The Big Blind (Nadia Wolf)

by Pierce, Nicolette

  “Greyson?” David called from the bedroom door.

  “I’m in the shower.”

  “Mya is in the guestroom still passed out. I think she might sleep it off. I’m sure she’s exhausted. I’m going to dispose of the stolen car and meet with Remy. I’ll be back in a little while.”

  “I’ll be down in a few minutes. See you later.”

  When David left, Greyson scanned me. His eyes narrowed on my throat.

  “What happened to your neck? There are red bars going across it.”

  I touched my neck and remembered Dagor’s fingers wrapped around it cutting off my air. I shivered.

  “Dagor.”

  “What did he do?”

  I shook my head. I knew if I said it out loud, I would lose it. I was barely suppressing a bubble of sobs. Greyson lightly touched one of the red bars. I jumped back. My reflexes betrayed me. Greyson’s eyes showed surprise before the grim realization set them hard.

  “Did he try to strangle you?”

  I nodded. The bubble was nearing the surface.

  Greyson wrapped his arms around me and held me close. I heard his deep voice through his chest.

  “Are you in any pain?”

  I shook my head no.

  “How did you escape?”

  “I couldn’t. I tried to fight him off, but he was out of his mind. He only stopped because a man gave him a message that there was an explosion at one of his buildings. I wouldn’t be here if there wasn’t an explosion.”

  Greyson hugged me closer. “I’m giving Remy an enormous raise.”

  “Remy did it?”

  “He rigged it with David’s help while I was searching for Mya. We expected it would prompt Dagor to leave the remaining buildings to see what happened. He must have another building we don’t know about because I checked every where and I couldn’t find Mya.”

  Greyson kissed my head as he left the shower. He said he had to make a few phone calls. I let the water pour on me until I began to prune. I quickly dressed in the jogging suit and tied my hair into a ponytail. As I descended the stairs, I heard Greyson’s voice coming from the great room.

  “I’m running out of options. Dagor is going to keep coming after Nadia and take hostage after hostage. He needs to be stopped before he kills someone.”

  “What’s the plan?” David asked.

  “This is your area of expertise. You tell me.”

  David was about to say something when he spotted me in the doorway. He gave me a gentle smile. I meandered over to sit near him while Greyson paced.

  “Thank you for saving Mya,” David said. He brushed my face with the back of his hand. He peered at my two black eyes. “Do you need ice?” He asked.

  “I don’t think so.”

  His gaze traveled to my neck. “I’m sorry you’re in the middle of this. We seem to have made the problem worse.”

  “Do you think Dagor will stop coming after me?”

  David’s eyes darkened. I read into his eyes what he didn’t want to tell me. Dagor wouldn’t stop. He was angry and ready for revenge. This was only the beginning.

  Chapter 24

  Greyson drove me to the emergency room. It took an hour of waiting to see a doctor. Greyson’s nerves were clearly on edge and agitated. He paced and then settled in a chair. After a few minutes, he would jump up and pace again.

  “You’re a very intense person,” I said as I followed him with my eyes. He had passed me for what had to be the hundredth time.

  He stopped. “I’m sorry. It helps me think.”

  “What are you thinking about?”

  “How to remove Dagor from our lives.”

  I contemplated. “He either needs to go to jail, or he needs to find a new person to pick on.” I didn’t want to say the third option I was thinking; death. However satisfying it would be to know he could never harm any one again, I wouldn’t want any one to have to wear an orange jumpsuit for the rest of their life.

  “I wouldn’t want him to pick on someone else just so he would leave us alone.”

  “Then he has to go to jail.”

  “David already gave evidence to the police. They didn’t do anything.”

  “Maybe they couldn’t. There might not have been enough evidence. They might be working on an investigation that will provide them with more evidence.”

  “Either way, it doesn’t look like he’ll go to jail anytime soon.”

  “How many years would he be sentenced for being an accomplice to counterfeiting?”

