Chapter Sixteen

Half an hour later, they turned onto Route 441 and into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The road was a thin ribbon of asphalt that wound through the towering mountains. Sheer cliffs and long rock slides, from where the road had originally been blasted, alternated with thick, untouched forest. Here and there a mountain stream plunged down a cliff, running through a culvert under the road to come out the other side and race down yet another cliff. Birds darted back and forth before them, while hawks played on the thermals high overhead. It was all absolutely beautiful, but Kate wished that someone else was driving so she could enjoy it. Each spectacular vista meant riding a knife edge, with a slim guard rail between themselves and a chasm, whose bottom she certainly couldn’t see.

“What time is it?” she asked, her hands gripping the steering wheel tightly. Long shadows were spreading across the road.

“Six twenty three,” Matt said. He hadn’t been paying attention to the scenery or the road but had kept his eyes fixed on the GPS map on his BlackBerry the whole time.

“It shouldn’t be getting dark this early,” she exclaimed.

“It’s the mountains,” Joe said. “Always gets darker a little earlier up here.”

“Look! Deer!” Renee called.

Kate didn’t dare look. All her concentration was centered on the endless succession of switchbacks and drop-offs.

Kate’s phone rang as they came out of the mountains and into the outskirts of Cherokee. She quickly pulled into a gas station and answered.

“I talked with Sheriff Granville,” Sheriff Roberts said without preamble. “He said when you get to the casino, you should go talk to John Henderson. He’s in charge of security. He’ll help you out.”

“John Henderson. All right,” Kate replied.

“By the way,” the sheriff continued. “I talked to Emma Blount. She confirmed your story about Ada’s money. Showed me the checks. Definitely talk to Henderson before you do anything else. A man in Lawson’s shoes might be feeling a bit desperate, and you never know what a desperate man will do.”

THE CASINO LOOKED LIKE a small lodge, mostly because the adjoining hotel was fifteen stories tall. But as the four of them walked in, they were dwarfed by the forty-foot-tall entrance. They walked between the massive stone pillars that held up a network of wooden beams over a walkway done in a Native American basketry design. And then they stepped into the casino proper and looked out at an endless sea of gaming machines, all of them beeping, blipping, or ringing, their lights flashing, racing, pulsing.

Kate felt overwhelmed. She glanced over at Joe, who looked as stunned and bewildered as she felt. Matt, on the other hand, simply scanned the crowd. She glanced past him to Renee, who was craning her head in all directions.

“Let’s go find Mr. Henderson,” Kate said, recovering her wits at last.

But where to start...There didn’t seem to be any security around. The group wandered through the aisles for a bit, then asked a cocktail waitress, who directed them to the customer-service desk.

“Can I help you?” asked a young Native American woman with long, straight jet-black hair and warm brown eyes. The nametag clipped to her white oxford-style shirt said Rhoda.

“We’re trying to find John Henderson,” Kate said. “We understand he’s with security?”

“Yes, he is,” the young woman replied, a worried look on her face. “Is there a problem?”

“There might be,” Kate said. “If you could tell us where we could find him?”

“I’ll call him,” Rhoda said. “Please, have a seat.”

Kate and Joe sat down on a couple of tan chairs tucked into the recessed corner and waited. Renee placed Kisses on her lap, while Matt paced up and down the room. People came and went around them, a few stopping to cash in their winnings. Beyond them, the casino pulsated with lights and noise. It was beginning to give Kate a headache. She watched as an elderly lady in a navy suit stopped at the service desk, a short, nondescript man behind her.

Matt leaned toward Kate and said, “I hope he doesn’t take too long. I’m getting hungry.”

“Mrs. Hanlon?”

Kate looked up at the nondescript man and said, “Yes.”

“John Henderson,” he said, sitting down next to her. “I talked to Sheriff Granville earlier. It sounds like we might have a thief in the place.”

“Yes,” Kate replied. “Junius Lawson.”

“He’s my dad,” Matt added.

“Sorry to hear that,” Henderson said. “You wouldn’t happen to have a photograph of him, would you?”

Matt reached for his wallet, pulled out a photograph of Junius, and handed it to him. Henderson took it and looked at it for a minute.

“I know him,” Henderson said. “He’s a high roller. He had car trouble last time he was up here, and I sent Bob out to help him. But he didn’t use the name Lawson. Matthews. That was the name he gave.” Henderson shrugged. “Lots of fake names around here. You mind if I show it to the cashiers?”

Matt and Kate shook their heads.

“Back in a minute.”

“He doesn’t seem too upset,” Kate commented.

Matt shook his head. Once again Kate reminded herself that Matt didn’t understand small talk.

Henderson returned with the photograph and gave it back to Matt. “They scanned it and sent it to all our security personnel on their cells. Someone will spot him if he’s here.”

“Did any of the cashiers remember him?” Kate asked.

