Page 71 of Blind Luck

“What language is that?”

“Arabic.”

“I didn’t realise you spoke another language.”

“We all speak other languages. I’ll drop you off at the house and come back later.”

“You still think it’s worth staying there?”

“We can’t be sure that our suspect is only recruiting via Amber Road, and if some whack job shows up to trash Cole’s home, we’d like to prevent that.”

Would Dusk really wade into a fight? The other girls I’d met had a hard edge to them—Jerry, Tulsa, Sin. Even Alexa. But Dusk? She seemed like such a sweetheart. The kind of girl who’d bring tissues after a breakup and come over with chicken soup when you were sick.

But I wasn’t in a position to disagree, so I nodded. After all, I wouldn’t be able to take on multiple intruders, and Dusk might be able to call in reinforcements.

“I’ll call Jerry. Tell her about the loan but not the possible connection to the Fuller family.”

“That would work. If you don’t tell her anything at all, she’ll be suspicious.” She tapped the screen, and it went blank. “I’ll bring snacks. We can watch a movie. Hey, it’ll be fun.”

Fun.Vegas wasn’t fun, not anymore. My heart was in Santa Cruz, and I couldn’t wait to get back there.

CHAPTER 24

ERIN

Friday night, and Kelsey was riding in a black Mercedes town car, chauffeur-driven. I sent the licence plate to Alexa, and two minutes later, she pinged back a reply. The vehicle was registered to the Neptune, which didn’t help much. Jace Fuller could be in the back seat with her, or the hotel could have comped the car as part of her stay.

We followed the car along the Strip until it turned off near the airport.

“Maybe she’s going home?” Rusty suggested.

“I guess it’s possible.”

But the Funhouse was also over this way. I’d googled the place after Ari sent me notes on the Fuller Group. Five-star food and fun, the website claimed, although Tripadvisor scored it at four overall, mostly because it was overpriced. The blurb promised gourmet American food, retro gaming, and a dance floor. The town car pulled up outside five minutes later.

Rusty cracked his knuckles. “Ready to play pinball?”

“Is it hard?”

“Not hard to play, but hard to win.”

“Huh. How about bowling? They have four lanes.”

“You enjoy bowling?”

“In the Promised Land, I was the skittles queen.”

“Skittles? Like the candy?”

“No, like bowling, but with nine pins instead of ten. It’s a European thing. The Prophet lived in Germany for a while. He said he left because Europe is full of heathens, but it turns out he actually got deported after he served two years in prison for scamming his followers.”

“How’d he scam them?”

“Sold some potion that was supposed to cure cancer, except it was just urine mixed with pomegranate juice.” I caught the look of disgust on Rusty’s face. “I know. Gross, right?”

“He pissed in a bottle and sold it for money?”

“Hundreds of bucks. And they don’t know for sure it was his product. I mean, it could have been anyone’s.”

---