Vegas Vengeance by Randy Wayne White Page B

we didn’t just go ahead and become husband and wife.”
    â€œDid Jason know there were people trying to force you into selling the Doll House?”
    She shook her head. “No. I kept my business dealings completely out of our relationship. He still came to the Doll House because of all the fossils left by the old river. The girls liked him and highly approved of our relationship. But we never discussed the business. He knew how uncomfortable it made me feel.”
    â€œDid the mob give you any indication they would take measures so drastic?”
    She thought for a moment. “I guess they did. But I guess I just didn’t believe their threats. It all started when two men came to the Doll House and asked to see me. They were dressed like they wanted to look important and respectable, but it made them look all the sleazier. They said they represented people who wanted to buy the Doll House. Because I wanted to marry Jason, I listened to the proposal. But their numbers were all wrong. They didn’t want to buy the place, they wanted to steal it. I told them I wasn’t interested. But they just sat there sort of smirking at me. They said I didn’t understand. They said they weren’t asking me if I wanted to sell. They were telling me I had to sell. I told them to get the hell out or I would call the police. They left, but those smirks never left their faces. After thinking about it, I decided to call the police anyway. I gave the police their names. The police checked into it.”
    Hawker guessed what had happened. “The police couldn’t do anything because the men had given you fake names and, besides, there were no witnesses to the threats.”
    â€œYou’ve got it.”
    â€œWhen was that exactly?”
    â€œAh … about two months ago. Mid-June.”
    â€œThe same time they tried to buy the Five-Cs complex.”
    â€œYeah. And they pulled the same deal. Made Captain Smith and his associates a low offer. A very low offer. Two days after they refused, the threats started.”
    â€œWhat kind of threats?”
    â€œTelephone threats. When they called here, they didn’t even ask for me. They’d say stuff like, ‘If your boss doesn’t sell, a lot of you girls are going to see the inside of a hospital.’ The worst thing was the way they disguised their voices. They used weird accents. It scared the hell out of my girls. And it scared me, too.”
    â€œBut they never actually did anything?”
    â€œWe’ve had some broken windows. And three weeks ago, someone tried to torch the place. But I’ve got a damn good security system, and the sensors picked up the smoke in plenty of time. And you know about how Charlie Kullenburg was beaten up. Three men in stocking masks. They robbed him, but Captain Smith thinks it was so the police would treat it like a regular holdup. That was three weeks ago—just before Jason disappeared. After that, my girls have been afraid to leave the house. I don’t blame them. And we’ve been keeping an especially close eye on our clients.”
    Hawker was surprised. “You can do that?”
    Barbara Blaine nodded and stood. “So far, James, all you’ve seen is my soft side. Maybe it’s because you’re easy to talk to. But I’ve got another side, too.”
    â€œSo I’ve heard.”
    â€œWalk me back to the Doll House and I’ll show you. We can have dinner there, and I can tell you more about Jason.” She gave him a look of quick appraisal. “Then, if you like, I can fix you up with one of the girls.”
    â€œDinner will be enough.”
    Barbara Blaine smiled. “Don’t decide too quickly. You haven’t seen my girls yet.”

eight
    The Doll House was a three-story white clapboard reproduction of an eighteenth-century mansion.
    It had the look of a small estate that had been modernized and turned into a business. Green shutters on