  “I don’t know. It might be enough for him to forget his obsession with you. He would be angry with whoever turned in the evidence.”

  “We have to find out who he sold the supplies to and pressure the person to go to the police with the information.”

  “Talk about mission impossible. First we would have to figure out who’s behind the counterfeiting. Then we would have to convince them to talk.”

  My name was called. Greyson and I followed the medical assistant to a small room. Greyson stood next to me like a guard dog the entire time. As soon as the doctor appeared, Greyson began listing my aliments. The doctor heard enough and raised his hand to stop Greyson.

  “Why don’t we take this from the top?” The doctor suggested. “Let’s start with your head. Were you in an accident?”

  My life was like a train wreck, but that wasn’t the sort of accident he was talking about. I filled him in on my two head injuries, my two black eyes, and my bruised throat.

  “And what about the bruise on your leg?” He asked.

  “Oh, never pick a fight with an elevator. It will win.”

  The doctor eyed me and then said, “I’m most concerned about your brain.”

  Greyson, once again, was given the task of keeping me awake for twenty-four hours. The doctor had originally said to wake me up every two hours but with two head injuries, he changed his mind.

  “Let’s head to the house and regroup,” Greyson said, pulling out of the hospital parking lot. “Hopefully David figured out a plan because I have nothing.”

  “Sounds good. It’s already late and we have to stay awake for another twenty-four hours. This isn’t going to be fun.”

  The edges of Greyson’s lips curled briefly.

  “Did you think about sex?” I asked him.

  He shrugged, but the smile came back.

  I was head-to-toe ugly with bruises, and he still wanted to have sex. Men! I smirked.

  David and Remy were at the house waiting. Mya was still upstairs. I ran to check on her. She was sleeping soundly. David had tucked her under the covers. I slipped out and returned downstairs.

  “She’s sleeping soundly,” I said.

  “Hey Jet, how’s the head?” Remy asked.

  “Greyson’s stuck with me for another twenty-four hours.”

  “He’s going to share that duty with me. He has a couple morning meetings he has to attend.”

  “Shouldn’t you sleep, Greyson? You can’t go to the meetings half asleep.”

  “Don’t worry,” Greyson said. “Meetings keep me on my toes. There’s no way I’ll fall asleep. Maybe the last one . . . taxes.”

  “Yuck. I dread doing my taxes, let alone having to worry about a corporation.”

  “Luckily, I just make an appearance. As long as everyone is on track, I can make a quick escape.”

  “You can drive with me in the limo,” Remy said. “I’ll give you a tour of the cockpit.”

  David smirked.

  “Don’t be smirking,” Remy said. “I’ve done some killer renovations.”

  “I don’t doubt you have.”

  A nagging feeling crept into my head. I couldn’t shake the feeling I was forgetting something.

  “Greyson, was I suppose to do something?”

  “Not that I know.”

  “Maybe it’s just my head. It hurts.”

  “Let me get you something. I’m sure I have headache medicine.”

  When Greyson left the room, David st
ood and crossed over to me. He peered into my eyes like a doctor.

  “Do you have any other pain?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Where? Do you need ice?”

  “No. I need food. I think my stomach is eating itself.”

  “When did you eat last?”

  “I think breakfast. I was working all day, and then I was dragged here.”

  “No wonder your stomach hurts.”

  Greyson returned with medicine and water. “There isn’t any food here. I can order something.”

  I shook my head. “Now I’m starting to feel queasy. It probably wouldn’t be a good idea.”

  Greyson sat and hooked his arm around me to lean against him. “Tell me if you decide you want to eat. I’ll order something.”

  “Okay.”

  “Since everyone is here, we should figure out a game plan,” David said. “I have to hit the road by tomorrow night. I don’t have a choice.” He stared pointblank at Greyson. “Don’t bother asking what I’m working on.”

  Greyson narrowed his eyes but didn’t say anything.

