“Sir, it says here that he is a friend of the casino floor manager. The man was not to be dissuaded.” Smiling, as if she hadn’t just told them all there was a stranger in their room, the clerk pushed four room keys into a small folder and handed it to Chance. The woman’s fingers trembled as she stared up at Chance’s face. “May you take the others in the tournament to the mattress, sir.”
Harper chuckled. The only mattress the woman cared about was one she hoped to share with Harper’s man. She stepped forward and slipped her arm through the crook of Chance’s. “Oh, I’m sure he will. Mr. Landon isn’t the kind of man to be underestimated.”
Chapter Eighteen
A vase sat on the dining room table at the center of the penthouse suite. A bouquet of white, hopeful lilies reached out like begging hands — but there was no hope to be found in the room — at least not now. Not when, in the adjoining living room, two men waited in overstuffed lounge chairs. Each man wore a black suit and neither wore a smile. The younger man, with brown hair bordering on black, scanned the room constantly and his body was at full attention, standing guard over the gentleman with the silver threaded hair. Something about the pair reminded Harper of guidos from the Italian mafia.
“Sir, they are here,” the bodyguard said, dropping his hand to his hip where he must have been carrying a weapon.
The stoic gray-haired man turned as the small group of road worn travelers walked into the living room.
“Chance Landon?” The gray-haired man stood up and extended his hand, but the simple action was performed with the formality of a state meeting.
“Yes. And you are?” Chance stared at the man’s hand for a moment and then stepped forward and gave it a stern shake.
“I’m Mr. Blackwater, the gaming commissioner here in Vegas.”
Recognition flickered on Chance’s face. Kodie stepped back and behind Harper, as if all of a sudden he no longer wanted to be standing in the room.
“It’s nice to meet you, sir.” Chance motioned to the chair. “Please sit.”
“We aren’t planning on staying long. We just needed to have a quick meeting with you, preferably without your associates.”
Harper glanced over at Chance and there was a look of mild terror on his face — like a man facing the executioner. What had he gotten himself into? What wasn’t he telling her? Why would the gaming commissioner want to see Chance the moment he arrived in Las Vegas?
The man’s bodyguard stepped toward Chance and whispered something in his ear. A trace of terror rippled over his features, but was replaced by an impassive front. His terror was disconcerting — when he, a poker player, let his emotions slip, all that she could be certain of was that it was something unusual, something terrifying. Yet his cold impenetrability was far more disconcerting than his fear.
“Why don’t you and Starling run to the lab and see if you can find Dr. McDougal? I’m going to need to handle a few things before the tournament begins.”
“Are you sure?” she asked, trying to ignore the mixture of angst, concern, and fear for Chance. She already knew what his answer would be, but her protectiveness for him wouldn’t allow her to walk away without attempting to stay.
“Yes,” Chance said with a stiff nod. “I’ll be fine.” His gaze flickered to the bodyguard’s gun-laden hip. “Here.” He pulled the parking stub from his pocket and handed it to Harper.
She stuffed the stub into her purse, but she stared at the bodyguard’s hand, which rested on the lump under his suit jacket.
There was no way he would let Harper and Starling stay, and there was nothing she could do about it — except hope she could find an ally in Kodie. She turned to him. “Kodie, we don’t need you to come with us. Why don’t you stay here with Chance?”
The bodyguard stepped toward her, but Mr. Blackwater stopped him with a wave of the hand. “Yes, Kodie can stay, but under the condition he stands outside of the door while we discuss our business.”
At the very least Kodie would be there if anything got out of line. She glanced at Kodie and he gave her a small acknowledging nod. “Fine.”
“Let’s go, Starling,” she said, leading the teen from the penthouse. The door closed behind them with an isolating, fearful thud, which paralleled the feeling in her stomach. She hated leaving Chance there to face the commissioner alone. She stared at the gold number plate next to the door. All that glittered most certainly was not gold. Everything about this tournament was tainted through greed, fear, and secrets — and she had the feeling there were more secrets that would be exposed long before the final card was played.
She and Starling made their way to the elevator bank and silently waited. Finally the door opened, but Harper hesitated — as soon as she left, there would be no way she could help Chance. Everything that happened to him would be out of her control.
The elevator dinged, she stepped into the empty car, and the doors slid shut behind them.
“Harper?” Starling asked.
“Hmm?”
“I know I told Chance he was an asshole and everything, but do you think he’s going to be okay?”
How had she forgotten that she wasn’t alone in her fears about Chance being in harm’s way? She needed to stay strong. She may not have been able to control what was happening to Chance or to protect him, but she could protect his daughter.
“He’s going to be fine. I’m sure they always have to meet with the gaming commissioner before these big tournaments. I’m sure there are a lot of things they have to talk about before the game.”
Starling gave her a sideways glance. “Really?”
Harper forced herself to smile. “Absolutely.” When Jenna had been alive she would have seen right through Harper’s lie. The only time she ever said “absolutely” was when she wasn’t sure or when she was extremely nervous — and usually they were simultaneous occurrences.
