Page 59 of The Gambler

There was no way she could do that in a moment’s notice. Except, she had an inkling he wouldn’t listen to reason.

He pushed her outside and into a black van. From the corner of her eye, she saw three more vans lined up. Shit. It was a small army.

Jamie turned to her from his seat. “You try anything funny and I’ll put a bullet in your head.”

That’s not very constructive if you want to use my computer skills.

More words she held inside. She was tired, had a knot in her stomach the size of Alaska, and felt deflated. All she could think about was Luca. Would she ever see him again?

When they pulled over at the docks and stepped out, Tess looked upon at least three dozen men, all heavily armed. Across the street was Irish Brian’s place of business. It was dark, and eerily quiet. To Tess, it seemed like the calm before the storm.

“I really don’t think you should go in there.”

Jamie grabbed her by the throat and lifted her off her feet. Her hands flew to his arms that were slowly choking the life out of her.

“Didn’t ask what you were thinkin’, did I?”

No, but if he thought he could just walk in and out of Brian’s place, he was deluded.

She desperately shook her head and he finally let her go. She dropped to her knees, coughing and trying to catch her breath.

“Brian doesn’t work on Sunday nights,” he entrusted her.

“Then why all the guns?” she croaked, rubbing her throat.

“Precaution.”

I call bullshit. Jamie was scared shitless. As he should be.

The big hall where underground fights were arranged was truly abandoned. A few spotlights were still on, making the place seem even creepier to her. The only sound was that of a few dozen marching boots on the concrete floor.

The men spread out in the building, covering the windows and the door. Tess was placed behind the computer in Brian’s office.

Jamie waved a gun in her face. “You better start working.”

She tried to keep her trembling fingers steady. “I need to concentrate. A gun in my face isn’t really helping.”

“Get to work. You’ve got about three hours.”

Her anxiety spiked and reached a whole new level. There was no way she could pull this off. He had no idea what he was asking of her, which meant there was probably only one outcome of this night—her getting killed.

She started working, bringing up screens which showed rows of numbers. Every few minutes, Jamie took a look at what she was doing, then left, leaving her alone with a guard.

Luckily this guard didn’t seem to be interested in what she was doing. He probably couldn’t follow her fingers that were racing on the keyboard anyway. So, in what possibly might be her final hours, Tess decided to send a message to Luca, explaining to him what had happened and to apologize. To her Pops, she sent a string of love emoticons. He hated his smartphone, so it would take a while before he saw her message. There was no way she was getting him into this mess. And lastly, she sent a message to Onyx, telling her she wished they’d met under different circumstances.

The silence of the night suddenly got pierced by speakers turning on. Her heart thudded when she heard Juice Newton’s “Queen of Hearts” blasting through the speakers.

Onyx.

Her guard plastered his back to the wall, peeking outside.

Then, all hell broke loose. Windows shattered, and a rain of bullets lodged into the door. Tess tossed herself on the floor and looked around for an escape.

Jamie rushed back inside, his face a stark white. “Fuck. Brian’s here.” He pulled her up from the floor. Using her as a human shield, he walked out of the office.

Someone took a shot at them. Tess closed her eyes, expecting to be turned into Swiss cheese any second. Her heart was in her throat and it took all her strength to keep afoot.

Another rain of bullets followed and she opened her eyes. Their assailant lay dead on the floor, and she tried not to heave.

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