by Doug Welch
Paris interrupted. “How would you like to be on the Family payroll? Instant raise, good company, excellent benefits. We need a computer wiz. Name your salary.”
“Well it would get me away from some of those assholes…You serious?”
“Like a preacher on Sunday,” Paris replied.
He grinned. “I'll do it – boss.”
“Rox? Can you stay?” Paris asked.
She glanced at Dan. “Dan's my supervisor. If he says stay, I'll stay.”
Dan smiled. “Stay. – I’ll call Chief Cunningham and make the arrangements.”
“Okay, Dan, you and Rox get ready. We're going casino hopping.”
* * *
By the sixth casino they’d visited, Paris’ depression had returned. Their failure to find the Shadow had enhanced his feelings of hopelessness and loss. It wasn't working. Nothing seemed to be able to avert it.
He ignored the casino games and the music and wandered around the floor, clicking a handful of casino chips. He scanned the crowds ringing the tables and walking through the gaming area. Somewhere in this crush was their quarry. He’d seen the videos of the rare times the Resort had caught the thief in action, but they didn't reveal enough of the person's features to identify him.
His mind-glow was practically useless here. So many people in close proximity tended to overwhelm his senses.
Dan and Rox sat at a blackjack table. The three of them had developed a routine. Paris would complain of boredom and leave the table. Dan would gamble with Rox and leave a large stack on the table while he visited the restroom. Paris looked for someone who seemed to show an interest in Dan's chips. Dan alternated with Roxanne. So far, they had had no nibbles. It was getting time to leave.
He decided to stroll past the high limit tables one more time. A low railing set off the high limit area from the other parts of the casino. The players at these tables gambled serious money. They were known as 'whales' in the gaming industry, resort guests who had a lot of money and who weren’t reluctant to risk it. He had heard Jaime talk about it. If Paris had come to Las Vegas to gamble big money, the suite would have been free. Jaime had used the word 'comped'.
He watched the craps table. A well dressed man and an elegantly dressed woman stood at the table. They were the only players, and the man rolled the dice while the woman hung onto his arm. Obviously on a roll, he had a row of chips running around the tray at his side of the table and from time to time added chips to his row.
Another woman stood nearby in the area, looking at the man playing. Something about the woman looked familiar to Paris. He had a strange sensation that he knew her or had seen her before but where?
Blond and attractive, with a nice figure, he thought she might be a paid escort for one of the players, but she didn’t seem to have a companion.
Paris watched the man play. He must have made a good roll because the woman shouted and jumped back from the table. The blond woman calmly reached over to the man's stack of chips, removed a few and slipped them into the purse she held. No one else seemed to notice, including the dealer who was trained to notice unusual behavior.
Paris didn't even think about it. This was their chance and he would need help. He strolled past the high limit area. As soon as he was out of sight of the Shadow, he hurried over to Dan and Roxanne. He leaned between them and whispered.
“I think I've found the Shadow. Let's go.”
Dan and Roxanne collected their chips and moved away from the table. They conferred for a moment. Paris described the Shadow and the clothes she was wearing. Dan seemed surprised but didn't comment. The plan was for Dan to keep her in sight while Roxanne would play some slot machines nearby. Paris didn't want to show himself to the Shadow again.
He busied himself in weaving his mind-glow. As soon as he had the pattern ready, he joined Roxanne. The Shadow still stood near the craps table, but the high limit craps roller apparently started to lose. After a few disappointing rolls, he collected his chips, threw a few to the croupier, and left the table with his date. With nothing more to steal, the Shadow left the high limit area and started walking out of the casino.
Paris reached behind his back and removed a set of handcuffs from the leather case under his sport coat. Franklin had loaned them three sets to use if they found the thief. He slipped and locked one cuff on his wrist and readied the other. He walked close alongside and behind the Shadow. He was confident the woman wouldn't be able to see him there.
Dan and Roxanne hurried by the pair of them as if they were in a rush to be somewhere else.