  David continued, “We have two problems: Dagor and the counterfeit money.”

  “Dagor seems to be the biggest threat,” Remy said.

  “Yeah, he’s a threat,” Greyson said. “But if I don’t get a handle on the counterfeit money problem, I’ll have a multibillion dollar corporation down the drain within days.”

  “This is all the same problem,” I said. “I’m sure if one disappears the other will follow.”

  Disappear? The counterfeiters used an old illusion trick of making the money disappear. A false bottom provided a way to deceive every one in thinking the money disappeared.

  “Nadia, honey, are you okay? You have a peculiar expression on your face.”

  “My thoughts drifted. Why would a person who wanted the money to disappear make it into an illusion? I would think an average person would find a way to do it without the illusion. So why?”

  “I guess,” David said. “They didn’t have many options.”

  “It’s not so much about the options as it is about how they did it.”

  “I didn’t see it. Explain it to me.”

  “The false bottom was an exact replica. If it was me, I would make a false bottom with wood or something that would blend in. But it wouldn’t be exact. It would be plain with no detail. The person would need a picture of the bottom or some how obtain specs. Then they would need to install the bottom before the tournament.”

  Greyson stood abruptly. “I’ll call for all the footage from the room before the tournament.” He immediately pulled out his phone.

  David turned to me. “Who would make a table bottom replica?”

  I pondered it for a moment. “Someone who was a perfectionist. Perhaps someone in the trade. Maybe an illusionist.” My eyes widened. “Holy shit! An illusionist!”

  Chapter 25

  “An illusionist? As in a magician?” David asked.

  I scrambled off the couch. My pulse was racing. “It couldn’t be him, could it? Who would be his partner? There must be a link I’m not seeing.”

  David followed me with his eyes. “Who are you talking about?”

  “Lupier.”

  “If it was an illusionist or magician, why Lupier?” David asked. “There are hundreds of magicians in Las Vegas. Are you sure you’re not seeing him as a possible suspect because he unleashed scorpions on you?”

  Remy smirked. “It’s all over the internet. One site has it in slow motion. You should see her tackle Lupier in slow motion. You can see the instant his face turned whiter than snow.”

  David nodded his head. “Yeah, I watched that one. It’s classy the way they made her eyes glow red.” David turned to me. “Or do your eyes normally glow red when you’re catapulting from glass coffins?”

  I smacked him on the back of his head. “Would you be serious for a moment? There’s a connection. I’m just not seeing it.”

  Greyson disconnected his call. “I should be able to download the footage in a few minutes. We might be able to find something.”

  I nodded. Nothing was fitting together.

  “Did I hear something about an illusionist?” Greyson asked.

  “I think Lupier is involved,” I said. “I can’t fit it all together.”

  “Don’t try to force the puzzle pieces to fit. If it truly happened, the pieces will fall into place naturally,” David said.

  “I’m not thinking of something. I’m missing something.” I turned to Greyson. “Did you ever find out how the money was coming in or going out?”

  “No. I haven’t been able to see any thing on the footage.”

  “Maybe there’s an illusion there as well. If the operation is rigged by a magician, he would continue to use the same tricks.”

  “You might be on to something,” Greyson said. “It wouldn’t hurt to look around. We should search the cash room but without raising suspicion.”

  “Who will stay with Mya?” David asked.

  “You will,” I said. “You said you didn’t want to be caught on camera any more than you had to be.”

  “Yes, but if she wakes up, she’ll see me. I can’t let her know I’m alive quite yet.”

  “Remy will stay.”

  Remy scurried to his feet. “Nope. I’ll go with Greyson.”

  “Nadia needs to come with me,” Greyson said. “I’m her babysitter.”

  “Did you have to use that term?” I asked.

  “What? Babysitter?”

  “Yes. It makes me think I’m a minor. Which would make me jailbait and you a creepy old guy.”

  “I’m a creepy old guy?” His hands were on his hips, but his lips slightly curled. “I don’t know which offends me more; the creepy part or the old part.”

