Hot Number (18 page)

Carson glowered at him. “What’s so damn
funny?”

“Chief, I spent a fair bit of time
interviewing Ms. Bligh. Believe me, she’s the last person I’d
expect to be cheating.”

“You’re basing that assessment on intimate
knowledge, are you? From the looks of things, I gather you know her
pretty well already.” Carson’s cutting tone was laden with
innuendo. “That’s why I figured you should be the one to monitor
her and then nail her ass. Not literally, of course.”

Nick held back a frustrated curse. As
assistant chief of security, it wasn’t his job to monitor card
counters and other cheaters. There were plenty of other, more
junior, security personnel for those routine assignments. Carson
had chosen Nick for an obvious reason, and it sent a chill through
him.

He’s setting me up
.

He kept his voice level. There was no point
complaining, since it would only drive Carson’s suspicions even
higher. “Chief, as far as I can tell, she barely knows how to find
her way in and out of the casino. And she always seems to be
drawing attention to herself, unlike counters, who want to avoid
attention at all costs. Besides, you know counters almost always
work in pairs or groups. Ms. Bligh came with a friend, but I’m not
sure the friend has even been in the blackjack pit.”

Carson shot him another disdainful look.
“Nobody said every goddamn card counter is smart about it, Saxon.
One of our best pit bosses has fingered your friend for intensive
surveillance, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do. What
you’re
going to do, to be more specific. I want you to sit
your ass in front of a console for as long as it takes to confirm
that she’s counting. Then, I want you personally to escort her to
the fucking sidewalk with a do not return sign stuck to her cute
little forehead. Is that understood?”

Nick stared back at his boss, keeping any
sign of emotion off his face. Inside, though, he seethed. Carson
would never accept a conclusion that Sadie wasn’t counting cards.
The bastard had set this whole thing up precisely to force Nick to
do something he didn’t want to do—something he didn’t think was
right.

But what choice did he have? His boss had
given him a direct order, and Webb’s warning about not crossing
Buzz Carson still rang in his ears. He couldn’t afford to lose his
job, especially since the costs of his mother’s care would only
grow in future. “All right, Chief. I’ll monitor her. But the pit
boss might be wrong this time, you know.”

“I doubt it.” Carson didn’t even try to
repress a smirk.

“Is that all, sir?”

“Just do your job, Saxon. Do what we pay you
for.”

Nick rose and headed for the door. If he
didn’t get out of there right now, he would deck the arrogant
jackass, warning or no warning.

Sadie gave her head a guilty shake as she
hurried past the hotel lobby to the casino. She really should be
spending more time with Cassie, doing what her friend wanted to do.
Cassie had put on a
whatever
look when Sadie opted for
blackjack over the pool again today, but she was miffed and not
very skilled at hiding it. Sadie, feeling bad, silently vowed to
make it up to her friend. But she’d come to Las Vegas to break out
of her stifling life pattern, and blackjack had unexpectedly become
a major part of that plan. To the point that
obsession
came
to mind—but that was too strong a word.

Or was it? In those rare moments when she
wasn’t thinking about Nick Saxon, her mind kept returning to the
blackjack table. The smooth slide of the cards out of the shoe, the
tension around the table as the dealer revealed his cards, the
escalating counts, the high of winning—it was almost physically
seductive.

What she wanted for the rest of this fantasy
trip was to sleep away her mornings, fill her afternoons with
blackjack, and—hopefully—spend her remaining evenings and nights as
close to Nick Saxon as humanly possible. If that meant she’d see
less of her friend than they’d planned, she’d have to accept that
as the temporary collateral damage of the crazy changes she’d found
herself going through. Cassie might grumble a bit, but Sadie vowed
she’d make up it her friend once they got back to Chicago.

As she passed a wall of mirrors just off the
casino floor, she gave herself a quick check. She’d thought hard
today about changing her look, and had eventually decided to go for
it. She’d tied her hair back in a tight ponytail, and had shunned
makeup except for a bit of lip gloss in a soft pink shade. A royal
blue tee shirt, Levi’s, and navy blue Crocs sandals completed her
half-hearted effort at disguise. The look felt natural, and was
close to how she looked and dressed both at home and at her office
on the weekends.

