People came to Vegas for the party, the gambling, the spectacle and the opportunity to pretend there were no consequences, but all Arash could see was the traffic. They’d hit town near sundown and abandoned the speed and freedom of the highway. Cars crawled all around them, wandering, cruising, not knowing where they were going. Rideshares and taxis prowled for gaps between cars and darted into them for any advantage.
Tightening Arash further was the stormy silence that had taken Stephanie since they’d stopped for gas. They were still trapped in the minivan, leaving no opportunity for open discussion. He’d motioned his concern for her and she’d gestured as if everything was fine. She’d even written another note on her phone, telling him not to worry, she was sorting strategies.
But it had seemed worse than that. And he had a feeling it had something to do with David, who he’d spotted on the highway a few minutes after leaving the gas station. What the hell was the deal? David could be an ex. Or he might know about Frontier Justice. The man was playing it so cool and confident, it was obviously the long game.
Arash tore himself up inside with the questions as they inched toward the hotel Olesk had texted Stephanie shortly after they’d arrived in the city. She swiveled her head around, keeping an eye on all the cars around them. At one point she tapped his shoulder and indicated something behind them. The two cargo vans were a couple hundred yards behind.
He nodded to her. “What do you say we get a fancy dinner?” Thousands of dollars of cash hung heavy in his jacket and backpack.
“Shower first.” But she didn’t sound too enthusiastic.
“These nice hotels have spas, right?” He’d walked through them but never stayed. “I’m gonna get myself buried in hot stones.” A possible preview of a shallow desert grave, if everything went to hell the way it felt like it was.
“I could see you in a seaweed wrap.” Her smile was too brief.
“How about mud wrestling? That’s a thing, right?” He was trying too hard and it tightened cold coils around his heart.
“Mud bath,” she explained with a small smirk. It was all they could manage and fell back into silence. They finally reached the hotel and Arash took them into the self park. The minivan sighed relief when it was turned off and ticked as it cooled. Arash was already cold. Desert winter stole any moisture from his body. He clenched a fist to convince himself he still had the strength to fight. They collected their bags and locked the car up. It looked as ordinary as everything else around it.
Arash, though, felt like everyone would be able to see the dark tension radiating out of him. He and Stephanie were halfway to the elevators when Stephanie broke the silence. “I’m going to tell you something before the others find out, and you have to know that this—”
“How’s the soccer mom?” Olesk approached from another aisle of the parking lot, Ellie at his side. Neither had their bags, so they must’ve reached town a little while ago.
Arash clamped down on his worry about what Stephanie was about to tell him. She transitioned amazingly to a neutral face and answered, “She’s a killer in disguise.”
It was so damn close to the truth. Neither Arash nor Stephanie were what Olesk believed. Arash wanted to draw his knife and end it all right here in the parking lot, just so he could learn what Stephanie’s next secret was.
Olesk laughed. “I like that. She’s going to kick ass in LA.”
Arash coiled tighter. It wasn’t going to end in Vegas. He unclenched his jaw to ask, “We going to have time for dinner?”
“We’re overnighting.” Olesk slid his glance to Ellie.
“I already made reservations.” She grinned back.
“But first...” Olesk paused as they reached the elevators. “We’re meeting up in our suite, 1265.” Arash felt the slightest shimmer of tension from Stephanie at his side. The others didn’t react and couldn’t have detected it. Olesk continued, “Arash, go check in. It’s under my name, with your first name. We’ll meet you up there.”
“And my room?” Stephanie kept a casual posture, hand on the strap of her bag, but Arash knew it was a lie.
Ellie smiled slyly. “For the sake of economy, we put you two in the same room. Hope you don’t mind.”
“Not at all.” Stephanie turned to Arash and he saw the storm continuing behind her eyes. “You?”
“I know how to pinch a penny.” Nothing was real anymore. Everything he saw or heard was hiding another layer of doom.
Olesk chuckled and swung the side of his fist into Arash’s shoulder. It took all of Arash’s composure not to twist Olesk’s arm up with his and yank his shoulder out of its socket. Ellie punched the elevator button and Olesk said to Arash, “We’ll see you up there.” His look shifted to a walkway opening nearby, with a sign pointing to the lobby above it.
