Читать книгу Dead Breath - Melody Jade Allen - Страница 2

The bright lights of Las Vegas night greeted them.

Mireya and Adrianna left the airport and were sitting in the backseat of the taxi; they studied the information that was obtained during the investigation. Leandra lived in a multi-story elite hotel, which was paid for by someone named James Smith. Of course, the name was fake as well as its bank account, which suddenly ceased functioning in the early morning. But it was only the beginning of the road.

Casino-Hotel Domiani Grand Plaza included a lot of slot machines, gaming tables and other gambling entertainment on each of the floors. Standing in front of it, Adrianna was talking to someone from the staff; Mireya was inspecting the streets that were saturated with the smell of hot asphalt and stuffy air. Tourists, police, entertainment… Everything seemed like some kind of game like in an epic action movie about casino players who arranged this beautiful life around themselves.

A few minutes later, Adrianna and Mireya got on the 31st floor of the Domiani Grand Plaza, where Leandra lived on. Her room 31-18 was just next to the rooms of Adrianna and Mireya.

“I’ll see you in the morning, when I get a search warrant.” Adrianna said and handed Mireya a key with number 31-20.

Las Vegas had a special reputation as a “city of gambling” and was kept afloat by an endless flow of tourists, so that’s why the local police agreed to cooperate with Adrianna even though it wasn’t about her jurisdiction.

Mireya entered her room and switched on the light; she felt the shivers covered her skin – a two-story room in gold and red colours, huge royal bed, kitchen, spacious dining room, and expensive furniture were in front of her, welcoming with brilliance and order, also showing a dazzling appearance on the city. For a moment, Mireya forgot herself, feeling like a princess in a fairy-tale castle. She thought it odd that Adrianna would allow her to accompany her on the investigation – too much was allowed for the prime suspect, given her private hotel room and lack of 24/7 surveillance – but she wanted to believe there was a good reason for that.

Her senses were distracted by the mobile phone, which began to vibrate in her pocket. Reluctantly, she pulled it out and looked at the caller’s name – Leandra.

Mireya retreated. Leandra’s mobile phone wasn’t found in her hotel room in Los Angeles, perhaps that the killer is contacting her? Feeling that she almost pressed the button of the nuclear bomb, Mireya decided to press the green button. “Hello?” She said to someone at the other end of the line.

“Mireya! I’m so glad to hear you; we have not seen each other for so long!” Leandra said from the other end of the tube.

Mireya’s hands trembled. “Who the hell are you?”

“You’re asking the wrong question, dear. But you need to find the right one. He’s still here.” Leandra coquettishly said.

“What?” Mireya put her hand to her forehead. “Who?”

“His name is Tom. He will like you!”

“Who are you?”

“Take care of yourself.”

A knock at the door made Mireya jump up because of her own surprise, she looked at the display again – the call was interrupted.

“Mireya, are you all right?” Adrianna said behind the door.

Mireya opened it, still trembling.

“What happened to you?” Adrianna looked at her, entering and closing the door. “You look like a ghost.”

“I think I just talked to this one.” Mireya exhaled. “Someone called me on her behalf.”

For a couple of minutes, Adrianna listened to the repeat of the last call from Mireya’s phone, analysing the details and thinking about the theories. She already asked her colleagues to track the call.

“So what do you think?” Mireya asked, sitting in a wide soft armchair.

Adrianna spread her hands. “Of course, this is not Leandra. All the rest can be the result of excellent computer skills.”

“What you mean?”

“There are programs, Mireya, that are able to copy someone’s voice, replacing them with your own. Whoever it is, he or she certainly wants to either confuse us or frighten you.”

“Me?” Mireya giggled. “Well… Yes, that’s just a problem – it’s unlikely that someone from Leandra’s friends knew about me. And who is Tom?”

“If it’s her friend or maybe a boyfriend, we’ll find him. But if it’s just a random name, then it’s unlikely that it will give us a result.” Adrianna looked at her wristwatch. “It’s too late night already. See you in the morning?”

Mireya nodded.

The morning will have even more questions.

Through the huge window, Las Vegas lights lit up the bedroom that was filled with the silent ticking of the outdoor clock and serene tranquillity. Mireya slept on a soft airy bed, covered with a warm blanket. Her dream was always sensitive, and when she heard something approaching, she opened her eyes… Something made her rise abruptly; sitting on the bed and covering herself with a blanket up to her face, Mireya examined the darkness breathing heavily. Nothing strange… probably it was just a nightmare.

