The beep of a walkie-talkie sounds from a few steps behind me. “Command, I’ve got a runner.” He sucks in a craggy inhale, his voice growing more distant. “Main level. Corridor B. Heading to—” A longer pause to tug in another wave of air. “The main. Lobby.”
My steps slow for a second while I consider whipping my badge over my shoulder at him, but fuck it. He’s likely unarmed and won’t shoot me in the back.
Hopefully.
Unfortunately, my slight falter while deliberating gives the unsub the chance to pull farther away.Son of a bitch. He’s a fast fucker.
If I’m still trailing him from this far back when he gets out of the front lobby entrance, he could lose me easily. There are too many directions he could go. And it’ll be busy out there at this time of night, giving him a chance to blend in with the crowd even more than he has inside the casino.
Pumping my arms faster, I fire up the afterburners.
As predicted, he sails through the lobby and out the main exit. My feet draw me to an abrupt stop once I hit the concrete of the porte cochere. My head swivels from side to side.
There’s no sign of him.
He got away.Dammit. And I don’t even know what he did.
The rent-a-cop finally catches up to me. He attempts to speak, but he has to bend at the waist to gasp for air.
Before he asks again, I flash my bureau ID and badge at him. “Take me to the surveillance control room. I need to review your footage.”
He shakes his head, lips pursing harshly. “I have to call this in. Nobody gets in there without approval.”
My teeth grind. “Just take me to the security office. I’ll discuss it with your boss directly.”
Reluctantly, he nods and leads me back inside.
While we head up there, I’ll figure out what the fuck I’m going to say to his boss. Because let’s face it. I’ve got nothing concrete. Something tells me I won’t get into the video room if I tell them that my little sister’s best friend gave him the evil eye and then he ran from me.
Not exactly much of a case there. And it’s not like my bubbly personality will win over the head of security. More likely to be the opposite.
Guess I’ll need to improvise.
THREE
Lumpy butt squeeze
LILA
With each passing day,I relate to roosters more. For I, too, have considered screaming at the top of my lungs when I awaken.
I flop onto a chair in the break room and immediately put my head down on the table. With a forced exhale, I let my lips flap and flutter in a raspberry. It’s either that or scream, and something tells me that’ll draw more attention my way. And I need to stay under the radar as much as possible.
More than a flipping month of this crud. And no sign of it coming to an end.
I’ve been played, and now I’m in too deep to get out.
Silas doesn’t even bother promising me Kenzie’s safe return anymore. In fact, every time I bring her up, I’m told she’s alive.
For now.
Then they remind me that I’m a party to their crime and how they have captured enough evidence against me that I’d go down with them.
So I’m totally bleeping screwed in the worst bleeping way.
Silas and his thugs have easily made off with at least half a million dollars over the last month. It could be double that ifthey’re playing after my shifts end, which is entirely possible and highly likely. The cards I mark at the start of each shift remain at the table until the deck is swapped out, which could be hours after my shift ends.
And they’ve got a whole freaking rotation of people blowing through to reduce the suspicion of onelucky playerbeating the house every night. I’ve identified ten different players. I bet there’s more.
