Page 93 of Double or Nothing
“What about us?” Seven says with a grin, stepping out from behind cases of water bottles piled high in the back corner.
Kit comes out of his hiding spot, too, and moves beside him, a mischievous smile on his lips. “Surprise!” he says to Jade, holding out his arms.
“What are you doing here?” she asks in shock, her eyes wide, disbelief etched on her features. “How did you get here so fast? How did you pull everything off? The snow? The sleigh? The melting snowman? My God, Seven, you’re a fucking genius! That was incredible. You’re all incredible!”
She rushes to embrace them both and they catch her, laughing, kissing and hugging.
“And guess what else?” She reaches into the purse still hanging across her body, and holds up the winning ticket from the slot machine, waving it in the air. “We hit the jackpot, gentlemen! Mission accomplished. We did it! The plan worked.”
“But how?” Seven asks, clearly baffled by her revelation. “The camera wasn’t transmitting to the laptop. The connection was lost. How did you do it? I don’t understand.”
She taps the side of her head. “I didn’t need the camera,” she explains, shrugging. “I have a photographic memory for some things.”
Our mouths drop open at this very interesting new piece of information.
“Any other special skills you want to share with us?” Kit teases. “Or are you planning to drop them on us one at a time? Like the ‘being able to hold your breath for four minutes’ thing?”
She shakes her head. “No, sorry, that’s all fellows. I’m out of special skills. I didn’t say anything because I didn’t plan on using it unless I had to. Something I kept in my back pocket for emergencies.”
Our questions are interrupted by someone banging hard on the back doors, and we all freeze. “Shit!” I mutter, worried that Giovanni’s men have already found us.
“Let me in, assholes!” Leroy yells from outside, his tone demanding.
Seven hurries to unlock the door and pulls Leroy inside before slamming the doors shut. I bang on the wall and the truck pulls away from the curb. Soon we’re moving smoothly through the streets of Vegas, our earlier tension replaced by relief.
Leroy plops down heavily onto the floor, his large frame taking up considerable space. “Whew, glad that’s over with,” he says, grinning. “Can you throw me one of those bottled waters stacked up there?”
“Sorry, those crates are empty and just for show in case we’re pulled over,” Seven tells him. “How did it go in the security control room?”
“Like a dream,” Leroy replies, smiling proudly. He turns to Jade. “Did I ever tell you about my Mama? She’s a leftover hippie love child from the seventies who still has a fondness for certain…hallucinogenic delicacies. Her special recipe brownies, to be precise.”
“What do you mean?” she asks, frowning at him.
“Mama fixed up a platter of her special brownies and other Christmas cookies for me to deliver to my friends in security. Let’s just say they were tripping mighty fine by the time I left. Giggling and stuffing their faces with food. When I left, they were on the phones ordering pizzas to be delivered.”
Her eyebrows shoot up. “You drugged the guys watching the security cameras?”
“Yep, I sure did,” Leroy readily admits. “And then I turned those damn cameras off and scrambled the videos. You can thank me now. I’d stand up and take a bow, except I nibbled a little bit of one of those brownies too. I’m a tad unsteady on my feet.”
Jade sinks down beside him and wraps her arms around his thick neck. “Thank you,” she says, her voice soft. “I love that you’re part of my family now, too. Growing up, I always imagined what it might be like to have a big brother or sister. And now I know.”
He reaches over to affectionately pat her arm, his large hand gentle. “Didn’t I tell you I’ve got your back?” he says. “You and these other three fools. It’s hard work trying to keep you all straight, but somebody’s got to do it. And I guess that somebody is old Leroy here.”
“Thank you, Leroy,” I say. “You saved our asses. We owe you one.”
“So, tell me, what was all this?” she asks, waving a hand at the truck. “We never discussed any of this when we were going through the plans. Not the sleigh, the snow, Seven’s magic, and then Vulcan roaring in to save me at the last minute. When did you put this together?”
“We thought it couldn’t hurt to put together a backup plan in case the original plan went to hell,” Seven explains. “Your plan was solid, but we know Giovanni better. He’s ruthless and deadly. If something were to go wrong, we couldn’t take the chance of him getting his hands on you. He came too damn close tonight. His men were within a few feet of you when Vulcan whisked you out of there.”
“Vulcan, won’t you be recognized?” Jade turns to ask. “How many people in Vegas can ride a motorcycle the way you do?”
“It’s possible,” I reply with a shrug. “But I’m riding a different motorcycle than usual. One that I’ve never ridden in public before. And the helmets are full face helmets that only show our eyes. Giovanni might have a suspicion it was me, but no solid proof. Plus, the crew working with me tonight are willing to provide an alibi that we were partying together someplace else. There’s nothing concrete to put me at the casino.”
“What about the two of you?” She turns to Seven and Kit, her gaze shifting between them. “Won’t he be suspicious of you? You caused quite a scene in the casino. An amazing, over-the-top spectacular scene, but still, it allowed me to finish the job and escape.”
Seven shakes his head. “No, I honestly don’t think he’ll tie our publicity stunt together with a woman trying to pull a scam on the casino. Why would he? He pays us very large salaries and we’ve never caused trouble. He would never dream in a million years that the three of his most profitable performers would work together to go up against him.”
“Seven’s right,” Kit says. “Especially me, since I’m a low-key kind of guy. I would be the last person he would suspect to do anything risky.”