“Please don’t be afraid.” A man’s voice said from somewhere.

Mireya froze.

The bathroom door was opened. A young guy with brown dark hair went out with his hands. “I will not hurt you.”

Without knowing the reasons, Mireya did not feel fear. She stared at him. “Who are you?” She noticed some Rock band badge on his black leather jacket.

“My name is Tom. Tom Walt.”

“Oh…” Mireya shuddered a little. “How do you know me?”

“I worked with Leandra Ray. She was a girlfriend of my brother, they broke up a few weeks ago, but she said she needed help. She asked if she did not contact me until tonight, I would have to find you. She gave me information about you.” He smiled a little. “Don’t be scared, there are just your full name, phone number and address of your work.”

“Well… It’s impressive.” Mireya hesitated. All this was quite unexpected, but she must cope with it. “Did you call me?”

“No. I thought it would be too strange to come out of the phone.” Tom ran a hand through his hair. “My friend tracked your name in the bases of airlines and even railways. I thought I would have to fly to California, but… you’re here. What happened?”

“Wait… you don’t know?”

Tom shook his head.

“Leandra was killed.” Mireya told him the whole story, which began with Leandra’s phone call.

Tom nodded understandingly and fell in his own thoughts, he walked around the room. “Then I don’t understand… why did she ask me to meet you? She… she knew what would happen?”

“Maybe she suspected so?” Mireya pulled up the blanket; she wore a transparent pink shirt. “Could it be related to her work?”

Tom sighed loudly. “No, I don’t think so. I mean, she didn’t do such serious things. She wasn’t even involved in reading other people’s messages or e-mails, although many people think so. She only tracked phone calls and operations on bank cards. Although… even if there is a danger… Our employer never communicates with dangerous people; it could create problems with his illegal business. And if Leandra did something, Mireya… It was something out of the picture.”

“Tom…” Mireya appreciated his gaze, being still not sure she could trust him. But she decided. “Can you at least just guess who could have done it to her?”

Tom spread his hands. “No, unfortunately. I wasn’t even close to her, Mireya. By the way, what do you think about that? You are her friend, are not you?”

“Well, I’m some kind of.” Mireya lowered her eyes. “We stopped talking soon after she moved to Las Vegas. And actually, I was one of the last one who saw her alive and because of that, the police didn’t find other people, who could see her before her murder… Tom, I’m the main suspect right now. I need to prove my innocence, even though the police don’t have enough evidence to arrest me. I just want all of that to end, and her killer be punished… at least for the sake of what we had before.”

“I see.” Tom smiled sympathetically.

“You know, here is the detective who is leading this case. You could…”

“No!” Tom stopped her. “I will not talk to the cops. You know, I told you everything I knew. I’m sorry, I have to go now.”

Mireya didn’t have time to say something else as Tom left the room, closing the door behind him.

Mireya spent the rest of the night in her own thoughts, trying to create a complete chain of events. Dressing up in jeans and a gothic t-shirt, she sat down at the table in front of the window, took a notebook and a pen. So, Leandra “hits the wheel” in Las Vegas, she probably needs help, or she just tried to escape from the one, who became her killer, so she flies to Los Angeles. All her friends from Los Angeles also stopped communicating with her sometime after her move, but somehow Mireya was the closest so-called friend, she called her, but she didn’t say anything important, just gave her a glass of water… And she just closed the door. Everything could have ended on this, but Mireya lost the whole night of memories, probably because of something that Leandra mixed into her glass with water. Everything ended with her murder.

Mireya took a deep breath. “What the hell happened to you?” She uttered in a half-voiced voice and her cell made her distracted. She took it and looked at the display – Leandra. “Oh no…” Mireya didn’t want to receive another call from the phone of the murdered girl, but she did not seem to have a choice and she pressed the green button, taking the call. “Hello?”

Silence…

“Hello? Who is it? Listen, no matter, who you are, it's not funny, okay? Leandra is dead! If you killed her, at least have the honour and do not call from her name, damn it!” Mireya swore and calmed down again. “And what are you trying to get from this?”

“Mireya!” Leandra’s voice said on the other side.

Mireya froze. No, it was Leandra’s voice, and it was not recorded on a Dictaphone or something else – it was her.