“Aren’t you worried?”
“Absolutely not,” she said with a forced nonchalance.
“What about us? Do you think we are going to be able to find Dr. McDougal?”
“We’ll try.” Her gut told her no, but if she was telling one or two lies she might as well keep going.
They made their way out into the lobby, which had started to fill with a few tourists that, from their excited on-the-top-of-the-world energy, had just arrived. It would have been nice to feel the same enthusiasm, the same level of excitement that everything would turn out great — that they would all come away from this place as winners. No matter how deep Harper searched her soul, she couldn’t find anything close to excitement — she found fear, but buried even deeper there was an almost imperceptible flicker of hope. That tiny bit of blind hope would have to carry them through for a while. This was all out of her control — and maybe that fact, the uncontrollability, was what she feared the most.
The concierge smiled at them and made his way over. “May I help you, ladies?”
“Yes,” Harper said with her overworked smile. “Do you know where I can find Shaw Pharmaceuticals?”
“Is there something you are in need of?” His gaze flickered to Starling and back to her. “I may be able to send someone out … for anything you may need.”
Of course he must have thought they were looking to score drugs — Vegas through and through.
“Never mind. We just need our truck.” She pulled the parking stub and a twenty from her purse and handed them to the man. The man smiled, but she couldn’t help but wonder if he was used to getting a larger tip.
The man snapped his fingers and waved at a white-jacketed man who waited by the door, his hands behind his back in the long practiced position of those in servitude. The man in the white jacket hurried over. “Yes, sir. How may I help you?”
Without a word, the concierge handed the ticket to the man and pointed toward the door. The ma
n scurried off.
While they waited, Harper tapped away on her smart phone until she found the driving directions and a photograph of the building. The labs were in a single-story building and, from the bird’s-eye view, she could just make out a pretty little courtyard filled with trees at the building’s center.
A crowd of tourists burst through the doors, black luggage in hand and enthusiastic smiles on their faces. Without watching where she was going as she headed toward the doors, Harper took one more look at her phone and stuffed it into her purse. Her shoulder connected with someone. She looked up and into the sneering face of a buttermilk-white tourist. “Watch where you’re going,” the woman growled.
Harper tried to resist the urge to say something, but Starling lunged forward. “You could have stepped out of the way, lady.”
“Starling, no.” Harper tried to warn her off. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t watching.”
“Damn right you’re sorry. You’re one dumb bitch. I mean just look at you.” The tourist pointed at Starling. The woman’s red lipstick cracked on her lips as she gave the teen a dangerous smile. “What in the hell do you think you are doing here, girl? Doesn’t your mother know better than to bring a child into a casino?”
Harper bristled, but there was no sense in fighting with the milky tourist.
“I’m not a child.” Starling fumed.
“Starling, let’s go.” Harper pointed through the doors, toward their waiting truck. “This isn’t worth the fight. We have more important things to worry about … please.”
Starling glanced over at her and some of the anger seemed to escape her eyes. The shrill woman’s laughter followed them as they walked away.
“Why didn’t you say something?” Starling asked.
The valet walked over to them and handed Harper the keys to Chance’s pickup truck. The array of keys weighed heavy in Harper’s hand as she gave the valet the almost required tip. “Starling, there are some things that are worth fighting for and there are times when you are only wasting your breath. That woman didn’t matter. It didn’t matter what she said or did, it is in the past and there is no changing it with a fight.”
“You don’t think you should have stood up for us — for me?”
“When it matters, I’ll stand up for you. I’ll protect you, just like Chance will.” Pain radiated through her hand as she gripped the keys tighter.
“She called me a child.”
The valet opened Starling’s door and motioned for her to enter. Starling stared at Harper as she stepped up into the passenger seat and then pulled the composition book from her bag.
“You’re not a child, but there are so many things you are going to learn. One of those things is learning when to stand up and fight and when to walk away.”
The valet closed Starling’s door and Harper followed him around to her side. “Thank you,” Harper said with a smile as the man opened her door and she stepped up and into the driver’s seat.
The truck’s engine roared to life. Had she been wrong in not standing up for Starling? Should she have gone farther in the confrontation with the woman? Maybe. She replayed the woman’s words in her mind and she tried to imagine how it would have gone if she hadn’t made them leave — each time she imagined the argument, it ended badly — so there had been no other choice.
Shifting gears, Harper pushed the truck into first and drove out of the long driveway and onto the back roads, which led out of the hotel — and farther from Chance.
There were so many other things to be concerned with — Chance and Kodie were up in the penthouse with a man Harper wasn’t sure they could trust, there was still a death that had left them all with questions, and Starling needed her medication. They had more important battles coming. And the only thing she could control right now, the only battle they could fight and have any chance of winning, was finding Dr. McDougal and getting more of Starling’s medication.
