NINE - ROMAN
I felt like shit for leaving Jameson alone.
I didn’t do it because I wanted to, but she practically had steam billowing out of her ears and looked like she was ready to launch her dad’s ten-pound antique glass ashtray at my forehead.
Either that or cry, and I was not equipped to handle the softer side of her right now… or deal with a concussion.
As I left her office, I cleared the entire upper level, peeking into a few partially open doors along the way.
It’d barely been a year since I was last here, but it seemed like a lot had changed since then.
This used to be the administration floor; now, all of the offices were vacant except for Jameson’s.
Desks had been cleaned out and were covered in a thin layer of dust. Filing cabinets were emptied, some of their drawers left half-open.
Rogue papers were scattered across the floor.
It looked like a postapocalyptic movie scene.
Next up on my to-do list was to find Ivan. I knew his office hadn’t moved. That man was going to live and die in his ten-by-ten smoke-filled room.
The door was closed when I reached his office just one floor down, and the light was off. I hit the back stairwell and came out on the river side of the casino, just beside the loading dock.
The loading dock was a massive concrete pad that jutted out of the back side of the casino—a place no patron had ever seen.
The area hung out over the swampy waters in an alcove carved out of the banks of the Mississippi River.
It was shielded behind a crescent-shaped island of kudzu-draped trees and unruly underbrush.
It had a waterway just large enough for a boat to steer off course from the main riverway to make a drop-off or pickup, then continue on the way down the river.
Nothing had changed out here either. Hell, it looked worse. The concrete pad was dirtier and even more stained with god only knew what, and the metal roof covering the dock was peppered with rusted holes—from bullets and nature.
As expected, I found Ivan leaning against the weathered railing, staring out into the trees.
“I see some things never change,” I said as I strolled up beside him.
He flicked his cigarette butt out into the water, blowing a puff of smoke out into the atmosphere. The cigarette fizzled out when it hit the water. “Around here, that’s not always a bad thing.”
“You’re probably right.” I glanced around. “Not a lot happening today?”
“Nah. We were pretty busy last week. Got some stuff coming through in a few days, after James’s fundraiser. We’re trying to lay low until then.” He glanced around. “Speak of the devil, where is she?”
“In her office. Jordan’s standing post for now.”
“She ain’t fired you yet?” He started to laugh, then choked as he broke out into a coughing fit.
I shook my head. “Not yet, though I’m sure she wants to.”
“Hmm. You never know with her. She’s been a little off her rocker lately. I think she’s struggling with some things. Who fuckin’ knows anymore. You know how women are.”
“Yeah. I’m sure I’ll be the last person she’s gonna tell her problems to.”
Once upon a time, not very long ago, I knew everything about her.
Though the relationship we had technically didn’t exist if anyone had asked; that was just the nature of the business.
But between the two of us, we were all the other one had ever wanted…
even if we were the only two who knew about it.
Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for us to become total strangers.
Ivan just shrugged.
There were two men I didn’t recognize sitting with their backs against the wall near the kitchen exit. The one guy that I had known for years and was sure would never leave this place, I hadn’t seen yet.
“Tater still around?”
“Of course. He ain’t going nowhere. He’s like a rescued animal. If I let him out into the wild now, nature will tear him to shreds.”
I half laughed, but he wasn’t wrong. “I’ve no doubt about that. He still stringing people up by the ankles?”
Ivan shook his head. “Not as often as he’d like, far as I know. I don’t really ask anymore.”
“Jesus. He’s a real piece of work.”
“Aren’t we all?”
“Can’t argue with that.” I was no saint; the things I’d done would have me sitting on death row. But Tater? Any three-letter agency would make him disappear if they ever caught him for what he’d done. “So, I asked James for a few necessities, things I need while I’m here.”
“And how’d that go?” He lit up another cigarette. “She tell you to go fuck yourself?”
“I’m sure she wanted to, but she was surprisingly agreeable. I don’t feel like I asked for much, but either way, she said you’d help me with most of it.”
He straightened himself upright and stretched his arms over his head.
Ivan had never been the epitome of health, but he’d definitely filled out in the middle since the last time I’d seen him.
What made it obvious was the fact that he still wore the same clothes that he did when he was probably twenty pounds lighter, judging by the way his shirt expanded to maximum capacity around his midline.
