Page 31 of Double or Nothing
The bartender takes his cue to retreat. Once we’re alone, Natasha raises her shot glass in a silent challenge to me. I realize she’s testing me, and I lift my glass in response, steeling myself for the potent bite of vodka.
Without missing a beat, she downs the vodka in a single gulp. I follow suit, my throat stinging with the burn of the liquor. Setting my glass back on the frozen bar, a surge of pride swells within me for masking my distaste for the straight vodka.
As if reading my thoughts, she reaches for the bottle and refills our glasses.
Damn.
So, this is the way it will be.
“Start from the beginning,” she instructs me. “Tell me the story again of how we arrived at this spot in time. We will drink while you talk.”
“Fine,” I concede, shivering slightly. “Doesn’t the cold bother you? Wouldn’t it be more comfortable to talk outside where our asses aren’t freezing solid to our stools?”
“No, this is a safe place owned by a trusted friend,” she replies, seemingly unfazed by the chilly surroundings. “And I don’t get cold in America. Cold is Ukraine.”
“Okay,” I agree, giving up on my effort to move. If the ice bar is the safest place for us to meet, then so be it. She won’t hear any complaining from me about the cold.
“I’ve already told you most of this, but I’ll recap everything. I’m a hacker and was hired by a man to hack files, which turned out to be from the Russian mafia. Long story short, they tracked me down, most likely from the man who hired me. They kidnapped and took me onto a boat near Los Angeles. For some reason, they thought I knew where you were located, which, of course, I didn’t. Once they realized I was worthless to them, they tried to kill me and dump my body into the water. I broke free from Ivan and jumped over the boat’s railing while they shot at me.”
“How did you survive in the water?” Natasha questions me.
“I’m a strong swimmer and was determined to stay alive until someone spotted me in the water. Luckily, there was a fisherman on a boat, and I was able to make it to him. He hoisted me onboard and then helped me get back to safety. Twenty-four hours later, I was in Vegas looking for you.”
“Why were you trying to find me?” she asks.
I’ve already told her and Eva all this once before. I can’t shake the feeling she’s probing for inconsistencies, attempting to catch me in a lie.
“Two reasons,” I answer. “I was able to gather from the hacked files that you put out a feeler on the darknet for someone to help you reverse engineer a video slot machine. I can do that for you. The second reason was to tell you the Russians were coming for you. I hoped to find you before they did. I was too late.”
“You expect me to believe you came to Vegas out of the goodness in your heart?” she asks, her eyes shrouded in suspicion. “To warn a stranger? Why would you do that?”
“I already told you I want to partner up with you and reverse engineer the slot machine. I can do it easily. I’ve done my research. This scheme has been pulled off successfully in international casinos, such as Macao and Nice.”
“Are you aware of its catastrophic failure in other places, where the people ended up dead?” she interjects.
I nod. “Yes, I found that out, too. The people who were caught were careless and sloppy, not smart.”
“And you believe you’re smarter?”
“I don’t just believe it, I know I’m smarter. Every detail, every potential situation, would need careful planning. A large, reliable team would be required, made up of only those we can entrust with our lives.”
She raises an eyebrow. “Why do you say ‘we’? I haven’t agreed to any of this.”
“Do you have a better alternative? You must be desperate to broadcast your need on the darknet. Who better to collaborate with than someone who shares a common enemy? The Russian mob wants us both dead. Together, we’re stronger.”
“What do you know about Dimitri?” she asks, suddenly changing the subject.
“Only what you’ve told me. Who is he to you?”
“Trash,” she snaps. “That is all. He is garbage.”
“What’s his connection to you? Is he part of the mob?”
“Now it is my turn to tell you a story,” she begins. “When I turned twelve, a rich man began to visit me in an orphanage where I grew up in Ukraine. He taught me many skills.”
“Gambling?” I take a wild guess.
“Yes that, and other things,” she replies, her voice dropping lower.
