by Duval Alex
Zach had a mediocre hand and he’d just shoved what looked like $25,000 worth of chips out in front of him. The guy was good at everything – even losing.
Jason paced around to check out the staff section monitors. Oh, no! Where was his cell? He hurried back around and snatched it off the work station next to Philippe, who was still zonked. ‘Ad—’ He’d forgotten to turn off the mic. Damn. But he hadn’t said a whole name or a word or anything. He cut the microphone. ‘Adam, go left. Popcorn is coming your way.’ He checked the monitor that showed Adam and the others. They’d made the turn down the left hallway just in time. ‘You were right. Left is lucky.’ He watched the executive enter his office. ‘OK. You’re good to go. I’m going to open the door for you.’
Jason pulled off the headset. Marc had folded. He definitely didn’t need advice right now. He hurried over to the door and opened it just in time to usher Adam, Belle, Van Dyke, Brad, and the luggage inside. He made sure the door was locked behind them.
Belle resumed her regular appearance with a smile. ‘That was fun.’
‘Real fun, yeah!’ Van Dyke said sarcastically, dropping his load of bags to the ground.
‘Empty one of the carry-on bags and fill it with the counterfeit cash,’ Jason said.
‘You only needed one? Why did we carry them all down here then?’ Van Dyke whined.
‘What is your problem?’ Brad asked with a grin. ‘Were they too heavy for your little twig arms?’
‘If we only needed one, one bell boy would have been enough. And that bell boy would have been you,’ Van Dyke told him.
‘Put this in there, too,’ Adam said, pulling a gun out of the backpack.
Everybody scrambled away from Adam – fast. ‘Whoa! Where did you get that?’ Jason asked, staring at the gun in his friend’s hand.
‘It’s the one that lowlife pulled on Zach, when you guys had to ride to the rescue,’ Adam explained. ‘I asked myself, “Is it safer with me or with the lowlife?” and I decided it was safer with me. But now we have a worthy home for it – with another lowlife!’
‘You are—’ Jason began, but he was interrupted by a loud banging on the door to the security hub.
‘Why is this door locked?’ a man demanded from outside. ‘Open up immediately!’
Eighteen
JASON STARED AT Adam. Adam stared at the gun in his hand. Belle stared from Jason, to the gun. Brad and Van Dyke stared at each other.
More pounding. ‘Who’s in there?’
‘Dirty money and a gun and breaking and entering. I’m going to be an old, old man when I get out of prison,’ Adam whispered, blinking rapidly. ‘An old, old virgin man.’
‘I’ll save you,’ Belle whispered back, the words coming out a little garbled as her lips became thinner. Her eyebrows straightened. Her hair lengthened. Her cheeks puffed out. And she was looking a lot like the hotel manager again.
‘It’s Hilary Mayer,’ Belle snapped. She whipped the door open, not waiting for Adam to hide the gun or for Van Dyke and Brad to deal with the counterfeit cash. ‘I reserved this time for crisis training for the new team. We’re covering a hostage scenario. Do you really need to be in here now?’
The lanky security guard stared at Belle.
‘Well, do you?’ she repeated.
‘I was scheduled—’ he began.
‘Then it’s not your fault,’ Belle interrupted, with an impatient wave of her hand. ‘I’ll speak to your supervisor. Somebody clearly isn’t reading their memos in a timely fashion. Go home. You’ll be paid for your shift.’
‘Thank you, Ms Mayer. S-s-sorry about the inconvenience,’ stammered the guard. He turned and rushed away.
Belle laughed as she locked the door behind him. ‘I think Ms Mayer kicks butt.’
‘I think you do,’ Adam said. ‘That was truly impressive.’
‘I have to check on Marc,’ Jason told them. He hurried back over to the monitors showing the game and pulled on his headset. The dealer was shuffling the cards.
Jason checked the chips piled in front of all the players. Zach’s had gone down significantly. Yakamoto had made a haul with his pair of aces. Marc hadn’t lost anything because he’d folded. And Other Tuxedo Guy was absent from the table. He must have gone all in and lost. Sexy Actress was doing OK. Too Much Bling still looked worried, and from the number of chips he was showing, he was right to be.
The hole cards were dealt.
