Chapter 16
Muffled voices infiltrate my groggy mind, and I try desperately to rouse from what feels like a drugged sleep. There’s a piercing ache in my temples, my mouth is dry as hell and my lids seem to be made of lead, they’re so hard to lift.
It’s the smell of bacon in the air that gives me the strength to finally crack open both eyes.
For a moment, I gaze out into a fuzzy haze of shapes and colors. But after a few blinks in an attempt to clear my vision, I find myself staring into the quizzical face of a child that seems extremely familiar to me even though I’m sure I’ve never met her in my life.
“Hello,” I say.
Tiny creases form between her brows and she narrows her bright eyes on me. “Did you know you talk in your sleep?”
“No.” I frown back at her. “What was I sayi—” Suddenly, the entire room comes into focus.
Everything here is completely foreign to me. I’ve never before seen the antique floral prints hung on blue walls, the painted dresser and armoire, or the three shelves full of chess trophies.
“Where am I?” I try to sit up, only to realize I’m restrained to the yellow spindles of a headboard. “What the fuck?”
The little girl’s jaw drops open. “That’s a really bad word.”
“Says who?”
“My mom. She says it all the time, but tells me I shouldn’t. Not that I would. I don’t like how it sounds on people,” she adds with a hint of distaste.
“Who’s your mother?”
“Anderson Burrows.”
“Andie?”
She nods. “I’m Charlotte. But everyone calls me Lola.”
Lola. Of course. How could I not immediately recognize her? Even if she wasn’t Andie’s clone, I’ve seen her picture on her mother’s cell phone screen.
“What do you prefer to be called?” I ask her, unable to keep myself from staring at the miniature version of Andie.
She wrinkles her small nose and shrugs. “Either.”
Glancing toward the door I assume leads to the main living area, I whisper, “Where is Andie?”
“In the kitchen.”
“Did she do this to me?” I tug the ropes holding my wrists firmly.
I wince as a sudden wave of pain slices through my brain, bringing with it faint memories—Being roughly dragged out of the casino, my body shoved into the seat of a vehicle, tires screeching. Two female voices, Andie’s and someone else.
Andie’s hovering over me as she tied me up.
“Why did she tie you up?” Lola asks, her frown deepening. “I asked if you were a bad guy, but then Momma just got that funny look on her face, like when she doesn’t want to answer me but can’t think of a lie.” She takes a breath. “So are you a bad guy?”
Dropping my head onto the pillow, I shut my lids until the pain subsides. “I’m not sure anymore, kid. I need a doctor.”
“Miri is in nursing school. She said you’d be okay.”
Cracking one eye, I look at her. “Who’s, Miri?”
“Our neighbor.”
Ah, the neighbor. I remember her. In fact, it’s all coming back to me now. The first bomb that went off somewhere in the lower floors of The Red. Then, another above us. The dust and chaos. Frantically searching for Andie and finding her in the hall that leads to the restrooms. Then another… bomb? A smaller one?
This is where things get hazy. Did Andie drag me out of the building? No, she’s not strong enough. I walked. I recall watching my feet move in a disassociated way. Like they weren’t my own.
So, she took me outside and what? We got in a car. Who’s car?
Next thing I know, we’re here and a girl that pricked me with some drug, this Miri, I’m sure. What kind of neighbor helps someone abduct their boss? Better yet, what kind of person has injectable sedatives at the ready?
I look at Lola. “How did your mom get me here?”
Lifting a slender shoulder, she says, “Momma borrowed a car.”
“She borrowed a car? Who lent it to her?”
“No one. She just started it the way she does ours sometimes when the key part doesn’t work.”
Hesitant, I ask, “How does she start your car?”
“With the wires.” She mimics touching two ends.
“I see.” It shouldn’t surprise me that she can jack a car, but it does. “She stole it.”
“My mom is not a thief.” Lola scowls, obviously angry that I’d call Andie that. “She already took it back.”
That surprises me too. “Miri. She gave me medicine that made me sleepy.”
