Page 10 of Trick's Trap

“Did you say anything to her?”

“Huh?” Trick stared at Ethan.

“You didn’t get mad and say anything rude to her after you lost?”

Liam scowled at the agent, but he wasn’t offended. Ethan was genuinely curious to find out if he was a sore loser, because he’d only ever seen him win.

Trick laughed. “Actually, I asked her to marry me. I think I was serious, too.”

He half-expected Ethan would smile or join in his laughter, but the FBI agent’s expression was one of pity.

That, more than words, told him what Ethan thought of Tahlia’s chances.

He held the crime-scene photo. “Is there any chance she’s still alive?”

Ethan and Jason glanced at each other. They had one of those silent conversations he and Liam sometimes had when they were in the conference room negotiating a deal.

“One of you spit it out,” Liam growled.

Jason cleared his throat. He glanced at Calen. “There’s something we haven’t told you all. The blood found in Tahlia’s apartment is not all hers. Some is, we think, but a fair number of the swabs came back as male.”

“Was it the attacker’s blood? Why didn’t we hear about this before?” he asked.

Calen held up a hand. “Jason and Ethan needed to keep some details back while they investigated, but I asked them not to share this. I didn’t want Maia to hear about it.”

“But if it’s not all Tahlia’s blood, then there’s still a chance she’s alive, isn’t there?”

Calen rubbed his face. “Not necessarily. All the evidence proves is she defended herself. But I don’t want you or Maia getting your hopes up. Only a limited number of samples were taken. By the time Ethan and Jason took over the case, the scene was cleaned up. So there’s no real way of telling how much was hers.”

Fuck. “So what now?”

“We’re still investigating,” Jason assured him.

Trick read between the lines. The ‘as a homicide’ were implied.

Ethan clapped him on the back. “The good news is, now we have another avenue to explore. Tahlia was a gambler. We should start combing the underground rooms and legit casinos.”

Um…“I’m already on that. I’ve checked everywhere,” he added. “She hasn’t been seen since that night.”

Liam swore and rubbed his face hard with his hands. The general atmosphere in the room dampened.

“I can’t believe you were the last one to see her,” Jason said after a long minute.

“Maybe he wasn’t,” Ethan mused. “What if she went back to the casino later? Or some other similar place?”

Trick shrugged. “I don’t think so. I checked all the local haunts for news of her.” He debated telling them about Tahlia spending the night, but he hesitated.

Only the agents need to know.It wasn’t as if anyone here would judge, but those kinds of details had a way of leaking out. And as much as he wanted to think the best of people, most were judgmental. If they knew Tahlia came up to his room the night they met, they might think less of her. He wanted to protect her reputation.

“Are you sure?” Ethan asked. “Would this Chao tell you that straight out? I think we should question him and lay out the facts. He might know something.”

“It’s not likely, but maybe there’s some detail that might help. However, Chao’s not going to talk to you,” Trick warned. “And he’s definitely not going to let the FBI question any of his staff. I, on the other hand, am a known quantity.”

Liam’s face darkened. “What are you planning?” he asked.

His gaze swept over the assembled men, coming to rest on the FBI agents. “Let’s just say you have your resources, and I have mine.”

Chapter 6

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