Page 66 of Hidden Ties

Sal and Kententered the casino, trying their best not to look suspicious as they headed for the elevators in not too much of a rush that would draw attention to them. They had no idea if Edmond was working alone or not, so they had to play it carefully. If her old boss knew he was about to be cornered, he didn’t doubt, like any deranged animal, he would bite. However, knowing Valerie was running out of time with each passing minute, he slightly picked up his speed.

“Her office was on the tenth floor,” Kent announced as they were almost to the elevators.

Sal nodded, not caring how Kent knew that at this point. He only knew that he somehow trusted the untrustworthy man where Valerie was concerned. He only hoped that both of their instincts were correct that she would have taken him to her old office.

Turning the corner sharply into the hallway that held the elevators, Sal ran right into a man with a gray hoodie. It wasn’t until the man turned his head that Sal instantly recognized him.

“Vincent?”

“Yes,” the soldier whispered back, reminding his superior to keep his voice down. “Your girl is in trouble.”

That was when it clicked that Vincent had been the jogger who had run right into Valerie at the Casino Hotel.

He took a calming breath, knowing he had another soldier to help back him up. It was three against one, as far as he knew, and he liked those odds.

Vincent went back to what he was doing, watching the elevator numbers travel up floors, as he spoke quietly again. “She just got on the elevator with him. I’m waiting to see where it stops.”

“They’ll get off at the tenth floor, where her office used to be.” Kent was the one to speak, and Sal agreed.

“I don’t think so.” Vincent shook his head, still staring at the numbers going up and unconcerned with who the man who was with Sal was. “I think she’s leading him up to the rooftop.”

“Youthink?” Kent asked furiously. “You can’t think; you have to be fucking certain.”

“Listen, man”—Vincent threw him a dirty look—“I had headphones in when she whispered it to me. But she’s smart. She’s been walking slower than a fucking snail to buy us time, so I think that’s what she’s doing by taking him to the rooftop—buying us more time by having to take the rooftop access. Watch—”

As the number hit nine, Sal had to agree that that sounded like her, but then it stopped at ten.

“Told you,” Kent said, pushing the elevator button swiftly so another one would take them to the top.

“Wait.” Vincent stopped them when the elevator began ticking away higher than ten. “See? They didn’t get off. They’re going to the rooftop.”

All of them slid into the elevator with a sprint.

“We have to be certain, Sal,” Kent told him as Sal’s hand wavered over the numbers. “If we go all the way to the rooftop and she’s not there, Valerie’s dead.”

Sal’s finger slowly moved to the tenth floor, pausing when Vincent spoke.

“She went to the rooftop.” His soldier was certain. “I know it.”

As Valerie’s life hung in the balance, Sal looked between the men, deciding who to listen to. If Vincent were Lucca, he would have never questioned him, but the soldier hadn’t been the most reliable one, as Vincent had not only been the young and dumb one for quite some time, but he had been different since his father’s death.

Sal knew all too well what losing a parent did to you. He himself hadn’t become sane of mind until three years later. Every man in the family had cut Vincent some slack recently due to his loss, and now, here he was, supposed to take his word in order to save Valerie’s life, and possibly his own …

The blue moon ominously whispered to Sal, letting him know it wasn’t only Valerie’s life that hung in the balance.

Taking a deep breath, Sal made a decision.

Valerie gotoff the highest floor in the Horseshoe. It wasn’t the rooftop, but it was the closest they could get. Only a few workers in the casino had chosen to take their smoke breaks on the roof so they could smoke weed; they were unable to smoke it anywhere else due to the noticeable smell.

“I thought you vaped in the bathroom.” Edmond’s tone told her he was starting to reconsider believing her when they had to take the stairs for the rooftop access. Valerie needed to start doing everything in her power to start convincing him again.

“I did vape in the bathroom.” That part was definitely true. She hadn’t given a fuck, and it made the bathroom smell like cotton candy, anyway. “But I still would come up here from time to time to smoke with Lyle.” That part wasn’t true. Anyone smoking weed on a rooftop was dumb as fuck. You were simplyasking for an accident by falling to your death. Upon further thought, that checked out perfectly for Lyle.

Edmond took in her wildly oversized clothes, having never seen the way she dressed outside of work before. “I should have known.”

While they took the stairs of the rooftop access at slow pace, she could feel the sweat beginning to bead on her temples. She had hoped with how fucking slow she was going they wouldn’t have made it this far, but as she swung open the door to the roof, she should have known she wasn’t going to get that lucky.

Valerie had only been up here once, and it’d been during the day when she’d needed some fresh air. It was much different at night up here, as the cold air hit her face like needles.

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