Checkered Thief (A Laurel London Mystery Book 3) Read online

  “Ibuprofen.” Bethany smiled with uncertainty across her face. “Works wonders.”

  Gia walked away but not without giving an uncertain glance over her shoulder. Bethany and I didn’t say a word until Gia was out of earshot. I was fully aware Gia was watching. Not only because Bethany seemed suspicious, but Gia knew that I wasn’t one to forgive and forget so quickly. If I could play it off to be a favor for Derek maybe she’d fall for it. That was a big maybe. A huge maybe.

  “What the hell is going on?” I leaned over the table.

  “I’m Bethany, Brittany’s twin.” She played with the edge of the napkin in front of her.

  “That part we have established.”

  “Let’s just say that I’m the free spirit of the two of us,” she said, referring to her sister. “Brittany works at the casino. That is where she and Derek met a month ago when he was there with some of your buddies.”

  I recalled the gathering she was talking about. We had just won a game of bowling and the Here For The Beer members went to the casino to celebrate our win, plus they wanted to try out the buffet. I didn’t go because Jax had the night off and I wanted to spend some time with him. Now I was regretting that I didn’t go.

  “Brittany is always getting me out of a jam and I got into a debt jam with a few gambling sharks at a casino up in Cincinnati.” She looked around and shifted in her seat. “They found out my sister was floor manager at the Glitz and Glam. They kidnapped me last night and drove me here. They kidnapped her here.” There were tears in her eyes.

  My heart pounded and my adrenaline took away my hangover. It was working much better than Trixie’s Bloody Mary.

  “And?” I coaxed her to go on.

  Before she started to tell me the rest of the tale, she took another look around the diner and leaned a little closer.

  In a soft voice she spoke, “They told me I had to take the money I owed them from Brittany’s job to pay them or they were going to kill her and her cop boyfriend. These people aren’t joking around. They will kill them both. I know you don’t care about her, but you love Derek. I know you will do anything for him.”

  “So you thought I could help you how?” My mind was reeling. “This shit is way out of my hacking league. This is real bad-assery stuff the cops need to handle. You need to tell Derek.”

  “I can’t. They are everywhere watching me.” Her eyes darted back and forth around the room. “I don’t even know who they are. They will kill me, Brittany, and Derek.”

  “I was just a petty thief. Nothing big.” I shook my head. “Now I’m completely on the up and up. Not on the downward spiral.” My eyes scanned the diner wondering if any of the people I didn’t recognize were one of the bad guys.

  “Brittany told me about you. She said you embezzled from a bank.” She tapped her fingernail on the table.

  “Is everything okay here?” Gia stood at the end of the table with a tray of hot, greasy food.

  “Everything is fine.” I leaned back and so did Bethany. “We are going to eat and then I’ll grab an apron to help out.”

  “Great.” Gia put the plate of eggs, bacon, grits, biscuits and gravy on the table. She filled up the coffee cups with piping hot coffee before she went back to the counter to fill up the regulars’ mugs.

  “Okay, I cleaned the bank when I was in high school for a job. The orphanage never got pizza and it was so easy to just make an ATM card in someone’s name. I ordered a bunch of pizzas, not paid off a gambling debt.” I chomped down on the piece of toast. “The person was a millionaire, who knew they’d miss a couple hundred dollars from their account?” I grumbled.

  It was true. Trixie had gotten me a job at Walnut Grove Savings Bank as their cleaning person. It wasn’t like it was hard. I had to dust around the offices, vacuum, and take out the trash. It was an opportunity on many different levels. Trixie knew I needed something to occupy my time after school and help to keep me out of trouble so she called in a favor and got me the job. Of course everyone who was in a position to hire a teenager in Walnut Grove was reluctant to hire an orphan, especially me since I had already hacked a few of the foster families’ computers and gotten arrested for a few petty crimes. The temptation of money staring me in the eyes was too hard to resist. Since the bank was small, when you opened an account they had a machine where they issued your ATM card while you waited. It was so easy to make an ATM card in the name of one of the bank customer’s and order pizza for the entire orphanage. The citizens of Walnut Grove saw it as a crime; I saw it as feeding the needy. They likened me to a female Robin Hood, which was fine with me. Needless to say, Trixie got me off the hook yet again but I was banned from Walnut Grove Savings Bank for life.

