“What, the flyover states hold no appeal for you?”
He ignored that. “If we can hit Colorado tonight, we can power through to California tomorrow.”
She paused. “With a stop in Vegas,” she reminded him.
“Ah. Yes. For your mysterious errand.”
A mysterious errand that would get Alexei off her tail, or so she hoped. “You promised me.” Was he reneging? It wouldn’t be the first time a man broke his word but—
“With a stop in Vegas,” he confirmed. “I told you we would. Relax.”
Phew. Otherwise, she’d have to ditch him earlier than expected. And steal the clothes that she was wearing while she was at it, because for such an uptight guy, he had excellent taste in sweats. Was it simply because they were expensive? Perhaps this was what she was missing by buying all her joggers at warehouse stores. Or maybe it was because they were comfortably oversized on her.
Don’t think about his body, not even tangentially.“We could rest in Vegas. Stay the night.” That would give her plenty of time to both get what she needed and give him the slip.
“We’re not staying the night in Vegas.” He took another sip of the far-too-strong coffee. “We’ll do whatever it is you have to do, and then we’ll get back on the road.”
“Suit yourself.” She could escape him in a couple hours as easily as overnight.
He found you at the bar last night.
That had been lucky. She’d barely been a hundred feet from him and hadn’t been trying to hide. It would be much harder for him to track her down in Vegas, a city she knew intimately.
“We should get back on the road soon.”
“We just got here.”
“You can eat in the car.” He pulled his wallet out of his pocket and rummaged in it for cash. He turned it upside down, and a quarter fell out. It skittered along the table, until she put her hand on it. When she picked it up, the coin was gone. She shook her hand, and the coin appeared again, dancing over her knuckles.
She didn’t realize he was watching her until she glanced up. “That was a good card trick you did yesterday.”
She tried to hide her flush. She hated that she’d let it slip, her need for validation in having some kind of skill, and to a federal agent at that. Someone who was obviously good at his job and had no real insecurities about anything. “Thanks.”
“Is that always how you make money? Magic?”
She shrugged. “It’s always been reliable. Either bets or busking.” And she did consider it a victimless enterprise, damn it. Otherwise, every casino on the planet was victimizing its patrons. Now, did she somehow manage to attract annoying cheaters to her orbit and feel zero guilt taking their money? Sure, but that wasn’t her fault.
But it’s not great that it happens so often you have a “victim profile.”She’d been haphazard and gotten lax about staying under the radar. No surprise that the FBI and Alexei had tracked her down.
“How’d you learn? Do the public schools in Vegas teach card magic?”
“If only. Would be more lucrative than geometry.”
“Did your ex teach you?”
It wasn’t the first pointed question Krish had asked about Alexei. She knew she ought to tell him, and tell him soon, who Alexei was and about his connections to the powerful Ivanovitch mafia family, but self-preservation was holding her back.
Would he still protect her if he knew that Alexei wasn’t some run-of-the-mill rich guy?
You’re letting him fly blind.
Guilt wasn’t an emotion she was used to, and she did her best to bury it now. She consoled herself with the knowledge that the precautions Krish was taking running from Cobra were about the same as he would take if he thought Alexei was on his trail. And if they could get to Vegas and that evidence, she’d have leverage to get Alexei off her back, and by extension Krish’s back. There was nothing to worry about.
She held up the coin in her palm, shook it, closed each finger, and opened it again to show her empty hand. “My dad taught me how to pickpocket. Once I was truly on my own, I had to make a living, but I didn’t care for straight up stealing. Sleight of hand is an easily transferable skill.”
“Do you want to have a show one day or something?”
Her laugh was real. “Nah. I’m not, like, a performer. It’s a way to make some easy cash. Pay for rent and groceries.”
