3. Chapter 1

I"m rushing around in my apartment, packing for the trip to Las Vegas. One of my besties, Hailey, is turning thirty and wants to celebrate big time. Her dad upgraded our flights and our rooms in Vegas, and I"m excited to have fun there. My phone dings, and I expect it to be one of the girls in the group chat. Everyone is in high spirits because of the trip.

Douchebag: Do you have my money?

I hesitated whether to answer him or just ignore him. His tone has been getting harsher, and he"s been treating me like I"m trash.

Douchebag: I"ll ruin your life if you don"t pay up.

Me: I don"t have it yet. You"ll need to wait.

I can"t help adding that last part, but I know I should be careful. He"s volatile right now, and I don"t want to set him off. He was never like this when we were together. I guess life changes you sometimes. In his case, for worse.

A loud banging startles me from my thoughts, and a shiver of fear runs through me. That can"t be him, can it?

The impatient drum of the door tells me it probably is him. Should I call the police? I hurry to the front door because I don"t want him to bother the neighbors. But, witnesses, you know. I open the door, and Bradley is there, face all red in rage.

"Why are you here, Brad?"

"We need to talk."

"There"s nothing to talk about. You"re blackmailing me, and I"m trying to get together the money to pay you."

"It"s taking too long."

He pushes me from the doorway and lets himself into my apartment. This worries me because he"s bigger and stronger than me. Things I used to appreciate about him, but not any longer.

"Make yourself at home, why don"t you?" I mutter under my breath and close the door.

"Do you have any liquor? I need a drink."

"No, I do not. And you shouldn"t be drinking this early in the day, either. You'll get fired from your position at the bank."

"That"s old news. Besides, they didn"t appreciate me."

"You got fired?"

"Where"s the money, Amber?" Bradley gets up in my face. "As you can understand now, I need it."

"I don"t really have that kind of money available, Brad. I"m sorry."

"Does it look like I care about that? You can get it from multiple places. You can get a loan, you can borrow from your precious 401K, or you could ask one of your wealthy friends to give it to you. All I know is if I don"t get that 20k, your life is going to be in shambles."

"Brad…"

He reaches out and puts his hand around my neck. He squeezes slightly, but I can still breathe. He"s making a point.

"I think—" I gulp, "I think I can get it this weekend. I"m going to Las Vegas."

He loosens his grip but doesn"t let me go. "Back to your old tricks, huh? Just don"t get caught." He squeezes tight once more and then releases me.

"I never got caught." I breathe in a rush of air into my lungs.

"Next time, have some liquor in here."

He rushes to the door and slams it behind him.

Can I make those twenty thousand dollars on the tables in Vegas? I can, but I"ll have to be careful. I don"t even know how I"m going to separate from the girls to do it. I"ll figure something out. Meanwhile, I need to get back to packing. I massage my neck where he held me and pray there are no visible marks there tomorrow. Maybe I'll wear a turtleneck.

We"ve boarded the plane and are enjoying the First Class experience. Everyone is gossiping because Gemma got seated next to a hottie. I"m glad I am seated apart from the group, so I don"t have to make any small talk during the trip. I"m still reeling from yesterday"s attack and am making a list of excuses in my head that I can offer to get away from the others for a few hours every day. Maybe if I split the winnings between three or four casinos, no one will notice.

Once we"ve landed and gone to the hotel – Hailey"s dad set us up in suites – we decide to go to the pool. We all packed swimsuits for this occasion, but not one of us intended to actually go into the pool. Well, except for Hailey, who is now doing laps. What is she thinking? Her hair is destroyed. She"ll have to do it for tonight.

She swims over to the side of the pool and just stares at us as if we"re some sort of museum display.

"So none of you are coming inside the pool?"

"No!" We answer in unison.

She just huffs and continues to do her laps. Next to me, Meghan is sipping a margarita. She"s the quiet one of us, along with Gemma. Today, I"ve been very quiet, which is unusual for me.

"Do you think she"ll like the surprise?" Meghan asks.

"She just told us it"s her adventure and not to spoil it. I think it"s the perfect present for her."

"What are we going to do while she"s in that room with her "client"?"

"Apart from ogling all the semi-naked guys? Get drunk, I guess. We"ll see how it goes." I say.

Their faces relax once more because that"s a typical response they"d get from me. I know I"ve been acting weird.

"The software seems to be working properly as my team configured it," I say as I reassure Kelly that all systems are a go now that my team has installed the software we customized for his casino. I keep watch on several of the cameras and wait for the system to report anything amiss.

"Thank you so much for this, Jason. I"m glad to do business with you. I trust you."

Those are big words coming from a casino owner in Vegas. We"ve been friends since college, and we"ve kept in touch throughout the years. When I settled on security software, Kelly started hassling me to get a system for his place. It was a big account, and my company was still small initially, so I stalled until I felt I was in a better position to serve him.

"It was finally time to do it. You"ll see a noticeable difference in a week or two."

The software my company wrote is heavily influenced by AI, and it can tell when a player is cheating. I was lucky to hire an amazing team of programmers who could customize it to the casino"s specifications. This will save Kelly tens of thousands of dollars every week.

My phone pings with a security breach notification, and I frown. The system gives me the location of the possible threat. I look at the monitors searching and see her, the most gorgeous woman I have ever laid my eyes on, and my software tells me she"s counting cards. I made a spur-of-the-moment decision to remove all traces of the alert from the system. I need to get to her.

Kelly, however, wants to keep talking business. I oblige him, but I keep my eyes on screen 17, showing the blackjack table.

"Now that you"re finished setting everything up, will you leave Vegas or stay for a bit? You should have some fun. You work too hard, my friend."

"Maybe something or someone will catch my interest. Who knows."

"Let me know so I can extend your stay at the hotel," Kelly says.

"Thanks, that"d be great. I"m going to be in my office for a bit."

When we arrived, Kelly gave me and my team temporary offices in the building. It"s been a godsend because I need my own space to think. I now walk into my office and take my jacket off. I also yank my tie loose and log into the security system.

The woman is there, and she"s still winning. Should I let her steal from my friend? Who is she, and why is she doing this? She doesn't have the look of a casino swindler. She"s very careful. If my system weren"t programmed to find out exactly what she was doing, no one would have caught her. Am I going to catch her?

It doesn"t take long until I"m leaving my office to go find this woman on the casino floor.