Page 53 of Wildcard's Wager

I fold my arms as Brigit approaches. “You shouldn’t be here. Club business.”

She positions herself so that she’s facing me with her back is to activity going on behind her. Viper and Max carry Walt’s limp form to the SUV and toss him inside as if he were a sack of flour. Brigit’s eyes never leave mine.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I just came down here to tell you what I’ve found. The HR person Chill fired entered herself into the system as an employee. She received a paycheck from 1% and the temp agency. The check goes into the same account as Walt’s. But that’s not all. Bianca came to see me. She said several girls Walt was harassing left the casino. However, when I checked their names, they are still listed as active employees. Their checks are going into the same account.”

“Fuck,” I say, rubbing my hand over my face. “They’ve been stealing from us?”

“It’s worse than that, “Brigit says. “I tried contacting the two employees Bianca mentioned. Their phones are inactive. So, I tried calling their emergency contacts. The girls are missing. No one has seen them since their last shift here.”

I glare at the SUV as Max drives off. Chill and Viper walk toward us.

“Did she tell you?” Chill asks. I nod.

“Need to alert Spark. See if he can get us our money back. In the meantime…” I stop talking when my phone buzzes. “What the fuck now?” I growl, answering it because it’s coming from the front desk.

“Wildcard, this is Alex at the front desk. Becky is helping a gentleman who is asking several questions about a woman who recently stayed with us. Becky alerted me that the woman was here as Alisa’s guest.”

My heart freezes at his words. “Don’t give out any information. Keep him there. I’m headed to security.”

“I would never betray a guest of Alisa’s,” Alex assures me, but I end the call and call Spark. When he picks up, I grab Brigit’s hand. “I need you to get eyes on the front desk. Becky is talking to someone who is asking questions about Brigit. I need to know who it is. Might be Sully.”

Brigit tenses next to me, but she follows without hesitation when I pull her to the elevator. We take it up to the second floor and I guide her into the security office that houses our monitors. Reggie jumps into action and commandeers a monitor. He clicks several keys before we get a visual on the front desk. We can see Becky, but the man she’s talking to has his back to us. He’s wearing a long wool coat. Two men flank him. He isn’t Sully. So who the fuck is he? Reggie clicks a couple more keys and splits the screen so we can see them from a different angle. Brigit sucks in a breath next to me. I turn to look at her.

“That’s Misha in the middle. I recognize him. Along with his two goons. They’re the ones who chased me out of the building after he shot Mike.”

“Confirmed,” says Spark and I realize I put him on speaker.

“What should we do?” Brigit asks me. Her eyes are wide with fear. “He found me.”

“Shit. We need to get you out of here.”

“Wait,” Chills says, which earns her a growl from me.

“Why is he here? Think about it. Sully went looking for her at the clubhouse. If he’s working for Misha, like we think he is, then Misha would look for her there. Maybe he knows she’s here. He could be setting a trap.”

“You think if we leave, he’ll have his men waiting for us?” I ask.

Chill shrugs. “I would. We have the advantage here and at the clubhouse. The only time Brigit is vulnerable would be between here and there.”

“What do you suggest?”

“Killing two birds. We capture Misha and his men, then get him to confess to murdering Brigit’s boss.”

“We’ll need to involve the cops,” Viper says. “It’s the only way to get the charges dropped against her.”

“Call Rafe and get him to come down here. Tell him what we’re trying to accomplish,” I direct Viper, who steps away to make the call. “We need to figure out how to get him to confess.”

“The only way is to confront him and I’m the only one who can do it,” Brigit says. I swear my heart stops.

CHAPTER THIRTY: BRIGIT

Wildcard swings to glare at me. Although the heat in his eyes is more fear than anger.

“Absolutely not. You’re not bait. He’ll kill you if he sees you.”

“Not if we plan it and stack the deck in our favor,” Trouble says. He puts his hands up to stop Wildcard from spewing. “I get it. I do. If it were Corinne, I’d be plotting my death just like you are. But, let’s discuss our options. This is the perfect place to trap him into making a confession. The only person he’ll let his guard down with is the person who knows the truth. Brigit.”

“He’ll kill her as soon as he sees her,” Wildcard says again, gritting his teeth.

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