4. Four #2
“No.” Ryder vehemently shook his head. “I never agreed to that.”
“Well, then I guess it’s good you don’t have a choice in the matter.” Tallulah linked her arm through Ryder’s in a wholly unfriendly manner. “Why don’t I show you to the exit?”
“That’s where I was trying to go.” Ryder started toward the door that led to the casino floor, but Tallulah tugged him back.
“No.” She clucked her tongue. “I was talking about the back exit.” She pointed down the hallway. At the far end, an external exit led to the parking garage.
“I’m not leaving.” Ryder was firm. “You can’t make me.”
I opened my mouth to suggest calling Rex—if anybody could handle this problem, he could—but voices exiting a storage room caught my attention to my right.
“As you can see, we’re a well-oiled machine here at Stone Casino,” Ruby Stone announced in her tour guide voice.
“If you want to invest in a casino, this is the one you should invest in. We have grand plans for an amphitheater and additional parking. We’ve already secured the property.
By the time we’re finished, Stone Casino is going to be the biggest and best casino on the Strip. ”
That was her saleswoman voice. I recognized it.
Ruby was all sarcasm and snark … unless she was trying to sell something.
I knew, thanks to gossip running rampant through the casino, that Stone Group—the company that owned Stone Casino—was looking for investors for its next big project.
Ryder had left his family in something of a financial bind, thanks to his embezzlement.
The investors were important, and Ruby was giving a group of them a casino tour. The last thing she needed—the last thing any of us needed—was Ryder making a scene. I opened my mouth and glanced at Tallulah. Now was not the time to fight with her. We needed to work together.
She was already two steps ahead of me. That was how she’d always been. She was smart and thought on her feet better than most anybody I knew. “Storage room,” she blurted, angling her head toward the door five feet in front of us.
I didn’t hesitate. It was our only option. I grabbed Ryder’s other arm, and together, we muscled him toward the door.
“What are you doing?” Ryder sputtered, his voice ratcheting up a notch. “Stop it!” He slapped at Tallulah’s hand.
I put my muscles into it and shoved with everything I had.
Somehow—I’m not quite sure how—we managed to get him through the door and into the storage room.
It was a huge space and had table linens and bedding in bins as far as the eye could see.
I shoved harder when Ryder tried to fight me and claw his way back toward the door.
Tallulah, clearly realizing that Ryder was going to start yelling, slapped one of her hands over his mouth. I grabbed the hand Ryder aimed at her in an attempt to free himself, and we managed to get him to the far end of the storage room. There, we covered his mouth and held him tight.
“How long do you think they’re going to be out there?” Tallulah asked after several minutes. She looked worried.
I was right there with her. “We can’t risk letting him go.”
“If I’m late for work, my boss is going to give me a hard time.”
I was expected on the casino floor in less than five minutes. I could explain myself to Rex—he would, without a doubt, thank me—but I didn’t want to go that route. “Look for something to tie him up with.”
Tallulah’s eyebrows practically flew off her forehead. “Are you being serious?”
“Do you have a better idea?” I was matter of fact. “We can tie him up, and I can tell Rex what is going on when I get back to the casino floor. I think it’s our only move.”
Ryder tried to argue with me through Tallulah’s hand, but all that came out was a muffled series of sounds.
Tallulah didn’t think about it long. “Okay, but I would rather not go to jail because of Ryder freaking Stone.”
I was right there with her. “Just do it.”
IN THE END, TALLULAH FOUND ZIP TIES . We bound his wrists and ankles and stuffed a cloth napkin in his mouth to stifle his yells. He was furious when we left him in the back corner. He wouldn’t be able to walk to the door, so we were safe. For now.
“Whew.” Tallulah wiped a hand over her forehead. “That was a workout.”
I smirked and ushered her ahead of me as we made our way toward the exit. “We’ll make him Rex’s problem.”
“I’m fine with that.” She paused before opening the door. “For once, it was a pleasure doing business with you.” She almost sounded as if she was flirting.
I opened my mouth to say something back, but I couldn’t think of anything. I had no intention of flirting. I could be pleasant, though. When Tallulah opened the door, all notion of responding fled because her boss—Kyla Conners—was on the other side of the door.
The woman—she’d been management for a long time—did a double take when she saw us walking out of the storage room together. There was no explaining what we were doing because any explanation would’ve sounded bad. Thanks to that, I smiled at her and said nothing.
Tallulah’s cheeks immediately turned red. “I’m on my way to the high rollers pit,” she blurted, her voice unnaturally shrill.
Kyla didn’t immediately respond. Instead, she glanced between us. When she did speak, she said the one thing I wasn’t expecting.
“You’re not allowed to fraternize on company property with other employees.”
My initial instinct was to deny that was what we’d been doing. Admitting to what we had really been up to was somehow worse, though.
Tallulah took the bull—er, her boss—by the horns. “Thanks for the tip,” she said dryly.
“Make sure you don’t break the rules.” Kyla’s voice held a warning. “I would hate to have to report you to Human Resources.” With that, she shuffled down the hallway away from us.
“She seems to really like you,” I said for lack of anything better to say.
Tallulah merely shrugged. “She doesn’t think less of me than she already did. It’s fine.”
“Are you sure?” I hesitated before continuing. “I could have Rex smooth things over.”
Tallulah vehemently shook her head. “No, she’s already annoyed that he stepped in for me a few days ago. She hates me. Just let it go.”
“It’s not your fault,” I insisted. “We did the right thing.”
“Yes, well, it’s done.” She held out her hands. “You’ll tell Rex, right? I might not like Ryder, but I don’t want him dying in there.”
“I’ll tell Rex,” I promised. “It’s top on my list.”
“Then I guess I’ll see you around.” She turned and headed down the hallway without looking over her shoulder.
I watched her go, my stomach tight with anxiety that had nothing to do with Ryder and everything to do with her. “Yeah, I guess I’ll see you around.”