  “Only if you were a babysitter. Otherwise you are . . .” My face heated up. He was one hundred percent sexy.

  A full smile appeared on his face. “I’m what? Spit it out so David and Remy can hear.”

  “I was going to say you’re otherwise a pain in the ass.”

  “Nice cover,” David said. “If you two are done, we should try to figure out who is doing what.”

  “Since David and Remy are both too chicken to stay here and watch Mya, we can call Frankie. He would be willing to do it,” I said.

  “I’m not chicken to watch my own wife. I just can’t have her see me yet.”

  “All of Las Vegas has seen you,” Greyson said.

  “Don’t be dramatic. The only people who know I’m around are the three of you.”

  “And Caleb, and Frankie, and Dagor.”

  “None of those guys know who I am nor would they care.”

  “So, can we pick up Frankie?” I asked.

  “Frankie would be fine to watch Mya. Why don’t you give him a call and tell him we’re on our way.”

  “I need a phone. The temporary one was smashed.”

  Greyson handed me his phone. I dialed Frankie. He didn’t pick up. He normally stays up late after the chapel closes. I’m sure he would be awake. The nagging feeling returned. Uh-oh! I knew there was something I was forgetting.

  “Did anyone go release Frankie after the call from Dagor?”

  Everyone stared at each other with wide eyes. I cringed.

  “The three of you need to pick up Frankie right now.”

  They all backed away. I narrowed my eyes.

  “I’m not going,” I said. “He’ll be angrier than a starving lion. He’ll take his revenge by signing me up for embarrassing gigs. One of you needs to go. I don’t care who. You’re all cuter than I am, and he won’t bite your head off.”

  David lost at rock-paper-scissors so he was the one recruited to pick up Frankie. Remy would stay and watch Mya until David returned with Frankie. Greyson and I high-tailed it out of there and drove to the casino.

  He parked near the back door where we quickly entered the building. I followed Greyson through several hallways.

  “We’re g
oing to the cash room,” he said. “We need to make sure we’re not too obvious that we’re looking for something. I’m going to call the security office and tell them I’m giving you a tour. This might raise a red flag. It’s not something normally allowed. Since I’m the boss, they shouldn’t question it.”

  Greyson made the phone call to security. He only used a stern tone once. Judging from the interactions with his employees, he was an excellent boss but stern. No one ran away when they saw him coming nor flipped him off behind his back. But I didn’t think I would want to get on his bad side. He had a way of unnerving a person. The way he carried himself and the tone of his voice demanded respect. He wasn’t a boss you could put up your feet and crack open a beer with.

  Greyson opened the door to the cash room. We both stepped in. There were three employees working in the room. They watched us for a moment then continued their work.

  “Search for anything peculiar,” Greyson whispered. “I’ll start blabbing tedious details about the cash room.”

  I nodded and quietly poked around the room. Greyson relayed specifics on how money traveled through the casino. I ran my hand along some of the workers’ tables. They eyed me but kept working. I smiled at them.

  Mounds of dollars were stacked and banded. Counting machines flipped through the money and gave them a total.

  The room wasn’t overly large. It was big enough to have three stainless steel counting tables and shelves against the wall holding more money. There was also a walk-in safe. I didn’t think the counterfeiters would go to the trouble of rigging a safe when there were easier options. There were a couple of secured carts to move money around the casino. Maybe a cart would have a false bottom.

  “Greyson, can you show me inside one of these carts? They’re so impressive.”

  “Anything for you, sweetheart.”

  He had one of the workers unlock the carts. They were all empty and looked exactly the same. I felt inside them. It was hard metal and the seams were welded together. I peeked from the carts to see the employees staring. They had to figure something wasn’t right about this visit.

  “Oh, sugar dumpling,” I gushed as I flung my arms around Greyson’s neck. “Thank you for showing me the cash room. It’s a girl’s dream come true.”