by Jenna Payne
“Martin O’Malley, the Las Vegas Police spokeperson, stated that the local police and Nevada State Patrol have spent the night searching for them to no avail. They are asking the public to keep an eyes out for these men.”
Laura saw the photos of the three men flash up on the screen with a phone number on the bottom. She quickly grabbed a pen and wrote it down.
“If you see them call this number, but do not approach as they are considered dangerous. The speculation now is why was there no word of this last night? They waited until this morning to alert the public, these suspects could be anywhere by now. We will keep you updated as more news comes to us,” the woman finished.
Laura felt herself tremble slightly. There was no reason for the bad guys to come after her, but she felt scared none the less. She picked up her phone and dialed the police department. She told the desk sergeant who she was and was asked to hold. Within a minute she heard a woman’s voice.
“Hello, Miss Ranger. I am Detective Avery. Is everything okay?” She asked. Her voice sounded concerned.
“I am fine but I just saw on the news that the men who attacked me are out, what is going on?” she asked. Trying to keep the annoyance out of her voice. There was a heavy sigh on the other end.
“I had been informed that you were already contacted. I just came in and was handed your case when it hit the news. The previous detective is no longer on the case. Do you think you are in danger? I can send someone over if you want?” she asked.
Laura was not sure.
“Well I don’t know why they would come after me. I just cut them off and they got mad about it. Do you think I need protection? I was supposed to head down to the station to fill out some report about the incident,” she told the detective.
“You haven’t filled out a report?” Laura could hear a muttered curse on the other side of the line. “I was not informed of that either. Why don’t you come on in, fill out the report? I will try and gather everything I can on what is going on to be able to judge better what needs to be done next. You have my deepest apologies for what occurred last night and for not being told when they escaped. I honestly don’t see them doing anything but getting as far away as they can, so you should be safe,” the woman told her.
Laura was calming down from the initial fear and realized she was being stupid. Of course those guys were long gone by now. Staying behind would be stupid, even for idiots like them. Laura thanked her and told her she would be in. After hanging up she put her things back in her bigger purse and quickly left to go to the station. It was not too far from her house so it did not take long, and she did not see any sign of the three men.
Once there she talked to the detective and found out there had been a mix up in booking and the three men had not been processed. They discovered it and went looking for them immediately, but somehow they were no longer in the building. They could not even be found on the security footage of the precinct after the time they first arrived. The detective still thought they would have left town as fast as they could, but she was going to continue to investigate and discover how they got away, and more importantly where they went. Laura was even more convinced that the guys took off, although she did not think they were quite the idiots she thought they were before. They had to be pretty sneaky to just slip out of the precinct after being arrested.
Laura left the precinct and was surprised to find Brock waiting for her out front. He looked devastatingly handsome in light slacks and a tank top with a loose open shirt over it. The day was getting hot outside.
“Are you okay?” he asked her taking her hands. She felt a warmth that had nothing to do with the sunshine and smiled at him.
“I am fine Brock. You are very kind to come all the way down here to check on me,” she told him, and then filled him in on the basics of what was going on. He was more concerned than before but did not come out and say it. She could tell by the way he was glancing around.
“I agree with the detective. There is no reason for them to stay in town,” she said confidently. He shrugged.
“That depends why they were here in the first place. You are probably right though. Ready for lunch?” he asked and she realized what time it was and that she was starving.
“I am, is Jack coming?” she asked as he escorted her to a town car waiting by the curb for him.
“Yes, he will meet us there,” he said.
They got into the car and she realized it was the first time she had ever been in a high end car. It was more comfortable than most of the furniture in her home. They arrived at the restaurant on the strip and the car door was opened for them and she was helped out by the valet. As they walked forward Brock cursed softly under his breath and turned to her with a smile.
“I need a favor. Someone is about to come up to us and I need you to just go along with whatever conversation takes place. I promise to explain afterwards, alright?” he asked.
He was smiling but she could see in his eyes that something serious was about to happen. She nodded seeing a dark complexioned man coming out the door of the restaurant looking right at Brock. Her companion put his arm around her comfortably.
“Victor! It is good to see you. What could possibly bring you to sunny Las Vegas?” he asked the man.
Victor was a European man wearing a nice three-thousand-dollar suit. Victor smiled and eyed Laura briefly before turning his attention back to Brock.
“I imagine I am in town for the same thing you are Brock. The gang is all here you know. It should be a good time,” he said cheerfully, glancing at Laura again.
“Where are my manners,” Brock said. “Let me introduce you to my friend from southern California, Misty Eddlebrock. Misty, this is Victor Dimitri,” Brock said.
Laura smiled wide, trying to appear a little vacuous. She spoke in her best valley girl tones.
“Oh, hello Mr. Victor, I am like, so glad to meet you. You must be really important to, like, know Brock,” she said, holding her stupid smile.