“Probably because you were sick. You looked really bad.” She makes a face that tells me just how bad she thought I looked.
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” She gives me a thousand-watt smile. “But Miri is a nurse, so she made you better. You do feel better, right?” Her eyes narrow as she looks me over, as if she’s not so sure I am better.
“My head hurts.”
“Do you want more medicine? I can get Miri.”
“I’d rather you didn’t.” I scan the room once more. Crumpled up in a corner by the bed is what appears to be my suit jacket. And laying on top of it, my cell phone. “Lola, you’re ten, right?”
She straightens her spine. “A very mature ten.”
“I bet you are. You seem really smart.”
“I am.” Her statement doesn’t contain a shred of doubt and I find myself impressed.
It doesn’t mean I won’t still try to manipulate her into helping me. “That means you can tell when something isn’t right. Like someone kept against their will is wrong. Illegal too. You wouldn’t want your mother to get in trouble, right? Help me get out of this, and I won’t tell anyone,” I promise.
The skepticism that fills her expression would be comical if I wasn’t desperate for her to believe me. “Momma has never tied up a man before. She wouldn’t have done it unless you deserved it.”
“If it will make you feel better, leave me tied up, but let me make a phone call. You see my cell down there?” I motion with my chin to the floor.
Peeking at it, she frowns. “Who do you want to call?”
“My friends. I need to find out how my casino is. Did you mom tell you about it?”
“No.”
“Some really bad guys broke in. Like, really bad. That’s how I was hurt. How your mom was hurt. I need to find out if everyone else is okay. Will you help me?”
Titling her head, she studies me as she considers it. “What’s in it for me?”
“What—” I’m speechless. What’s in it for her? “What do you want?”
“Will you give my mom a raise? She’s always worried about money and I can’t work yet. But I can help you with your phone.”
“That’s enough, Lola.” Andie suddenly appears behind her. “We’re not letting Mr. Alexander make calls just yet. He’s still pretty weak,” she adds with a glance at me in an amused tone.
“I need to know what’s happening at my casino,” I tell her. Not to mention how the hell someone managed to break through one of the toughest security systems in Las Vegas.
“In due time,” Andie assures me. Then to her daughter, says, “Why don’t you play with Joshy for a bit.”
Lola huffs. “I want to know what’s going on, Momma. I’m not little anymore.”
“Josh is. Please go play with him while I have a chat with Mr. Alexander.”
“Momma!”
“Lola.” The single word seems to hold enough warning to make the child heed her mother.
“I’m always left out of everything,” Lola grumbles as she storms out of the room.
“What the fuck is going on?” I demand.
Andie nears the bed. She leans in and touches my forehead. Another jolt of pain slices through my skull and I groan.
“Yeah, this is a nasty cut.” From the nightstand, she grabs a bottle of water and two pills. “I imagine your head hurts pretty bad. Now that you’re awake, you can take these.”
“Is it poison?”
“If I wanted you dead, I would have killed you while you were unconscious.”
“If you didn’t, you’d have taken me to the hospital.”
She blows out a breath. “And if I had done that, the guy that shot you would have finished you off.”
“So you brought me here for my own safety?”
Turning her face, she peers at herself in the mirror above the dresser. “I saw an opportunity, and I took it.”
“An opportunity for what?”
Her gaze snaps back to me. “You blackmailed me, kept me against my will. You did things to me.”
“I gave you pleasure.”
“At a cost that meant nothing to you, but everything to me.”
I stare at her for a moment. She’s angry, angrier than I’ve seen her. It’s as if now that she has me in her home and has the upper hand, she’s allowing herself to feel.
She may be entitled to it, but I don’t have time for this shit now.
“How long do you plan on keeping me like this?” I demand. “What if I have a concussion?”
“Miri looked you over. She said she doesn’t think the blow was that bad. The bullet just grazed you.”
“Well, I’m glad there was a nursing student around for my near-death experience,” I say with a good dose of sarcasm. “She sedated me, didn’t she? With what? Drugs she stole from her nursing school? Thick as thieves is taking on a new meaning.”
