10. Hamsters Doing Blow
Chapter 10
Hamsters Doing Blow
MARCO
J ealousy hit my gut, but it was mixed with something else. Something that made my hardening dick jerk painfully.
What the fuck?
I took the cowardly way out and ignored the rush, grateful for the suit jacket that covered where it stretched down my thigh.
When we walked from the kitchen, I silently cursed. Callie wasn’t alone with Joey. A couple of other employees waited to walk out together.
It still gives us the chance to make sure Benson isn’t down there.
“We can escort anyone headed for the garage,” Cole offered.
Joey looked relieved for the assist. “I’ll take the rest directly to the side entrance for the shuttle.”
As the group split, it took all my control to stop from smirking. Only one person was going to the garage.
Callie.
Couldn’t have planned this any fucking better if I tried. We get time with only her, and the coincidence doesn’t throw up red flags that can blow back in our faces—hers included.
She twisted the strap of her bag as she waited for Freddy to make sure the door locked behind us. “Where’s Manny? Should we wait for him?”
“He stays later to deal with paperwork bullshit,” Freddy explained.
“Oh. That sucks for him.”
“It’s part of being a manager. And don’t feel bad. He’s paid well, chéri.”
I shot him a glare over her head.
The accent and the nickname should be against the rules.
He flipped me off, quickly turning it into a cheek scratch when Callie looked at him. “Are you sure we shouldn’t wait?”
She doesn’t want to be alone with us.
Getting the same idea, Freddy offered, “We can have another security guard join us.”
“No!” At her sharp denial, she forced a smile. “It’s fine. I’m just worried about him alone with all this craziness.”
“No one is getting in there without the correct code and fingerprint,” Cole reassured.
“And he’ll have security when he leaves, same as everyone else,” Freddy added.
She visibly relaxed—minus twisting that damn bag. “Okay, good.”
Christ, she’s sweet.
Most Vegas residents were selfish. Jaded. It was impossible to survive the place without a thick layer of armor that protected an even thicker skin. Tourists could be softer, but usually that included being annoying as fuck.
Cole and I were silent as we kept our eyes on our surroundings while we moved through the building to the elevator that would take us to the garage. Freddy was also silent, but it likely had to do with the fact Callie was trying to stay with our little group while also doing her best to pretend none of us were there.
Once we were shut in the elevator, she let out a soft laugh. “This is intense. I feel like we’re in an action movie.”
Imagine how much more intense it would be if I hit the emergency stop button, and we do as Freddy said and offer to go down.
I cleared my throat and made sure my jacket was still in place. “Everyone’s being careful.”
“Do you think something is going on? That there’s a”—she cutely lowered her voice even though it was just the four of us in the elevator—“ serial killer ?”
“No clue. But it doesn’t hurt to be cautious.”
“Especially if you live alone,” Cole added.
“I don’t,” she said. I wanted her to offer more but was willing to ask, but before either could happen, the elevator dinged. “Wow, I think that’s the first time I didn’t stop at every floor for people to get on and off.”
I wasn’t surprised by the lack of interruption. Once my fingerprint was scanned, no one else could summon the elevator until we were off.
The doors slid open, and she stepped off without hesitation. I snagged her by the waist and immediately repositioned her behind me. Cole inched out and scanned one way while I did the same and covered the other.
“Next time, don’t leave till we give the all clear,” I ordered.
She didn’t argue that she was an adult or dismiss our precaution. Since she wasn’t a dumbass, she instantly agreed. “Right, sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”
“Where’s your car?” Freddy asked.
As she walked, she lowered her head to dig around in her bottomless pit of a packed bag. She might not have been a headstrong dumbass, but she wasn’t thinking defensively. Her position left herself vulnerable again—not just to serial killers or everyday freaks, but to getting hit by a damn car as she walked without paying attention.
“Callie,” I bit out.
Her head snapped up to meet my gaze.
I wanted to make my voice gentle, but more than that, I wanted her to stay alive, which meant my words were a gruff order. “Watch where you’re going. And come out to the garage with your keys already in your hand.”
“I do,” she said. “Usually. The watching part and the keys part. I used to hold them between my fingers like a dollar store Wolverine, but then I read that actually could do more damage to me than an attacker. So now I just carry them. But you guys… and this whole thing… I was thrown off my routine. I usually do have them out, though.”
“Good girl,” I said before I could catch myself.
Her lips parted into a perfect O, but Freddy interjected—either to save me from her handing me my own ass or to cockblock me if that landed well. “Your car?”
She finally pulled her keys free. I expected to see lights flash when she unlocked a vehicle, but it didn’t happen. She didn’t have a fob with buttons. Or an alarm to disengage.
Or a car.
Because there was no way that the bucket of rusty bolts she approached could ever be called a car. Not a safe one. Fuck, I wasn’t even sure it was a drivable one.
She used the key to unlock the door, and the creak echoed in the garage as she opened it. The old-school window crank had fallen off, and the entire door didn’t look far behind.
Cole might’ve been the tech guy, but I was the car one. Classic, muscle, functional, sports cars… I liked them all. I wasn’t rebuilding anything from the frame up, but I could get by.
I wanted to demand she pop the hood so I could see what chewing gum, string, and coked-up hamster on a wheel powered that thing. I wanted to demand she step away before it exploded. Or before the rust scratched her perfect skin.
I nearly did, too.
When I involuntarily took a step toward her, Cole grabbed the back of my jacket to halt my progress. His voice was barely audible. “Don’t.”
Callie paused. “Thank you for walking me to my car. Be safe walking to yours.” Her cheeks flushed under the bright fluorescent lights. “Of course you will be. Look who I’m talking to.”
