Chapter Twenty-Nine Wildcard

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE: WILDCARD

Trouble and I head to the casino floor to find Reggie. He's a prospect, like Max, but he's been working here longer. He's Angelica's man and will probably be Angel's step-father one day. We brought Reggie into the fold, hoping Angelica would stay close. But we're finding Reggie to be more than we expected. Knowing that fake Max has been harassing women with impunity, I don't feel comfortable trusting anyone but Reggie. Something we'll rectify soon. But first, we need to find fake Max and take him to The Pit for Chill. When we find Reggie, I tell him what we've learned about fake Max.

"Son of a bitch, I've seen him," Reggie admits.

"Today?"

"No, not today. I think I saw him yesterday, or the day before. I thought he was Max. He was far enough away from me he didn't see me wave. I figured he was here to pick up an Old Lady or one of the kids. Shit."

"Don't beat yourself up. None of us noticed him either. He's been here for several weeks."

I answer my phone when I see Chill's name. She tells me what they've found about fake Max. "His name is Walt Turner. He's scheduled to start at 3:00. It's almost that time. Let's spread out and search for him. Max, the real Max, is upstairs with Brigit."

We split up and wander the floor. I see Bianca and make my way to her station. She's talking with two other servers and a bartender. When she sees me, she gestures me over.

"I was telling them about how Max isn't a member of the club."

"Not the man you know of as Max," I clarify. "His real name is Walt Turner. We're looking for him. He's scheduled to work at 3:00. If you see him, don't approach him. Just let one of us know. Okay?"

Bianca and the others nod as I continue my circuit. We're coming up on three. He should be in the building. I've made one circuit when my phone buzzes again. This time it's Spark.

"He just clocked in. I see him on the security feed. He's in receiving."

"Watch him. I'm getting the others."

Spotting Chill, I gesture her over. "Spark found him. He's in receiving. Grab Trouble and I'll grab Reggie."

"We'll surround him and take him to The Pit?" Chill asks.

I grin at her.

"Hot damn!" She jogs off in search of Trouble.

I spot Reggie as he's making his way toward me. "Saw Chill. She told me where to find you. Should I request backup?"

"No. We don't know if he's working alone. I have a hard time believing that he's avoided security without help. We'll find out. In the meantime. The four of us can take him. Let's go."

I get Spark back on the phone. "Is he still there?"

"Yeah. I logged into the system. He's entered his employee number, but he's also entering several others. What the hell is he doing?"

"I don't know. That's a question Chill will ask him when she gets her hands on him."

Receiving is our hub for all deliveries to the casino and the hotel. It's a smart place to use the computer. The bay is usually empty unless we have a delivery. Then whoever is working the delivery is too busy to pay attention to anything else. I see Trouble and Chill coming from the opposite direction. We'll reach Walt at the same time. I can see enough of his profile to understand how so many mistook this asshole for our Max. His focus isn't on his surroundings, but on the computer. He doesn't sense us. Fucking idiot.

Chill, being the SOA, takes the lead. She doesn't give him a chance to defend himself. She kicks his knee hard. We hear a pop as he buckles. Before he can scream, she has him in a chokehold. He passes out seconds later. Dropping him to the floor, she pulls out two thick zip ties and binds his wrists behind him before moving to his feet. She tosses him into a nearby supply closet before taking out her phone.

"Max, need you to grab the SUV. We have cargo to load up in receiving."

The staff unloading a meat and poultry delivery for the restaurants ignores us as they hustle to get the truck unloaded. When they're done, the truck drives off and we're alone in the warehouse. Max reverses into the now empty spot and hops out of the SUV, along with Brigit and Viper. I send Max the stink eye for bringing Brigit with them.

He holds his hands up. "I couldn't stop her without hog tying her to the desk. Besides, I think you need to hear what she has to say."

I fold my arms as Brigit approaches. "You shouldn't be here. Club business."

She positions herself so that she's facing me with her back is to activity going on behind her. Viper and Max carry Walt's limp form to the SUV and toss him inside as if he were a sack of flour. Brigit's eyes never leave mine.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I just came down here to tell you what I've found. The HR person Chill fired entered herself into the system as an employee. She received a paycheck from 1% and the temp agency. The check goes into the same account as Walt's. But that's not all. Bianca came to see me. She said several girls Walt was harassing left the casino. However, when I checked their names, they are still listed as active employees. Their checks are going into the same account."

"Fuck," I say, rubbing my hand over my face. "They've been stealing from us?"

"It's worse than that, "Brigit says. "I tried contacting the two employees Bianca mentioned. Their phones are inactive. So, I tried calling their emergency contacts. The girls are missing. No one has seen them since their last shift here."

I glare at the SUV as Max drives off. Chill and Viper walk toward us.

"Did she tell you?" Chill asks. I nod.

"Need to alert Spark. See if he can get us our money back. In the meantime…" I stop talking when my phone buzzes. "What the fuck now?" I growl, answering it because it's coming from the front desk.

"Wildcard, this is Alex at the front desk. Becky is helping a gentleman who is asking several questions about a woman who recently stayed with us. Becky alerted me that the woman was here as Alisa's guest."

My heart freezes at his words. "Don't give out any information. Keep him there. I'm headed to security."

"I would never betray a guest of Alisa's," Alex assures me, but I end the call and call Spark. When he picks up, I grab Brigit's hand. "I need you to get eyes on the front desk. Becky is talking to someone who is asking questions about Brigit. I need to know who it is. Might be Sully."

Brigit tenses next to me, but she follows without hesitation when I pull her to the elevator. We take it up to the second floor and I guide her into the security office that houses our monitors. Reggie jumps into action and commandeers a monitor. He clicks several keys before we get a visual on the front desk. We can see Becky, but the man she's talking to has his back to us. He's wearing a long wool coat. Two men flank him. He isn't Sully. So who the fuck is he? Reggie clicks a couple more keys and splits the screen so we can see them from a different angle. Brigit sucks in a breath next to me. I turn to look at her.

"That's Misha in the middle. I recognize him. Along with his two goons. They're the ones who chased me out of the building after he shot Mike."

"Confirmed," says Spark and I realize I put him on speaker.

"What should we do?" Brigit asks me. Her eyes are wide with fear. "He found me."

"Shit. We need to get you out of here."

"Wait," Chills says, which earns her a growl from me.

"Why is he here? Think about it. Sully went looking for her at the clubhouse. If he's working for Misha, like we think he is, then Misha would look for her there. Maybe he knows she's here. He could be setting a trap."

"You think if we leave, he'll have his men waiting for us?" I ask.

Chill shrugs. "I would. We have the advantage here and at the clubhouse. The only time Brigit is vulnerable would be between here and there."

"What do you suggest?"

"Killing two birds. We capture Misha and his men, then get him to confess to murdering Brigit's boss."

"We'll need to involve the cops," Viper says. "It's the only way to get the charges dropped against her."

"Call Rafe and get him to come down here. Tell him what we're trying to accomplish," I direct Viper, who steps away to make the call. "We need to figure out how to get him to confess."

"The only way is to confront him and I'm the only one who can do it," Brigit says. I swear my heart stops.