by TR Cameron
His mother said, “We’ve heard a lot about you too, all of it good. Hopefully, our little ruse didn’t offend you.”
Ruby shook her head. “Not at all. Although I’m a big believer in revenge.” She scowled dramatically at Demetrius, and everyone laughed again.
Dutch ordered, “Bring her back soon, boy.”
Demetrius stood and extended a hand to help her up. “I will, Dad, if she’ll make time for me.”
Claire said, “Hopefully you realize what a fine man you’re with, Ruby.”
“I definitely do, ma’am.” They exited and walked the dozen blocks up to the Strip, then sauntered along it. Eventually, the conversation turned serious.
Demetrius said, “Now that you’ve completed the venamisha, your future’s probably going to be pretty complicated, huh?”
Ruby nodded. “Whoever’s with me will have to deal with Idryll, for one. She’s a forever problem.”
Demetrius laughed. “I’m telling her you said that.”
“Don’t you dare. Plus, I’ll probably have to spend a lot of time on Oriceran, which means that anyone who wants to be with me will doubtless be bouncing back and forth between the planets.”
He shrugged. “With portals, it’s not a bad commute or anything. Not a deal-breaker.”
Ruby added, “Probably have to cope with additional security and training, too. I guess I’ll be some kind of public figure, with all the challenges that involves.”
He stopped and pulled gently on her arm to make her face him. “I’m still not running away.”
Ruby looked into his eyes. “Hardest part, he’d have to put up with me.”
He kissed her and gave a serious nod. “Now that you mention that, maybe I ought to rethink this.”
She smacked him, and he laughed. Grabbing his hand, she pulled him with a purpose toward one side of the Strip. He asked, “Wait, what are you doing?”
She called over her shoulder, “We’re heading to Spirits. If you’re going to make me meet your parents without any warning, it seems only fair that I return the favor.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Jared walked behind the convoy of large crates and cases that rolled from the loading dock through the back areas of Invention casino. They’d decided not to take their normal couple of weeks to research the casino before physically moving into the space. Instead, they were on the ground the day after the ink was dry on the contract. Grentham had urged, and he’d agreed, that they needed the money to flow as quickly as possible since they would have to add personnel to handle this gig and the ones that would doubtless follow.
He spotted small camera domes in the ceiling, which he heartily approved of. He felt equally strongly in the opposite direction about the lack of guards in the hallways. Loading docks were always a potential vulnerability and needed careful oversight. We have a lot to offer these folks in the realm of security, that’s for sure. I get why they probably wanted to do it themselves, but that wasn’t a great choice.
The crates turned, and he followed them into one of the four rooms allotted to them. The central area, with a door on each wall, was a small kitchen. His people had pushed the tables and chairs out of the way so they could get their equipment through. On the left was a locker room, and huge containers full of gear for his team, including uniforms, suits, weapons, medical stuff, you name it, went in there. The equipment was all part of a remote security setup they’d used any number of times in the past, one that allowed them to deploy to the field and work out of any location easily. It would serve as a good bridge between Day One and when they got the place appropriately outfitted.
The room in the back would house the security station. More crates went in there, and once they removed the fronts would have displays, controls, communication gear, and the like. A team of gnomes was already in the room, pulling wires through the ceilings to provide them with proper connections to the existing security infrastructure. The casino owners hadn’t wanted to rely entirely on them, so they were reserving the existing security center for their use. That was fine with Jared, who preferred to use his setup, anyway.
As soon as it was uncrated and connected, they would have twenty-four-seven surveillance going on the public-access floors, which was the first step in the right direction. Once they completed the move-in, several movers would shed their overalls for suits and uniforms and get to work patrolling the place. It would be an ad hoc arrangement for a while, but it should be adequate for any problems that might arise. As long as no one tries to blow up the casino, at least.
His partner wandered in behind the last crate and grinned. “I love starting new gigs. Such a sense of hope, so many new things to discover, such a true feeling of partnership and growing friendship with the client.”
Jared snorted. “Such a new source of income is what you’re really saying.”
“Of course.”
He laughed. “The move-in seems to be going well, anyway. Let’s get stuff unpacked and do our part, too.”
Grentham nodded, and they worked together to remove the fronts of the crates to reveal what was inside. The storage units were custom-built, but they’d purchased them from a company that did the gear rock bands used on tour. Everything was neatly arranged and instantly accessible. Jared flipped down a shelf from one of them and pulled out a case that had been behind it, setting it on the horizontal surface.
He popped the latches, opened it to reveal earpieces and glasses, and shook his head. “I’m happy we didn’t have to sell the equipment we got from Worldspan. They had some damn fine stuff.” Even though their cash flow was currently a mess, once they’d reviewed the items taken from the other security company, there was no question that they would have to keep them. Certain computer-related pieces they’d sent off to Scimitar as part-bribe, part-gesture of goodwill.
