Page 9 of Betting Blind

“How did you do it?” Hector asks curiously.

“A magician never reveals their secrets,” I reply with a smile and flourish my hands around my face. “Just remember… I’m more than just a pretty face.”

“Trust me, Em, we know that.” Emerson sneers quietly and nods in Hector’s direction. “From the looks of this kid, he knows it too.”

“Shut up, Emerson. I was supposed to get beat up. It’s always a part of the plan,” Hector mumbles and folds his arms across his broad chest.

“If that’s your story,” he sneers at Hector and holds up his hands, palms forward when Hector starts to stand.

“Play nice boys. You both know that I could take you with my eyes closed. It’s the perk of being slightly unhinged.” I wink and give them my best sadistic smile. “I don’t care who you are. If you want to fight; I’ll fight you. If you want to bleed; I’ll bleed you. If you want to be killed; I’ll kill you.”

They both roll their eyes, only taking me marginally seriously. They know they’re safe, but everyone else is just a card in the deck that I can count and discard to get the winning hand. “To answer your question, Hector, I made my eyes all big and teary. I pinched my cheeks a few times to make them all red and splotchy. I put on a blonde wig and waltzed right through the front door demanding to see my ‘uncle’. I gave them a sob story of how my daddy was also at home recovering from his third surgical procedure due to cancer and I just couldn’t bear the thought of losing another male role model in my life.”

I place the back of my hand on my forehead for dramatics. “Bless my heart. I looked like such a mess when I walked into the room. I cried real tears and held his clammy hand while the nurse got all choked up and ran to get a box of tissues.” I takeone last pull from my straw, sucking in air and making that annoying dry slurp before popping my lips. “Then I injected a syringe full of air into his IV line. The nurse came back, and I thanked her, took a few tissues, and excused myself. The man deserved to die in peace, at the very least.”

“Smooth. Well done. No issues getting back out?” Emerson claps his hands softly and I can see the pride in his eyes. He did teach me almost everything I know.

“No issues. Although I did run into a man in the hallway right before the old man coded. He was in scrubs that seemed ill-fitting and he seemed to be lost. I’m sure it was nothing, but I can’t help but feel some way about it.” I leave out the fact that he was extremely handsome. I have no doubt that his sharp jawline and dark eyes will haunt my dreams tonight.

“Hospitals like that usually have circulating staff. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was his first day and he truly was just lost in the maze of hallways,” Emerson agrees and stands, buttoning his suit jacket.

“Probably. Let’s get moving,” I say and toss my trash in the bin. “I’ll let you two handle the 8th Street and the Greenbriar Street locations, since those are our biggest. I’ll head to The Black Crown to get the casino ready for the festivities tonight.” I grin over my shoulder. “I’m bartending tonight.”

Something in the back of my mind keeps prickling the more I think about the mystery man. When I was near him he just oozed this deadly attraction, and I can’t help but feel there’s danger lurking under those muscles and murder behind those dark eyes. I hope somehow fate intervenes and I see him again. I want to play with Mr. tall, dark, and dangerous. I grin to myself as we leave the safe house because nothing in this world of mine is as dangerous as me.

Chapter 6

Declan

“Let me get this straight,” I mutter and pinch the bridge of my nose between my thumb and forefinger. My teeth are clenched so tightly that they might actually crack. “He just… died. Before you even got to the room?” I hear Hayden shift on the leather sofa beside me. “Just… poof… dead?” My head is pulsing with a sharp pain behind my left eye.

“No. I did not say ‘just poof dead’,” Hayden snaps and shoves to his feet, angrily pacing back and forth across our open living room. His shadow appears and disappears in the long rectangles of evening light filtering in from the floor-to-ceiling windows as he stalks around like a caged animal. “I was just down the hall evaluating the situation when this…” He waves his hands in the air, seemingly at a loss for descriptive adjectives.

I blink at him expectantly, but he doesn’t continue. I improvise for him. “Earthquake? Tragic hospital fire? Psychotic nurse with murderous intent?”

He levels me with a dark look and Silas coughs into his fist to hide a chuckle. “You’re not far off,” he admits and drops his whole body back onto the sofa, the leather protesting underhis full weight. “Family or something from what I originally overheard the nurses saying. She was visiting and left the room moments before he arrested.”

Silas leans forward from his perch on the arm of the loveseat across from me. “What did she look like? I wasn’t aware of any familial ties that he had. I have been looking into him in great detail for weeks now and there was never any mention of a wife, children, or anything else.” Silas’s voice betrays his emotions. He’s panicking because he thinks that he has missed something. I know from experience just how hard Silas is on himself when it comes to his work.

“They said… cousin? Niece? Yes!” Hayden claps his hands once and props himself up on his elbows. “She was blonde, with a short bob cut.” He gestures around his face with his hands. “She had the most mesmerizing green eyes I have ever seen,” he admits quietly, his voice low.

“Impossible!” Silas nearly shouts and jumps to his feet. “He didn’t have any siblings. He had no family. I’m sure of it.” He’s on the defense now.

I sigh and dig the heels of my palms into my eyes, trying to squash the pressure headache mounting in my skull. “Blonde with green eyes,” I muse under my breath. “I don’t know. Maybe they kept a low profile; off the records. It just doesn’t add up. Maybe it was just a terrible coincidence.”

“You know that I don’t believe in coincidence,” Hayden replies darkly. “You didn’t see her, man. She was… beautiful… She was the picture of grief with the nurses but when she was closer I could tell that she hadn’t spilled a single meaningful tear. Her eyes were… It was like… like…” He’s at a loss for words for a moment. “Determined. Delighted. Dangerous.”

“Like looking in the mirror?” Silas added with a smirk. “I’ve seen your eyes look very similar after a job. The look of a reaper holding a fresh soul. Dark… Devious…” His voice trails off and he looks away.

I chuckle under my breath at the look of both of them looking uncomfortable. I wish they’d get whatever is brewing between them out of their systems so we can all stop tiptoeing around the house. The air is always so thick with this awkward tension. “So not only are we at a loss for who to thank for the completion of this job, but we are also now on the hunt for an angel of death that may or may not be Hayden’s depraved soul mate?”

They both snort and return to their relaxed positions on the sofa. I’m not sure what has been happening the last several months while I’ve been in and out for assignments, but it almost feels like they have gotten into an argument and it has driven a rift between the family that neither of them want to try to mend at this point. It’s pissing me off. My knuckles twitch and I fight the urge to leave them here and disappear into the tunnels for a good fight.

“Angel of death, yes. Soul mate, no,” Hayden finally responds. “It doesn’t matter. It’s done and the mark is dead. Let’s just leave it at that for now.” He levels me with a knowing look. “Wipe that scowl off your face. You are not going to Parkview tonight to beat someone to a bloody pulp. You ruined my fun this morning so now I’m ruining yours.”

“What the fuck are you talking about” I snap, cracking my left knuckles with my right hand.

“I fancy a night out. We all need to decompress from this shitshow of a day. There’s a casino downtown that is having a little party. I heard that there will be some high-stakes games,costumes, and a lot of high rollers.” Hayden raises an eyebrow as he speaks.

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