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“Do I even want to know?” Leo dropped into a seat and patted Leal, who immediately relaxed. He might be on edge with strangers, but he knew and loved Leo.
“Did you know that Cameron met up with Trigger yesterday?” I wondered if he knew anything about it.
“Why?”
“That’s what I need to know.”
“Well, that can wait, because this can’t.” He tossed a file on the table, and I tried to get my head in the right place as I joined him for a quick rundown.
* * *
The conference room smelled of fresh pastries and coffee as we took our seats at the boardroom table.
“Okay let’s get right into this.” Dad was all business.
“Right here,” Deborah pointed to the large screen on the wall, “across from the Encore, it’s now up for grabs, and they’ll start accepting offers first thing tomorrow morning.”
“Current asking price?” my father asked, and Deborah handed him a folded piece of paper with the amount on it.
“I’m not sure why we’re not jumping on this now. It’s a great investment.” Cameron added his usual two cents’ worth.
Jesse, who stood against the wall, shook his head, just as irritated with the man as I was.
I reached for my phone then cursed quietly. It had been a while since I had been in one of those meetings where we frosted the windows and mirrored the walls. No electronic devices but a laptop and a TV for streaming information were allowed inside the room. The guards outside were instructed to stand watch, and only a select few would ever be let through. Now more than ever, given the bullshit I’d been having with Secret’s build, we needed to be extra careful. Which made me wonder why Dad felt his criminal defense lawyer should be in this meeting. We had our other lawyers here, so I couldn’t see the need.
I leaned over toward Leo and whispered, “Why, exactly, is Cameron here?”
“When I asked Dad, he said Cameron needed to know everything that was happening in order to represent Knox in this new case that’s come up on him.”
“The fuck has Knox done now?”
“Nothing a little money won’t clear up.” He waved it off. Clearly, it wasn’t anything too important.
I closed my eyes and wondered once again why my father, who was always so careful with people, let this hot-tempered, moody lawyer slither his way so deeply into our lives. I knew they had history, but if Knox’s case wasn’t that big of a deal, why was Cameron here? I stopped my spinning. I knew why. Because Cameron insisted. My level of irritation rose.
Cameron reached for the piece of paper with the price of the property on it, but I slammed my hand down on top of it before he could.
“Well, gentlemen…” Deborah stumbled and shot me a look, but when I didn’t say a word, she continued to give details on the property.
Cameron backed down but gave me a pissed-off look.
“So, any questions?” Deborah looked around. A few questions came from our lawyers and from several investors. Dad and I covered a few things as well.
Suddenly, a commotion started on the other side of the door. Dad quickly turned the screen off and most of us quickly closed our file folders and pulled our guns. The door flew open.
“Grim!” Kenna’s voice called, and I jumped to my feet as she flung herself through the door. Her wild eyes caught mine. “Your hotel. Secrets is on fire!”
Fire! It was a dreaded word anywhere, but especially here in Vegas, as the desert heat made everything so dry. Leo jumped to un-frost the windows as we raced to look outside. Secrets was covered in a ball of flames. A cone of heavy, dark smoke went up to the sky. It seemed to blow away from the street.
After a quick glance, I whirled around and ran toward the elevator. Even with my card it seemed to take forever to arrive. I felt the darkness that I’d just managed to keep at bay fester then burst through the surface of my mind. I jumped inside as the doors opened, and Jesse leapt past my brother and father as I jabbed the button and the doors slammed shut on them. I caught sight of Kenna’s red face behind them. They could get the next one.
My driver, Cartwright, was ready for us as we stormed out of the private entrance and straight into the car. He didn’t say a word, just jumped in and sped toward the fire. A police barricade was being set up as we approached.
“Grim.” Jesse handed me a loaded gun and I swapped out my normal one for it. He tucked his in his waistband, and we both jumped out. The police recognized me right away and waved us under the taped barrier.
“Mr. Gates,” the chief of police squinted at the smoke, “we’ve got nothing for you yet. Only that some passersby smelled gas then a few moments later the flames were visible.” I ran my tongue along my teeth and tried desperately to contain my temper.
“Gas?” I pumped my fists, and he stepped back carefully.
