Ace of Hearts

by Gray, Khardine

  I smiled at him. “But, you won’t. Know why? It goes back to that thing, the thing from the beginning. The recruitment. You’re looking for the strongest guys. Attention to detail you said. That’s me. You need me and you know all your knights put together couldn’t make one of me. You also fucking know that someone let the bad guys in last night and spoiled the party.” I paused knowing what I had to say next would really get him. “You know that when it came to it, I was the only person who did exactly what I was told, what you told me to do. I dropped everything and went for the girl. I protected your daughter first above all else. Even you, Boss. Pretty sure you would have given that talk to all your other knights.”

  That got him. Got him good.

  He blew out a breath and balled his fists, staring me down.

  “What’s going on Giovanni?” I added. Best to cut to the chase while I had him cornered. “What is happening? I wasn’t aware that incidents like last night could just happen like that.”

  “They don’t.”

  “So, who do you believe these guys are?”

  He gave me a long hard stare. At first it seemed like he wasn’t going to say anything else or give me an answer. Then his face softened easing the hardness in his eyes.

  “Terrorists,” he breathed and I had to say that my nerves spiked and my stomach clenched. “A terrorist group.”

  “What?”

  “You heard me and I won’t say it again. That is the answer.”

  That was very interesting, considering his association with The Chameleon meant he was in league with a would-be terrorist. Maybe he wasn’t though.

  In fact it would make more sense for him as a mobster not to be. So who were they all working for?

  It could be anyone and realistically it could still be some terrorist group. I couldn’t rule that out.

  So, two big players were in this game and he was a pawn.

  Who would have a mob boss as a pawn and what kind of terrorist group would go after him.

  And… he’d said terrorist group. Like he might know who they were.

  Jesus… it really did get harder every hour. It was hard to believe that this was still the same day and it wasn’t even mid-day yet.

  Fuck.

  “What makes you think they’re terrorist?” I had to ask.

  “They’re the only people who are big enough to take me on.”

  “Why? Did you do something?”

  “No.”

  But he had something. Those prints in the hands of terrorists would screw us all to fucking kingdom come.

  “Do you have something they want?” Again that was me pushing more than my foot through the door, just to see how far I could get.

  How much would he tell me?

  “I have a lot of things, Mr. Cage. I’m the Vegas King.” He smiled.

  I should have expected a shit answer like that. Great. He wouldn’t even give me a fucking clue.

  “Terrorists usually want something. They don’t just come out of the woods just like that.”

  “Yes, of course. I forgot you were a marine. Lieutenant. You’re used to this.”

  No one had called me lieutenant in years. it was strange to hear it and reminded me of a different life I used to have.

  “Who are they Giovanni?” I prodded brushing away memories of the past. I wasn’t that guy anymore. I wasn’t Lieutenant Cage.

  His gaze became harder. “Does it matter?”

  Based on experience, I knew it mattered. “Of course it matters.”

  “All you need to know is what I need you to do in relation to your job. I have my foot soldiers on the streets checking things out. The knights all know what to do. One of you will watch Jia at all times. You will alternate in working the casino and keeping watch on the place and keeping watch on her until I change things up.”

  “Right.”

  “We’re done here.”

  I stood up to go. He cleared his throat though.

  “One more thing.” He stopped me.

  I turned back to him. “What’s that?”

  “Jia. Don’t think I haven’t noticed your fascination with her. I’m grateful for last night. Very grateful and indebted to you. But do not act as if you were just doing your job. As a concerned father I’m cautioning you in any relations you have with her.”

  Wow. This was just what I needed now, getting the daddy dearest talk from him.

  “My relations?”

  “Don’t fuck with me. I’m not some schmuck with a pea for a brain. Do your job when it comes to her, and that is all. Keep your dick in your pants. I have chosen Armand for her.”

  This guy… he was a real son of a bitch. Definitely hands down. He wasn’t even worth the mouthful I would have dished him.

  It was fine.

  I needed to hear that. I did.

  The sooner I was done with this gig the better.

  I’d leave and I’d never see her again.

  It would be for the best.

  For her.

  “Do you remember the code?” Wes asked in my ear.

  I chuckled and rolled my eyes even though I knew he couldn’t see me.

  “Of course,” I replied.

  It was worry that made him extra careful over me. I couldn’t blame him.

  It was the worst time for me to be snooping around, but also the best.

  I spent the whole of last week figuring out everyone’s movements. A week, making it two weeks since I’d been on the job. Intel still maintained that Giovani had the prints.

  It may have seemed like things were moving slow on my part but honestly it was good that I’d waited since Giovanni had shuffled everyone around in their duties. I had to wait for everything to calm down after the shooting.

  He had three knights on the casino floor and the other two split between watching the hotel, watching Jia or accompanying him.

  Everyone was doing a different job at different times of the day.

  It didn’t escape me that I hadn’t been placed with Jia and there was a chance I wouldn’t.

  All good, that just meant I was exactly where I needed to be. The castle with the vaults.