  “Brittany was talking about me?” I found it interesting how Brittany told her sister about me. Why?

  “She isn’t happy with my lifestyle and told me how you got your life on track.” She fiddled with her fingers. “I’m not going to lie. I love gambling and I’ve been to a lot of great places because I was able to afford it. I have been able to do a lot of things, but when I got hooked up with heist ring I was hitting big time. But I quickly found out that it only takes one loss for him to turn on me.”

  “So I should just believe all of this?” I questioned her because all of this seemed really unreal. “How do I know you aren’t Brittany and pulling my leg to get me back for being such a bitch last night?”

  “I thought you would say something like this.” She pulled a bunch of waded up papers from her purse along with some photos. Bethany slid one of the papers in front of me. It was a birth certificate. “As you can see there are two of us.”

  “Okay, you have a twin, but how do I know you are Bethany?” Sometimes I think people mistake my IQ because I sound like a complete hillbilly, but street smarts are all mine.

  “Right here.” She tugged at the neck of her shirt and pointed to a big scar that started at her sternum. I had no idea how long it was but it was big. She slid another piece of paper in front of me. It was a yellow carbon copy of what looked to be some sort of medical bill. “I had open heart surgery when I was a baby. Brittany did not.” She tapped the diagnosis part of the paper with her finger.

  I picked it up off the table and tried to make heads or tails out of what she was saying.

  “I can only pretend to be Brittany for so long because I know Derek will notice this scar.” She put her hand flat on her chest. “This is why I wear shirts up around my neck.”

  I was having a hard time processing what she was saying.

  “You are in way over your head and this is not something I’m comfortable dealing with.” I gulped. “You need to tell Derek everything. He is a cop. He will get Brittany out.”

  “That’s the problem. They said if I involved him, they would kill her and then kill him.” Bethany pressed her lips together as if it was going to stop her from crying. “They told me I can’t tell him anything and since I’m her identical twin, I have to pretend to be her at the casino and get the money that way.”

  “That is illegal too.” I pushed back a piece of my still damp hair. “Either way, you are going to be doing something illegal. What about Jackson PI?” Jax could use the business.

  “I checked into that but found out that he is the security guard for Glitz and Glam. He’d be the last person on earth to help me.” She was right.

  If Jax knew about this scheme Bethany was involved in, he would already have called the FBI to get it straightened out.

  “That is where you come in.” She sucked in a deep breath as though she were getting some sort of courage. “I need you to hack the system so I can get money into this account.” She reached into her purse and pulled out a piece of paper with a strange number written on it. “It has to be untraceable. All will go smooth, I’ll get my sister back, pay off my debt, and Derek is safe along with the rest of the world.”

  “You’re joking right?” There was no way I or anyone else would be able to pull off such a thing. “Besides, ho
w much do you owe? A few thousand? I could probably loan you that much.” I took a sip of coffee.

  Derek was worth it. I did have a couple million dollars stored in a safe place because of my inheritance.

  “Two hundred thousand.” Her words stabbed me. “It’s enough to get them through until the next big payday.”

  Coffee came shooting out of my mouth like a torpedo. I lifted my hand to cover the spew but it was too late. I had drenched Bethany.

  “God, Laurel!” Derek darted from the front door of The Cracked Egg. He grabbed a couple of napkins and began to dab at the front of Bethany’s shirt. “Are you okay?” He glared at me. “I swear. What has gotten into you? You act like you have gone and lost your mind.” He grabbed Bethany by the arm. “Let’s go. You don’t need her approval for us to date.”

  “But.” Bethany protested. The look of fear in her eyes. “It’s fine. Laurel didn’t mean to.”

