Page 13 of Russian Roulette
All eyes are on her as she unscrews the lid and raises the bottle to her mouth, tilting it slightly to allow the water to flow into her mouth. She takes a small sip, her full pink lips closing around the edge of the bottle. A single drop slides from her lips and I fight back the urge to slowly lick it off.
“Do you want to explain to me your comment about me having a death wish?” she asks after chugging half the bottle.
I cut my eyes over to Seven. “Why don’t you take it from here since this was your idea?”
“You’re up to something,” Seven says, leaning forward on the picnic table. “My best guess is you’re trying to run a scam in the casino. Which is a terrible idea, I might add. The casino security teams in Vegas are the best in the world. Nothing gets past them.”
Jade pointedly glances over at Leroy, who is busy carefully peeling the label off the beer bottle. “You mean like Leroy?” she asks, a tad sarcastically.
“Leroy isn’t with casino security,” Seven admits. “He’s my personal bodyguard.”
“Ah… that explains a lot,” she says, nodding. “So he lied about being casino security?”
“Yeah, sorry,” Leroy mutters, glancing up from his beer bottle. “It wasn’t my idea. Blame Seven for that. And it wasn’t a big lie, only a little white lie. I work in security, just not technically at the Imperial Casino.”
“I figured,” she says. “I’m still puzzled why you suspect I’m pulling a scam. What gives you that idea?”
“I’ve noticed you sitting in the same spot for two days in a row,” Seven answers. “You’re dressed casually to keep from drawing attention to yourself. You’re wearing a baseball cap to hide your facial features and those big eyeglasses, so people won’t notice your expressive brown eyes. I hate to tell you, those glasses make your eyes even more prominent. Your eyes are the first thing I noticed.”
“I didn’t dress casually on purpose,” she says in an insulted huff. “This is my normal outfit. I don’t feel the need to dress up. I had to walk several blocks so high heels would’ve been painful. When’s the last time you walked a mile in heels? If you haven’t, then stop judging me for not dressing the same as every other girl in Vegas. There’s no one in Vegas I’m trying to impress, and sneakers are more comfortable. And I need my glasses. You’re just being rude and obnoxious.”
“Oh, really?” Seven reaches over and slides off her eyeglasses, then peeks through them. “Whoa! Damn, you’re blind as a bat. My bad. I apologize. Here you can have them back.”
“What game were you playing in the casino, Jade?” Kit suddenly asks. “Poker? Blackjack?”
He’s been sitting there silent the whole time, watching her, not saying a word. While his brain is whirling constantly, carefully analyzing everything.
“She was playing one of the video slot machines,” Seven answers for her.
“That’s not a wise move,” Kit says, giving her a disapproving look. “The house always has the upper hand with the slots. You can’t beat them. What kind of scam could you possibly be doing with slot machines?”
“Nothing! As I told you before. I’m not trying to do anything but enjoy myself for a couple of days. That’s all. Isn’t a girl allowed to have a good time?”
“I doubt that’s your real intention,” Seven says. “We haven’t figured out exactly what the scheme is you’re trying to pull, but we will. You’re not the average casino player. You have a plan and you’re smart. Am I right?”
Jade takes another sip of water. “Why don’t you tell me?” she says, revealing nothing. “I only arrived two days ago. I’ve barely had time to try my hand at gambling. I thought I’d start with slots, then work my way over to the poker tables. That’s where the real money is.”
I find it interesting how she’s leading us away from the slot machines to the poker tables. She’s not a typical card player. That’s not her end game.
“Surely you realize how you stick out in the casino?” Seven asks. “No offense, of course.” He smiles to soften his comment. “Most guests fit a specific profile. Those that don’t are investigated further by the casino if they show up more than once. You’ve obviously caught the eye of someone besides me.”
We all agreed before we grabbed Jade not to reveal too much information to her. Especially since we’re not sure exactly why Giovanni wants her. Seven is struggling to come up with a convincing reason why we nabbed her. Spotting someone twice in a casino hardly seems to be a solid basis for our suspicions. His line of reasoning sounds lame and she’s not buying it.
“How do you know I caught someone’s attention?” Her tone is casual when her tense body language shows she’s worried.
“Word gets around,” he replies. “Vegas is a busy city, but the circle of people who run the casinos is quite small. People talk among themselves.”
“But I haven’t broken any casino rules,” she argues. “There’s no valid reason for anyone to suspect me of doing anything wrong.”
I’m growing impatient with this slow back and forth between them. Patience isn’t a virtue of mine. We’re obviously not getting anywhere with her. This could go on all night, and I have better things to do.
“Let’s cut through all this crap,” I interrupt. “Why don’t you tell us about the Russian mafia, for starters? What’s your connection to them?”
My question catches her off guard, and her eyes grow wide. Now we’ll get somewhere with the questioning. Seven mentioned he’d overheard Giovanni say the Russian mob was searching for her.
“The Russian mafia?” she chokes out. “Are you with them?” Her eyes dart to each of us in panic, carefully scrutinizing our faces before she visibly relaxes. “Surely not. Not unless they’ve changed their recruiting procedures. They rarely go for the Instagram model type.”
“What do you think?” I want to keep her guessing. “Word on the street is they’re hunting for you.”