“Mireya, oh God… This way was originally wrong. Look! Where are we now?” Leandra spoke. “Oh, we’re between the two cities, right? We are already approaching the gas station; I can see it right now! You good, girl!”

Mireya got up. She recognized this speech and remembered that day. It was a summer vacation, and she and Leandra decided to spend a couple of weeks traveling in California, taking a capacious Mireya’s car in case they were lucky and they would have to spend the night somewhere on the side-lines. They rode without a map and any navigators, and at one point, they thought they were lost – for several hours they rode along an asphalt road through some desert, hour by hour and did not see a change on the horizon as if they were traveling in a circle. Leandra insisted it was due to a wrong turn, where Mireya turned the steering wheel, being between two roads. Gasoline was almost exhausted, but a miracle happened – they saw the same gas station and finally found out where they were. Undoubtedly, it was unforgettable, but something strange happened in Leandra’s behaviour… she constantly looked back as if fearing someone was watching them, two days later she just threw away her old mobile phone, saying, “It bothered me, and I have long been looking for a reason to change it. But do we need reasons to change something?” At that moment, Mireya didn’t attach importance to all of this, knowing that the essence of Leandra was full of surprises or even jokingly thought that she was suffering from bipolar disorder, but perhaps it was something more personal. Who could record this conversation? Maybe someone got this by connecting to her mobile phone? What did you do, Leandra?

“This way was originally wrong. Look! Where are we now?” She repeated it again.

Mireya listened.

“This way was originally wrong. Look! Where are we now? Where are we now? Where are we now? Where…?”

Mireya’s trembling hands dropped the call, unable to listen to her friend’s dead voice anymore and hear her dead breath. If it’s a murderer, why does he or she do it? Is not it like a way to let the police find themselves? Or maybe killing was not enough and he or she decided to start this “Find me” game then it probably could some psychopath with mental disorders? So many options, questions… in the end, the initial path must be completed.

***

“I’m telling you! It must be her killer!” Mireya waved her arms vigorously, telling Adrianna about her conversation with Tom, about his words and, of course, a call from Leandra’s number. “You understand someone could be watching her, even behind us when we were together and all of this is in front of me now!”

“Okay!” Adrianna raised her hands as if surrendering. “I understand, but calm down, okay? Let’s start from the beginning, who is that Tom? Do you know his surname?”

“Tom Walt. But he does not want to talk to the police, besides he said he shared with me everything he knew about her. Do you want to find him?”

“I think it would not be superfluous. And by the way, our Los Angeles police have already worked with her phone number – her phone, Mireya, has a built-in tracking protection program.”

“That means you can’t find where it is?”

Adrianna shook her head. “Our Captain agrees that it’s probably the one who is her killer, so insists that his programmers work hard with this. We need time.”

“Time is the thing that is always not enough.” Mireya looked at her arms.

“By the way, if Tom said he worked in the so-called IT sphere, he could know and deliberately protect her phone from unwanted persecution.”

“Agree.” Mireya snapped her fingers. “Do we have anything to begin with?”

“We checked her credit card – Leandra often bought drinks in the same cafe daily. Let’s go there, Mireya. Perhaps there we will find something that will help us find the first answer.”

After a couple of minutes, Adrianna stopped the rented red car in front of a small cafe, which was located between the next casino and some sort of night club. Sitting next to Adrianna, Mireya noticed a guy, who was smoking a cigarette; he looked up into her eyes… He put out a cigarette and threw it into the urn, still looking at Mireya he went to the club as if he saw a ghost. Mireya blinked. He recognized her. No doubt.

“You’re going?” Adrianna brought her out of her thoughts.

Mireya nodded and got out of the car. The cafe with the name Ice Tea was a one-story building, from which the smell of fresh food coffee and baking came; Mireya looked at the signboard the Hot Moon club, where that guy had fled from her field of vision.

“I don’t know what she could do here so often.” Adrianna said looking around.

On the way here, she and Mireya found her profile on Facebook, where Leandra posted her photos of her everyday life – expensive cars, elite areas of the city, expensive clothes and a decent environment was put on a public display, but now, they were in the place that was a few miles from the “crowded zone” closer to the suburbs, there could only be local residents and local workers who worked at the construction site that was actively raised only half a mile away from here.

“You know, I want to look around if you don’t mind?” Mireya said. “I don’t think I will be carried away by your police interrogation.”

Adrianna shrugged her shoulders. “Okay if you want so. But be where I could find you.”