Sadie had no illusions that she’d fool any of
the sharp-eyed dealers and pit bosses—especially Ms. Laser Eyes, if
she was on duty today. But it sure couldn’t hurt to fly lower on
their radar screens.

The cell phone in her pocket started to
vibrate. She’d stuffed it in her jeans when she decided to leave
her bag in her room, wanting to be as comfortable and unencumbered
as she could while she gambled.

“How’d you sleep?” Nick’s husky voice sent a
welcome warmth rippling through her chest. She hadn’t expected him
to call until tonight.

“Like a baby,” she lied. Well, maybe it
wasn’t a total lie. Some babies did wake up at all hours of the
night, didn’t they? “How about you?”

“Barely got a wink. I couldn’t stop thinking
about a certain hot number and a crazy Moroccan spa. I finally had
to take a cold shower. Brutal.”

Sadie laughed, feeling incredibly
lighthearted. “Oh, come on. Surely not for a battle-hardened
Marine.”

“Well, maybe I’m exaggerating a little. But
the night ended too soon for me.”

“For me, too. But I understand why you had to
leave. When we’re at the hotel we might as well be in a
fishbowl.”

“That’s exactly what it feels like,” he said,
his voice turning a little harder. “And that’s why I want you to
come to my house tonight. It’s not much to look at, but at least we
won’t have surveillance cameras on us. I’ll throw a couple of
steaks on the grill.”

If she hadn’t been in public, she would have
jumped up and down like a maniac. Even though she knew Nick had
enjoyed himself—and her—last night at the spa, she still didn’t
have enough confidence to assume he’d want to spend any more time
with her. She cringed at the thought of being just one of what she
was sure was a long series of notches on the sheriff’s proverbial
gun stock.

“That sounds perfectly delightful,” she said,
trying to sound like hot guys asked her over for steak and sex all
the time. “I can make a salad if you get the fixings.”
Oh, hell.
Did that come off a bit too eagerly domestic?

“You’re on. I...” He paused for a moment, and
her anxiety spiked.

“Nick?”

“Sorry, I guess I’m more wiped than I
thought. I just finished a rough meeting with the chief.”

Her heart melted. He had so much on his
plate, especially with his mom still in the hospital. “I’m sorry. I
wish there was something I could do to make it better for you.”

“I’ll be fine. Actually, I was just going to
ask what you’re doing this afternoon.”

Sadie smiled, deciding to lighten the mood.
“Oh, I thought I’d confiscate some more of your casino’s money,”
she said breezily.

Another pause. “You’re playing blackjack?” he
asked, his voice guarded.

She had to resist the temptation to pull the
phone from her ear and stare at it. Did he really object to her
gambling? His tone made it clear he wasn’t thrilled by what she’d
said, but he hadn’t talked about it like that before, even though
he knew she’d been playing and winning. “Am I talking to Nick, or
to the sheriff?”

“Nick,” he answered quickly. “Look, don’t
worry about it. I just thought you might want to catch some rays
around the pool. It’s a gorgeous day out there. Sunny and hot.”

“But what if I got sunburned? Wouldn’t that
put your nefarious plans for tonight into some jeopardy?” She
didn’t know what his problem was, but she was determined to deflect
the conversation before it got any weirder. Not even Nick was going
to tell her how to spend her time.

“You’ve got a point there,” he said with a
chuckle. “A sunburn would suck.”

Relief swept through her. “Okay, then. Shall
I meet you at your place? That way we don’t have to be seen on the
cameras together.”

“That’s smart. Why don’t you come over about
eight-fifteen? I’m working till six, and then I’ll head over to the
hospital and spend some time with Mom.”

“We can meet later if you want to stay with
your mother longer. I don’t mind.”

“Thanks, but it’s fine. The nurses will kick
me out around eight, anyway.”

“What’s your address? And how long will it
take a cab to get there from the hotel?”

He chuckled again. “About four minutes at
that time of the evening. We’re just off Flamingo, west of the
Strip.” He gave her the street address.

“I can’t wait to see you,” Sadie said. In
fact, her entire body practically quivered as she contemplated the
prospect of having Nick all to herself for an entire night.

“Sadie?”

“Yes?”

“Try not to break the bank today.” His tone
held no trace of humor.

