“I’ve got it all on tape,” Ian said, beaming proudly. “I knew my spycam would come in useful!”
He ripped off the button-like camera and handed it over to Johnson. “I can text you my server login so you can watch the whole video.”
Johnson pocketed the tiny thing, and he and Stone exchanged an amused glance.
Chapter 23
Johnson and Stone tied Eli’s ankles together with thick rope, and then they lifted Eli’s prone body into Johnson’s car.
“He’ll be safe with me,” Johnson said, “At least ‘til I tell my CIA contact to haul his butt over here and sort things out.”
My heart lifted at his words. Sort things out… So things would get sorted out soon! It was all worth it—just to clear Stone’s name from the blacklist Eli had entered it onto.
Johnson, Tariq and Stone chatted in low voices for a few minutes, while Ian and I thanked Billy for her help. She was still sniffling, explaining she’d never thought someone would attack us with a gun. “I can’t believe this all happened,” she said. “He would’ve killed you!”
“I would’ve been fine,” I said, smiling cheerfully. I glanced over at Ian. His eyes were still worried, and I gave him a quick squeeze on the shoulder. “My friend Stone had it all figured out. But it’s a good thing we didn’t need his plan after all!”
Billy sniffed, and rubbed away a tear with the back of her hand. “I can’t…” And then she peered at me closely. “You don’t even seem that scared!”
I sighed. “I’ve been through this kind of thing a few times now. Hazards of the job.”
Billy shuddered. “Then I’m staying away from this kind of job. It’s not for me.”
“That’s okay.” My voice was sympathetic and I gave Billy a quick hug. “You were there when it counted.”
“Do I have to go to the cops or make a statement or something?”
I glanced over my shoulder at Stone, who still talking with Johnson and Tariq, and then back at Billy. “Do you want to?”
Billy shook her head rapidly. “No, no. I don’t like dealing with the cops. And you try to help someone out and they hit you with an assault charge.” I remembered what I’d seen on her record. “I can’t go through that again. I’d rather not. I mean, do I have to?”
“No. You don’t.”
Stone and Tariq came back to join us, and we all watched as Johnson drove off silently. Long after the car had disappeared, the five of us gazed off in that direction, each lost in our own thoughts.
“Well,” said Stone, breaking the silence finally, “we should get home.”
“Goodbye,” Billy said. “I won’t see any of you again. I’m off to LA tomorrow—I’ll try to get a part on TV.”
“Good luck,” I said. “Are you sure you’re feeling well enough to head back home by yourself?”
Billy nodded. “I’m staying in a room at the Treasury. I’ll be fine. I hope you—” her voice tremored a little—”I hope everything works out for you guys. And I hope that man trying to shoot you gets what he deserves.”
“I’m sure he will,” said Stone. His face was a grim mask, and his eyes were narrow.
Chapter 24
Ian and Tariq disappeared into Ian’s apartment, and Stone and I stood before my door.
Stone peered at me carefully. “You feeling okay?”
“I’m fine. I’m just glad Eli’s with Johnson. How come he came to the alley alone? I thought he’d always have men around himself.”
“Didn’t want witnesses.”
I shuddered and looked down. “He really meant to kill me, didn’t he?”
Stone didn’t answer for a moment. And then he said, “Doesn’t matter what he wanted. I would never let anyone hurt you.”
Something fluttered in my heart.
I looked up and into Stone’s dark, stormy eyes. His gaze locked onto mine, and for a moment, I felt time stand still. He placed one hand on my lower back, and stepped closer, close enough for me to feel his strong, powerful aura.
“I’m glad you’re back,” I said softly.
“Me t—”
A door flew open loudly behind us, and the noise of footsteps shuffling forward broke the spell. I turned around, and almost bumped into my neighbor, Mrs. Weebly. She was staring at Stone, her smile a beacon of delight.
“Stone!” she said. “I haven’t seen you for so long! Did those horrible men who were looking for you, leave?”
“Yes ma’am,” he said. “They’re gone for good.”
“And they won’t be around again?”
“No, ma’am.”
Mrs. Weebly’s voice flooded with relief. “I’m so glad.” She turned to me. “You must be happy, too.”
I smiled, remembering how Mrs. Weebly had warned us of the men just in time. “I’m glad things got sorted out.” I turned to Stone again. “They are sorted, aren’t they?”
“Yes. We’ve just got to introduce some people to Eli, provide them with the files he hid. I’ll stay out of sight for a few more days, and then we’ll all go to D.C. and sort things out officially.”
“And life’s going to be back to normal after that?”
“Life’s going back to normal.”
Stone nodded goodbye to Mrs. Weebly, and gave me a sudden, unexpected wink.
I watched as he turned and disappeared into the elevator.
Stone was gone again, but this time, it was okay. He was back in my life, and the truth about his past was all getting sorted out.
Life was going to be back to normal.
No, better than that—life was going to be good.
Epilogue
A few days later, Ian and I met with Andrew at the bar of the Treasury Casino for drinks.
My shift had just ended, and I’d changed back into my usual non-work clothes of jeans and a t-shirt. Andrew was wearing a button-down shirt and khakis, and he sipped his martini morosely, completely ignoring all the happy noises and bright cheer of the casino.
“I really appreciate everything you guys’ve done,” he said, staring into his martini and swirling it around. “I had no idea that Charlene… well, she may have been after a rich man to marry, but she was still my lucky charm.”
I smiled at him kindly. “I’m sure she was a good person underneath.” I hadn’t told him how she’d been quite nasty to some of the people she worked with, and that in my opinion, once she’d snagged her “rich husband,” she’d revert to her usual mean self and take it out on him.
Andrew sighed. “And now she’s gone… and so’s my luck!”
“What do you mean?” Ian said.
“Well—when she was around, I was lucky, I was winning things, I was getting upgraded for free. But now she’s gone, I’m not lucky any more. I don’t win any of the games, I don’t find lucky quarters… I don’t think luck even exists now that my lucky charm’s gone.”
I felt a shiver race down my spine and I looked at Ian, wide-eyed in recollection. “Billy told us she could be our lucky charm.”
Ian’s jaw dropped as he remembered that conversation. “She did—and she was.”
Andrew snorted. “No such thing. I don’t know what you’re talking about exactly, but—hang on, is this Billy still around?”
I smiled and shook her head. “No, she left for LA. And… I’m not really sure she’s a lucky charm. I mean, we were very lucky when she showed up, but my friend had a plan all along even though we didn’t need it.”
Andrew’s shoulders drooped and he took another sad sip of his martini. “Well, I guess that’s that. I’m flying out tonight, and then I’m at work from tomorrow—back to my usual self. Back to my usual life.”
I smiled. “Except maybe once a year, when you come back to visit Vegas?”
Andrew’s eyes crinkled. “Maybe. Maybe I was wrong about Charlene being my lucky charm. Maybe my lucky charm is Vegas itself.”
“You’ve got a point,” I said slowly. “Living in Vegas has been pretty good for me.”
“Me to
o,” chimed in Ian, finishing his beer and standing up to say goodbye to Andrew. “We’ll see you when you come to Vegas again.”
As Ian and I walked slowly home, the chat with Andrew hung heavily in the air between us.
Lucky charms might not exist, but the people you surrounded yourself with could make your life feel like one big lottery win.
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Lucky Charm in Las Vegas Page 16