Even this battle wasn’t one they were likely to win, but this was one that was worth the fight. Harper hated the thought of telling Starling the ugly truth — that the chances were low she would be able to help Starling. If Dr. McDougal hadn’t wanted to talk to Starling, there was only a thin chance he would allow a rival lab rat to enter his sanctum in search of information and more drugs.
Harper’s phone chirped from her purse. Somewhat relieved to have some type of escape from Starling’s festering silence, Harper pulled the phone from her purse and pressed it to her ear. “Hello?” She pulled the truck to a stop at a red light.
“Hi.” She was met with a familiar voice. “Is this Harper Cygnini?”
“Yes, it is. How can I … ” She stopped herself. The robotic hotel staff’s words refused to leave her lips. “Yes?”
“This is Ariadne Papadakis. From Crete?”
What was the leader of the sisterhood of Epione doing calling her? Her body tensed.
“Yes. Hi, Ms. Papadakis. How are you?”
“You can call me Ariadne — we’re sisters. And I’m … okay.” There was a long pause. “Actually. I’m calling with a bit of a problem.”
“A problem? What kind of problem?”
Ariadne cleared her throat. “Well … After your sister’s death and the recent increase of nymph deaths we, the sisterhood was forced to launch an investigation. We believe there are more to the deaths than a simple rancher in Montana wanting to hybrid his rodeo stock. There’s something else going on we have yet to completely understand. So, in an effort to find out the truth, we have had a man, Jasper Gray, watching you and your friends.”
A man had been watching them? A man sent by the sisterhood? Chills rippled down her spine. Why hadn’t she thought of this? Of course the sisterhood would want to learn more about the nymph deaths — especially after Carey had been killed and there were no suspects in custody.
Harper glanced over at the young woman. Starling mumbled something and her pen moved in the strange rhythmic motions that came with one of her automatic writing sessions. The familiar word Red started to fill the white paper.
The phone line was quiet. “Harper?” Ariadne finally asked. “Are you still there?”
“Yes, I’m here.” The light turned green and Harper drove with the traffic. “Since you are watching us, you know who I’m with and what we’re doing, yes?”
“Yes, we know you are in Vegas. Jasper’s staying in the Bellagio, keeping an eye on you and your comrades.”
“Is he following us now?” Harper peered into her rear view mirror, but was met with a countless number of cars.
“It’s hard to say. He might be. We assigned him to watch out for you and your safety.”
“Do you think we’re in danger?”
There was a momentary pause. “We’re going to take all the precautions we can. We would hate to lose any more of our kind. We’ve lost so many wonderful women of late. If we continue losing nymphs at this rate — we may well not come back. You know our birth rates — Starling is the first nymph born in the last century and she may well be the last.”
Between the curse of their kind and the impossibility of getting pregnant without entering the blessed river, Ariadne was right. They had to be concerned. There weren’t many of their species left.
“Who do you think is behind Carey’s death?”
“At this point we aren’t sure, but we have a lead … That’s why I’m calling.”
“What do you mean?” Harper asked. “You don’t think I had something to do with it do you?”
“No, but we have reason to believe that these deaths are all connected — including your sister’s and Carey’s.”
“But they found Jenna’s killers. They’re in jail in Montana, remember?”
“Yes, her killers are. But we think this all has to do with fertility — Carey was the only nymph who’d given birth sinc
e the late 1800s when Trina, one of the Cretan nymphs, was born.”
“Why would someone want to kill Carey for being fertile?” Harper tried to understand, but none of this made any sense.
“We’re not sure why they would have wanted to kill her, but we think there are others who are trying to understand Carey’s pregnancy and her ability to have a child … other supernatural beings like us … like the nymphs.”
“Do you think they are going to come after Chance?” Harper made her way over to the side of the road and pulled to a stop.
Starling jerked to attention. “What’s going on, Harper?”
Harper lifted her finger, gesturing for the girl to wait.
“We think they may be targeting him too, but he has luck on his side. There are only a few who are privy to who and what the father of the child is.”
“That’s good … ” There was a slight sense of relief — at least Chance was safe — for now. “What about Starling?”
The teen stared at her. Her pen was still to the paper, but she had stopped writing.
“Is Starling safe?”
“Well … ” Ariadne paused. “I don’t think so. After you all left last night, your sister’s house was broken into. Our man was following you and wasn’t there when it happened. We only found out this morning.”
“What? Who would want to break into the house?”
“We think they were looking for something,” Ariadne answered. “Do you have any idea what they would have been looking for?”
The drugs … Harper didn’t know whether to admit to the find or not. “Do you know who might be behind the break in?” Harper changed the subject.
“We aren’t sure yet, but your neighbors reported seeing a small brunette woman at your house in the early morning hours. Do you know what she would have been looking for?”
“We found drugs in the house.” Harper gripped the steering wheel tight. “We dumped most of them.”
“You did what?” Starling dropped her composition book on the floorboard of the truck. “But … I need those … ”
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