“Denise did. She cashed a check for him about a month ago. A couple of thousand, made out to cash. She remembered it because it was a third-party check, and she had to get special permission from the manager.” Henderson shrugged again. “He’s a high roller. They get special favors.”

Henderson looked at them and grimaced. “This may take a while. Stay here, and I’ll let you know what’s going on.”

Kate nodded.

“Don’t worry. We’ll find him.” Henderson winked at her and walked out to the main room of the casino.

Everyone in the group tried to be patient, but with only the beige walls to look at, they soon began to get restless.

“What on earth is taking them so long?” Renee asked. “What time is it, Kate?”

“It’s seven thirty,” Kate said. “We only got here an hour ago.”

“They should have caught him by now.” Renee looked around. “I think we should go find him.”

“Mr. Henderson asked us to stay put and wait for him to come back,” Kate said.

“Fiddle-faddle. I didn’t come all this way just to sit,” Renee said scrambling out of her seat.

She picked up her shoulder bag, jostling Kisses awake enough so that he stopped snoring. “Come on, Kisses. Let’s go find the bad man.”

“Renee!” Kate got up. “Please, let’s just wait.”

“Nonsense! I’m not the type to sit around and wait for things to happen.” Renee turned on her heel and marched off, clutching her handbag and Kisses.

“Come on, guys,” Kate said, sighing. “Let’s go after her.”

The three of them followed Renee, emerging from the relative quiet of the service area into the cacophony of the casino. Renee was standing at the entrance, looking out at the cavernous space.

“Well, where shall we go, Renee?” Kate asked.

Renee glanced at her with a strange expression in her eyes. “Maybe we should all split up and take a section. Divide the search,” she suggested.

“We do that, we’ll never find each other again,” Joe said. “This place is as big as Bristol Caverns. And I bet it’d be about as dark, if you switched off the lights.”

“Joe’s right,” Kate said. “If we’re going to look for Junius ourselves, we need to stick together.”

The four headed into the casino proper. People were at every machine, lights were flashing, the beeps and blips sounding. As they walked down the endless aisles, Kate looked as carefully as she could at every tall, white-haired man they passed. In this crowd, there were quite a few. Renee trotted along, a few steps ahead, slowing down occasionally to peer at someone but always moving on. At one station, an elderly lady about Renee’s size suddenly jumped up and down as her machine exploded in a flurry of lights and music.

“I won!” the woman cried. “I won!”

A crowd gathered, among them another nondescript man with a cell phone and something else clipped to his belt. Security, Kate thought, proud of herself for recognizing the equipment. She glanced over at Renee, who had stopped to watch along with everyone else.

“I wonder how much she won,” Kate said to Renee.

Renee looked away but not before Kate had seen the wide-eyed look on her face. Kate sighed as they all went on again. The place was huge. How would they find anybody in there?

They turned down a long aisle of penny slots, and Kate tried to focus and keep from letting the blinking lights distract her. As they neared the end of the row, she heard a voice she recognized coming from around the corner.

“It’s perfectly fine, I tell you,” a man said. “It’s my wife’s credit card. She’s in the ladies room. She’ll be back in a minute.”

Before Kate realized what was going on, Renee had whirled around and yelled, “Junius Lawson! You skunk!”

The white-haired man froze just long enough for Renee to set her shoulder bag on the floor and hiss, “Sic ’em, Kisses!”

Kate watched, too astounded to move, as Kisses leaped out of the shoulder bag and went charging through the myriad feet, straight toward Junius. Junius snatched something out of the hostess’ hand and started walking away from them as swiftly as he could.

“Dad?” Matt called. He glanced at Joe and said, “You cover long, and I’ll cover short.” Then he started barreling his way through the crowd after Junius. “Dad!”

Joe lowered his head and started moving off toward one side in a long arc through the crowd to intercept Junius.

“Mr. Bly!” cried the hostess.

“Go get ’em, Kisses!” Renee hollered, tottering on her pink high heels, her shoulder bag dangling from one hand as she shoved people out of her way with the other.

“Dad!”

Kate found herself shoving her way through the crowd as well, trying to keep an eye on Junius as he ducked and dodged his way toward the front of the casino. The trouble was, there were so many people, and so many other white-haired men. It would be easy to lose him. Kate rammed into someone and apologized as she kept moving.

“Junius Lawson! You come right back here!” Renee bawled. “Kisses! Kisses!”

In the midst of all the other noise, Kate could hear the yapping of the little dog she knew so well. She prayed that no one would step on him.

“Dad!”

Kate pushed through another knot of people. In front of her, a man in a white shirt, with something clipped to his belt, was holding a cell phone to his mouth. “Security alert. Security alert. Number 902 headed toward main entrance.”

Kate pushed her way forward. Number 902 had to be Junius. Up ahead she could see Matt plowing through the crowd, and over to her right, Joe was determinedly homing in on a tall, white-haired figure. Someone’s purse smacked Kate across the chest. Ahead of her, Renee’s stiff blond curls were coming undone, her ankles were bowing, but she was still going, still determined, still furious, and still at full volume.

