Hot Number (27 page)

“I’m gonna play right here,” the big man said
in a rumbling voice that brooked no opposition. He pointed to
Sadie’s table. “If these two beautiful ladies don’t mind.”

Two burly men standing behind him nodded
warily at his choice of playing location.

Bodyguards.

Sadie glanced behind the bodyguards. Three
casino security men had blocked access to their area. Out of the
corner of her eye, she noticed three more slipping around the side.
Suddenly, it felt like a trap had closed around her. Her instincts
told her to get out of Dodge before gunfire erupted in the
saloon.

When the man in the dark suit and gaudy
jewelry grinned at her, Sadie discovered he had a brilliantly white
and utterly charming smile. Unbelievably, it appeared that one of
his incisors held an inset diamond. Despite her uneasiness, she
couldn’t hold back a chuckle.

“Sit yourself down, Tiny,” the anchor woman
said with a welcoming smile. “I think the night is about to get a
whole lot more interesting.”

Tiny
? The man was a behemoth. Who in
heaven’s name was he?

The giant squeezed his bulk into the seat
between Sadie and the brunette. “I can’t think of a better place to
be tonight than right here between two such gorgeous ladies,” Tiny
said as he ran his eyes over the brunette’s ample chest. Then he
turned to Sadie.

She stuck out her hand, fervently hoping he
wouldn’t crush it in his oversized mitt. “Hello, I’m Sadie Bligh,”
she said brightly. “From Chicago.”

“Chicago,” he murmured as he took her hand
and planted a gentle kiss below the knuckles. “We love to play
Chicago.” He turned his head slightly to look at the bodyguard
standing directly behind Sadie. “My man Leroi here’s from Chicago.
Right, Leroi?”

“You got it, Z,” Leroi said, looking both
wary and immensely bored.

Sadie blinked.
Zee? What kind of name is
that? Zee, or Z, as in the alphabet?

“I’m getting the impression you don’t know
me,” Tiny, or Mr. Z, said, chuckling.

Sadie gave him an apologetic smile. “I’m
sorry. I don’t get out very much, I’m afraid. I’m a math
professor.”

The man let out a belly laugh. “Well, that’s
perfect, Miz Math Professor, ‘cause you’re one hot number.”

Sadie groaned inside at the
all-too-predictable reaction to her profession, but kept her mouth
shut. She had the feeling Mr. Z wouldn’t appreciate her
response.

“They call me TinyZ,” the big man said. “Nice
to meet you, Miz Bligh.”

The brunette, who introduced herself as
Jennifer, gushed that she was a big fan of Tiny. Sadie gathered
from their exchange that he must be a famous rap singer. Sadie had
heard of rap music, of course, but it held about the same amount of
interest for her as professional wrestling. Zero. Still, he did
seem like a nice and rather gentle man, even if he was as big as
her condo building.

“I assume your nickname Tiny is an ironic use
of the term based on your imposing stature,” Sadie said. “But does
the Z come from the first letter of your surname?”

Tiny gave her a bemused look. Then he turned
and grinned at his burly companions, who seemed mildly entertained.
“No, darlin’. We take names that mean something in the place we
come from.”

“Oh,” Sadie replied, not having a clue what
that meant. Besides, she was eager to get back to the game, not
engage in an oddly mystifying conversation. “Well, in any case, I’m
very glad to meet you, Mr. Z. I’m sure we’re going to have a very
pleasant evening. Good luck to you.”

Tiny wrapped his massive right arm around
Sadie’s shoulders and squished her against his side. “I’ve got a
feeling you just might be my lucky charm tonight, Sadie Bligh. Let
the games begin.”

Nick stared at his monitor, the horror inside
him escalating to match the throbbing in his temples. Tiny Z and
his posse had not only hit the casino, unbelievably they had zeroed
right in on Sadie’s new table.

Until that moment, he’d figured he’d been
having a pretty decent night, all things considered. After two
hours of monitoring her play at the twenty-five dollar table, he’d
been forced to conclude—again—that Sadie was indeed counting cards.
Her pattern of doubling or tripling her bets at certain points
didn’t brook any other conclusion. He also knew now that she worked
alone, since her friend Cassie didn’t even know enough to play the
basic system. He’d watched closely for any sign of another partner,
but had come up with nothing.