The Shadow headed to the shopping concourse that led from the casino.
Entering the shopping concourse, Dan and Roxanne still walked in front but they let the distance between them and the Shadow narrow. Before the Shadow could overtake them, Paris reached over, grabbed the woman’s right arm and slapped the free cuff on her wrist. He squeezed and locked it.
“What the fuck!” She struggled to free herself. Dan came up beside her, and grabbed her other arm. All three of them crowded around, trying to look like a group of people having a conversation. Her eyes grew narrow and angry.
“Relax lady. We just want to have a quiet conversation. Shield the handcuffs please.”
At the sound of Paris' voice, the woman’s eyes grew wide and she started trembling.
Roxanne looked concerned. “Are you sure you nabbed the right person, Paris? I thought we were looking for a man. A man that's supposed to be invisible. So how come I can see her?”
Dan and Paris exchanged puzzled glances. Paris drew back his mind-glow, and studied the woman. She was the same one who was in the high limit area. He was sure of it. He looked around the mall and spied a cocktail lounge a short distance away.
“Why don't we all go in that lounge, have a friendly drink and talk about this?”
The Shadow started to resist but finding no escape, slumped and appeared resigned. They found a booth in the lounge and squeezed her between Paris and Dan. No one said anything until a cocktail waitress had taken their orders.
Paris studied the woman’s face again. What was it? “You look familiar friend. Where have I seen you?”
Dan chuckled. “Probably in a mirror. Except for the blond hair, you look enough like her to be her twin.”
“I'm not that ugly.” The woman snarled. “Piss off.”
“Without the blond hair, she’d look just like Alex.” Roxanne interjected.
The woman tossed back her hair and arched her eyebrows. “Who’s Alex and who are you, bitch?”
Roxanne grimaced but didn’t reply.
“What's your name?” Paris asked.
“What's yours?” She retorted.
“Tell the man your name,” Dan said.
She tried to cross her arms but jerked on the handcuffs instead. She compressed her lips. “Fuck you.”
Dan laughed. “Not a polite way for a lady to behave.”
“As though I care. What the fuck do you want with me.? Who are you?”
“Alright, friend, my name is Paris and you are...?”
She shrugged. “–Kitty.”
“Well Kitty,” Paris said, “the reason we're having this conversation is because you've been ripping off the casinos, and the Vegas People asked us to help stop you. Clear enough?”
“How did you manage to sneak up on me? Why didn't I see you?” She asked.
Paris let his mind-glow expand.
“Oh Christ! You're an Adept. Now I'm really fucked. Did the Borgias send you? I won't go back. I'll kill myself first.”
Paris' mind raced. He had a feeling that he knew what they had stumbled into, and if he was right, there was no way he could give Kitty to the Vegas House, or let any other Shadow know about this, including the Council. He suspected that Dan knew it also.
“Are you with the Borgias?” Paris asked.
Kitty sat there, silent, glaring at him.
Paris tried again. “Kitty I can be the best friend you ever had, or I can
be your worst nightmare. Your choice.”
“I was snatched from my father. I was a fucking slave, their property! I escaped from the House. End of story. You satisfied – Par-ass?”
Paris smiled. She sounded just like Alex, same smart-ass attitude. He didn't doubt it anymore. This was his half sister.
“Kitty, how would you like to be safe from the Borgia House, in a place where you would be protected? Where the Borgias couldn't touch you.”
“Where – Par-ass – you own Fort Knox?” She asked sarcastically.
Paris grinned. “Something like that. At least, a piece of it.”
He would have to chance it, he thought. If he could convince her to join the Family, she would be safe and protected, and the threat to the Vegas House would be eliminated.
“Kitty, here's the deal. I'll remove the cuffs if you promise to not run. You go back to my suite and we have a civilized conversation. I think there's someone there you'll want to meet. No tricks. If you decide you don't want to take me up on my offer. You can leave. I won't stop you. But you have to leave Vegas. I promised the Vegas House and the Council I'd get rid of you. If you try to screw the Council, they'll fry your brain. I won't be able to protect you. Do we have a deal?”
