Page 17 of Carler

How had it gone unnoticed that the security files were locked out? That was simply not acceptable. It also made her think that the security leak was at the top. Viv could hear Carler cussing under his breath. It was upsetting, but it was also a move forward in finding where their issues were happening. They needed to go to the security chief and discover exactly what he had been up to.

Carler got on the phone with Ranger, and he spoke quietly, so she couldn't really tell what he was saying, but she was sure that they were about to take out a security chief and probably his second and third. Now, the question was, who would they get to replace them? Another question was what they would do with them. Even more important was how they would get rid of all the issues those people had caused.

“Stay here. Ranger wants you to print out all the information you can find on everyone that you can find it on. When we go up there to take them down, they'll probably try to destroy everything on the computer," Carler suggested.

It made sense that someone stayed behind, but why did it always have to be her? She immediately began to print out everything she could on those questionable people. As soon as she was done, she intended to go up to the security office on the top floor and discover what was happening. They couldn't expect her to stay behind once she did what she was asked. Viv realized it wouldn't be safe, but she had a bulletproof vest to slip on under her clothing and a helmet for her head.

That would make her as safe as anyone, wouldn't it? She would not sit in the office and be protected while everyone else risked their lives. It was done! She moved to the closet behind her desk and began pulling out things she needed. The bulletproof vest covered the area where most people aimed. The helmet covered a large portion of her head, but there were still places she could get shot and end up dead.

The building shook. Had someone set off a bomb? For a second, she thought that maybe it wasn't a good idea to head up into what seemed to be a war zone without information. Then, as quickly as she thought that she went to the stairs and began to work her way up. The building shook again. By the time she made it up there, they might all be dead. A problem was that she couldn't move any faster than she was moving, especially going manually and not in an elevator. Only an idiot would take an elevator with the building shaking like it was.

She was beginning to suspect that something was going on that they weren't sharing with her. Maybe it just was that Carler was protective of her and didn't want her hurt. Viv wasn't sure anymore. Her breath came fast as she struggled to get to that top floor. She was in good shape, or so she thought, but the stitch in her side that continued as she headed up the steps made her wonder. Her legs hurt as she finally made it to the door to the security section of the top floor.

Viv heard a roar that did not sound human. What in the holy hell was that? She hesitated momentarily with her hand on the doorknob, fearing what was on the other side. Her team needed help, and hesitating wasn't helping them. She turned the knob and headed forward, and something that she could only describe as a tale he had told her and pushed her back into the stairwell. Collapsing on the floor, she would admit that she hurt like she had been hit by a truck. Sitting up, she tried to decide what she should do next. Taking off the bulletproof vest was not an option. Her helmet was going to stay as well. Something occurred to her, but she couldn't believe it. Was that a dragon's tail that had hit her? Maybe she was just going nuts?

There was only one way to be sure, and the door ahead of her led to it. She was back at the door again and turned the knob. Pushing the door open, she looked inside, and all she saw was total havoc. Everything was torn up and smashed. There were people scattered around the room. Hopefully, unconscious but possibly dead. These were not people she knew, and when she looked up, “she saw Carler standing there looking at her. Ranger was there as well, and so was his mate, Toni. There was far too much damage for the number of people there. She had to admit it looked like a bomb had exploded.

“What the hell happened here? Did a bomb go off?” Viv asked. “Are these guys dead?”

“They had some destructive weapons but aren't dead. At least, I do not believe they are," Carler assessed. “We hope to question them and discover something to aid our investigation. I thought you were asked to stay below?”

“I was asked to pull information so it would not be lost. Once that was done, I had no reason to stay below," Viv explained. She was still looking around, trying to figure out how the hell this much damage had happened in such a short time.

“I know, right? These guys are real brawlers," Toni said.

“You didn't take part in this?”

“I came in just before you did. The bad guys started the party early and were trying to destroy information. Apparently, they didn't care if they destroyed the whole office with it," Toni added.

That might explain some of the destruction, but not all of it. There were even charred spots on the wall and the floor. It wasn't like a zippo would do something like that. It was more like what you would expect from a flamethrower. Damage like that would keep the dragon shifter story going. They needed to clean up the mess so Old Joe didn't hear about it.

“Do you think this will end the attacks from the inside?” Viv asked.

“We'll go through everyone in security and those approved through security. It will end because it has to. I'm sure this hurt Old Joe and his plans to send people through here. If we just had some information, we could use it to catch him," Carler observed.

