5. Nik

CHAPTER 5

Nik

The casino-hotel’s back entrance reeks of industrial detergent and cigarette smoke, a far cry from the glamorous facade the Golden Sands presents to its guests arriving around the front. I keep one hand on Holden’s arm as we slip through the service corridor, past towering carts of soiled linens.

My nerves are practically singing with tension. Every second we waste is another second Brie spends alone with the Colombos. But we have to be careful. I have to keep it together so I can make sure Holden keeps it together. He’s too jumpy, even now.

“This way,” Holden whispers, tugging me toward a narrow passage between laundry bins. “The service elevator is just past?—”

“Holden?” We both freeze at the sound of Phil Reynolds’ voice. The casino manager steps out from behind a stack of clean towels. “What’s going on? I saw Brie being rushed through the lobby by Frank and the others a little while ago. Is she alright?”

The thought of those men trying to break her spirit makes something primal rise in my chest. “Where did they take her?” I demand.

He blinks at me. “Conference room, I think.” Phil glances over his shoulder as though a Colombo thug might be creeping up behind him, then adds, “Though I heard Juno Bianchi and Caitlin O’Sullivan have requested her presence later tonight. That happened in the lobby, too.”

Juno Bianchi. If she’s involved, Brie has powerful allies in play. Still, it won’t mean anything if I can’t get to her in time.

I study Reynolds’s face, weighing my options. How much do I trust him? He might be embezzling from the casino, but he might not. And do I really think this guy is a potential killer?

If he’s a bad guy, then we’re already cooked anyway, because he knows we’re here. And if I can get Holden to that security room, at least there will be safety in numbers—there are always a dozen security guards in there watching the floor, plus if I can get a few more…

“The casino security guards—are any of them independent from the Colombos?” I ask Reynolds.

A flash of indignation crosses his features. “All our security personnel are privately employed by the casino-hotel. We maintain strict neutrality in Family matters.”

“I need men who won’t hesitate to protect someone against Colombo interference.” The fluorescent lights flicker overhead, casting strange shadows across the wall of the hallway. “Men who can be trusted.”

“I can’t ask them to risk their lives—” he starts again.

“I don’t expect they’ll have to.” I gesture to Holden. My patience is wearing thin—every minute we spend here is another minute Brie is in danger. “I just need them to keep him hidden in the security room for a few hours. That’s all. I want people who will turn away any Colombos who come looking for him.”

Phil looks relieved. Holden doesn’t.

“You said you’d watch out for me!” Holden’s voice cracks with panic. He looks so young suddenly. “I don’t want to hide away in the security room. I don’t want to be here at all?—”

I turn to him, take him by the shoulders. “You’ll be fine—the Colombos aren’t after you.” The unspoken ‘yet’ hangs between us. “And you need to work on that footage. Me? I need to find Brie and make sure she’s okay. While I’m doing that, you need to be okay, too.”

Phil leads us through a maze of service corridors, past the hidden machinery that keeps the hotel running smoothly. Everything in this world has two faces. The glitter up front, and the grime behind the scenes, just like one of the Las Vegas shows she used to dance in. Brie and I have that in common—we both know about playing the roles we’re given.

The security hub is a technological fortress, walls lined with monitors showing every corner of the casino. I scan them quickly, looking for any glimpse of Brie, but she must still be in that conference room. Or…

No. I won’t even think that. She’s fine; she’s fine and she’s waiting for me.

Phil calls in a few of what he calls his security guards and lets me give them a good look over. They seem decent enough. And as much as I’m committed to seeing Holden safe, my number one priority is getting to Brie. “Alright,” I say, after a long pause. Then I beckon them in closer and tell them in a low voice, “If anything happens to Holden Brooks, please understand that you will be answering to me.” I stare each of them in the face, watch them take it in, and then usher Holden over to a corner where he can log in to a computer.

I watch Phil watching Holden work, and wonder what’s going through his head. He glances up, feeling my eyes on him. “You have my silence,” he says quietly. “I’ve never spilled secrets before. I don’t intend to start now. I know how things work around here.”

It’s not as reassuring as he means it to be, but I’ll take it. “The conference room—how do I get there?”

Phil hesitates, then says, “Come with me.” I make sure Holden is settled in and then follow Phil out the door, back toward the main floor of the casino, then down another corridor, where he leads me to the private elevator. He swipes his card and hits the call button, then leans in after me once it’s arrived. “Second floor,” he says, and presses the button for me. “You can come down again, but you can’t go up without the access card. So?—”

The doors slide shut on the tail of his sentence.

—make it count.

The elevator rises silently, and I use these precious seconds to center myself. I check my weapon one last time as the elevator comes to a stop, and then the doors slide open quietly, revealing the dimly lit corridor leading to the conference room.

But as I step out into the hallway, I hear footsteps coming from just around the corner, and I dart to the nearest doorway, praying that it will open. It does, and I slip inside a linen storage room, just before those footsteps round the corner. I wait until they pass by, then I crack the door.

Sophie Johnson is being hurried along by one of the Colombos’ men, heading fast toward the conference room door.

What the hell?