Kitty studied him, her eyes searched his face. “Why do you look familiar?”
“Ask Dan,” Paris said.
Dan shrugged. “Look in a mirror. He's your brother.”
“Bullshit. I haven't got a brother.”
“Well you do now, lady.” Dan replied.
“Do we have an agreement?” Paris asked.
“I guess I'm curious, but I know how the kitty-cat died…alright, I'll agree.”
* * *
By the time they’d arrived back at the suite, Paris had told Kitty the whole story about the Family.
At the reservation desk he listed Kitty as an out-of-town relative who had arrived late for the wedding, all of it was almost true.
It turned out Kitty's last name was Trudeau, although it could have been an alias. With Kitty, Paris couldn't be sure. He accepted it as given.
They’d all gathered in the living room. Most wore bathrobes over their night clothes and they all stared at the newcomer.
Kitty became uncomfortable under their scrutiny. She spread her hands in a helpless gesture and shrugged. “What do you want from me, people? This is surreal. I'm sitting in a suite that costs twenty to thirty thousand dollars a night. You tell me I have a half-sister who's damn near a twin except for that mousy-brown hair –a brother-in-law who's a gorgeous hunk –and a half-brother who's a –never mind. –So sue me. It's kind of hard to swallow all of that in one night.”
Alex crossed her arms and glowered at her. “The jury's out on that, broad. If I decide to acknowledge a scruffy bleach-blond Alex knock-off like you as a sister, then you're in. Otherwise, don't hold your breath.”
“The color’s natural, asshole!” Kitty paused then laughed. “You know, I almost think you could be my sister.”
“It's all true, Kitty, all of it. But the evidence is back in Kentucky,” Paris said. “You could find your father...”
“I don't need to know. –I can take care of myself. As for my father –I tried to find my father after I escaped from the Borgia House. He’s dead. He never got over it when that bitch of a mother of mine left him. He was a raging alcoholic when the Borgia took me. I was sixteen at the time. At first I thought I had escaped a miserable home life, but then I found out the bastards considered me their property. They treated me like a slave. What was worse, they wanted to breed me like a cow.”
“How did you escape?” Dan asked.
Kitty shrugged. “I learned how to switch when I turned fifteen and I was uncontrollable, stealing, playing tricks to get even with my classmates. There's a lot you can get away with when you can hide in plain sight. After they took me, the Borgia beat that shit out of me, quick.
“So I suppressed my abilities. They tried to train me to become one of the People, but I kept playing dumb and pretended to not understand what they wanted until they gave up. It was a good tactic, but horrible strategy. They decided they were gonna make me breed because it seemed I wasn’t trainable. The truth was, I’d learned enough to ditch the House, so I waited until I was guarded only by a couple of Normals and escaped. I've been on my own ever since, seven years now.”
Tom leaned forward in his chair, grinning. “Another Alex. How cool is that? But what do you mean by 'switch'.”
“Show him Kitty. He'll need to learn about it sooner or later,” Paris said.
Kitty concentrated.
Tom’s eyes grew wide. “Oh my God.”
June looked amazed. “I didn't really believe it when Silas told me but now… “
A stunned Roxanne squeaked. “How's that possible?”
“I'm still here,” Kitty said. “I just convinced your brain it couldn't see me.”
Her disembodied voice brought another round of astonished commentary and a torrent of questions.
Paris held his hands up to quiet them. “Neither Dan, Alex, nor I can see her change because we’re immune to it. Switch back Kitty, I want them to see you do it.”
She concentrated again. “I don’t do it often. This shit gives me a freaking headache.”
“Twilight Zone, I feel like I'm in the freaking Twilight Zone,” Tom said. “This is bizarre. What have I gotten myself into?”
“Another aspect of the world, Tom,” Paris replied. “One you never knew existed. And for everyone's safety, you can never reveal it.”
“Who would ever believe it?” Tom said.
