“Ah, yes. Las Vegas. The place where there are more mobs and the highest levels of security to keep people like me from winning big.”
“Is that what you think?” he asked.
“Joel told me about all the security measures casinos have. All the cameras over the tables that have programs to catch card counters. The way dealers are more trained to catch people.”
“Yeah, but now you have something you didn’t have before.”
I cut my eyes at him. “What’s that?”
Jude’s smile was predatory, like a lion flashing its teeth before it devours its prey. “You have me.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “I have the man who was last seen kidnapping me? You—America’s Most Wanted—want to takeyour ‘victim’ to a massive city that’s crawling with police and federal agents?”
“The police departments and FBI field offices in cities like Las Vegas are so overrun and understaffed that they have no problem letting casino security handle their own business. As long as we don’t stay more than one night, we’ll be golden.”
A sharp breath escaped. “And how are we supposed to get across the country without getting spotted or caught? And how am I supposed to win enough to get Valentine to leave us alone all in one night?”
“You,” Jude corrected. “You have to win enough to get Valentine to leaveyoualone.”
I swallowed as an unspoken heaviness settled between us. “I’ve seen what he had you do to people who barely wronged him.” I laid my hand on his. “I can’t imagine what he’d do to a traitor.”
Jude flipped his palm up and took my hand in his. “For once, I need you to worry about yourself only. If you stay safe, Joel will too. Focus on no one but yourself. Not your brother. Not me.Especiallynot me.”
“But I do.”
“I’ve always had an exit strategy, Dr. Hawthorne.”
“What is it?”
But Jude just shook his head. “You can’t be forced to tell something you don’t know.”
“What on earth does that—”Oh.“Plausible deniability.”
“Yeah.”
“I want to get you back to your life,” he said. “I just need you to trust me. I need you to stay sharp. Keep practicing. I’ll start drilling you on counts. I’ll teach you everything I know.” Jude’s voice softened. “And selfishly, I’m gonna miss you when this is over,” he admitted. “I . . . I didn’t expect this.”
He didn’t have to say what it was that he didn’t expect.
We both knew because we both felt it.
27
JUDAH
Tuesday, May 27 | 7:50 a.m.
“Ithought you were practicing,” I said as I slipped into the cabin and toed off my mud-caked boots. We had gotten a gully washer of a storm last night, so I went out early this morning to check the perimeter and make sure the tire tracks from the last time I went out in the truck were still hidden or had washed away.
Rain continued to ping on the tin roof from the scattered showers that raked over the forest.
Amelia was still in the oversized T-shirt she wore for pajamas and was curled up in bed, staring aimlessly at the wall. The playing cards she had been using were discarded on the couch.
I shucked off my jacket and ran a hand through my hair, pushing the rain-soaked strands out of my face.
“I did,” Amelia said listlessly as she closed her eyes, pretending to be tired.
She wasn’t tired.