Arash locked his gaze onto Stephanie’s. “I’ll be there.” She nodded back in what looked like an attempt to reassure him. He knew she had her pistol. And skills beyond that. But maybe she wasn’t the one who would be in danger up in that suite. He could be the one in the crosshairs.
The elevator dinged and opened for Olesk, Ellie and Stephanie. Arash held on to Stephanie’s look as long as he could, until the doors closed. After a steadying breath, he hefted his bag higher on his shoulder and headed into the casino.
Lurid video screens flashed and a thousand bands played a thousand songs from the speakers, all cheerful and lively. More lies. He knew that it was all created to draw blood.
Most of the people in the casino were focused on the games, drifting in awe of their surroundings or working. One figure lurked at the periphery of Arash’s vision. He knew it was David. As he passed an interior elevator bank next to a busy bar, his suspicion was confirmed. David flashed his room key card to a security guard and glanced quickly back at Arash before disappearing among the people at the elevators. The arrogant smile on David’s face meant all kinds of trouble, and Arash seemed to be the last person to know what was about to come crashing down.
He stood impatiently in line at the front desk. Every delay ahead of him shaved his patience to a sharper edge. By the time he got to the black man at the computer he thought he’d just bark out his needs. Arash, though, managed to be civil and the desk agent was efficient and quick with the transaction.
Arash thanked him, stuffed the keys in his pocket and hurried toward the elevators. Of course some drunk jerk thought it was the perfect time to cut him off and angle the two of them into a set of unused slot machines. Arash warned, “Careful, man,” and put his hand on the shorter Latino man’s shoulder, feeling nothing but solid muscle.
The man with slick hair and tattoos on his hands peered into Arash’s face and didn’t look drunk at all. “You’re a good guy?”
“No.” From the scars on his knuckles and the bump on the bridge of his nose, Arash knew this man was a fighter, but he would take him on if he was going to stand between him and the elevator to Stephanie.
“Me, neither.” The man grinned crooked. “But I’m not a bad guy either, Arash.” Hearing his name coming from a stranger set off all kinds of alarms. Arash took a step back, scanned the area for anyone else coming and balanced for combat. The man put his palms out as a peace offering. “Friend of Stephanie’s.” But which of her identities? Arash kept his guard up. The man edged closer and lowered his voice. “Frontier Justice.”
Arash shifted his perspective on the man and lowered his defenses. A little. “How’d you find us?”
“She messaged me the cars you all were driving and I put the word out to my Teamster and cabbie friends.” The man’s awareness kept scanning the people around them. Arash did the same, but didn’t recognize any of Olesk’s people. “We’ve got cops and Feds on our side. They found your picture.” He extended a thick hand. “I’m Javier.”
“Glad to meet you.” For once, Arash was telling the truth. He shook his hand. “Who the hell is David?”
Javier shrugged. “No idea. You tell me.”
“Part of Olesk’s gang. Asian American guy. He showed up yesterday and got Stephanie super nervous.”
“I’ll let the others know.” Javier pulled out his phone. “What else you got?”
“I’ve got to hurry and meet everyone in Olesk’s suite, 1265.” Any unusual delays would definitely be noted by Olesk. “Stephanie and I are in 810.”
“Same room?” Javier cocked his head.
“You her mother?” Arash wasn’t in the mood to explain everything to this guy he just met.
Javier swelled slightly, something that would intimidate most people. “I’m her friend.”
“Then trust her to make her own decisions.” Arash was running out of time and shifted gears. “We’re going from here to LA. Cargo vans are kitted to fit about sixteen people each. Olesk rolls with a 9mm, don’t know if the others are armed.”
“Good stuff, man.” Javier stepped out of the way, clearing the path to the elevators. “Stay safe. Tell Stephanie I said the same to her. Or don’t, depending on who’s listening.”
“You know it.” Arash nodded him a salute. “Thanks.”
“Thank me with beers and a brawl sometime.”
“Count on it.” Arash stepped away from Javier and into the flow of people in the casino. He didn’t bother looking back. Javier would be gone by then, but watching. Arash had expected the vigilante group to be filled with starched, serious types, not a regular guy like Javier. Stephanie wasn’t straitlaced herself, though. If he really did know her. Arash just hoped that her group was up to taking on Olesk and the Seventh.
The elevator ride up was filled with a giddy tourist family speaking what he thought was Hindi. A little boy kept staring at Arash. The smile Arash returned sent the boy behind his mother’s leg for safety. Smart kid.