Yeah, Viv had said that herself a hundred times. Hopefully, it would free them up to pursue Joe Senior even faster. They needed to get him soon, or she would go crazy. Before she had moved here, she had gone to Doug's grave every day and promised vengeance. For some reason, that seemed to help. Sadly, she had lost that, too. Taking Joe Senior down was probably the only thing that would help. Several of the little people involved in Doug's death were in prison, including the assassin who had done the job, but it was like putting a Band-Aid on a gaping wound. Viv needed the boss who ordered the hit before she could feel better about it.

Looking around the large security office, she was really glad that she wouldn't be the one who had to clean up the mess. When she went to college, one of the jobs she had had for a brief time was as a maid at a hotel. People didn't really appreciate maids the way that they should. This room would need more than a maid; it would need a carpenter, an electrician, and someone to lay the floors.

Whatever had happened in here, they didn't intend to share it with her. There wasn't anything she could do about that, so she needed to get back to work and figure out who was naughty and nice so they could take care of those naughty ones and get control of this casino. They've decided to leave before they ask her to help clean up this mess. She wasn't sure if she'd imagined the dragon's tail, but she would keep it in mind just in case it was real. Were there dragons, and were they here? Several people she'd talked to seemed to think there were. Not just random people that Joe had talked about it but people who seemed to think they'd seen them. Was she now one of those people?

Viv headed back downstairs to her office. She decided to avoid the elevator in case it had been damaged with all the shaking that had been going on. Now, she would have some hard work ahead of her as she went through all the personnel files, starting with security, which she noticed she was now able to access. Someone had already been going through the security personnel, and she saw that several had been terminated. She wondered if that was literally. Maybe it would be best to go through the other personnel since she already had some ideas about which ones might not be acceptable.

Three hours later, she had a list of fifteen people that needed to be checked out more closely. That was a lot of people, considering she hadn't even started on security yet. Those people were scattered all over the casino, working different shifts and jobs. Viv thought it might also be wise to check those who worked outside the casino. The airport was an especially sensitive area to have someone they were unsure of. The parks would be another area, as well as all those areas associated with them. It seemed to her there was almost no end to the possibilities of where traitors could hide.

While she was giving that some thought, Carler came in, and she turned to look at him. “I have a list of people I think should be looked at closer. I've not even gotten to the security personnel yet. I'm waiting to see what you guys do there. Considering that security was involved in putting people in places that could be effective for Joe Senior. We should check out employees everywhere, especially in sensitive places like airports and the parks.”

“You're right. Get your list together, and I will have some assistants to help you gather information from unquestionable employees. We can't afford to pay people to set us up. I'm not sure why no one ever considered checking out security. It is good that we have you here to look out for us," Carler observed.

She wasn't sure who was looking out for who. After seeing the damage upstairs, it amazed her that anyone survived. There were signs that people had been slammed against the wall and even dents in the desks where heads had hit them. The violence that had occurred up there went beyond what she ever expected to experience. There was no doubt in her mind that something was being hidden from her. The question was what and why.

Maybe she was going crazy, but she was beginning to wonder about the dragon shifter theory. The superior technology had already made her wonder about the alien theory. Was she just going crazy? Viv looked at Carler closely, scrutinizing every bit of him. There was no doubt that he was big and not just tall. His hair was brown, a common enough color and his eyes were blue, particularly beautiful and deep, but that was nothing unusual, only exceptional.

His facial features looked completely human, and while his body was in perfect condition—extremely muscular without an ounce of fat anywhere—that didn't require alien DNA. That was possibly achieved by humans. Nothing she saw said alien, only superior human. It was true that the men here were generally fit and in perfect physical condition, but a few fell short of that mark.

Nothing that she saw was impossible for a fully human creature. They were intelligent, yet Joe Senior, who she had never thought of as particularly bright, had managed to escape repeatedly. She would take the blame for that, but they had been after him before bringing her in and had no luck. Couldn't aliens zap someone from their ship and make them disappear? Honestly, she had no idea what aliens could do or would do, only that it would surprise her that they would put up with Old Joe without pulling out the big guns, whatever those might be.

It must be the stress of chasing Joe with no results and all the little issues he had created here that were getting to her. She was beginning to see aliens in the shadows and dragons in the sky. The problem was that the only thing she could think of that would help was taking down Joe. The usual suspect would not bother her so much, but this was so personal that she could not step back from it. Viv intended to catch him if it killed her. She did not fear death because it would simply join her with her beloved Doug. What she did fear was failure. More than anything that would bring her to her knees and shatter her mind.

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