Page 25 of Trick's Trap

Her lip quirked. “You’ve never seen my shuffle.”

“Well, actually, I meant your card-counting technique, but I’m willing to bet you have an impressive shuffle, too.”

“As a matter a fact, I do know a few tricks, but I don’t count cards.”

Trick laughed aloud. “Oh, come on. Pull the other one.”

“I don’t—not consciously anyway. I’ve just always been very good at calculating odds and have a good memory. Plus, I’m lucky. That’s what my Ama used to call me. She said I was her lucky penny.”

Her eyes grew distant, the tiny spark of exuberance he’d glimpsed when he shuffled the cards fading away.

“Was Ama your mother?”

Tahlia jerked as if he’d interrupted her woolgathering. “No. She was our housekeeper. But I suppose she was sort of like a mother. As close to one as I had.”

“And your father?”

Tahlia turned away, her eyes gravitating to the exit. “He’s dead.”

Like any gambler worth his salt, Trick knew he’d just played a bad hand. It was confirmed when she shot up from her seat.

“Wait,” he said urgently, taking her hand.

She hesitated, whirling to face him with a disturbingly blank stare.

Trick recognized that look. Over the years, he’d seen it in the face of a lot of women, the ones who came to the hotel trying to get away from abusive husbands or boyfriends. They all wore that same expressionless mien.

He’d always attributed that unnerving blankness to too many horrors either seen or experienced. A body could only take so much before it went numb.

“I meant what I said,” he said, infusing his voice with all the persuasion he could muster. “I can help. Believe it or not, I have some practice getting women out of trouble. And if you need even more backup, then my friends are ready and willing to do whatever you need.”

He leaned closer and lowered his voice. “Two of them are here. They’re FBI agents.”

At the mention of law enforcement officers, Tahlia’s mouth slackened. “Patrick, how could you?” she cried.

Crap, that was badly done. Of course she thought she was in trouble. Someone most likely died in her apartment the night she disappeared. He shifted, prepared to block her if she bolted.

“Believe me, these two are on your side. One of them is my brother-in-law. The other is his partner, and both owe me a favor. A big one.”

He paused, stroking her wrist with his thumb. “I know what happened in your apartment. Someone broke in, forcing your window. The lock was broken. A second-floor apartment is more secure than one on the ground floor, but it’s still accessible for a determined thief. He was waiting for you inside.”

Tahlia sat frozen.

“It was one of your cousins, wasn’t it? Which one?”

Her lip trembled, and she mouthed something.

“What was that?” Had she said a name?

She cleared her throat, scanning the room as if checking for eavesdroppers. “I said there were two of them waiting.”

That last was a ragged little whisper.

Trick stifled the rush of adrenaline that made his blood run fast and hot. He’d never been this angry in his entire life—which was exactly the wrong reaction at this moment. The last thing he needed was to scare Tahlia off because of his lack of discipline.

It was make or break time.

“Tahlia, we don’t know each other well, but you can trust me. I’ve only scratched the surface of the shit storm that is your family, and I know you can’t face them alone. Not with their resources. But money and power I’ve got and let me tell you…I would bet everything I had on you.”

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