Sadie definitely wasn’t part of a counting
team. She didn’t bet huge sums of money, even when the odds
obviously favored her. And she played only a few hours each
day.

What did it all add up to? As far as he was
concerned, Sadie Bligh was just a whip-smart woman—a math
professor, for God’s sake—who knew how to count cards and was
having some fun. An amateur out to make a few grand, not some pro
angling to bleed the house.

Yes, she needed to be stopped. Card counters
couldn’t be tolerated, period. But she was the farthest thing from
a threat to the profitability of the Desert Oasis that he could
imagine.

Tomorrow morning, he’d confirm to Carson that
Sadie was counting. There’d be no surprise there for the chief. But
Nick had already decided to recommend that she not be booted out or
blacklisted. He figured if he simply confronted her and insisted
that she stop playing blackjack, she’d comply without him having to
impose the consequences. Normally, that might be good enough for
the security chief and the casino.

Probably not in this case, though. Not since
Carson so obviously had another agenda.

Still, as Nick watched Sadie on the monitor,
looking all sweet and sexy, he couldn’t help feeling good about his
plan. He’d go to bat for her. And not just because they were having
a smoking hot affair. He’d do it because it was the right thing to
do, and Carson would know it. Let the chief take Sadie on—and Nick
had little doubt that Sadie
would
complain to the higher
ups—and have to explain why she was being treated like a major con
artist trying to shake the casino down. That was a confrontation
that he would gladly pay money to see.

Hell, with a good amount of luck, his
relationship with Sadie might even survive tomorrow’s impending
shit storm.

But Nick’s relief had only lasted until he
spotted Tiny Z and his gang on camera thirty-eight, heading slowly
up the aisle toward Sadie. He’d zoomed the camera in, and watched
as Tiny pointed to where Sadie and another woman sat, nodded his
head, and barked out something to his bodyguards.

Now, Nick’s throat tightened as he switched
his console to cameras thirty-nine and forty for close ups of the
table from different angles. Tiny eased his bulk onto the chair
between the women. Seconds later, he started chatting up Sadie, and
Nick thought his head would explode. The potential for the evening
to end in disaster, at least as far as Sadie was concerned, just
went off the charts.

Nick guessed from her body language that she
must barely know Tiny Z from Wayne Newton. Nor would she have any
idea that Tiny’s crew had been mixed up in more than one gunfight
since their boss hit the big time. Apparently, not everyone in
Tiny’s line of work was thrilled about his skyrocketing success.
The last thing Nick wanted was his innocent little math professor
getting anywhere near that kind of dangerous action.

Gripping the edge of his console, he grimly
took in the way Tiny stared at Sadie’s chest. The big man’s
interest couldn’t have been more obvious, and if she didn’t know
enough to get herself out of there soon, Nick would have to do it
for her. He’d give it a few more minutes, but he wasn’t going to
just sit in the ops center waiting for an incident to happen. Sadie
wasn’t going to get hurt. Not on his watch.

When Tiny wrapped his right arm around Sadie
and jerked her against his massive body, Nick shot out of his chair
and headed for the casino floor.

* * *

Sadie glanced uneasily at all the scary
looking men surrounding their table. Was this kind of security
normal for famous singers these days? There seemed to be enough of
them to take on an armed invasion, although she couldn’t imagine
what could happen in a building as secure as a casino. She took
comfort in the fact that Nick might be somewhere close, keeping an
eye on the situation.

Glancing at Tiny as he amiably chatted up the
dealer, she felt her anxiety start to ease. Though the scene had
unnerved her, Tiny seemed genuinely sweet and harmless, at least as
far as she and Jennifer were concerned. And he was certainly
entertaining. Almost as soon as he’d taken his seat, he began to
fire off a string of ribald jokes and stories that had her and
Jennifer gasping with laughter. She didn’t understand several of
his references, which seemed to be in a variation of the English
language of which she had not the slightest knowledge, but she
managed to get most of the punch lines.

True, Tiny obviously enjoyed looking at both
her and Jennifer, but she felt no threat from his gaze. It seemed
tame compared to the hungry leers she’d endured at the topless pool
and from some of the casino security guards surrounding their
table. If she had to take her pick, she’d say that Tiny’s
bodyguards were not only more polite, they treated her with more
respect than the casino staff did. She made a mental note to
mention that to Nick when she saw him.