‘Zach has a jack of hearts and a three of diamonds,’ Jason said into the mic. ‘And there’s a pair of tens behind the dealer button.’
Belle came over and opened her mouth to speak.
Jason held up one finger until he’d flicked off the mic. ‘What?’ he asked.
‘Marc’s bag is all packed,’ she said. ‘We ended up getting his cases from the luggage storage area. He was already checked out. He’s definitely in a hurry to hit the airport. So, now the bell boys should just take everything back, right?’
‘Yep,’ Jason agreed.
‘Zach doing OK?’ Belle asked as the dealer showed the flop.
Jason checked out the community cards. No jack. ‘I’m pretty sure he’s about to lose again,’ Jason told her.
‘Good,’ Belle said.
Jason checked the other monitors. Thanks to the flop, Marc now had a pair of aces – good enough to beat the two tens Too Much Bling was holding. ‘You’d better tell Brad and Van Dyke to hurry,’ he warned Belle. ‘As soon as Zach is out of the game, Marc’s going to want to leave for the airport. His bags need to be ready.’
Belle nodded and disappeared around the bank of monitors. Monitors!
Jason hurried after Belle. ‘Don’t leave yet,’ he told Brad and Van Dyke. ‘Let’s check the monitors first.’ He pointed to the ones that showed the staff section where the hub was located. ‘The cleaning guy is vacuuming one of the smaller conference rooms now, and the two execs are in their offices. You should be OK,’ he told them. ‘Go!’
‘If you get caught, just use the uniforms,’ Belle put in.
‘Yeah, we can come up with a work reason to be in here. We are staff,’ Van Dyke agreed.
‘No, I meant use them to flirt your way out, because you guys are so irresistibly cute in them,’ Belle answered.
Jason felt a flicker of paranoia – either paranoia or reasonable fear – and decided he needed to do a Philippe check. It looked like the guy was still out. Two head-smashes in such a short time would probably do that to someone, Jason figured.
‘Check it. It’s happening!’ Adam exclaimed, watching the game on the monitors.
‘Zach’s going all in!’ Belle cried.
Jason scanned the monitors, checking the turn card and the river. ‘Yup, this is it. He’s going to lose. And he’ll be bankrupt with this hand.’ Jason pulled on the headset; he wanted to hear what was happening. The dealer confirmed that Marc had won the hand and that Zach was now out of the game.
‘I want to cash out,’ Marc announced immediately.
‘What?’ Sexy Actress cried, her voice a squeak.
‘You can’t do that,’ Too Much Bling said flatly.
‘I can do whatever I like,’ Marc told him.
The director stepped forward. ‘In a regular game, you could, of course, cash out whenever you wished,’ he said politely. ‘But this is a tournament. Each player’s buy-in is part of the tournament pot. You are welcome to continue to play and perhaps win the pot, but you cannot take any part of the pot while the tournament is in play.’
‘Damn right you can’t,’ Too Much Bling said, fingering his small pile of chips.
‘Fine. Keep the money. I’ve won something much more valuable,’ Marc said calmly. With a silky smile, he rose from the table, climbed the steps to the gallery, and held out his hand to Paige. He was all romance and gallantry, just as if he wasn’t insane at all.
Paige put her hand in Marc’s, and even on the monitor, Jason could see her fingers were trembling. Together they walked back down the stairs.
Jason took off the headset. ‘Let’s get out of here. I want to be ready to roll.’
‘Marc just said something to Zach,’ Belle said. She leant close to one of the monitors. ‘I don’t know what it was, but Zach and Paige both reacted. I couldn’t tell if they were just surprised or …’
‘Or what?’ Jason asked.
‘I don’t know,’ Belle said. ‘Paige might have looked scared.’
Jason, Adam, and Belle watched the monitor as Marc led Paige from the room. As soon as they were out of the private room, a man hurried up to Marc.
‘That’s Didier, the guy we were following today,’ Adam pointed out.
Jason grabbed the headset again, but Marc had switched off the receiver. Jason saw Zach nod at something Didier said, then the two of them left the room together.
‘What are they doing? What’s happening?’ Jason ran to the monitor that showed Sienna. She was still in the vault. He grabbed his cell and punched in Zach’s number.
