Goldilocks Forever

Chapter 15

Las Vegas, Nevada

February 2006

"Well, all right then." The man's smile became less threatening. "Your chariot awaits you, baby." He opened the mismatched door for her. "We're cool." His head bobbed as she hesitantly sat. Even with the door open and cool air flowing in, the smell of a thousand cigarettes assaulted her. When he closed the door, she put her hand over her mouth and coughed.

He came around to the driver's seat and extended his hand to her. "I'm Roy." His hand engulfed hers. "Buckle up, honey-baby. We got a long drive ahead of us. During the day, it would take about five hours to get there, but tonight we're gonna do it in four or less. That okay with you?"

"Sure." The sooner she got there, the sooner she could see her sister. She wasn't sure if she was going to save her or throttle her.

Roy reached between them and opened a compartment. She flinched and hunched away. "Gum?"

"No, thank you."

He shoved two sticks into his mouth. "I'm tryin' to quit smoking." His words were muffled as he chewed. "Nicotine don't do shit for me anymore, so why I kept on all these years is a fuckin' mystery, you know?"

"Is it okay if I roll down the window a little?"

"Whatever you want, sugar-angel." He sped away from the curb and joined with traffic.

She flicked a switch to crack the window a few inches. The night air, even tainted with exhaust, refreshed her. "You work for James?"

"That's right. I make deliveries. Whenever and wherever he needs me to go, I go."

"What are you delivering tonight?"

He pointed toward the back seat. She twisted in her seat to see a battered briefcase laying on the seat, two shiny gold locks clamping it shut.

"What's in it?"

"It's none of my damn business, and I figure I'm better off not knowing. The only details I get are the time and location of the drop-off."

"You don't even know who you're meeting?"

"Nope. The payment and all that shit have already been worked out." Roy blew a bubble and let it collapse over his mouth. Bits of pink gum stuck to the stubble on his face. "It's a pretty easy gig. Most of the deliveries are here in town, but occasionally, I get to go to L.A. and once or twice a year to Dallas. A few months ago there were rumors of some business in San Francisco, but it never panned out." He shook his head regretfully.

"Why not?"

Roy scowled. "That sonofabitch Sabian is why. If we do business with him, we can't do business with San Fran, and that's the rule."

"What?"

The way Roy glanced at her made her wish she could take back her words. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Where you been, girl?" Just "girl". That felt like a demotion.

"I'm new here."

Instead of the understanding she was hoping for, his face revealed his sudden wariness. "What are you doing here, lady? What's your game?"

"There's no game. I'm just trying to find my sister."

"Yeah? How do you know James?"

"Through a friend of mine."

"Who?"

"Toby." She forgot his last name.

Roy's face lightened. "All right, sugar. You're all right, then. I know Toby. He's good people. Helped me get my money back." He saw the look of curiosity on her face. "Damn, baby! You sure are new. You know Toby. You know how he uses his techno skills." Roy smiled again. "I paid that tricky bastard one grand to bust into my bank account and slide the money out. Kinda hard to make a withdrawal when you're supposed to be dead, you know."