“In my lifetime, I saw one other man who could defeat me when we played, Vienna. He was brilliant at cards. He had a gift. No one could touch him. Playing the way you do is dangerous. Playing the way I do is dangerous. I learned to only play when it was necessary to keep the casino alive. I created a mystique around my winning. You’re beautiful and a woman. That’s becoming far more accepted now, but it is still resented, as you saw with Charles. If you believe players like Art or Leo are your friends, you’re very naïve. They will turn on you in a heartbeat. Charles is much more honest. More to the point, the fact that you’ll always win will eventually bring far too much attention to you.”
“What makes you believe I’ll always win?” Vienna countered, just as quietly.
“I’ve been playing cards since I was thirteen years old. Even younger, but seriously at thirteen. I never lost. Not once, unless I wanted to.”
That didn’t exactly give her an explanation for his belief.
“You just told me there was one man with a gift, someone brilliant at playing cards who defeated you every time,” Vienna was compelled to point out. A part of her wanted to play the man who had managed to defeat Daniel. Had he realized Daniel used his voice to aid him in winning? Was he immune to the hypnotic suggestions as she was?
The owner of the hotel leaned even closer, his gentlemanly demeanor giving way to a much more ruthless expression as a dark mask seemed to descend on his face. “He was found in the desert after three weeks of searching, buried up to his neck in the sand. He’d been tortured and then shot, both eyes gone. In his mouth were cards, the exact hand he managed to beat me with the last game we played.”
There was a hiss of malice in his voice. Venom. Vienna drew back to fix her gaze on him, trying to read him. He was very good at masking his expression, but that deep, bitter well of venom spewed like a volcano exploding out of him in spite of his discipline.
“Three aces and two jacks. I had three kings and two queens,” Daniel murmured, as if it mattered what the last hand had been.
“Naturally, the police investigated. They had to think you were involved,” Vienna stated. She would not be intimidated, even if what he said sounded like an outright threat.
“I had an ironclad alibi. The desert is full of dead bodies. That was nearly forty years ago. Corruption was still pretty rampant then. Not so much now.”
“And you aren’t threatening me in any way.”
“No, why would you think that? I’m trying to warn you. People kill for the kind of money you just won. If you prove to be a consistent winner, they start thinking you’re stealing the money from them. It was unfortunate that this event was televised. It wouldn’t have been had I thought for one moment that you could defeat me. You will have to be very, very careful when you play from here on out.”
Wallin was back to sounding like a gentleman, being kind and solicitous of her. She already knew he was a shark. She needed to get out of there, not just because she could feel the deadly paralysis wanting to invade her body, but because it made her ill to be in the same room with a man who may have actually killed someone or had them killed because they beat him in a poker game.
“Thank you for the warning. Fortunately, I don’t live or work here, nor do I have any intention of doing so. I’m quite happy where I am.” She stood up, forcing him to straighten in his chair, giving her breathing room. “If you’ll excuse me, I have to pack up. I told you, I have other commitments. My friends arrived last night and I’m anxious to see them.”
“Congratulations again, Vienna.” Daniel extended his hand.
He had a very firm grip. She was very certain he hadn’t congratulated her when she’d won, not that it mattered.
“I’m sending security with you to escort you to your room.”
“That’s not necessary.” She was more afraid of his security team than she was of the crowds.
“It is very necessary. You have no idea what it’s going to be like outside of this room now. Just remember, forty years ago, there wasn’t the media coverage there is now when we were playing poker, and yet someone killed Liam Gram. Our game was televised. Art, Jameson, Leo and I all lost to you. Millions of people saw that happen. Overnight, you became a sensation and we became humiliated. It’s possible we could allow that humiliation to eat away at us. Don’t think it couldn’t happen. They might smile at you and congratulate you, want to be photographed with you, but make no mistake, Vienna: they are not your friends.”
“I get that. Just as you’re warning me they aren’t my friends, you might not be either.” She eased toward the door, thankful the game hadn’t taken very long and she hadn’t had to use her “gift” too much.