‘Is everything OK?’ Jason burst out as soon as Zach picked up. He knew he sounded panicked, but he couldn’t help it. ‘Are they doing what they said? Are they letting her go?’
‘I’m being taken to her right now,’ Zach told him. ‘Marc is taking Paige to the airport. Meet me in the lobby.’ He hung up without giving Jason a chance to reply.
‘We’re supposed to meet Zach in the lobby,’ Jason told Adam and Belle. ‘I’m hoping he’ll have Sienna with him.’
They all started for the door. ‘Do we need to do anything with our friend back there?’ Adam asked, nodding in Philippe’s direction.
‘He’s not gagged. He can call for help when he comes round,’ Jason said.
‘I’ll put on my Ms Mayer, so we won’t have any trouble getting out of here,’ Belle said, and she quickly did her transformation thing. But they didn’t need Ms Mayer and her butt-kicking abilities. Nobody tried to stop them.
They started to run as soon as they hit the ‘civilian’ hallway, Belle getting her own face and body back on the fly before they hit the crowded casino. They dodged and weaved, trying not to knock anyone down.
‘There she is!’ Belle shouted. ‘With Erin and Maggie and everybody.’
Jason had already spotted Sienna. He felt her from all the way across the room. He picked up speed, weaving around slot machines and roulette tables and people, people, people … until he had his arms around her. ‘Are you OK?’ he asked.
‘I’m fine. I’m fine.’ She reluctantly pulled away. ‘We have to get Paige. Why did you give up Paige for me?’
‘We didn’t. Not really. We have a plan,’ Jason promised. ‘I’ll explain it on the way to the airport. We have to get over there – now!’
Nineteen
BELLE MANAGED TO cram the Escalade into a parking spot labeled ‘compact’. Then she, Sienna, Jason and Adam scrambled out and started to run across the parking garage.
‘We left practically right on top of them,’ Jason called to Sienna. ‘We’re going to find them.’ He heard footfalls coming up behind him fast. Marc’s goons? He shot a look over his shoulder. No, just the rest of the Malibu group.
They burst out of the garage. Jason didn’t hesitate. He plunged across the street, ignoring the horns of the cabs, cars, and shuttles. If they don’t like it, they can hit me, he thought grimly.
The electronic doors leading to the international terminal slid open in front of him, and Jason barreled inside, Sienna on his heels, and everyone else right behind them.
‘The arrival/departure info,’ Sienna called out. She veered toward the monitors mounted in the wall by the car rental kiosk. Jason followed, and skidded to a stop in front of the screens.
‘Any departures to France?’ Belle asked from behind him.
‘I’m looking.’ He scanned the columns.
‘I don’t see anything!’ Sienna said. ‘At least, there doesn’t seem to be anything in the next few hours.’
‘Let’s split up and check all the ticket counters,’ Brad suggested. ‘We don’t know what kind of connecting flight they could have got.’
‘Good idea. Whoever spots Marc and Paige first, call me on my cell,’ Jason answered.
‘Van Dyke’s car, start this way. Belle’s car that way,’ Brad instructed. And they were gone.
‘One of us should peel off at every ticket counter,’ Jason called as he ran with his group. ‘Belle, you first. Go!’ She darted away.
‘I’ve got the next one,’ Adam called, leaping over a pet carrier containing one very yappy little dog.
Jason gave Sienna’s hand a squeeze without breaking stride, then broke away, heading toward the Virgin Atlantic counter. The line was snaking out past the ropes leading to the counter. Mounds of suitcases were piled all over the place.
He tried to scan the line. It was impossible to see everyone from all the way back there. He plunged forward, making sure to look at each person he passed. No Marc. No Paige. No Marc. No Paige.
‘There’s a line here!’ an annoyed woman snapped.
‘Friend up there, holding my place,’ Jason answered without pausing. No Marc. No Paige. No Marc. No Paige. He stumbled over a lawn-size garbage bag that somebody was using as luggage.
‘Watch it!’ a guy in a USC sweatshirt yelled.
Yeah, I’m very sorry I damaged your Louis Vuitton, Jason thought. No Marc. No Paige. He could see all the way up the line now. No Marc. No Paige. All the way up.
