When the fighting started again Kate turned to flee and almost fell over Belinda's abandoned luggage.

Belinda leaned against her door, trembling and listening nervously. She heard nothing and relaxed, checking the room, her heart pounding almost audibly. She slowed her breathing and counted to ten, nodding her head and looking again about the room, quickly freezing when she couldn't see her luggage piece.

She looked at the door and realized with alarm she had left it in the hall. Grabbing the room key, she pulled on a pair of dark glasses, opened the door and hurried back down the hall. Her bag was standing outside Mickey's room where she had left it, and she almost cried with relief as she clutched the handle in her gloved hand. Events were overtaking her, and she felt the pressure of fear and discovery.

There was no way she was hanging around for another police investigation and risking being found out. Muriel would be well cared for at the hospital; she wouldn't be coming out anyway, and she didn't really need a mother. As she paused by Mickey's room, she heard the men wrestling on the floor, and her breath caught when she heard Mickey shouting that the man he was fighting would get the same as his pal Edwin.

Something happened to Edwin? Mickey knew Edwin? She checked the hall and stepped closer to the door, listening to the struggle. The man with the gun was threatening to blow Mickey's brains out and that he would never get a dime of Braddock's money. Braddock was the boss of the casino they had robbed! Belinda felt her chest cramp; if this man knew, he could be after her as well.

She set her bag against the wall and eased the door open, the fight continued with grunting and groaning and the two men struggled to their feet, crashing into the wall. The gun flew out of Ralph's hand and landed in the doorway. Belinda looked down at it and her mind raced through a scenario that could solve her problem for good.

She picked it up in her gloved hand and closed the door as she stepped into the room.

******

"What's going on?" Virginia called from the bed as she watched Benjamin's bare bottom jiggle from the room and head for the door.

"I'm sure I heard fighting next door."

"You can't go out like that." She shouted, jumping out of the bed and following him.

He stopped. "You're right." He ran back and grabbed a pair of pants and stumbled into them as he raced back to the door. "Wait here."

Virginia looked at him with a wry expression. "Duh, okay."

Benjamin stepped out of the door and jumped right back.

"What is it?" Virginia hissed.

"Belinda is out there in the hall, with her luggage."

"So, she always has that with her?"

He opened the door and looked again in time to see her bend down and pick up a gun from the doorway. He jumped back again.

"Now what?"

"She's got a gun!"

"Belinda?"

"Yes. Stay here." He left the room and crept down to Mickey's door, pressing himself flat against the wall and cocking his head to hear what was happening. Belinda was telling somebody to shut up; he heard at least two men's voices, then his mouth hung open as he heard bits of the story about the casino and Edwin Del Darrigo.

There was another argument followed by a dull crack. And a few seconds later, another gunshot! He looked down at the piece of luggage and for reasons unknown, he grabbed it and hurried back to his room.

"What have you got that for? That's Belinda's."

"She fired the gun." He said, looking stricken.

"She what?"

"She fired the gun. I think she shot someone."

"Who? Who did she shoot?" Virginia bounced in front of him, heedless of the fact that she was still in the nude.

Benjamin told her what he heard, and they just gaped at one another for a moment and then their eyes fell on the luggage.

"Do you think...?"

"Christ, what if it is?"

"Let's see." He carried the bag to the bedroom and opened it on the bed. They both stared at the contents, mouths open and the only sound, Virginia's tiny, "Oh..."

"She and Edwin robbed a casino!" Benjamin said excitedly as he yanked the bills from the luggage and tossed them on the bed.

"You mean that Mexican man, Del Darrigo?" Virginia asked still looking in the bag.

"Yeah, had to be. I heard them mentioning him and money." Shit, look at all this!"

"How much do you think they got?"

He shook his head and sat on the bed. "I don't know. I think the paper said close to half a million."

"There isn't that much in here." She said, pressing a handful of the bills against her bare breasts. "What should we do?"

"There's more than enough." Benjamin looked up at her, a slow smile creeping onto his features. "We're going to do exactly what we were doing . . . screwing. Only this time it will be Belinda, Mickey, the casino, Edwin and whoever else had any part in all of this." He grabbed her around the waist, falling back on the bed and laughing.

"What do you mean?" She gasped as he landed on top of her.

"Nobody knows we have this, Virginia. We just ditch this piece of luggage, pack our bags and... and with the bus company dishing out a huge compensation! We'll be set for some time to come, baby." He buried his face in her chest and laughed.

"Oh Benji..." Virginia wrapped her legs about his back and joined his laughter.

******

Kate was back in her room, having reported the disturbance, and not wanting any part of the violence. The desk clerk, security and two uniformed policemen arrived outside of Mickey's room, motioning the gathering cluster of onlookers to stay back.

"Mickey Wireton, open the door. It is the Salt Lake Police." Silence. "Last chance, sir. Open this door or--"

The door opened and Belinda stepped out of the room stopping short, a hand pressed to her chest, her face a study in horror.

"Hands behind your head, lady." The hotel security guard shouted over the policeman's shoulder.

"Back off, fella." The detective snarled. "Are you all right, ma'am?"

She stepped back and looked up and down the hall, her mouth working silently. The bag, her bag was gone! The hall lights seemed to flicker, and she blinked, stumbling against the wall, the figures of the people turning blurry and distorting in their form. It was gone!

She could hear her name being spoken and several voices all talking to her at once, but the sudden increasing pain in her arm and side became her next focus and as she tried to move away from the wall, the carpeted floor rose to hit her square in the face.

The policeman immediately radio called for an ambulance, and eased Belinda onto her back, checking her pulse and trying to make her comfortable.

"Mike, in here." The second officer called, and he stood and went into join his partner. They stood together looking at the three bodies on the floor. "Get forensics and the coroner over here."

"Can anyone tell me what happened here?" The policeman asked the crowd in the hallway. "Check the rooms."

Once again Kate was interviewed by the police who brought her down the hall in front of Mickey's room. This time it was a tired looking detective, and a younger protégé who took great pains to think up questions for her, until his partner told him to check out the rest of the rooms on the floor to see what they might have seen or heard.

"Am I finished here?" Kate asked with a weary sigh.

"Sure. No need to hang around. I understand you bus people are all here in this hotel, is that right?"

"Yes we were all put up here after the accident. One man was missing though; I have no idea what happened to him."

"Know his name?"

"Del Darrigo. Edwin I think."

The detective stared at her a moment. "Would you mind staying around for a bit, miss? I need to check on a few things and I might have some more questions."

"Can I at least go back to my room?"

"Certainly, which one is it?" Kate pointed to the door, and he waved her away with thanks as he turned his attention to his phone again.