Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
SHE DIDN’T WANT TO leave Bobby. Not back then and not now. If she were honest with herself, she wanted to keep him in that bedroom and make up for lost time. But she still had a job to do and still had people to whom she had to answer. Regardless of what Marshall Donavon Ashland thought or said.
And he had a lot to say, all of it in harsh whispers as they walked so no one would hear them.
“You know that the Serrano family are the ones who did that second ping, right?” he asked as they slipped into the elevator, punching the button for her floor and keeping anyone else from joining them in the car. “They’ll be wondering why someone ran a search on a sixteen-year-old girl.”
She sighed as she fell back on the wall, ignoring the sign promising crab legs at the buffet. “I already thought of that. But it’s too late to do anything about that now.” She shook her head. “I still can’t believe they’re still monitoring my family. It’s been fifteen years. What’s the point?”
“People dreaming of revenge possess a long memory,” he told her. “And the Serranos never tolerate betrayal of any kind. They’ve killed for less. Before his son took over the family business, he would have had to swear to get their type of justice for his father.”
The elevator reached their floor, and the doors slid open. She stepped out first, Donovan right on her heels.
“I still say staying here is a bad idea,” he said as he followed her, taking a quick glance up and down the hallway. “You’re putting yourself unnecessarily at risk. We need to get you somewhere safe until we figure this out.”
“We’re surrounded by security from three different teams, including mine,” she told him. “And some of those are former SEALs. I think we’re about as safe as we can be, don’t you?”
“Famous last words,” he muttered as she reached for the doorknob to the security room.
As soon as she stepped inside, Roman rushed her.
“Where the hell have you been? You were supposed to be here an hour ago.” And then he came to an abrupt stop as he glanced at Donovan, his brow rising.
His gaze dropped to the badge at the man’s waist. “And I see you still have company. And he wears a badge.” He glanced at Delaney. “So, what’s going on?”
The surveillance room always felt colder than it should have, as the fluorescent lights buzzed overhead like insects drunk on static.
Every wall held a bank of screens, black-and-white feeds spooling silently from every corner of the casino like ghost stories waiting to be told while men sat and watched, already looking bored out of their minds.
Delaney sighed. “That’s a good question, but one I can’t answer right now. Tell me how it’s going here?” She stood stiffly with her arms folded, eyes narrowed as she raked her gaze over the screens.
Roman looked at the marshal for a moment longer, then turned to Delaney, shoving his questions to the side for the moment, thankfully.
“Well, I asked Director Boudreaux again about the man we saw yesterday, and he doesn’t recognize him.
He’s not on the security staff here. Or match any of their contractor files. ”
“And he’s not with the Silvers,” she said. “We just left there.”
Roman’s brow pinched. “You were with the Silvers? Why?” He glanced back at the marshal, and it was clear he wanted to ask if it had to do with the man at her side, but he kept the question to himself.
“We needed to ask them something,” the marshal told him, arms across his chest.
Delaney said nothing else, hating being caught on her heels and the sudden feeling she had that she was now someone’s prey. “So if he’s not one of the director’s men, he’s either someone’s ghost…”
“Or someone’s investigator,” Deke muttered, finishing her sentence for her. “And we shouldn’t be talking about this here.” He glanced around the room at those sitting at desks, letting her know without coming out and saying it that the room had too many ears.
Roman shoved his hands into his pockets as he glared at her and the marshal, obviously not wanting to let the matter drop. “You two gonna stop tap dancing and tell me what the hell is going on? Why are we concerned about this guy?”
Delaney felt her head tilt to the side a bit. “When did we see that man pretending to be one of the casino’s security personnel?”
Roman shrugged. “As the summit was beginning the other night. Why?”
She shot a quick glance to Deke and then back to Roman. “Do we have a picture of him?”
“I think so.” He turned to the computer, and hit a few keys. A second later, the man appeared on the screen from where he stood staring out at the people playing slots. “Here you go.”
She took the picture, glanced at it once, and then passed it to the marshal. She wouldn’t know who it was no matter how hard she stared at it. After all, she was only sixteen when they whisked her family away. Deke, however, knew all the players.
The marshal took the picture, studying it, but not for long.
“Leon Ortega,” he said with a low hiss. He shook his head, growling as he glanced back at Delaney and gestured for them to move further away from the others.
“He came up under Alberto. Started young. A delivery boy of sorts. Messenger. That sort of thing. Moved up through the ranks until he became one of Berto’s enforcers.
” He handed the picture back to Delaney. “I hadn’t realized he was so close.”
“What makes you say that?” she asked.
“Unless he’s here for some other reason—and I seriously doubt that he is—he had to have been close to be here so soon after Jenkins ran your name.”
“Someone ran your name?” Roman asked, bouncing his gaze back and forth between them. “Jenkins? Who is—?” Then his eyes widened. “Wait. You mean that man who confronted you Thursday? Why would he run your name?”
This was getting out of control fast. Enough people knew her secret now, and she didn’t want to put Roman at risk by telling him the truth.
And it would surely put him at risk. From everything Deke had told her about the Serranos, they would stop at nothing to get to her family and punish them, even if it meant hurting those close to her. She would not allow that to happen.
“Have you checked for him again?” the marshal asked Roman.
Her partner shook his head. “No. I passed it off to Ray and left it in his hands. If he’s seen the man again, he hasn’t told me.”
“We need to find out,” Deke said. “If he’s still here, then we have to find him.”
“But why?” Roman asked. “What the hell is going on, D.? Why do I suddenly feel as if I’m missing something important?”
Deke turned to her. “We can’t stay here. You know that, right?”
“Why can’t she?” Roman asked, his voice rising. He glanced back at Delaney. “Just what the hell is going on? Are we giving up on this job?”