“Of course I will.”

When Adrianna disappeared into the Ice Tea, Mireya confidently headed for the Hot Moon. She came in. The Hot Moon was a game club – billiard tables, tables for card games, a stand with the game “Happy Rabbit”, several other machines, and three computers for the tournament for some online game filled the entire room, the interior of the establishment was decorated in a space theme and the expected bright Moon, The shrouded in flames lit up the whole room in the company of the stars and the Solar System. “It’s original,” Mireya thought and took a few steps forward, but someone stopped her, taking her hand, she turned around – a young guy in a business black suit was standing behind her, reproachfully looking into her eyes.

“You can’t be here right now.” He said. “Hot Moon will be open after 9 pm.”

“Oh…” Mireya hesitated, looking at his badge with the inscription “Brandon. Security”. “Excuse me, just my friend works here and I thought…”

“It’s okay, Brandon!” The same guy that ran away from Mireya approached them. He wore a white T-shirt and classic jeans; his brown short hair was slightly dishevelled. “She is my friend, I asked her to come here. I’m sorry I didn’t warn you.”

“All right.” Brandon let go of Mireya hand. “I hope the Boss doesn’t know.”

“Don’t worry.” The guy waved his hand.

Brandon nodded satisfactorily and left them, heading for some distance.

“Who are you?” Mireya finally asked. “How do you know me?”

“Where is Leandra?” The Stranger asked in a low voice.

“She was killed.” Mireya blurted out. “Now tell me, who are you?”

“Come with me.”

They entered a small room, where there were many monitors that shot every inch of the Hot Moon. The Stranger sat down in front of them and after taking a walkie-talkie, he said something to the unknown into it and offered Mireya to take a seat beside him; he leaned back.

“You will keep silent, right?” Mireya said irritably. “Who are you?”

“My name is Dennis.” He said. “Leandra showed me your photos together. You know, I liked you.” He grinned. “I even asked her when I could see you in the flesh, and she answered, “Only when I leave the world of the living.” I did not think she was speaking literally.”

“Dennis, here is the detective who is investigating Leandra’s case, she is from Los Angeles. Leandra was killed there at the hotel.” Mireya told him everything that had happened.

Dennis ran a hand over his chin. “I would not like to deal with the police.”

Mireya rolled her eyes. “I already heard that from another guy… What are you guys doing in this city?”

“Hey, take it easy!” Dennis giggled. “We don’t need to suspect us of… something bad, in the sense that our activities are like amateur espionage behind the Boss who only visits us just once every few weeks. Leandra worked with us, but her profile was tracking phones and bank cards, but more phones.”

Mireya was animated. “Listen, if the phone has built-in anti-tracking system, are there ways to find it?”

Dennis shrugged his shoulders. “If you really want to…”

“Someone is calling me from her phone and…” Mireya stopped, but continued to tell Dennis about the calls on behalf of Leandra.

“Well, if that’s the strange case…” Dennis took a deep breath. “I will try, but I’m sorry, I do not give any guarantees.”

Mireya nodded. “But thank you for agreeing.”

“So, are you going to tell your friend the cop?” Dennis smiled maliciously.

“I must. But she doesn’t have power in Las Vegas, don’t worry – she will not arrest you.” Mireya winked and got up. “What about Tom Walt? Is he working here?”

“No.” Dennis answered. “Tom is her ex-boyfriend.”

***

“So he lied.” Adrianna said, moving the red car along Las Vegas streets.

“Well, at least one of them did.” Mireya looked through the window at the copy of the Eiffel Tower.

“But Mireya, I don’t like it.”

“What?” Mireya looked at Adrianna.

“Well, what are you doing? You’re talking to those who might have been involved in her death. This is my job.”

“Sorry. I didn’t want to act behind you, but it happened. By the way, Dennis will call me. You will have the opportunity to talk to him.”

“I will. But here is what about Tom… I got in touch with the local department. People named Tom Walt are only a 56-year-old man, 11th school student from England and the other one is African American. So he’s the one who lied to you.”

“Damn…” Mireya rubbed her eyes, thinking what a mistake she had made. Although she didn’t understand the sequence of her actions – she had never been able to trust strangers, but with Tom and Dennis she was as open as possible. She didn’t want to think she was becoming vulnerable in some way because it was already such once… only once.