Victor smiled and shook her hand briefly and then immediately dismissed her as no threat. She could clearly see that and was proud of her ruse.
“She is charming, to be sure. Did you hear about the Tortelli brothers?” he asked Brock as they moved to under the awning out of the sun.
“I have heard of them, but never had the pleasure,” he responded.
“It is not a pleasure I assure you. They do allow for some amusement at their own expense though. The three of them got arrested last night at the Florence. I am guessing they are out of the running which narrows the field don’t you think?” he asked in what sounded like a rhetorical question.
“That is too bad. You know me, the more the merrier. Oh well, it was good to see you Victor. I look forward to seeing you when the bidding starts, but if you would excuse us, we have reservations,” Brock told the man.
They said their goodbyes and Laura received a kiss on both cheeks in goodbye from Victor and they went into the restaurant. Jack was waiting looking concerned. None of them said anything until they were seated at a private table Jack had arranged.
“That was awkward,” Jack said when the hostess left.
“It could have been if it wasn’t for Misty here, right Misty?” Brock asked with a grin and an encouraging look in his eyes.
“Victor was so nice. It was, like, a neat thing to meet him,” Laura told Jack with her stupid smile. He stared at her blankly a moment before busting out laughing. Laura and Brock joined him for a moment but then it had to asked.
“So what the hell is going on guys? I played along like you asked Brock,” she told him.
He nodded, turning to Jack.
“We have to let her in on it, the games are truly afoot,” he told him. Jack’s eyebrows went up.
*****
Lust Intrudes
At this point Laura was not surprised she was in the middle of a con of some sort. It was bigger than she could have imagined. Finding out she was dealing with a billionaire conman was
something of a shock, but she rolled with it. She also tried to not let their compliments on her abilities in the people department go to her head.
“So anyway,” Brock said as they made their way through a sumptuous lunch with champagne, for appearances she was told. “After running games as a kid I inherited dad’s business and realized I should not be doing what I was doing. By then this guy,” he pointed at Jack, “was already hanging around and I decided to put my enjoyment of the con to better uses. So these days we hunt down stolen artifacts and artwork. Sometimes the best way to get them returned, is to steal them back. In this case we know who the thieves are and what they are in town to sell. This week in Las Vegas is their biggest art displays and auctions. It is when every thief and conman is in town for the possible pickings. That is why Victor is here. Oh and Jack, you know how the Tortelli brothers are rumored to be the thieves of the piece we are looking for?”
Jack nodded sopping up the alfredo sauce with some bread.
“They are also the three who assaulted our friend here,” he told him. Jack swallowed and shook his head.
“Of course. It can’t be easy can it,” he said with a comic dismay.
“Come on my friend, how much fun would that be,” he told him and got a grin in reply.
It was obvious to Laura that whatever the end results in doing what they do, they enjoyed the game. She was also discovering she did too. The little taste she had got pretending to be Misty had been exhilarating. She was not sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
“So how would you like to help us out on this Laura? We would be willing to pay you handsomely for your services.” Jack nodded at Brock’s words.
“Indeed. Las Vegas always requires extra help and we never seem to have any. I don’t know yet how we are going to play it, but your help would widen our options,” he added.
Laura felt an exciting thrill that was almost sexual. This was a high stakes game she had never imagined she would be involved in, and she had an invitation. She knew she was probably being too quick with her answer but she really could give no other.
“I’m in. I will need to know more about, well, everything,” she said then tossed off the rest of the champagne.
Brock grinned, but was interrupted from speaking when Laura’s phone rang. Then Jack’s rang as well. They both glanced at each other and Laura answered hers.
“Hello,” she said.
“Hello Miss Ranger. This is Detective Avery. I have some bad news for you,” the woman said.
“Ok, what is it?” she asked in a flat voice.
Brock looked over quickly at her lack of tone. Jack had got up from the table and walked away for his conversation.
“We received a call about a break in and it seems your apartment was ransacked. You do live at 374 27th in downtown, right?” she asked.
Laura sighed.
“Yes, damn it. How bad is it?” she asked.
Brock’s eyes narrowed.
“Bad enough that I suggest you do not go there. Whoever did this was looking for something and that could put you in danger. I don’t believe in coincidences Miss Ranger. So I am working on the theory that your attackers are still in town. Do you have somewhere safe to go, out of town preferably is my number one concern.”
Laura looked at Brock and Jack. She made a quick decision.
“Yes I do. What could they be looking for Detective?” she asked.
“I was going to ask you that Miss Ranger,” she was told.
Laura had no idea but she was beginning to wonder if her companions did.
“You can call me Laura, Detective and I have no idea. I am a cocktail waitress. You could probably tell from my apartment that I don’t have much. Oh crap, that reminds me. I do have one stash. Are there jars on the top shelf in the kitchen? It is my tip savings,” she asked. Thankfully the Detective was actually at her apartment and could check for her.
