Chapter One #3
“Manky bastard,” I muttered to myself as he was swallowed up into the crowd.
But I’d been right. He’d been casing the joint, looking for a chance when an unsuspecting valet wasn’t watching the luggage carts, so he could steal something off one.
Some days, I hated the fact that my senses were so good all the time.
Since joining the FBI, I walked through life frequently suspicious of people.
I knew I should’ve flagged down casino security, but keeping his mop of black hair in sight as he darted through the crowd was doing a number on me.
He obviously knew the layout as he easily dodged tourists, heading deeper into the casino.
I looked around for Mickey, not seeing him, but I knew he was doing the same thing I was…
chasing after the guy and struggling to keep him in sight.
I wove in between tourists carrying buckets of tokens and change, eager to drop their money in a slot machine.
The harder I ran, the more difficult it was to keep up with him and not crash into a gambler.
I lost him a couple of times when someone stepped into my path, and I was forced to slow or mow them down.
Luck failed me entirely when a rather robust woman suddenly wandered into my path, stopping right in front of me as she stared at a machine.
I tried to avoid her, but she suddenly realized I was there.
Her eyes widened, she threw her bucket of coins into the air, and screamed bloody murder as I crashed into her, taking us both to the carpet.
I landed on my back with her on top of me, knocking the breath right out of me.
“Christ!” I huffed, clasping both hands around her as I tried to roll her off me. She wasn’t a small woman, and much stronger than I thought as we both struggled to get untangled while she deafened me with her screaming.
“Calm down!” I finally managed to wheeze.
Pounding feet ran over to us and I looked up just in time to see two security guards looking furious as I managed to roll her off me.
I lay on my side, jamming my hand into my back pocket to get to my FBI creds.
I yanked them out, holding them up as both men drew their weapons.
“Hands up!” one of them yelled.
“FBI! I’m FBI!” Still wheezing, I waved my creds around. “Put ya bloody guns away.”
Mickey appeared, also with creds in hand, and intense relief washed over me. “FBI. We’re FBI!” Mickey shouted as the men swung their weapons in his direction.
“Son-of-a-bitch!” one of the guys said, instantly lowering his weapon. He holstered his gun and then reached out, putting his hand on top of his partner’s weapon, pushing it down. “Put it away, Fred. These guys are FBI.”
“He tried to molest me!” the woman screamed, pointing at me. “He threw me on the floor and tried to molest me! I don’t care if he’s FBI or not! I want him to be arrested! He tried to molest me!”
“I didn’t try to molest ya, lady,” I gasped, showing her my creds. “Ya stepped right into my path and when I tried to roll ya off me, ya practically squashed me.”
“That’s right,” Mickey said. “I saw the whole thing. Have your security office check the cameras. They’ll confirm my partner’s telling the truth.”
“Security cameras?” the woman shrieked, pointing a chubby finger at one of the guards. “That’s surveillance! It’s an invasion of a true American patriot’s privacy! Everyone knows the casinos use AI technology to manipulate images. That’s how all you casinos make money!”
Actually, everyone knew casinos made their money taking it from muppets like this woman. She was rambling and making a stupid argument. The bloody circus had come to town and brought all its conspiracy theorists with it. Blimey!
“All complaints need to be handled in the security office, miss,” one of the security guys said. “If you’d like to follow me, I’ll show you to the back room…uh…I mean I’ll take you to my manager.” He glanced at his partner. “You talk to them, Fred.”
“Will do, Taylor.”
We watched the security guard walk away with the woman after he’d helped her gather all her coins from the floor before I turned to Fred. “Well, that was fun…not,” I groaned, feeling an ache in my back that hadn’t been there before being squashed by a bonkers tourist.
“How’d this happen?” Fred asked, wanting to get our side of the story.
“We thought we saw someone who was trying to steal luggage at the front entrance,” Mickey said.
“That woman,” he asked, watching his partner lead her away.
“No, someone else,” Mickey replied.
The security guard nodded. “Is that who you were chasing?”
“It was,” I said, groaning as I stretched both hands over my head to work out the kink in my back.
“Okay, that makes sense.” He looked around. “I suppose he’s long gone.”
“Yeah, I lost him in the crowd right before my partner got tackled,” Mickey said.
“Well, if he was in here, our cameras will pick him up. Can you give me a description?”
“Yeah.” I filled him in.
“Can I send you through a photo later for ID? If he really was trying to commit a crime, we’ll ban him from the casino and fill out a police report.” He smiled for the first time and held out a hand. “Thanks for your help. I’m sorry you got hurt.”
I shook his hand. “No bother. Thanks, mate.”
He shook Mickey’s hand and then walked away after accepting a business card from each of us. I noticed Mickey’s weak smile as I stretched again. “Are you okay, buddy?”
“Yeah,” I replied, twisting side to side. “Tweaked my damned back.”
“Too sore for that lobster you told me about?” Mickey smirked.
I smiled back, slinging an arm over his shoulder. “Nope. Let’s go get some grub.”