However, before he could answer, Director Boudreaux stormed into the security room like a thunderhead ready to destroy everyone in his path, his presence loud even before he opened his mouth.
The door slammed against the wall as he strode in, eyes blazing as he focused his gaze on Delaney.
The walkie clipped to his belt hissed with chatter he ignored, and everyone in the room who worked for the man quickly found something to occupy themselves and avoided eye contact with their boss.
“What the hell’s going on in my casino?” he snapped, voice sharp enough to slice drywall.
“You bring in a federal marshal without so much as a courtesy call? You’re even meeting with Silver Security behind my back.
This was supposed to be a private contract review, not a goddamn raid. So what the hell’s going on?”
Delaney crossed her arms over her chest as she faced the man, Roman stepping to her side, hands on his hips.
However, before she could answer the director, Deke stepped in front of her.
“She didn’t call me, and my presence here has nothing to do with your casino.
Delaney’s an old friend, and I heard she was in town, so I thought I’d pop by and say hello.
No need for a courtesy call for that, so smooth your hackles. ”
By the look on the director’s face, he wasn’t buying it.
Tension buzzed through the room like static off a live wire.
Someone shifted, and chairs creaked as people tried to pretend there wasn’t an explosion about to go off behind them.
Ray looked ready to bite someone’s head off and use the skull as a trophy as he glared at the marshal, and Delaney could see the man debating whether or not he wanted to believe him.
And then, like timing ripped from a screenplay, the door burst open again as Blaze rushed into the room like a tornado in human form.
His hair was a mess, as if he’d just run his hand through it too many times, his jaw tight, eyes sharp and focused, and he looked like he’d walked straight out of a war zone and into someone else’s fight.
“Elvis said I’d find you here,” he said as he locked eyes onto Delaney.
She felt her brow pinch. “I’m sorry. Elvis? Really?”
Blaze gave a curt nod. “Yeah. He knew you’d be here.”
“Elvis is dead, kid,” the director said, still snarling. “And this ain’t Vegas.”
Blaze looked at him, confusion pinching his features. “He’s what? What hap—?” He shook his head. “No, not that Elvis. Our Elvis. Bobby Jenkins. Elvis is his call sign.”
Delaney scoffed. “Why am I not surprised? Some things never change.”
“Who’s this?” Roman asked, hands on his hips, still bewildered and now growing annoyed. “Someone tell me what the hell is going on. Please.”
Delaney simply gave him a curt nod, keeping her attention on Bobby’s friend. “What happened?”
Blaze glanced at the marshal, then back to her. “I went back to see if anyone followed my second search. And there was another ping.”
The room went still.
Blaze reached into his coat pocket and withdrew a small notepad, flipping it open and scanning the contents.
“It happened an hour ago. Same search terms. Delaney Rhodes. Whoever’s watching this network was just waiting for another trace to run, it seems. I should’ve checked for it after I found the first one.
Whoever’s chasing you isn’t just curious. They’re determined. Focused.”
Deke ran his hand through his hair. “Shit.” He turned to Roman. “We need to find Leon and quickly.”
“Who’s Leon?” the director asked.
“Yeah, who is this guy?” Roman asked as he turned back to the computers, taking a seat this time.
“He works for the Serrano crime family,” Deke said as he followed Roman over to a bank of monitors. “He’s the one you let pretend to be a security guard yesterday.”
Ray bristled. “What the hell do you mean I let him pretend? I didn’t let anyone do a damn thing.”
“Didn’t stop him either.” Deke said as he stood behind Roman’s chair, arms folded over his chest, ignoring the director.
“And you’re sticking with the whole ‘just visiting a friend’ shit?” The director crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes.
“But how did they get someone here this fast?” Blaze asked.
“Get who where?” Roman asked as he spun in his chair and stared at Delaney. “I need some help here. What’s going on?”
She placed a hand on his shoulder. “I can’t tell you everything. But this guy isn’t good for my health. We need to find him.”
“We need to get you out of here,” the marshal repeated. “That’s what we need to do.”
Ray spun on them, hands slammed to his hips. “What the hell have you brought into my casino? Enough of this cloak and dagger, whisper whisper, hush hush bullshit. I want to know what the hell’s going on, and I want to know now.”
Delaney’s stomach dropped as the men surrounding her argued amongst themselves about what was too much to reveal and who deserved what answers.
Her mind raced. She had been so damn careful when she started her company, keeping her face off the website, staying behind the scenes with news conferences and interviews.
This was her first time to venture out, and all hell had broken loose.
“Enough!” she yelled, bringing everyone up short. “Enough. I’m not running, and the problem is already here. We need to get ahead of them for once and put an end to this. I refuse to live my life this way.”
Blaze grinned at her as he shoved his hands into his pockets.
“I knew you would say that. You’re friends with Elvis after all.
However, the marshal’s right. We do need to get you somewhere safe for now.
” She opened her mouth to protest, but he cut her off with an uplift of his hand.
“In the hotel. Elvis will finish his job and you can work in the Silver’s room with your partner here to finish yours. ”
Deke looked at her, a stern expression pinching his face. “If we can keep you out of sight, then you might be all right for the time being. Especially surrounded by security personnel.” He sighed. “You’ve always been stubborn, but this is the best I can offer you.”
Blaze chuckled. “I can see what Elvis likes about you.” He winked at her as he gestured to the door. “I’ll help your friend here get everything he needs and meet you up there.” He looked at the marshal and gave a curt nod.
Delaney sighed, but didn’t argue. It was the best they were going to allow her, and she knew it.
She headed for the door, the marshal right beside her. “And for the record,” she said. “I’m only stubborn when I’m right. I just happen to be right more than most people.”