Arash got out on the twelfth floor, found Olesk’s suite and knocked. A second later, Ellie answered and welcomed him in. All of the STR hung out on the dark chairs and couches of the wide living area. It was a shame the curtains were drawn, Arash knew the tall windows would’ve given an incredible view. Stephanie sat by herself on one side of the room. Her face was neutral, but her darkness still shimmered. David was the only one who seemed upbeat. Hector and Thom slouched, tired in their seats, nursing sweating bottles of beer. The same kind that Ellie drank as she perched on the edge of the couch where David was.
Olesk offered Arash a bottle from a twelve pack in a cardboard box, but he waved it off. “Maybe after a shower.”
“I won’t keep you guys long.” Olesk stepped to a low coffee table in the middle of the living area and set the bottle down near one corner. “This is the pickup. 8:00 a.m., so if you hit the road after 3:45 a.m., you’re already late.” Everyone leaned forward in their chairs and Arash stepped closer. “Cargo vans get filled with cargo.” Arash’s stomach roiled with acid. Cargo was a terrible way of describing a person. “Me and David are rolling close supervision. Soccer mom one level farther out keeping watch.” Arash glanced to Stephanie and she nodded. Olesk retrieved another bottle of beer and placed it on the corner diagonal from the first. “This is the drop-off. Airfield. 11:00 a.m. wheels up, no waiting. Once the cargo is off-loaded, we scatter.”
But no addresses, so if he or Stephanie could contact Javier again, there were scant details to deliver.
Olesk picked up the first beer and twisted off the cap. “I’ve been monitoring all channels, and I haven’t found a whisper of resistance, so the biggest thing we need to worry about is accidental contact. Be smooth. All good?”
Hector put his fist out for Thom and the other man bumped it before Hector answered, “Sounds like a plan.”
“Got it.” Arash amped up, edgy. The whole STR team would be at the pickup point. That was his chance to pick them apart. “Dinner?” He delivered it only to Stephanie. If he could get her alone, then she could tell him what the hell was going on.
Stephanie stood, but instead of stepping to Arash, she turned toward David. “First, David has something he wants to tell you all.”
David rose to his feet, schooling his surprise to a smug turndown of his mouth. “Are you sure?”
Stephanie dripped disdain for David as she shifted her attention away from him and to Olesk and the others. Adrenaline pumped hard up Arash’s legs and down his arms as he prepared to fight his way out of the room.
Stephanie said calmly, “Since David doesn’t have the guts to tell you, I’ll come out and admit that I’m Eddie Shun’s daughter.”
Dead silence. Except for the scream of Arash’s pulse in his ears. He tried to make the new information fit with the other razor-sharp puzzle pieces he’d been forcing together. He’d stolen from Eddie Shun in order to get into the gang. She must’ve known that. But she still helped him.
And now Olesk was staring at her like she was a cobra spitting venom in the hotel room. Ellie watched Olesk, as if waiting for direction. Hector and Thom gaped and David shifted his gaze between Stephanie and Olesk.
Stephanie continued with unnatural stillness. “David was waiting for just the right moment to tell you. Or maybe he wasn’t going to, depending on whether or not I gave him some intel so he could chisel into my father’s business.”
David surged toward her but held himself back. Arash instinctually angled to put himself between the possible attack and Stephanie. But who was he protecting? Who the hell was Stephanie?
“He was playing angles outside the STR.” Stephanie lit her killing gaze back onto David.
David jutted his jaw and pointed at her with his fist. “What we really need to be asking is what is Eddie Shun’s daughter doing in the STR? Right, Olesk? What is she doing here?”
Olesk faced her, hands open and ready. His flannel shirt was buttoned but untucked and could be hiding his automatic. “Okay. What are you doing here?”
Stephanie’s body language remained unaggressive. He remembered how close they’d been when he discovered she was armed. He’d thought then that he knew her. She spoke now without apology. “I’m driving. I’m fixing up these cars for this gig. I’m making my own name.” She glared at David. “Because I hate it when people only think of me as Eddie Shun’s daughter.”
It was very convincing. As convincing as when she’d told Arash that she’d gotten away from the family business but didn’t say exactly what it was.
“You stole from Eddie Shun’s warehouse.” Olesk shifted to include Arash. “Did she say anything when she was driving you out of there?”