“Um, sure. Bye, Nick.” She put the phone away
and headed into the casino, making a determined effort to ignore
the inner voice that told her trouble might lay just over the
horizon.

* * *

Inviting Sadie to dinner had been a necessary
ruse. While Nick had planned to see her tonight anyway, the call
had also been an excuse to find out her plans for the afternoon. He
had no intention of staring at the bank of surveillance screens for
hours unless he had to.

But she’d left him no choice. He’d had to
bite back his disappointment—and maybe a little anger—when she
joked about her plans for beating the house. If only she were going
to hit the pool, or go shopping, or take a tour—anything other than
blackjack—it would have eased his mind.

The fact that Sadie was going to play
blackjack didn’t confirm the chief’s suspicions. Not by a long
shot. She was smart, and probably just enjoyed the mental
challenge. He had no good reason to suspect her of counting cards.
Sure, cheats could put on convincing acts. But if Sadie Bligh
really had snowed him that easily, he should find a new line of
work. No way could her stumbling, bumbling disaster the other night
have been an act.

He gazed absently at the bank of monitors,
ignoring the quiet hum of activity in the operations center. The
word that kept coming to mind when he thought about Sadie was
innocence
. She was the polar opposite of calculating and
deceiving—the qualities every cheat had to have. Sadie had a
natural, unpracticed sweetness that belied the deviousness of a
card counter. Besides, Nick didn’t believe any counter would talk
like she did. They were mostly super smart like her, yes—but not
walking dictionaries. Counters were savvy enough not to draw
attention to themselves with quirks that would make them stand out
in the Vegas crowds.

So, he’d zero in on her table and watch her
for the whole damn afternoon if he had to. Carson had given him a
direct order, and he was in no position to ignore it or be anything
less than diligent in carrying it out. Michael Webb had confirmed
Nick’s fears. If Carson had reason to go after him, Webb was not
going to be able to save his ass.

The thought of getting fired was truly
unnerving. His mom’s only source of support other than him was his
dad’s Marine pension, and that wasn’t nearly enough to cover the
costs of her home care or a top-notch care center. Besides, Nick
couldn’t bear the thought of putting her in a facility one second
before he had to—not until he and Carmen could no longer provide
the care she needed. His mother was still young—she would be in her
early “golden years” if it weren’t for the goddamn Alzheimer’s. The
thought of putting her in some facility with locked wards, full of
patients twenty and thirty years older, made Nick’s gut clench
every time he thought about it.

He’d been lucky to land a job that paid him
enough to cover his mother’s home care. If he lost his position, he
knew he’d have a hell of a time finding another one nearly as
good.

Time to get to work.

Straightening in his chair, he focused his
attention on the imposing array of forty-eight LED screens opposite
the console where he and three other security staff were seated.
Twenty-four more screens hung on the wall to his left. The hotel
and casino employed more than four hundred cameras to monitor both
the gambling and non-gambling areas. Each screen rotated four to
five camera views. Operators could choose to fix any camera on a
screen, or to bring the image directly to the console in front of
him or her.

Nick focused on cameras 35 to 45—the ones
that blanketed the blackjack pit. He scanned the images on the
screens until he spotted Sadie at a hundred dollar minimum table.
Shock made him blink. She was playing a hundred buck table? His
little firecracker obviously wasn’t fooling around. He zoomed the
camera’s image until her face became clear, so clear he could see
the light dusting of freckles across her nose and cheeks.

She was laughing, bantering with a young,
lanky guy holding the anchor position next to her. A stab of
jealously dug into his chest, which annoyed the hell out of
him.

Come on, Saxon, get a grip. Sure, you like
her, but she can’t be more than a fling.

He reached for his rapidly cooling cup of
high-test Starbucks and settled in to watch. Twenty very
interesting minutes later, Nick knew for certain that Sadie Bligh
was no rookie at blackjack. She played the basic strategy
perfectly, never straying from the system. Whether it was a double
down, a split or a hold with a twelve, she never made a mistake. By
the end of the first hour, she’d more or less broken even. Though
she played like a pro—a fact that shouldn’t surprise him, given how
smart she was— Nick saw no indication that she was counting cards.
He even started to relax a little.