Crap! Jason wheeled around and pushed a hole through the line. Then he ran.
‘Sir!’ a security guard called. ‘You’re going to have to slow down.’
Jason forced himself to walk for three steps. He wanted to shout at the man, tell him it was an emergency, but it’s not like he could explain that his girlfriend’s sister had been kidnapped by a killer – a killer who was also a vampire.
Before he could start to run again, Adam and Sienna hurried over to him.
‘We’ve checked all the counters from here to the end,’ Sienna said. ‘A bunch of them were empty.’
Jason didn’t have to ask if they’d seen Paige or Marc. It was obvious that they hadn’t.
‘No calls from anybody, right?’ Adam asked.
‘Not yet,’ Jason answered.
‘What if Marc chartered a private plane?’ Sienna burst out. ‘They wouldn’t be at any of the ticket counters. He definitely has enough money to do it, too. Would they even have to go through airport security? It would ruin your plan if they didn’t.’
Jason had had time to give Sienna a quick version of the plan on the five-mile drive to the airport. ‘I think they’d still have to go through security,’ he said. He looked over at Adam.
‘Everybody does. If they didn’t before 9/11, they do now,’ Adam confirmed, but he didn’t sound completely sure. He sounded like he wanted to be completely sure.
‘Let’s go help search the other half of the terminal,’ Jason suggested. They turned around and saw Belle heading toward them. She’d already met up with the rest of the group.
‘Paige?’ Sienna asked as they rushed to meet their friends.
‘Sorry, sweetie,’ Erin answered.
‘We checked everyplace we could get to without a boarding pass,’ Brad added. ‘The international terminal’s just not that big.’
Jason turned to Zach. If anyone knew the answer to the chartered plane question, it would be him. ‘Zach, do you—’
‘Oh, my God!’ Maggie exclaimed. ‘Look back there.’
Jason turned. A small crowd had gathered by the newsstand.
‘This is outrageous! I want my lawyer here. Immediately,’ he heard a voice yell – a voice with a slight French accent.
‘That’s Marc,’ Sienna said.
The crowd parted enough for Jason to see Paige and Marc flanked by airport security.
‘I have to get over there.’ Sienna started toward her sister.
‘Wait,’ Zach said. ‘I’ll make a call. I have an acquaintance.’ He turned and walked away.
&n
bsp; ‘Let Zach do his thing,’ Jason advised Sienna as the guards escorted Marc and Paige through a door marked ‘AIRPORT SECURITY’.
She nodded, and the group took the row of plastic chairs that had a direct view of the airport security door. Zach returned a few minutes later, and stood next to Sienna, arms crossed.
‘Oh, man, you are good,’ Adam exclaimed, when Paige walked out of the door – unescorted – ten minutes later. She ran straight over to Sienna and hugged her.
‘What happened?’ Sienna cried.
‘Marc got caught taking counterfeit money and a gun through security! I thought I was going to get arrested, too, but then, suddenly, everyone was saying that there was nothing illegal in my bags and that I hadn’t done anything wrong, and one of the guards actually apologized to me.’ Paige shrugged. ‘So here I am.’
‘You think those guys might be here for our friend?’ Van Dyke asked, nodding toward three cops who were walking into the terminal. They strode straight over to airport security.
The smallest smile crossed Zach’s face. ‘I think it’s a good possibility,’ he said.
‘I’d bet money on it,’ Adam agreed. ‘The real stuff,’ he added. ‘Any takers?’ There weren’t any, so nobody lost any cash when the police came back out with Marc in handcuffs.
Belle pulled out her camera-phone and got a shot. ‘For your scrapbook,’ she told Paige, with a grin.
Paige stood up. ‘Marc!’ she called. When he looked her way, she blew him a big, juicy kiss. He did not look too pleased. Belle snapped another picture, and passed her phone around so everyone could see.
‘So now what?’ Paige asked. ‘We still have days to fill with Vegas fun!’
Sienna rolled her eyes. ‘I think I speak for everyone when I say the only fun I want to have right now is a nice, quiet ride home.’
She definitely spoke for Jason. It had been close, very close, but Paige and Sienna were both safe. He was definitely ready to go home. The relief flooding through him right now was better than anything Vegas had to offer.