The target hits the mark and her nostrils flare with indignation. “You should be grateful. If it wasn’t for her, I would have risked taking you to the hospital. And yes, she did drug you because she doesn’t trust you.”
“Is it that she doesn’t, or you?”
“Both of us. It’s hard to trust anyone after the things we’ve been through.”
“Wait, you said I was shot.” Suddenly, what she said sinks in. “How do you know that?”
“Because I saw it happen when I was coming out of the bathroom. The guy was standing right behind you. If I hadn’t pushed you down, he would have shot you again.”
In my mind’s eye, I’m going over the fragmented memory of what happened. Yes, I recall seeing her standing near the bathrooms. Then, the crack through the air that sounded different than the others. A gunshot.
“You saw the man that did this?” I touch the bandage. “What did he look like?”
She shakes her head. “It was so smoky. He had dark hair. Maybe tall. Skinny. It was really hard to see. Do you have any idea who it was?”
Instantly the image of a tall, dark haired man with an annoying grin comes to mind. “Yes.”
My attention shifts from my inner thoughts, to the bandage over Andie’s temple. “Did your friend take care of that too, or did you have the luxury of actual medical care?”
“I’m so tempted to take you to the hospital just to see what happens to you,” she hisses.
She might be right. Being tied up to this bed with an angry female might be dangerous, but she doesn’t want me dead. Gideon Black does. And there is no doubt in my mind he’s behind all this.
“So this is revenge for giving you a way out after you stole from me?”
The lines of her face harden and her nostrils flare. “A way out? I told you I was putting the money back. You kept me there because that’s what you wanted, period. And that’s what men like you do. You take what you want without caring about the damage you’re inflicting on someone’s life.”
“Was it so awful being with me? Because I’m positive you wanted me too. I saw it in your eyes every time you looked at me,” I toss at her, unable to stand being the only villain in this story. Not when what she did set the ball in motion.
Quickly, she glances away, as if she’s afraid I’ll glimpse the heat always present in her gaze. “If it were just me, I’d have enjoyed this game as much as you did, and moved on. Moved on to a different job. But it’s not just me. I have Lola. And one stupid mistake…” She sighs and her shoulders drop. “You made me feel powerless. I’m so sick of feeling powerless.”
I stare at her profile, the way she rapidly blinks as if she’s trying not to cry. I’ve never done well with weeping women. It’s probably because I was never around them as a child that I’ve avoided them as an adult, running as far away as possible the moment the waterworks begin.
There’s no avoiding it now, being tied up as I am. Instead, I’m forced to watch the myriad of emotions that cross her face, the way she goes from resignation and despair, wiping at a tear that rolls down her cheek, to frustration as she grits her teeth. Then, to my surprise, she straightens her spine and seems filled with a renewed sense of determination.
She turns to me. “What am I going to do with you?”
A chuckle escapes me, one of disbelief at how quickly she gathered strength from somewhere inside her. “For starters, I have to pee. Does my nurse have a bedpan I can use?”
“Better.” A woman enters the room, a pair of handcuffs dangling from her index finger. “Lucky for you, I’m always prepared for the worst.”
“Nurse Miri, I presume.”
“That’s me.” She flashes me a huge smile. Arching a brow, she says to Andie, “You want me to do this? I don’t mind.”
Andie gets up and takes the cuffs from her. “He’s my problem. I’ll do it.”
She places a knee beside me and snaps one of the bracelets around my right wrist. Once it’s secured, she loops it around the other. As she does, I inhale deeply, taking in her scent. It’s a habit of mine now. A fucking vice. Damn she smells so sweet even when she’s being vindictive.
Her breast comes near my face and I fight the urge to bite it, just a little. But she must sense it because she peers down at me. Our eyes lock for just a moment, long enough that the air between us becomes electrically charged, and she moves closer.
Then, she abruptly shoves away from me and motions to one of the trophies. “Grab that, Miri. If he tries anything, whack him.”