Page 32 of Once A Crime Lord

“Nothing.”

“I thought you had an endless list of shit to do.”

“I took care of it.”

“I can give you another list.”

“No problem.”

Too bad Marcus had the Pyre Casinos organized to a T. He dumped all his duties on Marcus four months ago, and aside from a few excellent questions, Marcus handled his workload with little effort and hadn’t made a peep of protest.

“Remind me to give you a raise,” he muttered.

“Already gave myself one.”

He would have taken exception to this, but he arrived at the room he was looking for. He swiped the key card and walked in. The guards stayed outside, but Marcus followed him inside. Gavin surveyed the hotel room, which was tidy aside from a blazer tossed over the chair and the rumpled bedsheets.

He slipped on gloves and glanced in the bathroom, which showed a toiletry kit hanging from the towel rack. A sleek suitcase rested on the luggage rack. He opened it and quickly rifled through the contents. Either this guy was boring as hell, or he was an undercover agent who had the most mundane set of props to bore anyone hoping to find anything interesting.

“You want to tell me why we’re in a guest’s room?” Marcus asked.

“No.”

His tone didn’t dissuade Marcus from remarking, “There doesn’t appear to be anything out of the ordinary. Looks like a standard businessman.” He nodded to the crisp shirts hanging in the closet. “He’s probably here for a conference. Why are you interested in him?”

Gavin didn’t answer. He opened the laptop and stuck a USB flash drive into it before pulling out his phone and pressing speed dial five. Z, his tech genius, answered halfway through the first ring.

“Boss,” Z said without preamble.

“Can you hack it?”

“Give me five minutes.”

The laptop screen flickered as Z did his thing. Dozens of screens opened and closed at a rapid pace. Gavin turned from the laptop to find Marcus watching him closely.

“Business,” he said.

“Is that so?” Marcus didn’t look convinced.

Perceptive motherfucker. He wasn’t going to tell Marcus why he was hacking Huskin’s laptop. To distract them both, he said, “The Monk deal?”

Marcus’s focus shifted instantly. “What about it?”

“Up the stakes by fifteen percent. He’s a slimy bastard. Monk loves to back out at the last minute. Make him put his money where his mouth is.”

“Anything else?”

“I’m hoping to wrap up my business soon so don’t penalize the construction company for the delays. It’s normal, and we’re not in a hurry. As for the guy who slapped us with a penalty from the Nevada Gaming Control Board you mentioned in an email last week, I’ll deal with him.”

“Terry? I can handle him.”

“He’s dirty, and he’s gunning for us. I’ll have a chat with him and find out who his employer is.”

“He was appointed to his position by the governor.”

He raised a brow. “Then I’ll pay him a visit as well.”

How the Phantom managed to do so much damage in so little time he would never know. What did the Phantom offer to recruit such powerful, high profile people? For the past four months, he worked his ass off and was no closer to discovering the Phantom’s identity than he had been a year ago. His days were filled with paranoia, blood, and violence. Uncovering the deals Phantom made with the filth of the underworld made him sick. He thought he knew what evil was, but it was nothing compared to the twisted fucks he was currently dealing with.

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