Walt was good, but I hedged my bets. Security at Bellagio assured me they were all over it.
“Can you turn them back around without killing them?” I shouted into my phone.
“I’m timing the lag time—it takes a bit to fire up one of the nozzles.”
I waited. Fox drew closer to the side. He was almost past the fountains and into the clear when a jet of water erupted in front of him.
“Woo-hoo!” Walt shouted in my ear.
Fox stopped, then bent forward, fighting momentum that threatened to throw him headfirst into the column of water.
“Shit!” Walt again. “If we have brains spread all over the fountain pool, the boss man will have my head. Timed it too close. Sorry.”
The men behind closed the distance.
“Looked perfect to me. I got your back and I’ll pay for the cleanup.” Frankly, given Fox’s lack of brainpower, I didn’t think there would be much to clean up.
In the lead, Jeremy lunged for Fox. He darted to the right. Now he headed toward the Strip with Jeremy on his heels. Romeo worked his way out to the right, Reynolds to the left, leaving only one path.
“One more time, Walt? Same timing?”
“This one’s dicey. I might take out your man, too.”
I swallowed hard. Was getting Fox worth losing Jeremy? Stupid question. No.
“Your call. If we can’t get him now, we’ll get him later. He can only run so far. My man is too important to lose.”
“Got it. I think I can do it.”
Life and death, a very slight margin for error, and Walt had his finger on the button, not me. My worst-case scenario—well, one of them. My heart in my throat, I watched, stymied as to whether I should shut Walt down or not.
Go big or go home. “If you see an opportunity—”
A single salvo from one of the fountains cut me off.
My heart stopped. Romeo and Reynolds pulled up short. I stared through the mist. Nobody around me moved. Those gathered on the driveway who had stayed to watch fell silent. The water fell.
Two men appeared through the mist.
I sucked in air, and my heart restarted.
Jeremy had an arm around Fox’s throat. Reynolds and Romeo closed quickly.
“Walt, you are a friggin’ genius.”
“I nearly died pushing that button.”
Him and me both.
I’D READ REYNOLDS RIGHT, in the end.
When the excitement was over and the danger passed, the cops had shown up and taken Fox into custody. After confirming my suspicions, Reynolds had taken Fox away. Still not buying into the whole Reynolds-is-a-white-hat thing, Romeo went with him.
Jeremy, wrapped in towels, his hair standing on end after a good rubbing, found me standing in front of the hotel watching the fountains. An hour had passed, and they were doing their thing again. Andrea Bocelli’s soothing tenor filled the night. “I should’ve listened to you. Who knew you had a direct line to the guy controlling the show?”
“Someday, you’re going to stop underestimating me.”
“Brilliant idea, actually.” He didn’t sound surprised, which told me he already had.
“I could’ve killed you.”
He put an arm around my shoulders and pulled me into a squeeze. “No. When under the gun, you make the right decisions. Trust yourself.”
I patted his arm. Everyone had more faith in me than I did. Maybe there was a lesson in there.
I’d misjudged Reynolds and learned another good lesson: just because I didn’t like someone didn’t mean they were bad. Books and their covers—I knew better.
Life. The lessons were coming at me hard and fast these days. Like bullets to the gut, they left me staggering and on the verge of losing myself.
Who was I really? And what did I want?
I needed to step out of my life to figure that out. A quiet place and a quiet mind where nobody expected anything from me.
“Go home. I’m sure your wife is worried sick.”
“And where are you going?”
I hadn’t a clue. My phone vibrated at my hip, and I gave him a smile. “Life calls.”
“No, duty calls. Shut it down. You’ll find your life where duty ends.” With a smile, he stepped away, turning toward life, his life.
With a sigh, I glanced at the caller ID. Mona. “Hey, Mother.”
“Lucky!” She sounded breathless, excited. She had a life and wanted a purpose. Would any female in this family get the balance right? “I finally got the Sheriff.”
“He told you the video was patched together, Romeo is in the clear, and he skirted the issue when it came to Reynolds.”
“Oh.” She deflated, and instantly I regretted trotting out my competence, and my dumb luck. “It’s great you confirmed all that. I really appreciate it. I never would’ve gotten squat out of the Sheriff—he’s always looking for a reason to arrest me.”
“You think?” I couldn’t tell whether her enthusiasm was over my appreciation or my possible arrest, not that it mattered. I’d helped her feel good about herself, added a little magic to the Universe. At the end of the day, that’s what it was all about anyway.
“Have you wrapped things up, then?”
“Yes.”
Infused with maternal concern, her sigh wrapped around me like a warm blanket. “Come home, then. I want you to tell me all about it.”
“I will, but not now.”
“Where are you going?” Despite my best assertions otherwise, she knew me well.
As I watched the fountains dance, I decided a man, a very good man, deserved his shot. “Paris.”
“What?”
“I’m going to Paris.” Maybe, just maybe, I’d find myself there.
THE END
Thank you so much for going on a Lucky adventure with me. I hope you enjoyed the ride.
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Copyright © 2018 Deborah Coonts
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance of fictional characters to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission from the author and publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
Published by Chestnut Street Press
eBook ISBN: 978-1-944831-62-2
Paperback ISBN-13: 978-1-944831-64-6
Hardcover ISBN-13: 978-1-944831-63-9
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Cover design by Streetlight Graphics
(www.streetlightgraphics.com)
Digital formatting by Austin Brown (www.cheapebookformatting.com)
Lucky Score Page 33