Page 36 of Savage Daddies

“What?” Poet says. “You wanna just turn a blind eye? We still have digging to do for Paul.”

“Yes, exactly, so let’s get out of here and do what we came to do before?—”

A thud downstairs silences us.

I hold my breath. Listen in.

Someone’s home.

Simultaneously, we all stride to the opened window and stick out our heads to make sure the coast is clear. A car sits midway down the drive, but both driver and passenger sides are unoccupied.

As tallest, I climb down first to help the other two down.

Then we tiptoe across the lawn.

A twig snaps.

I swing around. Now’s not a good time to be caught breaking in by Felix Fernando, especially since we’re all in shell shock about masquerade girl and Zoe being the same person.

My shoulders relax.

It was just a bird.

Climbing over the gate exposes us big time, so I get a move on and jump down. It’s only when we’re back on our bikes hitting the road that I reactivate the security cameras.

We drive three abreast down quiet neighborhood roads away from Vegas. It’s as though we’ve all subconsciously made the decision to clear our heads with some fresh air.

“Now what?” I ask.

“The casino again?” says Wrangler.

“If we couldn’t budge Paul earlier, he’s not gonna budge now,” I say. “He’s a tough guy. We don’t wanna aggravate the man.”

“Six thirty PM,” says Poet, eyes dropping to his dashboard. “I bet he has a few whiskeys in him since this morning. Might be worth another crack.”

“Ah.” I sniff a laugh. “You’ve perked up now that certain dots have been connected.”

“I’m just saying,” says Poet. “All Grizzly ever sees us doing is slobbing about drinking stout. He’s kicked people out before for not pulling their weight.”

“True,” says Wrangler. “I don’t like the idea of being banished.”

And neither do I. But we’re not dealing with underground syndicate leaders and shadows here. We’re dealing with a Vegas celebrity who has the entire city at his side.

U-turning, we head toward the city.

Of course masquerade girl and Zoe are the same. I should’ve recognized her the minute I saved her from that spider. Her piercing green eyes make it so obvious, but what doesn’t is the style change.

It leads me to believe something peculiar happened between the two of them.

Something out of her control.

That doesn’t make Felix a bad person though, does it?

Reentering the casino, we separate to find Paul. The place is busier now. Suited figures and women in expensive dresses swarm everywhere, and lines of people wait their turn to gamble. Cash Pot Palace has always been this way. Always sees the most guests on the strip. Half a million dollars is nothing to Paul, but the sum of money in that envelope is not why we’re here.

It’s motive.

Grizzly’s just offended that Paul’s going to somebody that’s not him.

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