  I was at the furthest end while Frankie and Vinny were in the courtyard.

  I’d managed to hack into the Giovanni’s computer a few days ago and found a listing of inventory for some of the vaults in the Castle. There were a couple of vaults labelled miscellaneous. I’d figured that maybe it was to cover up what was inside. Like the prints. It would be a miracle if it was them.

  Not having surveillance made it hard, but the listing was something to work with.

  “Xander,” Wes stated, bringing me out of my thoughts. “Can you still talk?”

  “For a few seconds.”

  “Xander, I don’t like the messiness of this mission man.” He sighed and the static crackled in my ear.

  “I hear you buddy.”

  “It feels like we’re casting off relevant information at things that should be considered.”

  I agreed. It didn’t help that when I’d reported back Giovanni’s suspicions over a terrorist group, Ethan was still adamant that we keep the focus on the mission and allow the other team to worry about everything else. To be honest I felt he was just scared. Scared to fuck things up.

  “I think he’s just being careful,” I surmised, hoping it was the right thing to tell him.

  “There is careful and there is stupid. Bro, you and I have been friends for years and I’m here but I’m not an agent like you. I don’t have to follow the lead. I’m only telling you this because you’re my bro and I wouldn’t want to run off and do shit without you knowing. But I can’t stand back and watch you fly into something blind. I trust myself and my instincts. Over the years we’ve learned to trust each other.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “Do my own checking around.”

  “Be careful Wes.”

  “Always man. You too.” I just turned down the corridor for the vaults I’d wanted
to check out. “We’ll talk later man,” I told him.

  “Over and out.”

  I figured I’d have half an hour tops, before Frankie and Vinny started wondering where I’d gotten to. I said I was going to do a full sweep of the place.

  I made my way down the path as quickly as I could and got to the first section of vaults.

  In the bigger section of the courtyard which was situated toward the front, Giovanni had panels with fingerprint access. This section seemed older so it had the standard turnstile number code panel that old school safes used.

  The code was 5520 for this vault. I tapped it in and when the door opened I widened my eyes when I cast my gaze on a series of glass display cases holding diamonds. Fucking hell, this was what Giovanni classed as miscellaneous.

  There was an easy million inside from what I could see from a glance. It was just a little less spectacular than looking at the crown jewels. Then again, I didn’t know what kind of diamonds they were. Some diamonds were so valuable that just one was worth a million.

  Whatever they were, they were none of my concern. That from a thief. I guess I really did have some element of honor.

  I closed the door and made my way to the next vault.

  Something, however, caught my eye as I passed by the metal door that led out to the fire escape. There was movement on the other side. Shadows. Lights in the darkness flickering underneath the door.

  Wes hadn’t looked past the vault area. There didn’t seem to be anything else of interest. But, maybe that was because there was nothing there at the time.

  There were no cameras inside the vaults, just as Armand had pointed out that there was no surveillance past a certain point. That meant secrets were being kept more secret.

  The door had a panel lock so I’d have to use my fingerprint for recognition. That meant there’d be a record of me being here and I didn’t want to take that risk.

  Above the door was a vent. The sort I used frequently to escape.

  Using the wall for leverage. I kicked off it and pulled myself up by pressing down on the barely-there door frame. The rim was just wide enough for me to secure my feet and I was stable enough to press my back into the wall and grab the mini screwdriver from my back pocket.

  It never hurt to be resourceful, or think outside the box.

  I leaned forward and turned the little screws to loosen the panel on the vent. It gave and was just wide enough for me to fit inside. If I were any bigger though there would have been no way. I shuffled back around to re-secure the panel. The last thing I wanted was for one of the guys to come back here and see the damn vent had been tampered with.

  Once I did that, I moved toward the light and flickering shadows.

  We were in the basement so I had to be above or close to some part of the parking lot. That was a good guess in relation to my location.

  I crawled along until I heard voices. I got to the end of the path and looked through the panels.

  My breathing stilled when I took a good look and saw Giovanni talking with not just The Chameleon, but Diego Sanchez too.

  Thick as thieves in the den they were, in their secret meeting and I was in a very good spot to hear what they were saying.

  Two black Sedans were parked side by side and it was just them on the outside, talking. I was able to make out two guys in the cars.

  While The Chameleon and Diego held an air of cool, Giovanni had that antsy vibe about him, the one he’d sported all week.

  “I want my money and then I want out,” he demanded.

  “Keep yourself calm Giovanni,” Diego hissed.

  “Calm? Those mother fuckers came into my hotel and opened fire,” Giovanni spat back. “This was supposed to be a secret opp. An investment on my part, but this is shit. Bull fucking shit. I want my money and then I want out. I am done.”

  “That my friend is not the way it works,” The Chameleon answered in a deep Russian accent. “You have the facility here to keep the blueprints hidden.”

  I could have rejoiced. The prints really were here. They were here. But where?

  Where the fuck were they?

  “Move them somewhere else.”

  “And risk exposure?” Diego threw back. “Giovanni, think about this.”

