Chapter 34
Chapter Thirty-Four
Ifound my dad on his way back up to his room. He seemed okay. So I decided to do the opposite of what Sammie wants me to do. I also gave my dad the key to my apartment and told him to go there and not to leave until I came for him. Like I said, I do not need him getting mixed up in this mess.
Thankfully, he trusts me and didn’t even question why I didn’t want him hanging around the casino.
He’s a smart man. All he said was to be careful and that he loved me.
I have never doubted that my father loves me.
I mean, he’s a cop. He knows things about me that could see me locked up on death row.
Yet those things have never changed the way he looks at me.
Which is why I owe it to him to make sure he is safe, and the only way I can do that right now is to keep him far away.
I don’t know where these assholes have taken Sammie’s mother, but I’m going to find her and bring her back in one piece.
I might even deliver their heads to Sammie, save him the job of removing them himself. Because that’s the kind of thing a good girlfriend would do, right?
I have no idea, but I’m thinking it is.
A quick trip in the elevator and I’m helping myself to Sammie’s lair. He did say I could use anything in here. And right now, what I want is the computer and screens. I have no idea where his mother is, but I’m pretty sure she’s still in the building somewhere.
After thirty minutes of watching various floors, I see it.
Or I see him. John. He looks directly up at the camera and smirks, as if he knows I’m watching him.
Jerk. He then walks down the hall. He’s on the sixth floor.
Stopping outside of room 692, he talks to some douche in a suit before he walks inside.
What are you up to, John?
I log into casino’s layout plan and look at the floor he’s on. The adjacent room appears to be vacant. Perfect! I just have to get into it without the goon in the hallway suspecting anything. Good thing I love dressing up and going undercover.
After carefully selecting a few different items from Sammie’s collection, including a couple of smoke bombs and some tear gas, I look longingly at the flame thrower. I’m not too sure Sammie would appreciate me burning his casino down. But it would be so much fun.
I shake my head, and just before I step onto the elevator to go up, my phone pings with an incoming message.
E:
He’s looking for you.
Me:
I have no doubt. I’ll be done in a jiffy.
Pocketing my phone, I head back upstairs and walk into the employee room.
Where I find a housekeeping uniform, change, and then tie up my hair.
I don’t have any wigs on hand, but I do manage to find a baseball cap.
It will have to do. I locate a housekeeping trolley next and push it over to the staff elevator, taking it up to the sixth floor.
Clearly unfazed, Paz follows behind me, doing his best to pretend I don’t exist. That is until we’re closed inside the elevator together.
“Miss Miller, I really think we should discuss this plan of yours with the boss,” he says.
“You know what the great thing about a contract killer is, Paz?” I ask him.
“No, ma’am.”
“You get to be your own boss. I’m not currently under any contract with Mr. Lopez. He’s not my boss right now, so I won’t be discussing my plans with him.” I smile. “But you don’t need to worry. I won’t get you killed.”
“I’m not worried,” Paz says.
“You might not want to get off on this floor, though. It’s swarming with Santiago men,” I tell him right before the doors open and I step out.
He follows me as I head to door 690 and swipe the access card Sammie gave me. I know Paz is about three steps behind my cart.
I turn to him and smile. “Your room will be ready in a jiffy, sir. I just need to check a few things. We’ve had some problems with one of the girls. You can wait inside if you’d like?” I ask while holding the door open.
Paz shakes his head but walks inside anyway. “It’s scary how good you are at thinking on your feet,” he mumbles when I close the door behind me. “What exactly is the plan here?”
“I’m going to save the day, of course.” I shrug. “Now sit down and relax. This won’t take long.”
Am I a little overconfident? Probably, but it doesn’t pay to worry about these things too much. There are only two ways it can go. You can be the victor or the victim, and I don’t plan on ever being the victim.
“Lailani, people actually care about you. Don’t die,” Paz says.
I look at him. “I won’t… Well, I probably won’t,” I correct myself, because again, you never can be too sure. “I know Sammie’s mother is in that room. I’m just going to go in and get her out.”
“How do you know that? They’ve been looking everywhere for that woman,” Paz asks me.
“Just a hunch,” I tell him.
I walk over to the sliding glass door and open it, stepping out and looking both ways. No one is on the balcony. Huh.
I then make my way back to the housekeeping trolley and pick up a duster. I need to get some eyes inside the room next door so I can see what I’m working with.
After affixing my phone to the end of the handle, using a hair scrunchie to secure it, I flick the record button on and position it towards the neighboring balcony while facing the camera towards the glass door. After a couple of seconds, I pull it back and step inside the room.
A message from Sammie pops up on my screen.
I ignore it and watch my little recording.
There are two men in the room, besides John.
I don’t recognize either of them, which tells me they’re not high up on the Santiago food chain.
I have memorized the profiles of all their important members.
I don’t see Sammie’s mother, but that doesn’t mean she’s not in there.
“Paz?” I call out.
“Yeah?” he replies.
“You carrying?”
“Always,” he says, retrieving a pistol from his waist.
“Good, hold on to that. You might need it,” I tell him as I pick up the two smoke bombs from the cart.
I was going to go for the tear gas. But one, I don’t feel like burning the shit out of my own eyes right now. And two, I can take out a handful of guys without needing it.
“Okay, here’s the plan,” I tell Paz as I eye the door that connects the two rooms. Then, instead of actually telling him the plan, I proceed to remove the pins from the smoke bombs, tap the access card against the panel, and throw the smoke bombs inside the moment I am able to unlock the door and tug it open.
I hear a chorus of curses and then I’m barreling my way inside with a gun in each hand.
I aim and fire, hitting goon number one.
A bullet lands in the wall next to my head just as I turn and hit goon number two.
I only get his shoulder but it’s enough to disarm him.
He falls to the ground and then Paz is right behind me, finishing the fucker off.
“Lailani? What the hell is going on?” This comes from John.
“Where is she?” I ask him, my sight trained on his head.
“Who?”
“Miss Russo, where is she?” I lower my aim and shoot out one of his kneecaps.
He screams and falls to the floor. “Ah, fuck. She’s in the bedroom. Asleep. What is this all about?”
“Paz, call E. Tell him where we are. They might want to send an actual cleaner,” I shout over a shoulder.
“On it,” Paz replies.
I walk over to John, connecting my foot with his chest. “What have you done?” I ask him.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about?” he says.
“What is your deal with the Santiagos? And what the fuck do you want from Sammie?”
“Fuck you. I knew you were a fucking bitch,” John spits out.
“What do you want from Sammie?” I repeat. This time, a bullet tears through John’s bicep.
“Argh, fucking hell. It’s not me. It’s Santiago. He wants The Strip. I didn’t have a choice. He was going to kill me if I didn’t help him.”
“He wants The Strip? That’s it?”
“That’s it,” John says.
“Cool chat.” I fire a bullet between his eyes, and then the door to the room is bursting open. My gun lowers when I see Emmanuel, Sammie, and Louie all staring back at me. “Do I have something on my face?” I ask before wiping at my cheek.