Alexei smirked, looking over at him. He was surprised to see a faint blush warming Sean’s cheeks, surprised to realize he liked how it made Sean look. Whether from anger or embarrassment, it was hard to tell, considering the half-hearted glare Sean wasgivinghim.
“Maybe half-mile club. Good forcover,da?”
Sean palmed his face and shook his head, unable to completely hide his smile. “You’reridiculous.”
Some of the tension had eased in Sean’s shoulders, and Alexei was glad for that. “Beokay,Sean.”
Sean lifted his head, brown eyes searching Alexei’s, before he finallynodded. “Yeah.”
They both had to believe that, because there was no turningbacknow.
Las Vegas International Airport was located outside the megacity limits and the imposing, heavy-duty wall of the biodome. It ran exclusively on solar power, hooked into the megacity’s electrical grid. The airport connected to Las Vegas via an underground tunnel to save the tourists and locals alike from the desert’s brutalsunlight.
Alexei felt the descent in his ears and stomach, body automatically adjusting to their return to earth. It didn’t take long for Annabelle to taxi to their gate after landing. Once the jet was hooked into the jetway, and Madison had unlocked the jet door, everyone gathered up their belongings. Most of their luggage would be handled by the ground crew and picked up in baggage claim. Sean wasn’t carrying anything other than his tablet, while Alexei settled for a weapon or three hidden amongst his person. Annabelle conferred briefly with her co-pilot, an MDF agent flying with them, who would handle the jet from hereonout.
Once everyone was ready, Sean led the way through the sealed jetway to the airport. Bright lights illuminated the way to the crowded interior, with locals and tourists alike coming and going. It didn’t matter the hour of the day; people arrived from all over the world to test Lady Luck beneath the neon lights of the Strip. In the shade of the biodome, the holographic projections always glowedbrightly.
Alexei kept pace with Sean, letting the other three guide them through the crowd. They followed the arrows on the holoscreens directing them to Baggage Claim, the ground crew having outdone themselves by getting the bags there in record time. Alexei stood beside Sean while Trevor hauled their luggage off the conveyer belt. His eyes skimmed over the crowd of people undulating around multiple baggagecarousels.
Adrian had wanted to provide them with a personal driver, but Alexei had nixed that idea before Sean could agree to it. After New Miami, and the demanding way Adrian’s personal security acted, he wasn’t willing to be at their beck and call. It may not be in keeping with the social status they were pretending to inhabit, but it was well within Alexei’s cover, and Sean hadn’t fought himonit.
Once all the luggage was procured, they headed to the passenger pickup area outside rather than detouring for the raised maglev train platform. The rental car building was located on the other side of the parking garage tower, but like in New Miami, they had door-to-door service set-up bytheMDF.
The exit to the street consisted of two layers of doors to ensure the air-conditioned interior of the airport was never overwhelmed by the outside heat. Alexei narrowed his eyes against the oppressive, dry heat that greeted them as they stepped outside. Sweat immediately broke out on his brow and between his shoulder blades beneath the short-sleeved button-down shirt he wore. The air burned his lungs when he breathed it in, unused to the desert after nearly a year of being absent from the worn-down wildernesses left in theworld.
Like every field agent, Alexei kept up with his training to remain in top shape in the field. He dedicated himself to a more rigorous level of physical training than was strictly required by the MDF for personal reasons, but which Jamie had no problem adapting to the team’s training. Jamie didn’t let his team slack, and Alexei and Kyle were used to staying in fighting shape for Strike Force, used to going the distance. So as much as the hot air was uncomfortable, the heat was something Alexei could ignore with longpractice.
Annabelle caught sight of their ride first—another SUV delivered by an MDF agent—and led everyone over to the spot with single-minded determination. The agent handed the code-keys to Annabelle without a word before disappearing into the crowd. It didn’t take long for them to load up the vehicle and climb inside the air-conditionedinterior.
Annabelle got behind the wheel while Madison took the front passenger seat so she could lay claim to the music streams. She swiped through options on the control screen embedded in the dash and Alexei resigned himself to a ride full of pop music. Trevor climbed into the far back seat and Alexei took the one beside Sean in the middle. He closed the door with a firm tug before yanking his seatbelt intoplace.
“Everyone set?” Annabelle asked as she started theengine.
“Yeah,” Trevor answered fromtheback.
She pulled away from the curb and headed for the exit. Madison brought up the GPS and plugged in the address for Olympus, the casino owned and operated by Adrian. Getting into Las Vegas required them to merge into the five-lane road funneling itself beneath the shade of overhangs to the underground tunnel. Alexei could see it up ahead, the way the road dipped into the ground beneath an arched tunnel entrance. Holoscreens were projected above each lane, flashing the speed limit along with a reminder to turn on theirheadlights.
“Looks like Adrian is stuck in a business meeting, but Chloe will meet us when we arrive,” Sean said while looking at his tablet. Alexei craned his neck around to look at themessage.
“Is not good business practice to not meet us,” Alexei muttered under his breath, remembering the comment Adrian had made to him back in NewMiami.
“At least try to be nice tohiswife.”
Alexei shrugged, stretching out his long legs as much as he could behind the driver’s seat. His height of six feet, one and a half inches usually meant he never quite had enough room in vehicles or on airplanes. It was one of the reasons he liked Jamie’s private jets so much; he had more room tostretchout.
Sean glanced at him sidelong. “Alexei.”
“Fine, is fine. Will be nice,” hegrumbled.
“One hundred dollars says you insult someone within the first twenty-four hours,”Madisonsaid.
“Twelve hours, same amount,” Annabelle swiftlyreplied.
“Only twelve?” Trevor asked with a chuckle. “I give him through dinner and I’ll double youramount.”
“Do you guys bet oneverything?” Seansighed.
“We’re Marines,” Madison said cheerfully. “Of course wefuckingdo.”