  “I am - they came to kill me.”

  “No, they came to kill me,” The Chameleon replied and damn did I ever get another answer. Wes was right and my thoughts were correct too.

  “How do you know?”

  “Because I’m the one who knows the rest of the plan and when I go you will not see me again. We are still not ready for the prints. The leaders are gathering and once we have gathered and have everyone where they are supposed to be you will get paid and we will take the items then.”

  I felt like I should be taking notes.

  “You fucker, nothing had better happen to my daughter. I mean it. Nothing.”

  “That is not how the Ra operate.”

  Holy shit!

  My heart just stopped beating.

  Ra. He said the Ra.

  Ra… as in Balthazar. There were so many associates and accomplices associated with the Ra.

  Fuck…

  The Ra.

  The Chameleon said the Ra…

  They were the terrorist group that Giovanni was talking about.

  Fuck. Fuck. Fuck….

  It was them. God, this whole mission really was getting worst by the minute.

  Now I understood it. All of it, and Giovanni’s worries.

  He was worried they would take Jia.

  It fucking made sense and pieced together all his actions so far to protect her. Stopping her from going to Europe, having someone with her at all times, taking away all the access she had… it was this.

  Fucking hell…

  Giovanni had every reason to be worked up and I’d just joined him. I’d just taken my seat right next to him in wanting to protect her.

  Thinking of The Ra and Balthazar had me right there with him, especially when images of the past came flooding back to my mind.

  I remembered when I was first tasked with dealing with the Ra.

  The knowledge of them was what made me promise Jack I’d take care of his daughter.

  It was also what made me sign up to be an agent.

  I’d wanted to protect Claire…

  Chapter 19

  Xander

  Ten years ago…

  * * *

  I reached out to touch her hair but Claire swatted my hands away and looked over my shoulder to see if Jack was watching.

  He’d been in the field tending to the horses and while he might have been able to see us, he wouldn’t have seen the mere gesture of affection I’d made.

  I rolled my eyes at her and shook my head.

  “Problem with me touching your hair?” I teased knowing it would make her more annoyed at me.

  “What is the matter with you?” Her brown eyes widened and she glanced over at Jack again who really was just busy with the horses.

  He didn’t give one iota about us standing over a hundred feet away from him on the porch.

  “Nothing’s wrong, just want to touch my girl’s hair,” I teased.

  That made her more annoyed and her cheeks flushed. I forgot I wasn’t supposed to call her my girl even though Jack was so far away and wasn’t looking in our direction.

  “Xander Cage, you are working my last nerve.” She pouted.

  “Claire, believe me when I say this… he knows we’re together,” I said pointedly and her eyes widened even more.

  “You told him? I was going to tell him,” she winced.

  That was what she said three summers ago. She was supposed to be breaking the news to her father that we were seeing each other. As if the man was blind or stupid and hadn’t figured it out.

  “I didn’t tell him anything. He’s not stupid Claire.”

  “I wanted to tell him myself.”

  I’d known this girl since I was sixteen. We were both twenty s
ix years old, months apart in age. We’d been seeing each other in secret since we were eighteen, although she would put it down to three years ago when we started sleeping together.

  Her father was the most insightful man I’d ever met and didn’t become a legend by not paying attention. I figured he’d known for years and kept quiet.

  “Then tell him,” I challenged.

  She folded her arms under her breasts and I gazed at her taking in the full vision of her. She was in girl mode today. That was what she called it.

  All the days when she chose to be girly, curled her long brown velvet hair, and wore either a skirt or tight jeans to make me crazy.

  We’d come home to Idaho last week for Thanksgiving and were set to go back on duty next week.

  I’d always marveled at how happy she seemed here at her father’s place.

  Home for us.

  Home for me.

  We were both happy but there were big decisions to be made that would affect us both.

  “I’m going to,” she nodded.

  “So, you’ll tell him we’re together then? As in this century? While we’re still alive and young?”

  A serious expression washed over her pretty face. “I plan to, but…”

  “But what?” I was real interested in her excuse now. Last time it was because she couldn’t find the right time. “You know if you aren’t careful, I’ll think you want to keep me a secret. Like maybe you’re not serious about me. Like maybe you’re hoping I’ll end it with you so you don’t have to end it with me.”

  I knew that wasn’t true. There was something though that was making her hold off on telling him and it wasn’t nerves. It was something she wasn’t saying.

  “Why would you say that?” she snapped.

  “It’s like the time when you signed us up for that damn pie eating contest and wouldn’t cave until I did. Then you got sick. Or, like the time when you signed us up for piano lessons and you decided you hated it but wanted me to give up first so you could use me as an excuse.”

  “I didn’t do that. We both hated piano.”

  “Yes, and what about the floral arrangement club?”

  All those teenage years she couldn’t admit that she liked me. She kept enlisting me into stuff to keep tabs on me. Then she’d be weird when I would follow her or do something I thought she’d like. She was the strangest girl ever and I was so in love with her I’d do anything. Like the floral arrangement club.