those sorts of resources behind solving a cold case never hurt.

And from what Annie and Doc and Fleet often said to him, they loved helping out. They also had their own network where they worked with police and the FBI on different crimes at times. Having vast sums of money and the willingness to throw it at a case often made friends with budget-constrained law enforcement agencies.

He and Julia had just gotten settled in a large booth near the back of the café when Andor came toward them. He was wearing his normal dress shirt, sleeves rolled up, and he was sweating. Lott just shook his head, since Andor also had more than enough money to valet park his car, but refused to do so, no matter how hot it was. Instead he chose to hike from the parking lot.

Julia handed him a glass of cold water and a few napkins as he slid into the booth across from them.

“Thanks,” he said, then downed half the glass of water before dipping one of the napkins in the rest to wipe down his face with cold water.

A nice waiter named Stan got their drink orders and vanished.

“So what’s the reason for this surprise dinner?” Julia asked a half second before Lott could.

They often came here when a case was active, or for late-night food after a Cold Poker Gang night. But at the moment they had no really active cases.

“We’re back in the game,” Andor said, smiling before finishing off his water.

Lott looked at his partner. He had no idea what game Andor was talking about.

Julia was looking as puzzled as he felt.

Andor just laughed. “Becky Penn. That name ring a bell?”

Lott felt a thrill run through his spine. “The chief released them to us?”

Andor nodded and smiled. “Officially all four murder cases have gone cold. Chief turned them over to us along with all the notes.”

“Fantastic!” Julia said, clapping her hands together.

Lott felt the same way. Those poor souls had died thirty years ago. He just hoped that now they could do something about it and find out who killed and buried them in that grave in the desert.

But thirty years was a lot of cold.