Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 145803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
“Mine has two beds,” Harlow said. “You can stay with me, Shabina.”
“That’s settled,” Raine declared.
“Do you know why someone wants Wallin dead?” Stella asked. “We’ve been putting together all kinds of theories.”
“So have we,” Zale answered. “But so far, we have theories and no real facts.”
“Well, if we’re going to talk theories,” Raine ventured, “I’ve got one. There is another possibility that none of us have considered. At least in all the theories we tossed around we didn’t. Maybe the two of you did.”
“That would be?” Zale prompted.
“Daniel Wallin may have a grudge against your boss and want to shut down your organization. All of you work in the shadows. No one knows about you. He calls this friend of his who knows your boss and suddenly you lose two agents when no one knows they’re supposed to be working at the casino but him. You and Rainier are compromised, and he isn’t in the know. If he had eyes on you and connected you with Vienna, he might think she works for your boss as well.”
There was a long, stunned silence. The women looked at one another and then at Raine almost accusingly.
Zahra sighed. “There goes my romantic theory. And it really was romantic. Poor Daniel, we were all feeling sorry for him. Now he’s the villain again.”
“I’m just playing the devil’s advocate,” Raine said. “It’s one more possibility to consider. The cameras in Vienna’s room really bother me. They don’t make sense unless Daniel is involved in some way.”
Vienna had to agree with her. She wanted to believe that Daniel Wallin was a victim because if he was threatening her, it was a huge threat—but what would be the reason? Someone had tried to kill her before she had won the last hand of cards. The cameras had been installed before the game she played with him. Yet he hadn’t been in the crowd when she’d felt an overwhelming threat. That didn’t mean anything. He could hire accomplices. She doubted if he would get his hands dirty and do the killing himself.
Raine was an analyst and a darn good one. Vienna knew her very well. When she came up with an idea, it wasn’t an idle one. She looked at her theory from every possible angle before she shared. Usually, Raine was fairly certain she was onto something before she actually expressed what she was thinking.
Rainier sank all the way back on the couch, his focused gaze on Raine’s face. “Interesting idea you’ve come up with, although he’s had a couple of attempts on his life.”
“Anyone can arrange a couple of near misses.” Unexpectedly, it was Zahra who answered Rainier, not Raine. “It would give Daniel a great excuse to go into seclusion and surround himself with his own security force.”
“He knows that,” Raine said. “And the two of them have already considered the idea that Daniel Wallin set this entire thing up.”
“True,” Zale admitted. “But we didn’t consider that he had a grudge against our boss.”
“Why does a computer analyst have a team that would immediately come to her rescue and grab a truck out from under the hands of our people?” Rainier asked. “That isn’t logical.”
Raine lifted an eyebrow and winced, putting one hand to her head, covering her expression as she did so. “Don’t pretend you didn’t run a background check on all of us, Rainier. You know I have a high security clearance.”
“You’re practically a national treasure the way they guard you.” Zale made it a joke, but his tone wasn’t joking.
“Funny, I thought the same of all of you.”
“We’re open books,” Rainier countered.
“Are you?” Raine fired back. “I suppose you could say that if one believed the carefully crafted bios put out about each of you.”
“Carefully crafted?” Zale echoed. “You don’t think Rainier is a doctor? Or that I have a legal degree?”
“I believe the details of your education and your military careers are the only real things in your bios,” Raine said with a little shrug. “Not that it matters any more than what you couldn’t find on me. I don’t ask questions because I don’t think the answers are necessary. As far as the truck goes and any information it might reveal, I’m sure your agency and the people I work with can work out the details of sharing without us.”
“I’m sure you’re right,” Zale agreed. “So, let’s get back to Daniel Wallin. He’s an interesting man with quite the history. He’s the grandson of Angelo Bottaro, who was head of the notorious crime family in Vegas for years. Bottaro had a stranglehold on quite a few of the businesses in Vegas. His daughter, Isabella, gave birth to Daniel. Daniel was raised by his father, Norman, not Isabella, and no one knew he was Angelo’s grandson, although his father hung around the crime family for years.”