Worldspan’s communication devices were far, far better than the ones Aces had. They’d already mounted the central control unit in the security station in the other room, and it fed information to the earpieces and the dark sunglasses that lay in the foam container before him. The augmented reality spectacles gave his people in the back the ability to send just about any sort of data display to his people in the field. Jared and Grentham had sacrificed one pair to investigate exactly how they’d managed to get all the technical components required to make the system work into frames that were only slightly larger than normal. The answer was miniaturization and complete optimization of the space, from the tip of the temples to the extra bar over the nose that made them resemble aviator’s glasses. He put a pair on, his partner did the same, and they both tucked the earpieces into their ears.
Jared said, “Depending on how this goes, we might have to sell those diamonds. Do you have a plan?”
His partner nodded. “Yeah. I have some out-of-town people who are ready to take them to one of their fences. It’ll cost us ten percent off the top, but if they trace them, it won’t be to us.”
Jared grunted. “You trust them?”
Grentham laughed. “Implicitly. It’s my sister’s husband.”
He looked at his partner quizzically. “I didn’t know you had a sister or a brother-in-law.”
“As I said, no one can follow the thread back to me. Different mothers and she doesn’t acknowledge our father, although she and I have always been reasonably well-connected. She’s in California, Hollywood, works in the movies. Magical pyrotechnics.”
“Sounds like a fun gig.”
He laughed. “She’s met Tom Cruise. He wanted to do his stunts, so he put on a fire suit, and she got to hose him down with flame. The insurance company hated it. He loved it.”
Jared grinned. “And her?”
“Got an autograph. Said she wouldn’t kick him out of bed for snoring.”
He shook his head and closed the case, then swapped it with another. This one held small boxes in different pastel colors, each a little smaller than his palm. He asked, “Did we get the testing completed on these?” Jared had
been focusing on making new deals while his partner handled integrating the tech they’d stolen and planning the details of their presence at Invention.
The dwarf nodded. “Those little buggers are fantastic. Their detection of explosives is excellent. Strangely, illicit drugs were the least identifiable object. You basically have to be exhaling right into it for it to notice those.”
“The traditional stuff?”
“Cameras are high quality, microphones are ridiculously powerful, and there are a couple of extra in the unit specifically to help eliminate room noise, the tech said. He seemed impressed. Proximity is good when activated, and of course, they do fire and smoke and thermal and all the other normal things. Magic detection is a little wonky. Again, better at short range than long.”
“Excellent.” Jared lowered his voice. “And the extras?”
Grentham laughed and shook his head. “I don’t even want to know what they were doing with the capability, but the things were able to read every single cell phone we put in front of them except for the most hardened or encrypted ones. That’s with only the wireless, of course. If you add in the cameras, or the microphones, more is possible.”
Jared felt a little uncomfortable about collecting that much data from the casino patrons. He’d convinced himself to accept the need based on the fact that a casino had recently crashed to the ground, and thus things could be considered pretty darn serious in Magic City. Grentham continued, “As we agreed, Scimitar will create a bot to analyze the take. If it finds anything suspicious, it’ll alert us. If it doesn’t, it won’t record the data, and we’ll never know what it found.”
He nodded. It was the most invasive measure he could accept, although he wasn’t stupid enough to miss the possibilities. “We both know that puts Scimitar in an excellent position to do what she wants with the data, right?”
His partner shrugged. “Yeah, but we gotta do what we gotta do, right?”
“What we have to do right now is put these things out there. Let’s get a move on.”
They each collected several devices and headed out to the main area. Jared peeled the adhesive backing off one of the light brown boxes and pushed it against the tan wall outside the door that led backstage to their security area.
A tech’s voice reported immediately, “Box Seventeen online. Checks out fully.”
Jared replied, “Acknowledged,” and headed toward the next logical place to deploy one of the units. When they reached the middle of the floor, Jared paused to examine the space thoroughly. “The mystery floor that we’re not allowed on concerns me. Heaven knows what’s going on there, and we can’t discount the possibility that we might face assault from that direction.”
Grentham sighed. “Our external scans don’t show any unprotected way onto the floor, so I think it’s unlikely. If it makes you feel better, we can add a person at each set of tube lifts. We’ll detail four so that one’s always on break, and the others rotate from one to the next in, say, fifteen-minute intervals.”
Jared nodded. Keeping the security team from getting overly comfortable was key. Even the best got bored and started letting their mind wander after a certain amount of time. “That’s all in your capable hands, my friend. While you finish setting things up here, I’ll have a chat with the folks at the Kraken. I think they’re on the verge of signing up. One more push ought to do it, and telling them about our successful deployment here might be just the thing.”
Grentham laughed and slapped him on the shoulder, a reach for the small man. “That’s right. Keep your eyes on the money. Go make us a bundle, partner.”
Jared shook his head as he headed for the Strip and the short walk to the other casino. I’m doing my best. Let’s hope Julianna Sloane leaves us alone long enough to get things organized before she gives us another “project.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Julianna Sloane watched the feed from a tiny camera hidden in a pin that Thompson wore on her lapel as her lieutenants greeted the principal of Worldspan Security, Angelina Prash, in her building’s lobby. The video wasn’t particularly crisp, and the audio was tinny as they exchanged pleasantries and offered to escort her upstairs. While they rode up in the elevator, she closed the app on her tablet and set the device aside, then arranged herself on the couch for their entrance.
