Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 88580 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88580 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
“Hey, big sis.” Shane grins at me, rubbing the back of his head. “I was hoping I’d find you.”
“Shane?” I hiss at him, shocked that he’s standing right there in the flesh. He’s wearing a big hooded sweatshirt, the hood pulled up, and a pair of baggy jeans I got him for Christmas five years ago. His shoes are dirty, and he looks like he hasn’t slept or shaved in about a month, but it’s my brother. Alive, and grinning sheepishly.
“Can we talk for a second?”
I grab his arm and pull him away from the lobby. I take him out the front doors, away from the valet guys, and stop in the shadow of a Roman-style statue, the woman naked and pale white. “Where the hell have you been?”
“Lying low, staying with some friends that aren’t really in the business.” He leans back against the wall, takes out a cigarette, and lights up. “Been a really weird few weeks.”
“You’re safe, you know. You can thank me later for that.”
“I heard.” His eyes narrow. “Did you really do it?”
I nod once. “I made a deal to save your life.”
He wilts slightly. “I never would’ve asked you to do something like that. I mean, god, Casey, you married Adler Costa.”
“I’m aware.” I glance back toward the entrance. Adler has to know Shane’s here by now. There are about a billion cameras all over the casino floor. “Look, we don’t have long to talk. Why are you here? You’re safe, Adler’s not going to kill you, but this is pushing it.”
“I know.” He glances over his shoulder and takes a drag. “I had to come warn you though.”
“Warn me about what?” I rub my arms, feeling chilly in the early morning ocean breeze.
“Tony Vetch.”
I go very still. Tony Vetch. That name keeps coming back. That man keeps haunting me. “What is it with that guy?” I say more to myself. In all the years I’ve been working in this town, I’ve never interacted with him, not a single time. Now suddenly he’s everywhere.
“I’m not proud of this, okay? I was in a really shitty place a few months back, and one of Vetch’s guys approached me with a deal.” Another long drag. I hate the smell of the smoke. Shane always stinks of the stuff, and it always reminds me that he’s an addict, like it’s a cloud that hovers over his head.
“What sort of deal?”
“They wanted me to spy on the Sunrise.”
My eyebrows shoot up. “Seriously? Why would they think you could do that?”
He shrugs. “I guess because you work here. They said I could follow you, see what you’re doing, and maybe use that—”
“Hold on,” I say, interrupting. “Tony Vetch hired you to watch me?”
“No, it wasn’t like that. He just said I could use you at first, you know what I mean? I could just—” He stops and stares at his cigarette as if he’s just realizing for the first time what he really was hired to do. “I didn’t think it was like that.”
I lean up against the wall next to him. My knees ache, my hips burn. I feel like I might teeter over. Tony Vetch hired my own brother to spy on me, and the idiot did it without realizing.
“Why the chips?” I ask suddenly.
He flicks his cigarette away and lights another. “It was stupid. I was jonesing but had no cash, and the chips were right there, and since the Oceanview would cash them—” He rubs his face with one hand. “Stupid.”
“So it was opportunity. You weren’t sent there to steal from the Sunrise.”
“Nah, that was never part of it. Look, seriously, Casey, I’m so sorry. I just wanted to tell you what I was doing here, and let you know that there’s some serious crap happening with Vetch and Costa. You shouldn’t get involved.”
I close my eyes for a second then open them again. The sunlight burns down through thin clouds, making the exterior of the Sunrise glow. Taxis pull up, drop off passengers, take on new people, drive off again. Even this early, the flow never stops. The beating heart of Atlantic City.
“I think it’s too late for that,” I say and look toward the door. Berthold and Gianni stand there watching me. Neither of them look happy. “You’d better go.”
Shane follows my gaze. “Who are the goons?”
“My security detail, and I suspect they’re about to throw you out.”
“Shit.” He flicks away another cigarette. “I’m sorry, Case, I really, really am. Are you okay? I mean, is Adler, like, treating you good?”
“He’s fine,” I say and soften a bit. “What would you do if I said otherwise?”
“Beat him up.” Shane gives me a lopsided grin. “Anyway. Thanks. And good luck.”
“Just keep your head down, okay? I love you, kid. Even if you’re a huge pain in my ass. Just stay out of trouble for a while.”