Page 28 of What Happens in Vegas..
He strokes his thumb over my knuckles.
Mary rubs my back. “I’m so glad he was there for you, too. I wouldn’t have known what to do. When I got your message I was freaking out. I don’t know how to get a bail bond or anything. Thank you, Knox.”
He smiles softly. “I’m so glad I was there as well, and that I saw them arrest you. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have any idea you were there or a way to get a hold of you.”
Mary giggles and we look at her. She shakes her head. “Don’t mind me. It’s just so romantic. Like the universe threw you both together for a reason. It was meant for you to find each other and have a deep connection. I can sense it between you two. You have chemistry. I doubt it would’ve been like that if you met when you were younger.”
She has no idea about the revelation from this morning and how much that hits home for me. I look back to Knox and stare into his brown eyes. Is that true? Were we always meant to meet at this time and not when I was younger? I doubt we would’ve had this kind of chemistry when I was a moody teenager. Had it been meant to be that we would meet now when I was an adult so that we could burn hot and fast? Was he meant to come into my life now when I would need him most for so many reasons?
At this point, I don’t think I could ever see him as a friend or a father figure. Not after the last two nights and the incredible passion we shared. Even if I tried to force myself and put distance between us. I don’t think I could ever do that and still be in his life. At least not right now.
I know I told him when he took my virginity that this didn’t have to turn into anything, but now, if he offered it, I would take whatever he was willing to give as long as I could still spend time in his bed.
Knox nods after a second. “I think you’re right, Mary. We were meant to meet now and not a moment before. Things would’ve been very different if we had met years ago. I may be older than Carissa, but I feel such a connection with her, it’s undeniable.”
I nod in return. “I feel the same and Mary can attest to the fact that I don’t do stuff like this. I’ve been asked out a lot and I’ve never said yes or gone on dates. I never had an instant connection with someone until you.”
Mary hums. “It’s true. She’s asked out at least three or more times a day when we’re on shift at the Happy Bean together and I haven’t seen her say yes once or even flirt back to try and get a tip in the jar we have.”
A small smile pulls at Knox’s lips as his thumb continues to stroke my skin, each one sending a thrill up my arm, down my spine, and straight to my clit. I’ve also never met a single person that could successfully make me horny just from a look. Hell, before this, only fictional characters in movies could get me going, and I had to have my wand to help things along. Knox is something that’s entirely new to me, in a good way.
If Mary wasn’t here, I’m certain he would be taking me on this table or up against one of the walls right now.
He clears his throat and opens his laptop. “Well, I’ll continue to try and get a hold of your boss. They need to turn your property over to you, they can’t keep it. You still have the right to get it back before they try to tow your car from the garage. You have thirty days to get it before that happens. I’m hoping all of this will be over before those thirty days are reached.”
Giving my hand a final squeeze he lets go to type something into his laptop. “This is the footage from the cage at the time of the robbery. I’ll tell you my thoughts on it after you see it. Let me know if you notice anything about the person that might give a clue as to who they are.”
I frown and nod. I get it, he doesn’t want to sway me one way or another. He wants my honest opinion. Turning the screen toward me, Mary leans in so she can see it, too. She’s met some of my co-workers like Daniel and Donna. They were there when I took her to see the Cirque Del Solis’ “O” show. The resort had a raffle for the employees last December for two tickets, so I took her and then we stuffed ourselves at the buffet after. She wasn’t allowed on the casino floor, but I still brought them out to meet her. Donna has also come over to hang out once or twice.
Several camera angles come up on the screen, covering every inch of the cage. It makes sense. They want to make sure the employees working it aren’t doing anything shady, along with the patrons. The cage is called such because there are walls around it, and bullet-proof glass in front of where the cashiers sit when they’re working.
I watch as Martha sighs. “Where are you, Harold? I need to piss worse than a racing horse,” she calls over the radio.
“I’ll be there in a minute. Just go, it’s dead right now,” he returns.
I lift a brow. There’s supposed to be someone in the cage at all times. The casino never sleeps. Even when it’s slow there’s supposed to be someone in there.
Martha gets up from her post and hurries out of it. Not even a minute later another woman comes in, wearing the uniform of the servers and the dealers. She’s tall, much taller than me. I squint, but the scarf covers her head and face. I can’t make out any defining features. She looks around and hurries over to one of the cameras pointing toward the drawers where they keep chips and cash. The cash mostly comes from patrons, it isn’t dealt back out. The members of the casino have membership cards their winnings go onto that they can then connect to their bank accounts. It works the other way around as well, for if they want to purchase chips. Everything has gone digital within the last decade from my understanding.
Mary points. “That camera looks too old to even be real, you can’t see any other cameras from the other angles, but that one sticks out like a sore thumb.”
I nod. “It’s a decoy. It’s a visual reminder to people that they’re being watched and that’s all.”
Mary scrunches up her nose as I glance at her. “Man, this person is stupid if they think that it’s the only camera to cover where all the money transactions happen for the casino part of things.”
It’s not the only cage on the floor, there are ones at either end, so people don’t have to go far if they want to spend more money. This one has to be on the south end. It’s the area I typically work as well as Martha. She’s usually the one that’s taking my chip tips ninety percent of the time.
She types into the computer and the drawer for the chips open. I frown more. “If they have the code to open the chip drawer, why didn’t they get the code to open the cash drawer? That’s faster money. What was she planning on doing with the chips? Painting them to look like another casino? I don’t think that can work, but maybe I’m wrong.”
Knox shakes his head. “You’re not wrong. All chips are coated in UV paint with the casino’s logo. If someone were to paint over them to change the value or make them look like a different casino’s chip, the UV would still show through it. They also have an RFID chip that can be used to have them reported as stolen as soon as they leave the boundary of the casino. They automatically become valueless, so if someone else tries to cash them later on nothing will happen.”
I knew most of that. When I was younger I used to research casinos for fun, wanting to know everything about how they worked. That’s why I would never try something dumb like this.
I watch as she shovels chips into her apron.
“Why didn’t surveillance do something, don’t they live to watch the cage as well? I’ve never been upstairs where they have the cameras, but I’ve heard they have over twenty people up there watching the monitors at any given time.”
Knox nods. “I was wondering the same thing. I’m not sure. Perhaps there was a distraction somewhere to take their focus off the cage. But that’s something we’ll question the casino about. They have too many things in place to stop this kind of thing. It has to be a fluke that this happened. Especially since they got robbed in 2010 for $1.5 million in chips and cash at that time. The man was caught quickly, but it still broke the news here when it happened because no one could believe he even got that far.”
