Chapter 5

Havoc

If Viv was honest, she would admit that she had thought Joe would be dealt with by now with all the support she had from Ranger's people. Joe Senior was crazy like a fox, which had worked for him, helping him avoid anyone after him. It made her wonder how long the hunt would continue. The fact that he had traitors inside their organization greatly helped him. Maybe if they could find them, the tide of the investigation would turn. His knowing everything they were doing before they even began wasn't helping them.

There had to be a way to find the people working inside and help bring them down. Why would anyone help Joe in this way? He was holding something over their heads, but she had no idea what, and it probably wasn't the same thing in every case. Security here was pretty good, and they had taken the fingerprints of everyone who worked there. It seemed to her that their records should show any problems that could be traced back to Joe.

Since she was already on her computer and had some inside passwords, she took some of the names of employees and ran them through the FBI database. No, they would not be pleased if they realized it, but technically, since she still had the passwords, it was not illegal. Three names came back as people of interest. Viv added those names to the list she was starting. She ran another list of names through, but it contained no names of interest. She continued until she had run all the names of employees at the casino regardless of where they were. This gave her a list of twenty names. She was sure all of those would not interest her, but she had to find a way to narrow it down.

She took the first name on the list and ran through their background check. It was not hard to find a connection to Joe Senior, which made her wonder if someone in security should be on this list. This connection was so obvious that even a student and security guard should be able to recognize that they would be an issue. While she pondered who had let his name in there, Carler returned from wherever he'd been.

"I wondered how many people Joe had planted in the casino who were causing us problems. I'll admit I've just gotten started, but the first name I started to do a background check on came out with something that anyone in security should have flagged. I sent you the name in the background so you could give them a look," Viv explained.

"Are you sure it's not someone that we are aware of their background but have brought them here anyway?" Carler asked.

"Yes, because all those people are flagged, and there is an explanation about why they were brought here anyway, especially those being hunted by Old Joe."

"I didn't realize that. It seems that someone in security is doing a great job, and someone else is doing a pitiful one. Did you try running the employees in security to see who in security might be a risk?"

"I tried, but my security clearance is apparently not high enough, and I couldn't get any names at all," Viv observed.

"Your clearance should be high enough to get a list and a background on all but the highest levels."

"That's what I thought, but I was wrong. I can't get in their files, so maybe you can?"

"Let me see what I can do." Carler seemed to be trying really hard and not having any luck either.

How had it gone unnoticed that the security files were locked out? That was simply not acceptable. It also made her think that the security leak was at the top. Viv could hear Carler cussing under his breath. It was upsetting, but it was also a move forward in finding where their issues were happening. They needed to go to the security chief and discover exactly what he had been up to.

Carler got on the phone with Ranger, and he spoke quietly, so she couldn't really tell what he was saying, but she was sure that they were about to take out a security chief and probably his second and third. Now, the question was, who would they get to replace them? Another question was what they would do with them. Even more important was how they would get rid of all the issues those people had caused.

"Stay here. Ranger wants you to print out all the information you can find on everyone that you can find it on. When we go up there to take them down, they'll probably try to destroy everything on the computer," Carler suggested.

It made sense that someone stayed behind, but why did it always have to be her? She immediately began to print out everything she could on those questionable people. As soon as she was done, she intended to go up to the security office on the top floor and discover what was happening. They couldn't expect her to stay behind once she did what she was asked. Viv realized it wouldn't be safe, but she had a bulletproof vest to slip on under her clothing and a helmet for her head.

That would make her as safe as anyone, wouldn't it? She would not sit in the office and be protected while everyone else risked their lives. It was done! She moved to the closet behind her desk and began pulling out things she needed. The bulletproof vest covered the area where most people aimed. The helmet covered a large portion of her head, but there were still places she could get shot and end up dead.

The building shook. Had someone set off a bomb? For a second, she thought that maybe it wasn't a good idea to head up into what seemed to be a war zone without information. Then, as quickly as she thought that she went to the stairs and began to work her way up. The building shook again. By the time she made it up there, they might all be dead. A problem was that she couldn't move any faster than she was moving, especially going manually and not in an elevator. Only an idiot would take an elevator with the building shaking like it was.

She was beginning to suspect that something was going on that they weren't sharing with her. Maybe it just was that Carler was protective of her and didn't want her hurt. Viv wasn't sure anymore. Her breath came fast as she struggled to get to that top floor. She was in good shape, or so she thought, but the stitch in her side that continued as she headed up the steps made her wonder. Her legs hurt as she finally made it to the door to the security section of the top floor.