She glanced at her watch. It was almost
eleven, and she thought Nick might be through work any time now. At
least she hoped that mysterious assignment he’d talked about
wouldn’t keep him much longer. When she thought about the remainder
of the evening ahead, she could barely contain her excitement. But
as the minutes ticked by she began to get nervous, and offered up a
silent prayer that the sheriff wouldn’t stand her up.

“Out of the way, guys, I need to get
through.” A dark, flinty voice coming from behind jerked Sadie
around in her seat.

Nick
. Finally! But she almost
swallowed her tongue when she took in the scowl on his face. He
didn’t look jealous—he looked ready to murder someone. Hopefully,
not her.

Eyes blazing and fixed right on her, Nick
brushed past the casino security men like they weren’t even there.
He came to an abrupt stop when he met the solid wall of bodyguard
muscle in front of Tiny. Leroi and his partner glared at him, as
solid and immoveable as California redwoods.

“Gentlemen,” Nick said in a calm, cold voice
as he held up his ID. “I’m the assistant chief of security at the
casino. I need to speak to one of our guests at that table. The
lady in red. So, I’d appreciate it if you’d step aside.”

At that moment, Tiny stood up, slowly turning
around. He gave Nick a quick once over. “What’s the problem, man?
What gives with my friend, Sadie? She’s my lucky charm tonight, and
I don’t want anyone bothering her.”

God! Now Tiny sounded angry. Sadie thought
she needed to do something to defuse the situation, and fast.
Peering around Leroi she waved. “Hi, Nick. I’ll be ready to go in a
minute. But do you mind if we finish this shoe first? It wouldn’t
be very nice to walk out in the middle of it.”

A dark flush glazed Nick’s cheekbones, and he
gave his head an emphatic, angry shake. Her stomach pitched into
her ribs. What was he so upset about?

“Please come with me now, Ms. Bligh. It’s
important.”

Ah, it’s the sheriff again, not Nick
.
Cassie’s warning from earlier in the evening came rushing back into
her head. “All right,” she said quietly. Nick was acting like bit
of a jerk, but she wanted to forestall any unfortunate reactions
from Tiny, who practically stood on his tiptoes in his eagerness to
intimidate Nick. She turned to her new-found friend. “I’ll be right
back, Tiny. Don’t let anyone take my chair.”

She managed to inject a joking tone into her
voice, but inside she was already shaking from frustration and
hurt. Nick would be furious with her for defying him, but she
didn’t appreciate that he’d tried to run roughshod over her simple,
small request. It was humiliating. He’d better have a darned good
reason for ordering her around like a Marine drill sergeant.

“Don’t you worry, little sweetheart. You
better believe nobody’s going to sit here till you get back.” Tiny
grinned, showing just about every one of his perfect teeth. “Take
care of your business, but you hurry back, now.” He glared at Nick.
“Don’t let me hear you hassled her, man. I don’t give a crap if
you’re the fuckin’ chief of police.”

“My business with Ms. Bligh is not your
concern,” Nick shot back, taking Sadie’s elbow.

Nick gripped her arm as if she belonged to
him. As she fell into an uneasy step beside him, part of her—a very
silly, very girlish part—couldn’t help feeling a wee bit thrilled.
He felt like a colossus beside her, able to shelter her from any
storm.

But a bigger part rebelled at his brusque
treatment. Why couldn’t he have waited for her to finish, as she’d
asked? And he’d practically insulted Tiny, for no good reason that
she could see.

“What’s the matter, Nick?” she asked in alarm
as he swiped his card at a heavy door she recognized from her first
night in the casino. “Why are you taking me to the gulag?”

“It’s better we talk there before we head
out. My boss would go nuts if he spotted me strolling out of the
casino with you after what just happened back there.” He took her
hand and started to stride down the hall.

“Wait a minute.” Sadie pulled away, shaking
free of his hand. She stared at him, refusing to move.

“What?” His voice was sharp, impatient.

“I’m not going back to the gulag—not for one
second! Whatever you’ve got to say, you can say it right here. Stop
acting like a bully. I don’t respond well to such tactics.”