Page 119 of Close Pursuit

“Bring the girl and the baby, Dom. I don’t play until I see for myself they’re okay.”

“Have I ever lied to you, boy?” Dominic demanded.

“Not yet,” Alex replied humorously. “And let’s keep it that way, eh?”

The mobster grinned. “As much as I hate your guts, I like you, kid.”

Alex grinned broadly. “Feeling’s mutual.”

DeMecci laughed. He broke off to announce, “Here they are. Your little family.”

Alex looked up sharply from the table where the dealer was setting out a new boot of cards.Thank God. A sleepy looking Katie was blinking under the bright lights as one of DeMecci’s men led her forward.

She lurched when she caught sight of him and her face lit up like sunshine after a long darkness.

Warmth poured through Alex, but he shook his head to stop her from rushing over to him. She checked herself and nodded back slightly. She looked around, obviously counting and cataloguing the locations of DeMecci’s men. So quick on her feet, she was. He would have to remember to thank her father and brothers for teaching her that…if the three of them got out of this alive.

“Okay, Koronov. Show me how you do it.”

He’d agreed to a demonstration, not an explanation. “Give me a stack of chips and I’ll play two hands face-up.” He nodded at the blackjack dealer to start.

The play was fast. Obviously, the dealer was trying to stop him from counting cards. Although, he did that as a matter of course without even really thinking about it consciously. It had been a while since he used his gambling algorithm, and it took him a few minutes to get back into the swing of it, but the decisions came faster and easier as the hands came one after another. Before long, he had a significant stack of chips in front of him. One the next hand, the algorithm set up perfectly and he pushed the whole stack toward the dealer.

“Uhh, sir, I’ll need house permission to accept that bet.”

DeMecci snapped from behind him, “Take the bet.”

Alex smirked as the cards fell his way. “Good thing all this is fake money, eh, Dominic? Are we ready to move to the poker tables to continue this little demonstration?”

Alex’s success at the blackjack table had drawn a small crowd, and it trailed along behind him toward the felt-covered poker tables. He felt Ian flinch before he saw Katie’s brother move. Acting instinctively, Alex spun toward Katie. Time slowed to a crawl.

She saw him coming and gripped the baby tighter. Started to look around for the threat. The goon beside her started to reach inside his sports coat.

Alex dived for Katie, but she was already heading for the floor. He landed on top of her as she fell onto her side, curling her body protectively around Dawn.

And that was when Hell incarnate erupted. Gunshots erupted in a deafening volley. Light bulbs and slot machines exploded, sparks and flying glass wenteverywhere. He registered screams and shouts, patrons running every which way, and armed men shooting and shouting and diving for cover. Casino security men rushed into the fray, shooting, and only added to the chaos.

A lifetime of training told Alex that he and Katie and Dawn were at the epicenter of the firefight. They had to get out of here, now. The odds of avoiding being hit by crossfire were nil if they stayed in their current position.

Hell, the three of them were probably the targets of this whole mess.

A big body slid to the floor beside them and Alex lurched. Who the hell would run toward this insanity and not away from it?

“This way,” Ian grunted.

Alex pushed up to his knees and drew Katie up beside him. Dawn was screaming her head off, but the good news was it was barely audible in the chaos. The worst of it was the flying glass from broken light bulbs and neon tubes and shot-up slot machines. With every new volley of gunfire, a new round of shards flew like stinging sand.

Crawling awkwardly and staying as low as possible, they followed her brother to a row of ruined slot machines that shuddered as lead slugs continued slamming into their backsides. Thank God for the heavy gear mechanisms inside them.

They reached the end of the row and Ian rose to a crouch. Alex and Katie did the same.

“Go!” Ian yelled in a bare whisper.

They shot forward across the open space and dived behind the next row of slots as a burst of gunfire erupted behind them. Alex felt something hot graze across the back of his left calf and checked his leg. Just a scratch. Damn, that had been close.

They crawled for another hundred feet or so through a jungle of blasted slot machines and exploding glass before they finally rolled behind a big craps table. They were able to move more quickly toward the back of the casino as the gunfight raged behind them.

Automatic weapon fire erupted, raking the space behind them in a violent staccato.Crap, who’d pulled out the big guns? The Russians or DeMecci’s guys?

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