“Only empty jars Laura. I am sorry it looks like they took that. Did anyone know you were keeping your money there?” she asked.
“I never told anyone. Shit, I was saving for a car. Now I am mad. Do you really think it is the guys from the casino, I mean hell, I just cut them off and they were drunk,” she told her.
“I don’t know Laura; this is not making much sense to me. For now, get to somewhere safe and I will be in touch. I may need to go over things further with you. Where will you be?” Detective Avery asked.
“Let me double check, hold on a moment,” she told her putting the phone on mute. Jack was back at the table and they were both looking at her.
“My place was tossed. The detective wants to know if I have somewhere to stay?”
They both looked stern and worried.
“Of course,” Brock responded.
“Can they know it is you?” she asked. He nodded and held out his hand for the phone. She slid it off of mute.
“I will be staying with Brock Wainright, one of the men who rescued me last night. Here he is,” she told her handing the phone over.
Laura listened to Brock charm the detective. The man was good, she could give him that. He had the right amount of concern and honesty in his voice to sell her on the idea of Laura staying with them for safety. After a time, he handed the phone back.
“Is this going to be cool with you Detective?” she asked. She was already getting a nod from Brock.
“That should work fine. Mr. Wainright has a good reputation from what I have learned. You should be safe. I will call you when I have more,” Detective Avery said, and that was that.
“Well I can’t go back to my apartment. I hope wherever we end up has a laundry service,” she said a little dejected. That had been all of her savings stolen. They noticed her depression and immediately started making plans. She rolled with it because she could not think of anything else to do.
***
Laura soon found herself walking down the hallway of another high end hotel with her arms full of shopping bags. The guys were carrying them as well as the bell hop. To cure her depression, they had taken her on a shopping spree. The Hotel Fantastic had many clothing stores on the ground floor and she was pretty sure they had hit them all. She was playing the part of Misty and having a wonderful time. It did not hurt that the stores all supplied champagne to their high end clients so she had a good buzz when they got to their rooms. Brock had booked a three room suite with a huge living area in the center. It had a great view of the city. She sighed and turned back around to face the two men, using her real voice.
“Thank you two for all of your care. I shouldn’t have let you spend so much on me. I won’t need to buy clothes for two years after this,” she told them smiling happily. They were both very pleased and Brock sat down on the luxurious cream colored couch. She moved over and sat on the couch too, leaning against the armrest with her legs curled up under her. Jack of course was making drinks and going through the hors d’oeuvres. She thought that was good. If she drank much more without food she would be really drunk.
“It is our pleasure my dear. Despite your courage you have been through a lot in the past day. You need a break and some time to rest and enjoy yourself. We do not have to be anywhere or do anything until morning, so the rest of the day is ours. Besides, we said we would pay you for your help. This is just the first part of that.”
Laura could not help her eyes widening slightly.
“Jeez, I didn’t realize what you meant when you said “paying me.” Do the jobs always pay so well? Do you need a full time employee?” she asked. She never would have said that without the help of the drinks but they did not seem to mind. Jack set the food and the table with her drink.
“We might. You may have guessed that we are very fond of you Laura,” Jack told her sitting on the floor next to where she sat on the couch. She felt Brock’s hand on her knee. She looked at him startled and felt Jack reach up to massage her neck.
“You are very tense girl, despite how well you are taking everything,” he told her.
She looked from one to the other not sure what to do. She knew where this was leading. Her body was reacting positively but she was not sure in her head. Brock reached out and touched her cheek.
“Just say the word dear, and we will back off. It will not affect our working relationship in any way. Can you blame us though? You are a beautiful woman and we are smitten,” Brock said.
The massage felt so good, and Jack got up and sat on the end table behind her to reach her back better. It felt so good and she could feel her tension easing. She had not realized how tight she was. She looked over her shoulder at him and he smiled, soft and charming, compassion and desire in his eyes. Looking forward she saw the same desire for her in Brock’s eyes. She felt an internal conflict over what she should do. On the one hand she really should reasonably wait before leaping into a relationship like this. On the other hand, she trusted her instincts.
“So, are you two running a game on me?” she asked to test her instincts. All of her senses were on alert as she asked it. Booze or not she was ready for their answer.
“Not in this,” Brock said softly.
“We are many things Laura dear, and some of them are not always nice, but taking advantage of a woman in this way is not on our style. No does mean no,” Jack said.
His hands had stopped as had Brock’s. She felt they were being honest and her body was excited by the possibilities. Making her decision she reached over sideways and picked up her drink and took a big swallow and smiled. She switched briefly to the Misty voice she had developed.
“Then what are we waiting for dudes,” she giggled, not completely an act as Brock’s hand slid from her knee to her thigh. Jack’s hands went over her shoulders and she reached up placing her hands on top of his. She guided them down her front, under her blouse and gasped at the electric feeling it brought with it.
