looked at Rizzo and they both looked at Wendy. Jimmy moved to the side of the bed. Rizzo was content to have Jimmy talk first.
"How are you feeling?" Jimmy asked.
She answered, "How do I look?"
The silent broke all their hearts.
"I guess I'm going to have to rely on my brain from now on," she muttered.
Rizzo stepped forward. "Wendy, can you tell us who did this to you?"
"Yes, and I can tell you why, too."
Rizzo felt a break in the case coming. "We're here and we want to help you. Who worked you over?"
"Locci's goons."
"We'll nail him to the wall for this," Rizzo said excitedly.
"No you won't. I won't testify. Locci told me as much as he loved me, I needed to get out of town. He gave me fifty grand for traveling money and is paying the hospital bills. He said to forget everything or else."
"Or else what?" Jimmy butted in.
"Use your imagination. People that cross people like Locci end up buried in the desert. I can only hope he forgets about me. Or, I'm a dead girl walking."
"Why," asked Jimmy.
"Because of a text message Janelle sent me."
"Was it the message saying, got a senator tonight?" Jimmy threw out a guess based on his conversation with Mac.
Wendy opened her second eye beyond the limits of the swelling. "How did you know?"
"I know because Janelle's brother asked me to find her. Do you remember talking to Mark, Janelle's brother?'
Wendy slowly nodded yes.
"Do you know where Janelle is?"
"The only thing I know is that I never saw Janelle after that text message."
Rizzo broke in. "So, Locci is mad because you got a message from Janelle about some senator?"
"I guess so. I don't know anything anymore. You guys should get out of here. I'm leaving Vegas and never coming back."
One more question, Rizzo said. "We took this picture from Janelle's apartment. Is this Janelle with you?"
Wendy gazed at the picture of her and Janelle smiling happily in front of Wendy's cottage. "Yes."
"Does Janelle have any distinguishing marks on her body?"
"She has a dreamcatcher tattoo on her back."
"Can you describe it?" Rizzo asked.
Wendy swallowed hard. She reached for the cup of water on the side table.
Jimmy noticed her reaching. He grabbed the cup and held it close to her face, straw facing Wendy's mouth.
She took three soft sips and said "Thanks."
Jimmy returned the cup to the side table.
Wendy cleared her throat. "The dreamcatcher had a large round circle with three smaller ones coming off the bottom half of the large circle. The smaller circles had feathers hanging below and the usual Indian symbols. I remember how she'd cover it with makeup whenever we wore backless costumes."
Chapter 11 Direction
Jimmy and Rizzo sat in the car staring out the window. Jimmy broke the silence. "I don't blame Wendy for wanting to get out of Vegas and putting this behind her."
"Color her gone," Rizzo remarked starting the car. "I want to take another look at Janelle's apartment."
"What do you think we'll find?" Jimmy asked.
"We won't know until we find it."
They made their way across the strip to Janelle's apartment. Rizzo asked the manager if he'd seen Janelle. When the manager said no, Rizzo flashed his badge and asked him to open the door to her apartment.
As they walked through the large courtyard surrounded by pods of apartments, two burley men rushed by them. One of them held a half-filled grocery bag.
Rizzo asked the manager, "Do you know those guys?"
"Nope. Never seen them."
Jimmy turned. "I'll follow them. Maybe I can spot their car or something." And Jimmy took off.
The two men were about twenty-five feet ahead of Jimmy. One of the men turned and looked behind. Jimmy immediately moved in front of a door and pretended to be fumbling for some keys.
When the two men turned the corner, Jimmy trotted after them. He reached the corner to see one of the men standing at the driver's side of a black Lincoln MKZ. Then Jimmy saw stars.
The next thing Jimmy heard was the manager asking if he should call 911. "No, I don't think we'll need them," Rizzo answered.
Jimmy sat up and cleared his head. He had a fist-size pain in the middle of his face.
"Did you see something, detective boy?" Rizzo smiled.
"I saw a guy standing by a black Lincoln,… then stars. I'll be ok. Are you finished in Janelle's apartment yet?"
"We might as well be. The apartment is a mess. All her personal stuff is gone."
Jimmy said, "You think those two guys took her stuff?"
Rizzo nodded. "Yep. If you feel ok, let's get out of here." Rizzo reminded the manager to call him if or when he saw Janelle. Then they took off in Rizzo's sedan.
Rizzo dropped Jimmy off at his car. "You're on your own tonight," Rizzo said. "Tonya will take care of me. What are you up too?"
"I'm going to organize tomorrow's Foundation meeting. Will you be available around noon?"
"High noon in the dessert. How OK Corralish is that?"
Back at Jimmy's office, Crystal, his secretary, noticed he walked in holding his nose.
Crystal said, "I'll get some ice."
"Thanks Crystal. I'll be in my office."
Crystal left. Jimmy, starting to relax, semi-staggered to his office and sat down on his couch. The after-effects of the morning's excitement were settling in.
Crystal handed him a bag of ice. "Does this have anything to do with that poor girl's beating yesterday?"
"Maybe. Would you please get Ben Green on the phone?"
Crystal walked to his desk and picked up the cordless, desk phone. She moved back to the coach and sat next to him. "I've programmed Ben Green and the rest of your Foundation people into the speed dial numbers. Ben's number two. I'll get you a list of the rest."