“Junius Lawson! You rotten snake!”

Joe, within arm’s length, lunged at Junius, and as Junius staggered backward to evade him, a dog’s anguished yelp filled the air. Renee leaped forward with the cry and claws of a tigress. Kate jumped after her and watched as Renee sprang off the floor and landed on Junius, dropping him to the floor.

“You lying thief! You heartless coward! You—”

Kate snatched Kisses from the floor and held him to her chest. Kisses wheezed and shivered as a host of white-shirted security men appeared and grappled with the two figures on the floor.

A moment later, Renee came up in the arms of one of them. She took a deep breath and shook herself free.

“Well, there’s the perp,” she said, straightening her clothes. “Haul him away.”

“Number 902 apprehended by the Lucky Sevens,” said one security man standing next to Joe, who was bent over, wheezing from his exertions.

“Kisses? Where’s my Kisses?” Renee cried.

“I’ve got him, Renee,” Kate said, holding up the Chihuahua.

“Oh, my Little Umpkins,” Renee crooned, taking him from Kate. “Is Mama’s Little Umpkins hurt?”

“He’s fine, Renee,” Kate assured her.

“No thanks to him,” Renee said, glaring at Junius.

“Are you all right, Joe?” Kate asked.

Joe nodded.

“This is a huge mistake,” Junius said to the security man holding him. He was breathing hard. He gestured toward Renee and said, “This...this woman has been stalking me. And I was trying to get away from her.”

“Liar,” Renee said with withering disdain. “You gave me stolen presents. You’ve been stealing from everybody!”

“Including an Amanda Bly?” John Henderson had arrived and was looking over the credit card that had been taken from Junius’ hand.

“Yes,” Kate said, coming forward. “He stole that card from an elderly lady in Tennessee.”

Junius looked around, his face changing from exasperation with Renee to rueful regret and embarrassment as his gaze shifted to Kate and Joe, and ending up in cold anger when he saw Matt.

Matt’s eyes looked like a whipped puppy’s as he said, sadly, “I couldn’t let you get away with it again, Dad.”

“Mr. Matthews...sorry, Mr. Lawson,” Henderson said. “I’m afraid we’re going to have to hold you until the sheriff gets here.”

“On what charge?” Junius asked disdainfully.

“Stolen credit card.”

Junius snorted.

Henderson turned to Renee, who was still quivering with anger. “Do you have any charges to file, ma’am?”

“I most certainly do. This man stole this ring”—she took off the tiny silver ring with turquoise settings—“from a friend of mine and gave it to me. And he...” Renee stopped and, looking around, caught her breath.

“I understand,” Henderson said soothingly. “It’s a little too public out here. We’ll need to get statements from all of you, so if you would come back to my office. Sheriff Granville should be here any minute.” Henderson nodded to the security man holding Junius, and he started dragging the older man away.

“You can’t hold me like this!” Junius cried. “I’m innocent, I tell you!”

As they followed Henderson, Junius, and the rest of the security personnel, Renee dropped back slightly until she was even with Kate as they neared the customer-service desk.

“Come with me,” she whispered to Kate, and then, taking Kate’s arm, she called aloud to Henderson, “We’ll be right there!” as she pulled Kate into the ladies’ room.

Inside, Renee was about to say something else, but she saw herself in the mirror and gasped, “My land! I look like a mud fence with briars in it!”

Setting her shoulder bag on the counter, she dug around Kisses for various items. She pulled out a comb and began working on her stiff curls. Kate simply waited.

After Renee had pulled out a lipstick, she glanced at Kate in the mirror and asked boldly, “How much do you think I should tell this Sheriff Granville?”

“Everything,” Kate said.

Renee stopped in midlip and looked at her beseechingly.

“You’ve got to, Renee. If he gave you any other presents, or if you made any investments...”

Suddenly Renee’s eyes were wet. She set down her lipstick and blinked the tears back. “I was...I was such a fool!”

“Oh, Renee.” Kate put her arm around Renee, who turned her head into Kate’s shoulder and sobbed for a moment. “It’s all right. It’s not your fault.”

“I know that,” Renee said, pulling back and fumbling for a tissue. She wiped her eyes carefully as she said, “It was that skunk, Junius. Doing me a favor. Double my money. Hah!” She threw the tissue away. “Do I really have to tell them?”

“Well,” Kate said, “they’re probably going to find out anyway. I’m not sure about the—”

Renee interrupted. “Do you think he got any money from Amanda?”

“I have no idea,” Kate said. “But I think he was definitely buttering her up to get money out of her. That’s his pattern. He gave Ada presents too, you know. And the more proof that’s provided, the more likely a jury will believe he’s guilty.”

“Believe he’s guilty?” Renee exclaimed. “He is guilty! Guilty as sin! If I thought for one minute that he’d get off—” She picked up her shoulder bag. “I’ll tell that sheriff everything, all right,” she said. “Come on, Kate. Don’t dawdle.”