  “Yeah. She was telling me a story and I laughed.” I protested and stood up.

  “Well, after last night, I’m not sure if I want you two to be friends.” Derek clasped Bethany’s hand in his and dragged her toward the front of the café.

  She briefly pulled back when they got to the door. She looked at me. Fear that was stark and vivid flashed in her eyes.

  Chapter Five

  “What was that all about?” Gia asked when I went behind the counter to grab an apron, pen and order pad.

  “Nothing.” I tried to shrug the situation off, but knowing Gia, she was never going to let go until I had a good reason to be talking to Bethany who she thought was Brittany. I shook my head trying to get out the look on Bethany’s face before Derek dragged her out like a caveman protecting his woman. I was going to try to make good on my promise to work at the diner, but how on earth was I going to be able to concentrate knowing Derek could be in danger any minute.

  “That was not nothing.” Gia called over her shoulder as she grabbed a couple of hot plates out of the kitchen’s window. Mr. Chiconi gave me the stare-down for a brief second and then went back to flipping the pancakes.

  Gia turned back to me, each hand filled with a plate of short-stack and sausage links.

  “You might not need to explain to me what that was about, but I’m sure he wants to know.” She nodded her head toward the diner doors where Derek seemed to be unloading on Jax with Bethany trying to calm him down.

  Seconds later Jax walked in and like a magnet, his eyes caught mine. He weaved his way around the tables and found the one open stool at the countertop. I grabbed the coffee pot and filled the empty cups down the counter as I walked down to see Jax. There was no time like the present to confront him on why he didn’t come over last night. Though I knew the reason, I still wanted to hear it from him.

  “I missed you last night.” I kept my voice steady, but I was having a hard time keeping my hand from trembling.

  “Is all the shaking from the hangover or because you have a guilty conscience?” he asked.

  I looked up to see if he was joking, but the little lines around his eyes that deepened when he smiled at me weren’t there and neither was his smile. His jaw was set underneath his five o’clock scruff and his hazel eyes didn’t stray from my face.

  I put the pot on the counter.

  “I am sorry about my behavior. I was taken off guard about Brittany and her relationship with Derek. I find it very difficult to understand why everyone seemed to feel the need to keep it from me for a month.” I smacked the counter. “Did you know?”

  He rested his forearms on the edge of the counter and leaned in. His black hair had the perfect amount of gel. He looked so handsome in his white button down shirt tucked neatly into a pair of light khaki pants.

  “Derek Smitherman is none of my business. I thought his personal relationships were none of your business or you didn’t care. I was wrong. I guess you do care about who he sleeps with.” The hurt look on Jax’s face was something that was going to stick in my head for a long time.

  My cheeks burned with memories of last night. Bits and pieces were coming back to me.

  “Do you know how hard it was to walk into the bowling alley where you are passed out in your own puke, your best friend is cleaning you up and everyone is telling me how you slammed down shots when you heard Derek had a girlfriend. Plus you were mean to her?” He stood up, pulled a couple dollars out of his pants pocket and tossed them on the counter. “Then she comes to apologize to you this morning when you should be groveling for her forgiveness and you spit coffee all over her?”

  “That is not what happened.” I was trying to keep my cool, but my internal barometer was quickly rising.

  “It is exactly what happened. I thought I knew the real Laurel London. The kind-hearted, sweet-natured girl under the tough attitude. But you faked me out just like you did everyone else in this community.” Jax chin slightly lifted in the air. “I think that we need to take a little break so you can decide if it’s me you really want. I’ll be sleeping at the office.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous.” I felt ice spreading through my stomach. He was definitely trying to send me a message and it didn’t sit well. “You are being childish, Jax. You are a grown man.”

  “A grown man who doesn’t play childish games and can hold my liquor.” His face contorted sharply with anger. “I will not stay where I am not wanted.”

