“No.” There was a flurry of activity as Nick dragged on a T-shirt and joined Sam and Georgia in the hallway, pelting them with questions. “Okay, everybody calm down. They probably just left the room and wandered off.” The air felt thin, like I couldn’t get enough of it. I put an arm against the wall, holding myself up. He took me gently by the shoulders, forcing me to focus on his face. “Think, Finn. Where would they go?”
I shook my head, his features swimming through the burn of rising tears. “I don’t know… Delia’s been obsessed with the elevator since we got here.”
“And Zach threw a tantrum yesterday when I wouldn’t let him play the slot machines,” Steven added, wringing his hands.
I pushed him out of my way to see Vero as she rushed back from the vending area. She shook her head as I stifled a cry.
Sam burst out of her room. “Got ’em! They got off the elevator on the casino level twenty minutes ago.”
I choked back a sob and started toward the elevator. Nick grabbed my hand, anchoring me to his side. “We stay together.”
“I’m coming with you,” Vero said.
“I’m going, too,” Steven insisted. “I just need to grab my shoes.”
Nick turned to the rest of them. “Someone needs to stay up here in case the kids come back.”
“I’ll stay,” my mother offered.
“Georgia will stay up here with you,” Nick said. “The rest of us will split up. Sam, you’re with Vero. Finlay’s with me. Where’s Charlie?”
Everyone looked to me. Last I’d seen Charlie, he was passed out inthe trunk of his Cadillac behind Chubbies. I couldn’t care less where Charlie was now. I just wanted to find my children.
“He said he was going out,” Vero answered for me.
Nick turned to Georgia. “Call the front desk and have them notify hotel security. And get Charlie on the phone and tell him to get his ass back here.” He took my hand, walking me briskly to the elevators. Sam, Vero, and Steven hurried after us, and we all packed inside the first open car. Nick pressed the button for the casino level, then jabbed the button to close the doors.
“When we get downstairs, Sam and Vero will take the left flank. Finlay and I will take the right. Steven will check the arcade. If you spot them, call out. If you’re not within shouting distance, send a text.” He took my face in his hands, as if he could feel my insides spinning. “They can’t have gone far. We’ll find them. I swear.”
I nodded, fighting the urge to be sick as I considered how far two small children could run in the span of twenty minutes.
The elevator slowed its descent, and we all faced the doors, willing them to open. We were greeted by flashing lights and buzzers and bells, the tinny sound of coins spilling from machines. We bolted out of the elevators, shouldering past the crowds of people waiting to get inside. Sam and Vero split off to the left. Steven jogged toward the arcade. Nick towed me toward a waiting security guard as I rose up on my toes, scanning the casino, desperate for a glimpse of my children. My heart started to race. There were too many people in the aisles. Too many crowded tables and tall banks of slot machines. There could be twenty security guards looking for them, and we would never find them this way.
Vero’s eyes met mine across the casino.
What would Zach do?she mouthed, pointing at the floor.
I looked down, following the tacky swirls in the burgundy-and-brown carpet. I glanced back at Vero, but she had already broken away from Sam and disappeared out of sight.
I slipped my hand from Nick’s as he gathered a group of hotel staff, giving them descriptions of the children. I ducked under the nearestroulette table, crawling on all fours as I scanned the sea of boots and high heels and loafers around me. The crowd around the table parted and my breath caught.
Zach’s woobie lay abandoned on the floor two tables away, pinned under the heel of a woman’s shoe.
I scurried under the next table, closing in on Zach’s woobie, calling his name. Nick called mine, his voice drowned out by the rattle of the marble against the wheel. A man yelped as I ducked between his legs. A woman gasped, her drink splashing the backs of my ankles as I crawled out the other side, gunning for the woobie, until only one table stood between me and my son’s most prized possession.
A wall of ankles blocked my way. I crawled left, then right, seeking a clear path through them. A pair of scuffed loafers paused beside the blanket, six feet in front of me.
The man stooped, peering under the table, doing a double take when he spotted me. His clothes were covered in alley grime, and a patch of road rash darkened his cheekbone. Charlie sneered as he tucked the woobie under his arm. “Lose something?”
“If you touch either of my children, I will end you,” I warned him. I fought to free myself from the legs around the table. By the time I sprang to my feet, breathing hard, Charlie was already gone.
Shit!
I stood on my toes. Spotted Vero through the crowd. I mouthed Charlie’s name. Her eyes went wide as we both turned in circles, searching the casino for him.
Suddenly, she bolted, shoving an urgent path through the crowd. I spotted Charlie’s head halfway between us. I started toward him, my heart thundering in my chest as he ducked and came up again.
Time stood still as he stood, holding my son in his arms.