She had chosen a dark business suit, with a bright golden blouse and a chunky black necklace. Her skirt ended at her knees, and she wore sensible heels. It wasn’t overestimating the importance of this meeting to say that many of her plans hinged on it. She had other options, of course, but preferred not to use them if she could instead work with this well-regarded company. She rose at her guest’s entrance and shook her hand. The elf looked around the place. “This is quite lovely. If it’s all the same to you, I would rather our serious conversation happened on neutral ground.”
Her security team frowned as one, and Julianna inclined her head. “Where would you prefer? There are some decent boardrooms downstairs. That’s what I usually use for meetings like this,” she added, to emphasize she was already giving a lot to the other woman.
The elf nodded. “I understand, and I appreciate that you chose to meet with me here. Still, as they say in the movies, I’ve been burned before and quite recently, so I’d prefer something a little more public. How about the Ely Strip?”
Prash waved a lazy hand as if expecting a result, and Julianna smiled. “Anti-magic emitter here, I’m afraid. Can’t be too careful. If you’d like to head down to the lobby and step outside, we can do it there.”
During the elevator ride down, she noted that her security wasn’t particularly fond of the idea. She’d seen the hand signals they threw at the camera behind Prash’s back, ensuring there would be additional protection waiting outside for them. As they exited the building, the elf created a portal to one end of the Magic City Strip and strode through without a pause. Julianna and her people followed with Smith’s and Thompson’s hands both inside their jackets on their weapons.
On the other side, Prash waited for several seconds, respecting the possibility that others might join them, then let the rift close. She said, “You have nothing to fear from me. I didn’t make it this far in my field by scaring away those interested in doing business with me.”
Julianna lifted an eyebrow. “Or by letting them be too comfortable setting the rules.”
The other woman laughed, and it seemed a genuinely happy sound. “You’re correct. It’s very nice to meet someone who understands such things. Some of my potential clients get so upset.” She gestured down the Strip and started walking.
Julianna spared a glance to the right, where the owners had cleared the remains of the Mist casino. Nothing remained except a barren plot. A barren plot that would be mine if they hadn’t done such a good job of lawyering up the contract. They’re smart bastards, those magicals.
Prash gestured at the drones flying over the Strip, which were painfully obvious. “It’s amateur hour up in here. Pretty sure those are government, although I wouldn’t put it past some of the local security companies to have theirs going as well.”
“Agreed. It’s nice to speak with someone who understands things so clearly, and who has grand ambitions. I think we can accomplish a great deal together.”
The elf nodded and scowled at tourists in their path, who moved quickly out of the way. “I’m still unsure why I should work with you. I already have a standing gig here in several of the casinos. Your proposal was enough to inspire curiosity, but really, what’s going to make it more worthwhile than what I currently have? As I’m sure you know, the one who requested Worldspan’s presence here in the first place is now in charge of the Council.”
Julianna kept her face neutral at receiving the unexpected piece of information. “I wasn’t aware of that, but it’s not particularly relevant. What I have to offer that others do not is simple. Eventually, I will take a large interest in every casino here, from one end of the Strip to the other. A controlling int
erest, in fact.” She realized it was the first time she’d ever said the words out loud, although that had been her intent from the beginning. To state them like that was empowering, like a declaration of inevitable success.
Prash responded, “Is that what your husband thought, too?”
Julianna didn’t rise to the provocation. That was beneath you, my friend. “No, he would’ve been content with one. In the end, he took one, though not how he intended. I won’t be. These bastards will pay, and pay dearly, for taking him from me.”
The elf gave a small murmur of assent. “I’m sorry for your loss, by the way.”
She nodded. “Thank you. Anyway, I offer a contract to handle security in all of them, in perpetuity, in exchange for helping me achieve my plans. Plus an ownership stake.”
The other woman’s reply was so fast it seemed automatic. “How much?”
“One percent of profits.”
Prash shook her head. “I’ve worked with enough business owners to know how the books work. One percent of the gross.”
Julianna laughed. “Hardly. We can talk specific numbers later once we get the lawyers involved. However, there is a second angle that might appeal to you.” The elf smiled. Whether from the banter or the possibility of casino ownership, there was no way to tell. “I’m well aware you were recently humiliated by another security company that attacked your headquarters and blew up your building.”
Prash scowled. “That’s a carefully guarded secret. One wonders how you know about it.”
She ignored the statement. “That had to hurt.”
The elf stopped and turned to face her with a hard look, and Julianna matched her. The other woman replied, “It did. I’m aware that they work for you.”
She shrugged. “One of many companies we do business with. I didn’t order the attack. It was an overstep, and I would’ve cautioned against it.” She admired the way Smith and Thompson both maintained their bored expressions as she lied through her teeth. “I suggest we find a way to do what needs doing in a fashion that scores your revenge on them and not coincidentally gets them out of my hair.”