“Did anything else happen after you left?”
Brett shook his head. “No. Dan has kept an eye out and it all stopped as soon as I left. Word got out and people stopped calling. I haven’t had to deal with any of that fallout since crossing the Nevada state line. Which you can take as proof it was someone there, or maybe it was just bad luck.”
“But you didn’t think so.”
“No,” he said, “no, I didn’t.”
“What did Dan think?”
“I would have told you that Dan was the one supporting my decision to get out, only now I’m not as sure about that. I was working for him after I quit, which, as I told you before, is something I had done off and on since I was a kid. It wasn’t a permanent thing, just helping him and giving myself something to do while I figured out what I wanted to do next.”
“But now you think it was someone. And that they’re here. Because you’re playing again.” Her eyes went wide. “That Russian guy? Maks-whatever? You think it’s him, don’t you?”
“I don’t know what else to think. Kirby, honestly, you know I’d have never put you at risk like that if I had any idea-”
“Okay,” she said, cutting him off, obviously still trying to process the whole thing. “So, why do you think he’s behind it?”
“They were probably the least happy when I retired. I had done a few events for them when they’d started up, and it always went well for them. And for me, I won’t lie. So they leaned pretty hard to try and get me to continue on, at least with their events.”
“And you turned them down.”
“Flat. And then…things started happening.”
Her carefully controlled expression shook for just a second, but the fear he spied in her eyes was all he needed to see. “I’m going to put an end to it, Kirby. Once and for all. As soon as we report this to the sheriff’s office, I’m going up to the resort.” He thought about taking Thad with him, then immediately reconsidered. A small town local cop was not going to intimidate Maks. In fact, it was probable he was counting on that. As he was counting on the local female innkeeper not being able to bring much pressure to bear, either.
Well, Maks was about to learn that he was all kinds of wrong on that score.
“I’m going with you.”
“What? No. Not because I don’t think you can handle yourself and not because you don’t deserve a crack at him, but I understand the world we’re from. You don’t. And I can’t-” His grip tightened on her elbows. “I’m not putting you in the middle. I’ll leave here before I do that.”
“What, and keep running?”
He tried not to wince at that, but she was close enough. “No,” he said, and meant it. “If he’s left town, I’ll go back to Vegas after him. I’ll pull every string I have, cash every marker. But I’m done. All done.”
She took a deep, shuddering breath. “This is all…a lot.” She gently disengaged her elbows from his grip. “I-I need to call Thad. And my insurance company, I guess.” She blew out a breath, then turned away from him and went to the phone.
Standing by and watching was possibly one of the hardest things he did, but she knew the story now, and how she wanted to handle things, both with Thad and between them, was up to her. Not that he didn’t plan on having any influence, but she’d been happy here, going along with her plans for the future. And yes, the lack of snow had put those dreams at risk, but somehow he knew she’d have found a way, even if he’d never shown up.
He turned and looked out the rear window, looking at the shredded quilts in the rapidly fading daylight. Goddammit. If anything had happened to her…
He paced the room, half listening to her talk to the deputy, then her insurance rep, his anger building, his patience growing thinner by the second. He tried Dan’s room at the resort, planning on having him meet him in the lobby before tracking Maksimov down. Dan was the only other person in town he could trust and it wouldn’t hurt to have backup. Or witnesses.
As soon as Thad arrived and Brett gave his statement, he told Thad to please stick by Kirby, that he had some business to attend to at the resort that couldn’t wait.
Both Thad and Kirby protested, but he was already out the door and on his bike before they could stop him.
Before the night was over, it was all going to be over.
Brett parked his bike right in front of the hotel and headed inside to the registration desk. “Hi, Bobby,” he said to the young man behind the counter. He knew most of the desk staff by now. “Listen, I need to find out where-” He stopped when there was a tap on his shoulder. He turned, half expecting it to be Maks confronting him. He wouldn’t put anything past him at this point. But it wasn’t Maks, or anyone he’d seen before.
“Mr. Hennessey, sir? If I might have a word with you?” The man was massive. Tall, dark skinned, shoulders wider than most doorways. He gave big a whole new meaning. He opened his jacket to show his security badge. “Privately, please?”
Brett stepped away from the desk, but said nothing.
“Sir,” Mr. Big began, “With all due respect, I am supposed to alert you to the fact that we’ve placed hotel security out front of Mr. Maksimov’s villa. He’s not to be disturbed until someone from the sheriff’s department arrives to talk to him.”
“Okay,” Brett said. Chalk one up for the small town deputy. “I’ll just head up to my room, then.”
“I’ll escort you,” he said cordially enough, but the way he instantly flanked Brett’s steps made it clear he wasn’t going to be dissuaded.
“Fine.”
They rode up the elevator in silence, with Big standing in front, closest to the doors. Brett was fine with letting him play the shield. The doors slid open to reveal an empty hallway. Big stepped out and gestured for Brett to precede him. They both walked over to the door leading to his suite. Brett opted not to knock for Dan. Better to keep him out of this as much as possible until Brett figured out exactly what was going on. He slid his card out, but the security guard already ziplined his out from his jacket and swiped it through the locking mechanism.
The tumblers dropped, and Brett pushed the handle down and went in. He started to turn to thank the security guard for the escort, intending to close the door between them, but suddenly the guard planted one beefy palm on Brett’s shoulder and shoved him straight to the floor. Do not pass go, face on carpet.
Brett immediately started to scramble, thinking maybe this was all some kind of elaborate setup by Maks. He’d never have guessed they’d go that route, but what the hell did he know at this point? Except there were no stakes high enough for them to be taking this kind of risk. There had to be cameras in the hallway getting at least some of this, as the door hadn’t shut yet. None of this made any fucking sense.
But he barely got his hands beneath him to shove himself up, when he was stomped right back down again, with either a foot or a hand, he had no idea. But when he heard the gun clear the holster, he renewed his efforts. “Don’t move,” Big ordered. “Stay right here.”
Then he released him, stepped over him, and moved farther into the apartment, gun drawn and held steady in front of him, like a cop would breaking into an apartment where he thinks there might be trouble.
Dan.
Should he call out? Warn him? Or would Brett just be drawing attention to his presence?
Well, one thing he wasn’t going to do was stay prone on the floor. But just as he got to his feet, he heard Big yell, “Call nine one one!”
Shit. He palmed his cell out of his pocket as he ran through the suite into the bedroom where Big was standing. Over a prone body. Brett’s fingers faltered on the dial pad as his heart squeezed into a tight fist. Until he got a look at the whole body and realized it wasn’t Dan. Thank God. But…