“Nothing about it at all,” Arash admitted. The getaway replayed in his mind with this new lens. He’d originally attributed her concern about shooting at their pursuers to an unusual ethic. It had been one of the things that had first made him regard her as anything other than a criminal. But she could’ve just been trying to not get the security men hurt because they were her father’s employees.
“She didn’t tell you who her father was at any point?” Ellie narrowed her eyes and cocked her head at Arash.
Arash answered with his gaze on Stephanie. “No.” Stephanie blinked, pain in her eyes for a second. Then she was hard again.
Ellie muttered, “Super awkward.”
David’s voice rose. “Who gives a damn what she tells her boyfriend? I’m not comfortable with her in the STR.”
Stephanie shot back, “You would’ve been plenty comfortable if I’d given you the information you wanted.”
David fumed and looked more desperate as he went to Olesk. “You can’t believe anything she tells you. You and I have rolled together through some serious business.” David showed his teeth. “Life and death, remember?”
All of Arash’s chaos cleared for a moment. He knew whose death David was talking about.
Olesk’s face calmed to a stone mask and he asked David, “Did you try to leverage her?”
“No.” David blinked too many times. “I was waiting until we were all here to say something, so she couldn’t worm out of it.”
Stephanie scoffed, “You were waiting so long I had to say it for you.” A more dangerous emotion darkened her voice. “I could be at dinner right now.”
David’s face reddened. “Where you’d be figuring out how to twist things—”
“I got it.” Olesk hovered his hands over his ears as if ready to cover them against the argument. “I got it. Both of you shut the hell up. Shut the hell up and drive. That’s what you’re paid to do. Can you do that?”
“Absolutely.” Stephanie’s expression frosted.
Olesk stared at David while David looked incredulous. After a second he blurted, “Of course,” as if he didn’t have to say it at all.
“Anything else?” Stephanie shifted her balance toward the door.
“You tell me.” Olesk scanned everyone in the room. “Anyone else have a bomb they want to drop?”
Arash did. But it would have to wait until Olesk was lined up in his sights. If he could make it to Los Angeles without being blindsided again by Stephanie.
Thom broke the silence. “Henry Ford is my father.” He chuckled and drank from his beer.
Hector clinked his bottle against Thom’s. “Carlos Chevy is my father.”
Olesk pointed at the door. “Everybody get out of my suite.”
Hector and Thom were the first to go, murmuring to each other and suppressing laughs. Stephanie told Olesk, “We’ll be on the road by 3:30 a.m.”
“Good. Less talking, more driving.” He spoke to Stephanie, Arash and David as if he was addressing children. “We have a big gig tomorrow for big people. We make them happy, we get happy, too. We make them sad, we get dismembered.”
“Understood.” Arash saluted Olesk and headed for the door. Stephanie caught up with him and they stepped into the hallway together. He pulled one of the room keys from his pocket and handed it to her, careful not to touch her skin and test whether or not the heat remained. “810.”
She murmured, “I know there was a better way for you to find out...”
He stopped in the hall to face her. “Damn right—” David stood outside Olesk’s suite, glaring at them from over a dozen yards away. Arash resumed walking to the elevators. Stephanie stayed with him, both silent until the doors closed.
She started quickly, “I understand that this is a complete wreck, but I wasn’t lying to you.”
“About what, about which identity?” He stared at her, this woman he’d been completely naked and exposed with, and didn’t know who she was. “Javier’s downstairs somewhere, and I bet your father’s people are out here, too, ready to put a bullet in me if they found out I was with you.”
“He doesn’t do that kind of thing.” She stood up to him, jaw set.
“Not if his only daughter was caught running around with a car thief?”
“That’s not what you are.”
No, he hadn’t been that for a very long time. And he’d only returned to that world for revenge. But then he met Stephanie. “Who knows who anyone is?”
The elevator stopped two floors down and more people got on. He and Stephanie turned from each other and he swallowed so many words, rage and confusion that they choked his heart. At the ground floor he moved off quickly. It didn’t take long before he spotted Javier pretending to play a slot machine. Stephanie saw him, as well. She turned to Arash, pain shimmering in her eyes. He hated seeing it. He hated feeling the same in himself. And he had no idea how to end it. He tipped his head toward Javier, telling her to go. Then he walked away in the opposite direction.