Married seven years, to of all people, that ass Tom Russell. A man who threw his family’s political connections around to intimidate people. The nouveau Russell family dynasty, created with smoke and money, thanks to an inheritance from his mother’s uncle a few years ago. They had nothing but money. Russell Senior bought and sold people when it was prudent for him. Tom’s parents considered themselves Wilkesbury royalty. Power-hungry people who tried to control other people’s lives. Kyra and Russell didn’t seem a good fit. Had he judged her wrong? Something always happened to deracinate love and put a divorce in motion. He’d have to check out the court docket next in hopes of finding the reason for it.
An hour later after reading the public documents, Jake sat back in his chair and contemplated Kyra’s situation. The records listed her as an inveterate gambler. The petition requested that her husband be granted custody of her son. Why? Gambling wasn’t a thing the court used to take away a mother’s rights. It had to be the Russells’ money at work again. Jake’s curiosity was fully engaged. He’d investigate, but how did he bring up the subject without setting off alarms. No, he’d wait until she did. And what a coincidence that he was now investigating a case of a missing gambler. He didn’t trust them, but no one, including himself, knew he had attended Dina’s party tonight. Even so, what would Kyra have to do with the missing man? Friday night he’d throw the guy’s name out at her, see if he got a reaction.
* * * *
Pulled from a restless sleep by the phone ringing, Kyra grabbed for it. The jarring tones echoed in her head. “Hello,” she squeaked out. Damn, she’d spent the night on the couch.
“Kyra, it’s Dina. Where are you?”
“Dina?” Disoriented, she reached for her watch. “What time is it?”
“Lord, Kyra, it’s nine fifteen. The family’s due here in twenty minutes.”
“I’ll be there. Please serve them some coffee. Thanks for calling.”
Kyra slammed down the phone, ran into her bedroom and grabbed her clothes along the way. Once in the bathroom, she threw water on her face. Not bothering with makeup or a shower. Twelve minutes later she ran out the door.
I’ve got to get my act together. Where did the night go? Oh shit, I forgot my briefcase.
She made a U-turn, headed back to her condo. Running up the stairs, her business cell phone rang. Jingling her keys in the door, she put the phone on speaker and snapped, “What?”
“It’s me again,” Dina said.
“I’m almost there. I forgot my briefcase and had to turn back,” Kyra said, frustrated.
“Mr. Marren called. You’ve got a breather. He and his wife are running fifteen minutes late.”
“You’re the best, Dina, thanks.”
Kyra clicked off and sat on her couch to catch her breath. Restless, she popped up to make a cup of coffee. Good thing she’d turned back, she’d left her personal cell phone on the kitchen counter. She grabbed her coffee, phone, and briefcase, and headed out to work.
Damn it. I didn’t call Trevor before school today. I’ll have to call after school. Once she got to the office the pace didn’t slow down. The Marrens arrived ten minutes later. After they signed all the releases, Kyra handed over their father’s ashes. Later she met with the Collette family to explain the cremation process. By noontime, she was itching to go to the casino. She’d never been a clock-watcher, though today the red digital numbers burned a hole in her irises. She played online slots to soothe the craving and proceeded to lose two hundred dollars in six minutes. The money was gone.
She looked up when she heard a knock on her door. She minimized the window on her computer and called out, “Come in.”
“I’m going to order lunch from the deli. Do you want anything?”
“Yes, get me a corned beef on rye, with mustard, nothing else, please.”
Kyra fished around in her purse for the money and panicked. She knew she’d left the casino with three hundred dollars last night. She’d kept track of what she put in the machines. She opened every envelope, her change purse, and her wallet. All she found was a twenty. What had happened to the rest of the money?
She handed the twenty to Dina. After Dina left her office Kyra wrote down what she remembered about last night. As she counted up the numbers, her head began to swoon. A twenty—crap, pay day wasn’t until Friday. Less than that now, and today was Wednesday. She’d spent more than she’d planned last night. How was she going to take Trevor to his favorite restaurant tonight? She hated to do it, but she had to break her promise to him.
Yanking her keyboard in front of her, she scrambled online and checked the balances in her new checking and savings accounts. Her stomach flipped—between the two accounts she had two hundred dollars to her name. Laying her head on the desk, she willed away the nausea. Freak, the rent on the condo’s due this week. With care she checked every deposit and withdrawal. Each one coincided with a night at the casino. Oh God, she did need help.
If she got help, would it save her from having to pick one of the options Joe had presented to her yesterday? Dina returned with her lunch. Realizing her predicament, Kyra pushed her lunch aside, her appetite gone.
“Are you okay?”
“Ignore me. You know…divorce,” Kyra said, hoping that covered everything.
“I know. How’d it go last night?”
“Like crap.”
“You didn’t like Jake?” She almost laughed at Dina’s expression.
Walked into that one. She shifted gears. “No, sorry, my mind’s somewhere else. He’s fine, but he’s on the rebound and is still hung up on the woman.”
“Yeah, I heard, but I didn’t believe.”
“Well, he even used the ‘L’ word.”
“No kidding? Well, it’s about time Jakey Boy’s on the receiving end. Are you going to see him again?”
“We set up a dinner date for Friday. I’m not sure I’m going to keep it.” Kyra frowned. After Thursday night with Joe her life as she knew it ceased to exist.
“What’s the matter?”
“I’m not comfortable dating. I’m not divorced yet.” The truth of the statement surprised her.
“Tommy’s not going to change his mind, is he?”
“No,” Kyra whispered.
“Oh, I’m sorry, honey, let’s change the subject.”
They finished their lunch in silence.
* * * *
Wednesday morning at the station, Jake wrote up his reports on various cases while he waited for Louie to get back. Louie was out following up on some leads pertaining to the Wolinski case. An hour later, Louie walked into his office. Jake pointed to the chair in front of his desk. Instead Louie walked to the coffee machine and helped himself.
“How’d it go after I left the scene?”
“As you’d expect. Lang agrees the blow to the back of the head was the cause of death and it didn’t happen when he fell. What party were you attending on a Tuesday night?”
Leave it to Louie to mix business and gossip. “I was at Dina’s. Then I wasn’t.” He didn’t want to tell Louie about Kyra yet. “I want to compare our notes. Did you get an ID on the kid?”
“Yeah, his name’s Donald Kolinski, age twenty-seven. I notified his parents last night. They almost seemed relieved.”
“Kolinski