Daniel signaled to his security staff and they immediately surrounded her. Vienna had to admit the owner of the hotel knew what he was talking about. The moment she stepped outside the room, she was swarmed by media. Behind them, a crowd of people looked as if they might crush her. The security team knew what they were doing, forming a diamond around her.
“Keep your head down and your hand on Wilder’s back,” Rachel instructed. She was directly behind Vienna.
There were two others on either side of her. Vienna didn’t recognize either man and she didn’t look at their uniforms. She just did what Rachel told her to do and looked at the floor as they made their way to the private elevator. Breathing deep, she matched her steps to Wilder’s the entire time, blocking out the sound of reporters calling out to her.
It was difficult to process the various emotions coming at her with the energy of the massive crowd pressing so close. There were too many people. She had Daniel Wallin’s parting shots running around in her head as well. The elevator doors opened and Wilder stepped aside to allow her entrance. He faced the crowd, his gaze moving over the people even as his body blocked hers. She couldn’t even see around him. He was just a little too good at his job, but it did allow her to briefly process a few of the stronger emotions emanating from the crowd. One of them was a strong malevolence. That dark strain she’d felt before was radiating toward her, but this time it was much more poisonous.
The rest of the security force stepped onto the elevator and the doors silently slid closed. She knew there was a camera in the elevator recording everything they did, maybe everything they said. The ride was eerily silent after all the cheering on the floor. As soon as the doors slid open, she made a move to exit, but Rachel held her back as Wilder stepped out first, looking down the wide hallway, left and right.
He signaled to his team to allow her out of the elevator, and they walked her to the door. “When you’re ready to leave at any time, call for us to escort you, Ms. Mortenson,” Wilder said.
“Thank you, I appreciate it.” She slipped inside her suite quickly.
Two of her friends had come at Zale’s encoded message to Sam, and they rushed her as she closed her door. Shabina Foster was all of five foot four. She’d inherited her mother’s incredible blue eyes, thick dark hair and beautiful skin from her Saudi ancestry. Shabina owned the Sunrise Café in Knightly.
Raine O’Mallory was an intellectual powerhouse packed into a slender five-foot-two body. She was on the extremely quiet side until one riled her, and then it was never a good idea to argue with her because you were going to lose—she knew too much. She had some hush-hush job with the military, although she appeared to be an independent contractor with them. At least, Vienna was certain she wasn’t in the military.
Vienna towered over both women. That didn’t seem to matter. They aided her to the bedroom, took her shoes off and helped her lie down.
“You didn’t get any sleep last night,” Shabina said. “We stayed up way too late talking. Why don’t you rest for a little while? I’ll finish packing your things. Congratulations on the big win. Lots of money.”
“For the hospital and our search team’s equipment,” Vienna said. It felt so good to lie down. The weakness was beginning to invade. “I can’t wait to get out of here. I’m so done with hotels.”
“Even this lovely suite?” Shabina looked around her.
“Yes. I need to go camping,” Vienna said decisively. Her lashes were getting heavy. “I’m getting pins and needles in my legs. I think I sat too long.” The memory of Zale massaging the blood back into her legs and arms, helping to overcome the paralysis, came to her, and she hoped if Shabina or Raine did the same, it would counter the coming immobility.
“Are you really that ready to leave that hot guy you told us about?” Shabina asked, perching on the edge of the bed and massaging Vienna’s left leg.
Vienna tried waving her hand. It was too difficult to bother. “So ready. Men are ultimately far too bossy for me to deal with for very long. They want to change your entire life for you. He was fun for a while, though. I’ll miss certain things.”
Raine laughed. “I’ll just bet you will. Stella, Harlow and Zahra will meet us at the Airbnb with all the equipment. We can scope out the best rock to climb tomorrow. I looked up Red Rock online and found all sorts of great sources for the best bouldering. I think Stella will be happy. The hiking looks easy enough for all of us. Zahra won’t complain.”
“She’ll complain,” Shabina said.