“Whatchu need? A gun?”
“That and a phone. I left mine behind.” That was how I operated. Whenever I moved, everything was left where it sat. I had people who’d come by to clean it up, no questions asked.
“Let’s do it.” He stomped out his partially smoked cigarette, kicking it off the edge of the dock. “We’ll finish this up in my office.”
“So, who’s been keeping an eye on Jameson?” I asked as we made our way across the casino floor, heading to his office. “I’m assuming she hasn’t been unguarded until I got here.”
“Me and the security crew. She hasn’t really needed protecting, per se, until recently.”
We eventually arrived at our final destination: the same dingy, smoke-stained room barely bigger than a jail cell.
Ironic.
He rounded his desk and sat down in the same old mustard-yellow leather chair that squeaked even louder under his weight. I had no doubt that chair was being held together with duct tape and a prayer.
I took a well-acquainted seat across from his desk. Unwanted memories flashed through my mind from the last time I was here as I sat down. “You ever going to upgrade this awful furniture?” I asked, picking a piece of loose vinyl from the armrest.
“Sure. It’s on my list,” he said with a sarcastic tone. He poured himself a drink and lit up another cigarette. “Here.” He pulled a phone and a Glock out from the bottom drawer of his desk and slid them across to me. “Careful. It’s loaded.”
With my new encrypted cell phone and Glock, I was beginning to feel human again. I set off to go find James. It’d been long enough since I’d had eyes on her. The absolute longest break she’ll have from me as long as I’m here.
I’d been up since before the sun, and the muffin and coffee from earlier this morning had long worn off. I decided to take a quick detour through the main kitchen on my way back to James. Figured I’d hit Josephine up for a quick bite to eat—one that she didn’t throw at me.
“Roman!” I heard my name from across the room just as I was about to push through the double swinging kitchen doors. I turned and saw Chris leaning against a wall at the entrance to the hallway that led to the new administration department. “You got a minute?”
I glanced at my watch. Not that I was really in a time crunch, but I didn’t want to leave James unattended for any longer than I already had. I didn’t trust her not to leave her office until I came back for her.
“Uh, yeah, but not long. What’s up?”
He extended his arm, and I shook his hand. “Chris.” He half-assed attempted to act like we didn’t already know each other as he reintroduced himself.
Chris had started at Emerald Haze a few years back.
He was brought on to the team as the assistant general manager.
Given his family ties to the industry, he was one of the few qualified candidates to take over.
After Elliott was killed, everyone moved up a rung, and he became the general manager, just after Ivan.
He’d also had his prying eyes on Jameson since day one.
“Roman,” I said as I shook his soft hand. “But you already knew that.”
He grinned like a used car salesman. “Yeah, I did. Mind joining me in my office? I won’t keep you long. I’m sure you’re busy.”
“Very.”
A guy like myself didn’t mix and mingle with anyone from management.
My job was to do exactly as I was paid to do, keep my head down and mouth shut.
That never stopped me from pushing the envelope just a little.
When it came to Jameson, she’d always been the proverbial princess living in an ivory tower; I was the town peasant who admired her from below.
Those lines were not to be crossed, but that didn’t mean they weren’t…
or on a regular and, eventually, daily basis.
Unfortunate as it was, while she’d always had eyes—and lips and tongue and everything else—for me, he was watching her.
Always waiting to make his move. But because of how vastly different his and my roles were, it was all I could do to watch him from a distance with my mouth shut, hoping he’d stay away from her.
“Come on in. Have a seat.”
“I’ll stand. So what’d you need me for?”
Chris walked over to the makeshift bar behind his desk and poured himself a drink. “I just wanted to say hi. Reintroduce myself. We didn’t speak much when we worked together. Figured we could get better acquainted.” He spoke with his back to me—a real bitch move.
I sucked in a deep, calming breath, and the scent of Jameson’s perfume invaded my nostrils, which meant she’d been here very recently.
This sent a wave of rage through my veins.
She wasn’t supposed to leave her office.
The thought of her having been in here for any reason set off something primal inside of me.
“Because we didn’t work together.” I folded my arms across my chest. “I wasn’t exactly in a position to get to know people back then. I’m not about to start now.”