“You'd be surprised. Do a search for Shadow People on the internet when you get back home.”
“Can you do that Paris?” Roxanne asked.
“No, its not one of my abilities.”
Roxanne turned to Alex with a question written on her face.
Alex laughed. “Don’t look at me. I can’t do squat and I won’t even attempt it until the baby’s born.”
“What are your talents, Paris?” Kitty asked. “I know you're an Adept, but I get the sense you're not one of the People.”
“That's only for Family to know. You're not Family… yet,” Paris said.
Kitty’s face changed to a look of suspicion. “Is that a sneaky way to try to get me to go to Kentucky?”
Paris spread his hands. “Honestly? –Yes. You've got a choice. You can walk out that door and run from the Borgias the rest of your life, or you can join our Family. You'll be safe with us. You'll have a home.”
A quick look of anguish appeared on Kitty's face and was gone. “I don't believe in 'happily ever after'. Too much shit in the world. Rainbows lead to dirt, not pots of gold. Sell it to someone else. I managed to escape one of the Houses, and now you're asking me to belong to another? –Screw it.” She rose to her feet. “I'm out of here.” She walked toward the elevator. Paris stood and followed her.
They stood in silence in front of the elevator, watching the floor numbers tick by.
Kitty spoke first. “The deal stands. I'll leave Vegas.” Paris remained silent. “What's with you, Paris? Why do you care?”
“It's hard to find a sister and lose her all in the same night,” Paris said.
“Paris, you don't know me. You have no idea who I am, what I've had to do. I could just sell you out. In fact, I probably would,” Kitty said.
“You're wrong. I know you, because I know myself. When I give myself to someone I love, my Family, someone like you, it's a free gift –no strings attached.”
The elevator door chimed and opened. Kitty stepped in. She turned to face Paris. Her eyes glistened. “You're crazy… but nice. Maybe I'll come for a visit… Just a visit.”
“You'll be welcomed,” Paris said. The elevator closed.
Chapter 9
FBI
Paris woke to a knock on the bedroom door. It had been a late night and he hadn't had enough sleep, but he recalled what the morning might bring. The adrenalin
rush brought him instantly awake.
“Yes?” He called from the bed.
“Paris it's Caesar. The FBI is here. They want to talk to you.”
“Give me a minute. Is there any coffee?”
“In the living room.”
He emerged from the bedroom, dressed in a resort bathrobe and poured himself a cup of coffee, Joining Caesar; he looked at the two men who sat in the living room. They rose as he approached and introduced themselves as Agents Sanders and Spooner.
Both men were dressed in plain business suits. Paris noticed the telltale bulge of a shoulder holster under the suit jacket Sanders wore. Spooner wore his weapon at his waist.
Sanders could only be described as medium, medium looks, medium brown hair, medium build and hazel eyes. Spooner was young. He looked like a typical computer nerd including the horn rimmed glasses and had thinning sandy hair.
After they sat back down, Agent Sanders spoke. “As you know, the FBI is investigating the kidnapping of your wife. We have a few questions and we want to review our procedures.”
Paris nodded, and sipped the coffee. The caffeine started to clear his brain.
“We have information that you were seen visiting some of the casinos last night. Care to tell us why?”
“I was looking for a relative who was here in Las Vegas.”
“And did you find this…relative?”
“Yes, she visited us here in the suite last night. Why do you want to know?”
“Our information indicated that she was a very attractive female, and you took her up to your rooms.”
“Agent, we all visited with her. What are you're trying to imply.”
Caesar interrupted. “I was there with my wife. It's like my brother-in-law said. There was no impropriety.”
“One of the reasons I had to ask is that we would prefer to handle this without some kind of maverick actions on Mister Fox's part. We have procedures for handling this sort of thing. We don't need or want any interference from any of you. That includes precipitous actions by you, Mister Fox.”
Paris swallowed what he wanted to say. It wouldn’t help the situation. He would do literally anything to have Elizabeth safe back home again. The sky was no limit.