Viv heard a roar that did not sound human. What in the holy hell was that? She hesitated momentarily with her hand on the doorknob, fearing what was on the other side. Her team needed help, and hesitating wasn't helping them. She turned the knob and headed forward, and something that she could only describe as a tale he had told her and pushed her back into the stairwell. Collapsing on the floor, she would admit that she hurt like she had been hit by a truck. Sitting up, she tried to decide what she should do next. Taking off the bulletproof vest was not an option. Her helmet was going to stay as well. Something occurred to her, but she couldn't believe it. Was that a dragon's tail that had hit her? Maybe she was just going nuts?

There was only one way to be sure, and the door ahead of her led to it. She was back at the door again and turned the knob. Pushing the door open, she looked inside, and all she saw was total havoc. Everything was torn up and smashed. There were people scattered around the room. Hopefully, unconscious but possibly dead. These were not people she knew, and when she looked up, "she saw Carler standing there looking at her. Ranger was there as well, and so was his mate, Toni. There was far too much damage for the number of people there. She had to admit it looked like a bomb had exploded.

"What the hell happened here? Did a bomb go off?" Viv asked. "Are these guys dead?"

"They had some destructive weapons but aren't dead. At least, I do not believe they are," Carler assessed. "We hope to question them and discover something to aid our investigation. I thought you were asked to stay below?"

"I was asked to pull information so it would not be lost. Once that was done, I had no reason to stay below," Viv explained. She was still looking around, trying to figure out how the hell this much damage had happened in such a short time.

"I know, right? These guys are real brawlers," Toni said.

"You didn't take part in this?"

"I came in just before you did. The bad guys started the party early and were trying to destroy information. Apparently, they didn't care if they destroyed the whole office with it," Toni added.

That might explain some of the destruction, but not all of it. There were even charred spots on the wall and the floor. It wasn't like a zippo would do something like that. It was more like what you would expect from a flamethrower. Damage like that would keep the dragon shifter story going. They needed to clean up the mess so Old Joe didn't hear about it.

"Do you think this will end the attacks from the inside?" Viv asked.

"We'll go through everyone in security and those approved through security. It will end because it has to. I'm sure this hurt Old Joe and his plans to send people through here. If we just had some information, we could use it to catch him," Carler observed.

Yeah, Viv had said that herself a hundred times. Hopefully, it would free them up to pursue Joe Senior even faster. They needed to get him soon, or she would go crazy. Before she had moved here, she had gone to Doug's grave every day and promised vengeance. For some reason, that seemed to help. Sadly, she had lost that, too. Taking Joe Senior down was probably the only thing that would help. Several of the little people involved in Doug's death were in prison, including the assassin who had done the job, but it was like putting a Band-Aid on a gaping wound. Viv needed the boss who ordered the hit before she could feel better about it.

Looking around the large security office, she was really glad that she wouldn't be the one who had to clean up the mess. When she went to college, one of the jobs she had had for a brief time was as a maid at a hotel. People didn't really appreciate maids the way that they should. This room would need more than a maid; it would need a carpenter, an electrician, and someone to lay the floors.

Whatever had happened in here, they didn't intend to share it with her. There wasn't anything she could do about that, so she needed to get back to work and figure out who was naughty and nice so they could take care of those naughty ones and get control of this casino. They've decided to leave before they ask her to help clean up this mess. She wasn't sure if she'd imagined the dragon's tail, but she would keep it in mind just in case it was real. Were there dragons, and were they here? Several people she'd talked to seemed to think there were. Not just random people that Joe had talked about it but people who seemed to think they'd seen them. Was she now one of those people?

Viv headed back downstairs to her office. She decided to avoid the elevator in case it had been damaged with all the shaking that had been going on. Now, she would have some hard work ahead of her as she went through all the personnel files, starting with security, which she noticed she was now able to access. Someone had already been going through the security personnel, and she saw that several had been terminated. She wondered if that was literally. Maybe it would be best to go through the other personnel since she already had some ideas about which ones might not be acceptable.

Three hours later, she had a list of fifteen people that needed to be checked out more closely. That was a lot of people, considering she hadn't even started on security yet. Those people were scattered all over the casino, working different shifts and jobs. Viv thought it might also be wise to check those who worked outside the casino. The airport was an especially sensitive area to have someone they were unsure of. The parks would be another area, as well as all those areas associated with them. It seemed to her there was almost no end to the possibilities of where traitors could hide.

While she was giving that some thought, Carler came in, and she turned to look at him. "I have a list of people I think should be looked at closer. I've not even gotten to the security personnel yet. I'm waiting to see what you guys do there. Considering that security was involved in putting people in places that could be effective for Joe Senior. We should check out employees everywhere, especially in sensitive places like airports and the parks."

"You're right. Get your list together, and I will have some assistants to help you gather information from unquestionable employees. We can't afford to pay people to set us up. I'm not sure why no one ever considered checking out security. It is good that we have you here to look out for us," Carler observed.

