Mira
Tyler and the guy he works with escort me to Hayden’s office, and I knock on the door.
“Come in,” Hayden says.
I walk inside to find Hayden with her elbows on the desk, her head in her hands. She looks up and waves off Tyler and the other guard.
Tyler gives me a small smile of reassurance before his boss closes the door.
“Really, Mira?” Hayden shakes her head, a lock of dark blonde hair falling over one eye. “What were you thinking?”
“Tyler and I…”
We what? We’re a thing? We’ve known each other for ages, so it’s okay for us to hook up in a housekeeping closet? What the hell was I thinking?
Haden waves her hand. “I don’t want to hear it. I have to let you go, Mira.” She run her fingers through her hair and holds her head. “But I don’t get it. Couldn’t you take it outside, do it on your own time? Why here?”
“We—it’s not the way it seems. I mean, it is. I’ve been trying to take things slow with Tyler, but then those men came into the suite. I was scared and Tyler was comforting me…I’m making it sound worse, aren’t I?”
Hayden holds up her hand. “Back up. What men?”
“The last suite you sent me to. The one you tacked on to the list. There are illegal drugs in there, Hayden.”
Hayden stands and rounds her desk, plopping into the seat beside me, her face serious. “What are you talking about?”
I take a deep breath to calm my nerves. I’ve lost my job. Nothing I tell her will change that. Not that I’m responsible for what I saw in the suite. In fact, Tyler made a good point. I don’t need this shit in my life. The things Blue Casino is involved in—the drugs, and who knows what else? What if what goes on in that sex suite isn’t consensual?
“Security amped up their personnel for the festival. Tyler’s team could spare him, so he joined me on my errands to the suites. I guess he didn’t want me going alone after my confrontation with Drake.”
“I heard about that.” She shakes her head. “I’m so sorry he came after you. That man is insane and he isn’t coming back. I received verbal confirmation from the CEO. Even if Drake gets off legally, which I highly doubt he will, Blue Casino already fired him.”
That’s all well and good, but after what I saw tonight…“Drake is crazy and horrible, but what if there are others? People more powerful than he was who are using the casino as a shield? You told me early on that you didn’t trust your coworkers. I’m wondering if the drama around Drake’s arrest might also be some kind of smoke and mirrors to hide other things going on at the casino.”
Hayden’s phone buzzes and she checks the number. “I’m not sure I understand what you’re saying, Mira.” She types out a text. “As far as I’m concerned, we had a psychopath in a leadership position who manipulated others and took advantage of young women. He’s gone and we can move on now.”
Hayden sets her phone down. “I don’t like the men Drake worked with, but they haven’t caused me more than minor irritation so far. It’s baseless for me to assume they are like Drake.”
“What about the drugs?”
“If the celebrities in the suites bring in their own—”
“No. This wasn’t a celebrity suite. It had a built-in sex room, plus stores of drugs and hypodermic needles. It was a permanent setup. And when the men came in with the Blue Casino signet rings, they talked about relocating it—”
“What?” Her body goes completely still.
“Tyler found the drugs and was trying to get me out of there when two men showed up. We hid behind furniture and listened to them talk. They were packing up like crazy, with the intent to relocate everything to another room by this evening. They seemed concerned about a breach. Maybe because of the Drake situation?”
“Fucking hell.” Hayden slams her fist on her desk.
Whoa, never heard Hayden swear before. But, yeah, F-bombs are in order.
“Did Jessie know about this place?” Hayden isn’t looking at me. She’s staring away as if thinking out loud.
Jessie must have known since she had a folder for the suite in her office.
“I’ll leave, Hayden.” I stand. “You’ve got a lot to deal with, and I’ve made this night worse. I’m so embarrassed about the closet. All I can say is that I was freaked out and Tyler was comforting me and, well, we got a little too comfortable. I’ll fill out whatever forms you need me to and pick up my things another day, when the casino isn’t so crazy with the festival. I’m really sorry about tonight.”
“No.” Hayden shakes her head. “Don’t go. Screw this place. So you kissed your boyfriend.”
“He’s not my—”
“Who hasn’t made out in a storage room?”
“Um, o-kay?” That’s too much information about my conservative, put-together boss.
“I need you tonight. I’ll talk to security. Make sure they keep this between us. And if they don’t, I’ll talk to management and convince them it’s in their best interest not to piss me off.”
“Whoa. Like blackmail? Hayden, this is crazy. You could quit. Blue Casino is possibly dangerous, and definitely unhealthy. Believe me when I say I know a thing or two about unhealthy.”
She stands and paces the room. “No way. I’m not running this time. I’m going to stay and fight.” Hayden stops and faces me. “Are you with me?”
In a way, Hayden is right. Why let these guys win? I’ve done nothing wrong. Well, okay, making out in the closet was not cool, but it’s nothing compared to the depravity going on at Blue.
I have no idea what Hayden was talking about when she said she wasn’t going to run this time. Has she run from this sort of thing before? I don’t get her determination to work at Blue Casino and see this thing through, but I love working with her and she asked me to stay. So I did.
The rest of the evening was a blur of errand-running and schmoozing with vendors, and even some celebrities performing that night. I didn’t see Tyler again, but then he doesn’t work for Hayden, and I’m pretty sure his boss was serious about letting him go.
It’s five in the morning and I’m just getting back. I Ubered it home, since Tyler drove me in to work. I exit the car and wobble up the gravel driveway barefoot. The gravel is hard on my feet, but not as hard as twelve hours in heels. I’ve lost all feeling in my right big toe.
A smile fills my face as I slide the key quietly into the lock. Tyler and I have traded off fighting this thing between us, and the dam finally burst in a happy-to-be-alive moment in the dark. What he said about me being the only woman he’s going to love was so Tyler, and so totally wonderful. I got a little carried away in that closet, but it felt good to let go. Tyler has been showing me in small and large ways he’s here for me, and I finally get it.
It’s turning light out, but Tyler won’t be awake at this hour. I wish I wasn’t awake. Better yet, I wish I were curled up next to him. I actually feel like I might be sleepwalking, my head is so fuzzy from exhaustion.
I squeeze the handle to open the door, but the door swings open for me. Tyler is standing on the other side, fully clothed.
“Hey,” I say, confused but happy to see him, a smile forming on my face—until I notice the worried look in his eyes. “Is everything okay?”
He doesn’t say anything. He grabs my shoes from my hands and closes the door behind me. And then I realize what I glimpsed as I exited the Uber. The old car I’ve seen my mom drive in was parked on the street in front of our cabin. I was so out of it when the Uber dropped me off, it barely registered.
But it’s not my mom sitting on the couch, it’s her latest boyfriend. “What’s going on?” I ask Tyler. “Where’s my mom?”
Billy—Willy? Crap, I don’t remember his name, they all run together after a while—stands nervously, setting his beer on the coffee table. Beer at 5 a.m.? Of course. This is my mom’s boyfriend, after all. “Hi, Mira. Sorry to catch you so early—uh, late. Been here waitin’ for ya. Got some bad news.”
Tyler wraps his arm around my waist, his palm warm and a bit clammy on the side of my stomach. His hand is shaking.
I glance up to see worry and tension filling his face.
My heart speeds up and my throat goes dry. The 1970s clock with an orange and yellow rooster ticks loudly above the kitchen table.
My mom isn’t here…Where is my mom?
I shake my head. No. No, no, no.
“Your mom,” Billy/Willy says, “she took a nap and passed in her sleep yesterday.”