It was almost three years ago, when she and Leandra were at college parties after the last exams. There was one guy named Aron, with whom they played that popular student game among their students “Drink or True” – two players drink spirits or speak the innermost truth of life, although some have come up with this “truth” on the go even not always successfully. It was just a game… But the rules were not a game. Aron handed Mireya a strong whiskey and sitting in front of an artificial fireplace, they started,

“So… what’s your most stupid thing?” Aron asked with a sneer.

Mireya whistled. “Where do I begin?” She laughed. “Although, perhaps it is worth highlighting one – I had a bet with Leandra and losing to her, I was forced to steal a police car.”

“No!” Aron laughed, clapping his hands. “And you could?”

Mireya nodded. “Damn yes! The stupidest thing is the criminal was in that car. Well, he was a thief who pawned stuff from the shopping centre, where Leandra and I used to go. I was given 60 days of public works for all of this and… Now, I am under strict control in that shopping centre. Even when I go to the dressing room, someone has to watch me.”

“God…” Aron laughed again and took a few sips of his mojito.

“Now it’s your turn!” Mireya snapped her fingers and slapped her leg. “What is your… the most frightening secret, Aron?”

Aron paused for a few seconds. “I heard the words of a dead man.”

“What?” Mireya raised her eyebrows. “Explain?”

“It was during the winter holidays.” Aron looked at the fire. “My brother and I travelled to neighbouring states and eventually ended up in Colorado, there is an abandoned radio station. And we, of course, went there and to our surprise, the equipment was still working. So we went in there and started some radio wave… and then I heard it. It was Josh, my friend who died in a car accident.”

“Did you hear him?”

“I did. It was like in White Noise movie, but not so literally. I heard a whisper between pauses between this noise and silence.”

“And what did he tell you?”

Aron glared at the fire. “He said, “Stay away from Lene-Genie-Len”.” He drank his drink.

Mireya was waiting for another explanation.

Aron noticed her inquiring look. “Lene-Genie-Len was a girl I liked, she was from another college, and Josh introduced me to her. Her nickname was coined by the two of us and we swore to each other that it would only be between us. I did not tell anyone and I’m sure that he didn’t, too. Her name was Helene, Genie is from her image – she was like that Eastern girl from the cartoon and tried to please everyone like Genie from lamp, and her last name was Lenners. She seemed good, she was the best at school and in college after, but then, after Josh… It turned out that this girl was working with the drug dealers and their killer.” Aron shrugged his shoulders. “That’s the whole story.”

Mireya was silent, looking at the fire being impressed. “Do you really believe that these were words from another world?”

“I do believe. I have no doubt that they can contact us from there. And you must believe it, Mireya.”

***

“Mireya, it’s none of your business!” Leandra screamed at her friend, chaotically collecting her clothes in a sky-blue suitcase.

“And what the hell are you going to do? You don’t even know what you’re going for, damn, stop at least once!”

Leandra stopped. “Everything I’m trying to do is not just for myself.”

“Oh, it’s really not?”

“But why, do you think I called you?”

“That’s maybe because I’ve always been a girl for errands for you?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You do know…”

… Mireya opened her eyes. She fell asleep in the car, Adrianna left. She looked out the window – it was the Sunset. She was on a busy street, closer to the copy of the Eiffel Tower, past the tourists, one of them winked at her. Mireya rubbed her eyes.

“What was it?” She asked herself. “Just a dream or… a forgotten memory?” It involuntarily reminded her of that forgotten night, of that night of Leandra’s murder, which she had completely forgotten.

“You are awake?” The door opened, Adrianna got in.

“Yes… sorry, I should not have fallen asleep.” Mireya looked at Adrianna, who was holding some papers in her hands. “What is it?”

“I was in the computer club to print out new information from the Los Angeles police, they sent me an e-mail.”

“What is there?”

“Well, they still didn’t track her phone. But yours was tracked, Mireya.”

“And…?”

“You said that you don’t remember anything… They don’t believe you anymore.”

“Why not?” Mireya almost screamed.

“Your phone was in the hotel at the moment when Leandra was killed. They asked for information from your mobile operator, there was your correspondence with her… conflicting correspondence. Our Captain is sure it could be in a moment of passion.”

“What?” Mireya squeaked. “Adrianna, I have not written to her for a few months! It’s all trumped up! You do not…”

Adrianna raised her hand, silencing her. “I have to get you back to LA, where you will be arrested.”