She wasn't sure who was looking out for who. After seeing the damage upstairs, it amazed her that anyone survived. There were signs that people had been slammed against the wall and even dents in the desks where heads had hit them. The violence that had occurred up there went beyond what she ever expected to experience. There was no doubt in her mind that something was being hidden from her. The question was what and why.

Maybe she was going crazy, but she was beginning to wonder about the dragon shifter theory. The superior technology had already made her wonder about the alien theory. Was she just going crazy? Viv looked at Carler closely, scrutinizing every bit of him. There was no doubt that he was big and not just tall. His hair was brown, a common enough color and his eyes were blue, particularly beautiful and deep, but that was nothing unusual, only exceptional.

His facial features looked completely human, and while his body was in perfect condition—extremely muscular without an ounce of fat anywhere—that didn't require alien DNA. That was possibly achieved by humans. Nothing she saw said alien, only superior human. It was true that the men here were generally fit and in perfect physical condition, but a few fell short of that mark.

Nothing that she saw was impossible for a fully human creature. They were intelligent, yet Joe Senior, who she had never thought of as particularly bright, had managed to escape repeatedly. She would take the blame for that, but they had been after him before bringing her in and had no luck. Couldn't aliens zap someone from their ship and make them disappear? Honestly, she had no idea what aliens could do or would do, only that it would surprise her that they would put up with Old Joe without pulling out the big guns, whatever those might be.

It must be the stress of chasing Joe with no results and all the little issues he had created here that were getting to her. She was beginning to see aliens in the shadows and dragons in the sky. The problem was that the only thing she could think of that would help was taking down Joe. The usual suspect would not bother her so much, but this was so personal that she could not step back from it. Viv intended to catch him if it killed her. She did not fear death because it would simply join her with her beloved Doug. What she did fear was failure. More than anything that would bring her to her knees and shatter her mind.

There had to be a way, and she had to develop a plan to move forward. She knew they would support anything reasonable because they were also ready to take him down. The mob would also assist if it was at all possible. With so much help, how could she not devise a plan that would work?

"What's wrong? You seem to be thinking so hard," Carler asked.

"You don't think there are enough reasons to be thinking hard? With all our support, it seems incredible that Joe Senior escapes us time after time. Even considering the traitors here, how can they be helping him when he's out there?"

"I see what you mean, but they seem to know what we're trying to do even before we do it. Old Joe's had early warnings on almost every action we've taken. It will hurt him now that this nest of Vipers has been cleaned out."

"But has it? Has it been cleaned out yet?" Viv asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm in the process of writing a list of people that need to be investigated further. Everyone that was hurting our cause was not in security. Security was vetting them and helping them get in, but they are in other areas of the casino and maybe other areas of the country."

Carler sighed heavily. "We will be getting extra help to track down these people. We use a private investigator. Actually, several, but one of them is visiting right now with some information. He can possibly assist in tracking down some of these people and determine if they were involved. Maybe he can even get some information out of them."

"Why would they tell us anything?"

"This is not the United States. These people are in a foreign country, and our laws differ from yours. If they are involved in this and they give us no information, they will not be going home any time soon. We've had a jail built, and it is ready. We do not believe in pampering prisoners. They will have to work to have food and any luxuries whatsoever. That is our way. That is why among our own people, there are few criminals." Sadly, it was found to be less true than he'd originally thought recently, but he didn't tell her that.

"All right. I can see why they would benefit from sharing information. The problem is that some of them fear Old Joe more than you," she offered.

"We will see what we can find out, and we will not worry about that until we are in a position to question someone."

Viv could see how that was reasonable. Meanwhile, she continued working on her list, and it was growing. She was sure all of these people could not be sent by Joe, but they all needed to be checked out to be sure.

"Would you like to go to lunch with me? It is time, and we both must eat," Carler asked.

"I would be pleased to. Until you said something, I didn't realize it was past lunchtime." Her stomach rumbled in response.

He held the door open. Viv walked through, and he followed. They went to the elevator, even though she gave it a suspicious look.

"The elevator is working perfectly. We already had a technician check out every elevator in the building," he said.

"Are you a mind reader now?"

"If you could see the look on your face, you would know exactly what it meant, too," he chuckled.

That was possible because everything she had seen lately had made her realize how fragile life was. Most would believe she should have realized that when Doug had died. All that had shown her was how tragic fate could be and how your life hung on the roll of the dice. Lately, she had seen how destructive those dice could be. The image of the completely demolished room kept coming to mind. Something had caused all that damage, and she wasn't sure what it was. A bomb would have knocked the windows out, and they seemed to be the only thing intact in the room.

They exited the elevator and headed into the restaurant best known for serving steak. Carler must have been on the same page and wanted a thick steak. Hopefully, nothing would go wrong here because she also wanted a relaxing meal. The waitress came and took their drink orders, and he ordered an appetizer. She really liked mushrooms, so she was sure she would like them.