  “Who said you weren’t wanted?” I laughed nervously trying to diffuse the situation. “You are wanted.” I tried to convince him, only it sounded more whiny than it should’ve. I stared at him. His eyes were ablaze with fire. Something I knew was going to be hard for him to come back from.

  For a second we stood in silence, one waiting for the other. He drew in a long steady breath, puffed his chest, turned and walked toward the door.

  I walked as fast as I could from behind the counter trying to get to him before he left the diner. I wasn’t sure if I was going to stop him or punch him. I had worked hard to make my tarnished reputation a little shinier in this town and he just threw my past up in my face.

  It was too late to decide what I was going to do if I caught up with him. The bell above the door jingled back and forth signaling his exit.

  Chapter Six

  The Cracked Egg tables and counter spots were like a revolving door. One set of customers would leave and another set would replace them. And the diner was as hot as hell due to the kitchen running on a continuous basis. Poor Mr. Chiconi had both ovens going and all eight burners. Sweat was pouring off of him and he couldn’t drink enough water.

  “Can you take care of Louie?” Mr. Chiconi asked me from the kitchen counter window.

  I put the pitcher of water down on the counter so the customers could grab it if they wanted and headed in the back room where Louie was making another Krispy Kreme doughnuts delivery for The Cracked Egg.

  “Do you have another batch you can bring us?” I asked Louie Pelfrey knowing the few boxes he had just delivered weren’t going to get us through the next hour, much less the day.

  Louie was a big man. He was big and tall. His brown hair was a little mussed up and his chest heaved up and down as he leaned on the dolly he used to carry the boxes of Krispy Kreme doughnuts into the back room of The Cracked Egg.

  Louie was the delivery boy for the local doughnut company and The Cracked Egg sold hundreds of them to our community and now that we have the extra tourists from the Glitz and Glam, The Cracked Egg has quadrupled the amount they sold.

  “I could, but I have to get the Windmill open.” He tugged on the waistband of his pants, pulling them up over his big belly. He had really put on a lot more weight since his adopted sister Sally was murdered.

  Sally and I weren’t the best of friends growing up. She was an orphan too but her story ended up with her getting adopted by the Pelfreys, which set me on fire. Oh, I didn’t give a shit that she was adopted, but I did give a shit that I had to take over her chores in the home. That’s what would happen. Trixie would get these
kids adopted and someone had to pick up the slack around the orphanage. That someone was me. It wasn’t until years later that I found out that I was never adoptable because my mob grandfather had placed me in the orphanage in this po-dunk town in Kentucky and hired Trixie to take care of me all my life with the veil of the orphanage as her cover.

  Sadly, Sally was an innocent victim of a bank robbery that turned out to be more than that, but it struck the community in a hard way. Especially Louie. He had accepted Sally as if she was his blood and his parents were ecstatic to finally have a girl.

  Louie sucked in a deep breath and put his hands on the handles of the dolly.

  “I’ll see if I can get one more trip in, but I’ve got a big delivery for Food Town. They are getting swamped too.” He used his foot to pull the dolly back on its wheels.

  “Louie?” I stopped him. “Isn’t Derek’s girlfriend, Brittany, staying at the Windmill?”

  Louie owned and operated the Windmill Hotel, which was right down the street from The Cracked Egg, on the way to the orphanage. It was a small, one level hotel with just a few rooms. The office was just an enclosed room with a glass window behind which Louie sat and communicated with the hotel customers.

  “I wasn’t going to say anything but I heard you showed your crazy last night at Lucky Strikes.” The edge of Louie’s lip tipped up.

  “Great.” I groaned and opened the top box of Krispy Kremes. I took one out and bit down into the glazed goodness. With a mouthful of dough, I mumbled, “I had the right to go nuts. Derek has been my best friend since we . . .” I tried to think back to the first time I met him. “Since I was in diapers.”

  I couldn’t remember how long I had known Derek. My grandfather had given me to Trixie when I was a baby after another mob boss gunned down my parents. That was when my grandfather knew it was not safe for me to stay at our family compound in New York, thus giving me to Trixie.