Page 36 of Wildcard's Wager

“No problem. Also, if you need a lawyer, Evie can get to you quickly. She’s licensed to practice in Vegas.”

“What about Boston?” I ask.

“No, but I’ll ask her to find you someone you can use. I’ll check with Havoc, too. We’ll make sure you and your family are safe.” He ends the call.

“Thanks, Puma.”

He nods. “It’s what family does. Now let’s go grab your girl. Rafe should be here soon. We’ll take him to Spark’s room. That will make it easier to show him the evidence that proves Brigit’s innocence.”

We return to the common room just as Viper brings Rafe inside. His eyes scan the room and land on Brigit. My stress spikes when he narrows his eyes and shakes his head. “Shit, Puma, what did I ever do to you?”

Puma chuckles as he steps forward to pound Rafe on his back. Rafe stumbles forward with a few curses before he offers his hand to Brigit. “You must be Brigit Jones. I was here earlier, but I guess we missed each other.”

Brigit blushes as she shakes Rafe’s hand. “It wasn’t you, but the company you were keeping.”

I chuckle as Rafe nods in agreement. “Let’s talk,” Puma says, gesturing toward the hallway that leads to Spark’s office.

We find the man waiting in front of his bank of monitors.

“Not sure how much you know about what happened in Boston. But I’m guessing your visitor told you that Brigit here murdered her boss, Mike Perry?” Puma starts. Rafe gives him a nod. “Brigit saw the murder, but she didn’t pull the trigger.”

Rafe turns to Brigit. “I’d like to hear it from you. I hate to make you go through it again, but I need to treat you like I would any witness.”

Brigit nods. She walks through her arrival at the hotel and hearing her boss arguing with someone in his office.

“Did you recognize him?” Rafe asks.

“Yes. He’s a frequent visitor at the hotel. Misha Orloff.”

“He’s a member of the Bratva,” Rafe says. Brigit nods. “I know. Which is why I’ve always tried to avoid him.”

“But you’re saying he’s a regular at the hotel?” Brigit nods. “Conducting business?”

“I think so. The hotel has several conference rooms. I spotted a pattern where Misha would always show up when Mike reserved a conference room. I know sometimes they would have illegal poker games, because I attended a few. Misha was also there. But I don’t think that’s all that happened in those rooms.”

Rafe nods. “The Bratva have their hands in several illegal activities. A hotel would be a brilliant way to bring buyers and sellers together.”

“Tell him about what Misha said about the undercover cop,” I tell Brigit.

She repeats the words she heard about Mike letting an undercover cop get too close and how they had to take care of him. Including how the undercover gained access.

“Who is George? Is he the same man Sully claims saw you commit the murder?”

“He’s the witness? George is the assistant manager. But he shouldn’t have been at the hotel at the time of Mike’s murder. Heworks nights and leaves when Mike shows up. I don’t remember seeing him there that morning.”

“We think whoever claimed to have seen Brigit lied. Watch this.” Spark hits a few keys and a grainy image pops up on the monitor. It’s a hallway with a man rushing down it while he wipes his hands with a cloth.

“That’s Mike,” Brigit says. “About half an hour before I arrived.”

“How did you get this?” Rafe asks, then raises his hand up in the air to stop Spark from answering. “Never mind. I probably don’t want to know.”

The video continues to play and less than ten minutes later, three men walk down the hall, following the first. The scene shifts to show them entering an office and disappearing from view.

“Misha is the one in the middle. The other two are his henchmen. That’s Mike’s office that they enter.” Brigit provides the commentary.

Twenty minutes later, I see Brigit. She walks to her office door, stops, and then continues down the hallway to the door where the previous four men disappeared. The camera gives us a clear view of her standing outside the door. I know when Misha shoots Mike, because my girl stumbles back a step. Then she’s running. The two goons follow her. When they disappear, Spark shifts to a different camera angle. I watch helplessly as they chase her out into the parking lot and shoot at her retreating car. Wrapping my arm around her waist, I pull her close. Needing to feel her.

“Has Sully seen this?” Rafe asks. “I imagine he’d get access to the hotel servers.”

---