“Drive careful, chéri,” Freddy said.
“Thanks. You, too. Too as in also, not that I’m telling only two of you to drive carefully. I… See you in a couple of days.” We stayed in place as she hurriedly got in and slammed the door. It sounded like a jackhammer being run over by a tractor when the engine turned. She pulled out and took off without another glance our way.
“The inspection sticker is new,” Cole said as we started back across the space.
I’d noticed. I just had no clue why he was pointing it out.
He explained without me asking. “Which means it’s at least passably safe. I’d love the advantage of you sticking your foot in your mouth, but not when it would make her feel bad if that’s what she can afford.”
“Good looking out.”
He pressed the elevator button. “This was your one courtesy.”
“Does that mean I get one?” Freddy asked.
“You used your freebie when I picked your drunk ass up before. If I knew Callie was who had your taint in a twist, I would’ve left you there to suffer.” The doors opened, and we stepped on before Cole asked him, “You going to your car?”
“Are you?” he shot back, looking back and forth between us.
“I want to see if anything dinged on my searches,” Cole said.
My restless energy, paired with my wandering thoughts, didn’t speak to good things.
I didn’t share that. “Fine scotch and finer video games. Unless Cole finds something, then maybe breaking fingers.”
Freddy pressed the button for the office level rather than the one for his car.
Once we got upstairs, he flopped onto the couch. “Sure, I’ll take a scotch. Thanks for offering.”
“Don’t remember doin’ that,” I muttered even as I moved to the fridge built into the shelves to pour three glasses.
“Hey, if I don’t remember getting married, one little drink offer is easy to forget.”
I set one on the corner of Cole’s desk away from his setup so he didn’t accidentally knock it over and ruin his keyboard.
Again.
I handed the other to Freddy who raised it in a small salute before drinking. “I forgot how nice it is not to be the one serving.”
“Maybe don’t jump behind the bars you’re supposed to be drinking at,” Cole muttered distractedly.
“That’s no fun.”
I tossed Freddy a video game controller before grabbing one for myself. “Anything, Cole?”
When the FBI and cops had questioned Ash the day prior, they’d let it slip that there was a connection between a Moonlight employee and Eternal Sun—the cult they were investigating. Cole was digging in to see if he could find it.
“Nothing pinged on the vetting reports.” It must not have been his only plan because he kept typing.
“Didn’t figure it would.”
Since there were no shortage of greedy assholes who thought they could make Ocean’s Eleven into a reality, the hiring process included more than just a basic background check. If there was something questionable there, they wouldn’t be an employee in the first place.
“I created an algorithm to do a deep dive through socials, tagged photos, check-ins, and all that of current employees.” Cole went into more details about the if-then statements, syntax, nesting, and other shit I couldn’t even begin to grasp. His words cut off suddenly when he looked up to see two blank expressions. “I’ve got nothing so far.”
“That’s all you had to say,” I muttered.
“For all we know, someone from half a decade ago worked here for a single shift, and the FBI is grasping at straws. But I’ll keep looking.”
I didn’t envy him. Tech of any kind frustrated the shit outta me. Instead, my job was intimidating people or hanging with Juliet.
Who was entertaining as hell, even when she was also being frustrating as hell.
And I got to spend the night kicking Freddy’s ass at Mario Kart —the only game he played—while Cole nerded out.
I got the better end of the deal.
It was late, and we were about to call it quits when something dinged.
“Huh,” Cole muttered. “Well, shit. If you want something private, don’t post it online. Especially if you have a talkative sister.” He clicked around a few times, and four of the monitors on the wall came to life next to our game. A picture of a familiar-looking woman filled them.
“That’s Tess,” Freddy said, though the name on the post didn’t reflect that. “She worked at Parisian Crescent before moving back home a few weeks ago.”
Cole typed more. “This Facebook account is under an alias and locked down. No photo, no public likes, posts, or friends. Even this picture was edited with the shit emoji over his face and the crying one over hers. That stuff is easy to lift, though.”
“How’d you find it?” I asked.
“Her sister took a screenshot and shared it to a Reddit group for families of cult members. It didn’t say the place by name, but I recognize the building.”
I looked at Freddy. “What do you know about Tess?”
“She came to work at Moonlight after her divorce. No prior experience, but a hard worker. Nothing popped on her vetting, and she never caused any issues before.”
“It wouldn’t pop because this isn’t the kinda thing that leaves a paper trail. And there could be no issues now, either,” Cole said. “The post her sister had screenshotted was Tess acknowledging her divorce, ranting about how she was kicked out of her home with nothing to her name, and being happy that she’s back in Ohio with people who actually care about her. She doesn’t exactly sound like someone who’d be doing Eternal Sun any favors. Plus, her sister’s posts confirm she was booted a couple of years ago. This was shared to tell people not to give up hope.”
“So it was just another coincidence the feds were trying to build into a criminal case,” Freddy said as he pressed play on the game without warning me.
“Looks like it.” Cole turned the monitors off.
“Wait.” I tossed the controller aside, not caring that my kart was knocked into a castle wall. “Turn that back on.”
He did as I ordered. “What?”
“Upper left. Zoom in and focus.”
“Am I a hacker in a corny-as-hell movie?”
“Enhance. Enhance. Enhance,” Freddy joked.
I wasn’t laughing, though.
Acid tumbled in my gut as I waited for the pixelation to improve.
Once it did, confirming what—or rather who —I thought I’d seen, we all sat forward. And then we all leaned back in disbelief.
“ Merde .”
What he said.