“You guys! It’s time!” Irene said hotly.
Sure enough, Rocco asked for the attention of everyone in the room. Edie could only hear snippets of his self-congratulatory speech about the first all-crypto casino. His explanation of his vision. How everyone was calling him the next Elon Musk.
“I’m not sure which makes me sicker—the cancer or this guy,” Frances whispered.
“It’s almost midnight. We’re about to go,” Irene said. “Five. Four. Three,” she counted as Rocco explained to everyone that the switch to crypto was about to happen. He directed everyone’s attention to a disco ball. “It’s going to drop at midnight. Make sure you’ve got champagne in your hand!” he urged them.
Frances took Edie’s hand. They stood in the dark of the supply closet, holding their breath.
“Two, one.”
Like magic, the casino lost power. At first there was silence. Then raised voices of surprise and alarm upstairs. Someone screamed.
Edie was so stunned she couldn’t move.
“The motion detector is off,” Irene said.
Frances shoved the door open and tugged Edie into the dark hall.
Two narrow strips on the floor were all the light they had, and it was difficult to see. But as they moved toward the hall where the vault was located, they could make out a figure just ahead.Joan.The three of them wordlessly hurried down the hall. At the door to the vault hallway, Joan dipped down, took two smoke bombs from her bag and a lighter. But her lighter wouldn’t catch. “Damn it!”
“What’s wrong?” Irene asked frantically.
“I can’t get the lighter to work.”
“Hurry up,” Frances urged her, peering through the small window in the door. “One of the guards is almost to the door.”
Joan frantically tried to get the lighter to strike, but it wouldn’t catch. Just as the guard reached the door, the light caught, and she set off a smoke bomb. She threw it down, lit two more and tossed them down, then pushed Frances back away from the door.
The guard threw the door open. “What the fuck?”
“Fire!” Joan yelled. “We lost power and there’s a fire upstairs. Hurry!”
“We can’t leave—”
“Dude, let’sgo,” Joan said. She coughed in the thick smoke.
The man needed no more convincing. He went. The second guard stepped out, too, coughing and waving the smoke from his face. “Who are you?”
“You want introductions right now? They sent me to get you. I’m not dying down here—there’s a fire upstairs, so stay or go, but I’m getting out.” She coughed again.
“A fire? No one said a fire.”
The smoke was so bad—Edie couldn’t imagine what Joan had put into it, but standing up against the wall with Frances, her arm over her mouth and nose, she thought she might die in here, too.
“I’m going,” Joan said.
The second guard came out through the door and began to follow her toward the exit. Once he’d passed, Edie and Frances slipped into the hall behind him. But something caused the guard to turn back. “Hey!”
Edie would swear later that Joanflewwith one leg extended and throat punched the man with her foot. They both went down, but Joan was the only one to get up. The guard did not. “Holy shit, I did it,” Joan said breathlessly. “I can’t believe I did it!”
“Did you kill him?” Edie cried.
“God, no,” Joan said. “I don’t think. Maybe I should check.” She moved toward him.
“Clock is ticking!” Irene warned them. “Let’s go,” Frances said, and pulled Edie to the vault door.
Edie grabbed Rocco’s badge from her pocket, fumbling with it at the card reader. It took two or so swipes before the door clicked open. Frances pushed Edie through and closed the door behind them.