Their waitress hurried away to put in the order and get their drinks. Many of the managers, and even some that weren't, drank mixed drinks, beer, or even wine with their meals, but she did not. She needed that extra clarity because Viv never knew what would happen next since she had come here. A clear mind was what she needed the most. That was what would probably save her life someday. She was even rethinking her few drinks when she went on vacation. Not that she planned a vacation anytime soon. Her next vacation would be after Joe's senior was dealt with. It wasn't like she could enjoy a trip anyway as long as Doug and what had happened to him were on her mind.

The waitress was back with their drinks and ready to take their orders. Lately, she has really enjoyed a good medium-rare New York strip. A salad, fried potatoes, and a vegetable medley finished the meal. There was a time when she couldn't eat that much, but her appetite had picked up since she had started here. Viv couldn't imagine why, but maybe it was that the appetite of those around her seemed so great.

Carler usually ordered his steak rare, but that was just too bloody for her. It didn't bother her because she knew different people liked their steak differently. Her mother had liked it so well done that it was often like chewing leather. It had to be that way because the slightest hint of blood would upset her greatly. Her mother and her father did not really want children, and as soon as she was eighteen, they moved to the rainforest of all places. She had not seen them since, nor did she really care to.

Why the rainforest? They were biologists, with her dad studying animals and her mom studying plants. Her mother was looking for a cure for cancer. She had trademarked several medications that helped alleviate and one that actually cured one type of cancer. They were career-minded, and children had no place in their lives. She lived in the rainforest for several years, from when she was a little bit older until she was a teenager. Viv was sure they loved her in their own way, even if they never showed it.

Maybe that was one of the reasons that she had gotten so attached to Doug. He had been loving, constantly hugging, kissing, and touching her. He'd given her all the affection that she had missed growing up. That had made losing him even worse because he had filled in the holes in her heart. Viv glanced over at Carler and wondered what kind of childhood he'd had. Had it made him affectionate, or had it made him somebody who kept a distance? It was too early for her to tell.

All the time she'd been thinking, she had worked on her list and saw it had grown. She didn't believe all of these people were a danger, but she did believe that, as well as slipping people in, they did a lousy job on the other people's assessments. It amazed her that no one had checked up on these lists and these people to find out if they would do a good job or not. Maybe she'd not done any better because she had an assistant and a secretary, and even though she shared them with others, she'd not really checked into their background or bothered to see what kind of a job they did.

That was something she would get better at. She needed to take the time to get to know them and to look into their backgrounds and resumes. This was something that could be a fatal flaw. It was important to know the people around you at least as well as they allowed you to. Many of these people, especially in upper management, were guarded and did not let you know much about them. Was that just because they were private, or did they have something to hide? That was what they needed to find out.

She had been thinking a lot while she finished her drink and dessert. Looking at Carler, she saw he was done as well.

"We'd best get back to work. The list has been growing. I'm sure they aren't all traitors, but I'm also sure some of them are," Viv assessed.

"I hope you don't mind that I looked into the new girl, Fingers. She seems to be doing a good job and will start at the college in a month. Her name is Sarah."

"That's a good name. I hope she goes by it now," Viv remarked.

"She will. That is what she listed for her job and the college."

"Good. I hope Sarah does well."

"I believe she will," Carler observed.

Back in the office, they both moved to their desks. Viv intended to get back to work on her list. Finding anyone who didn't belong here was very important. Getting rid of those sabotaging them would help them move forward and deal with Joe Senior. She was so into her work that she didn't even realize it was past the normal time to quit.

"The workday is over. Let me escort you to your room to prepare for supper. Would you let me take you to supper in about an hour?" Carler questioned.

"That sounds nice." She hadn't even been paying attention to what she was saying, but she had agreed to have another meal with him.

Viv knew she was spending entirely too much time with him. She'd already agreed, so she would go. When they got to her room, he spun her around and leaned her against the wall as he gave her a passionate kiss that drove her crazy. This could not keep happening. When he released her, she could barely walk, but she managed somehow to get into her room and then collapsed on the bed. What did this mean?

She quickly showered, changed her clothing, and sat on the bed, waiting for him. It didn't seem like it had been a whole hour before there was a knock on the door. When she opened the door, Carler was there waiting for her.

"Come. Is there any food that you would like to try?"

"Everything that you have taken me to has been great," Viv replied.

"The food here is incredible. All the restaurants were handpicked, as were the employees at the restaurants. I am curious to know if any of the employees and the food establishments are on your list?"

"I've not even gotten into the employees at the food places. I will go through them eventually. There is no reason to think they would be exempt from pressure from Old Joe."

"No, you are right. It just worries me because there are so many possibilities if you can't trust your cook," Carler observed.

Now that he'd said it, it also worried her. The only thing was that if they poisoned people, suspicion would be drawn straight to the kitchen and serving staff. At that point, security, whoever they had working in security by then, would take them into custody.