Page 9 of Trick's Trap

A rough hand shook his shoulder. “What the hell does that mean?” Ethan Thomas snapped.

He blinked at the agent. When Maia sounded the alarm about her missing friend, both he and Jason were drafted to help find her.

“What?” Trick whispered.

“You just saidit’s her.” Ethan held up the little memorial card where another picture of the missing girl was printed.

Trick shook off his hand, patting his pockets. He snatched his own copy postcard up, staring avidly at the woman pictured.

How could I have missed this?

There she was in full color.Her silver-blue eyes stared up at him above a list of personal details—her name, age, height, and weight.

Tahlia.Her real name was Tahlia. Maria was her middle name.

Is…not was.They hadn’t found a body.

He took a shaky breath. Along with the physical description were the details of where she was last seen…leaving a restaurant after having dinner with Maia. The date listed was a few days before he met her.

“I saw her at Chao’s after this,” he said, meeting Ethan’s dark eyes as he held up the card.

Which meant Maia wasn’t the last person to see her before she disappeared. He was.

Chapter 5

Trick tried to focus on all the question’s Ethan was asking, but his mind was still reeling.

His mystery woman was Maia’s friend Tahlia…and everyone else in this room thought she was dead.

After seeing the amount of blood in the crime-scene photos, it was hard to believe otherwise.

“Where did you meet her?” Ethan asked, sounding more impatient than usual.

Trick blinked at him, half-suspecting it wasn’t the first time the FBI agent had asked him that question.

He swallowed. His throat felt thick and swollen as if he were coming down with something. He cleared his throat. “It was at an underground gambling hall called Chao’s.”

“What?” His brother glared at him from the couch. “You told me you only played in legal places now.”

Liam and Calen had ushered him and the agents up to his office, so they could speak in private. They told the ladies he wasn’t feeling well. The excuse wasn’t a complete lie. His stomach was queasy at the thought of what Tahlia must have gone through in that apartment.

Trick ignored his brother. His small peccadillo was nothing considering this information.

“I’m going to find whoever did this to her,” he told Ethan in a hoarse voice.

Ethan and Jason glanced at each other. “Just how well did you know her?”

“I only met her that one night…but she made an impression.” A corner of his mouth turned up as he replayed that last hand in his head.

“How?” Jason asked. “Was she there with someone? A boyfriend maybe?”

Trick shook his head. “She was alone. We played each other. And she wiped the floor with me.”

“Are you serious?” Ethan leaned back. “She beatyouat poker?”

“It would be more accurate to say she crushed me.” He cut a straight line in the air with his hand. “Completely leveled.”

“Wow.” The agent was surprised, but Ethan was a pretty crap card player. Playing him wasn’t much of a challenge. And it wasn’t as if Trick never lost. Losing occasionally was strategic. Tahlia hadn’t won every hand she’d played that night either—only the ones against him.Allthe ones against him.

---