Bit the Jackpot (Vegas Vampires #2)(45)
Author: Erin McCarthy

"It’s not your fault, Cara." Seamus sat next to her, stroked her knee. "It’s mine. You know Donatelli and Ethan are in the middle of a heated presidential election. If this is the Italian’s doing, then I led them right to you and to Dawn. Regardless of whether or not Donatelli called out a hit on any of us, we have to be prepared for him to use you against Ethan. He’s going to point you out to the Nation as a sign of my hypocrisy, and Ethan’s. You’ll be scrutinized, questioned." Seamus sighed and turned to Ethan, his friend and mentor. "It’s time for me to come clean. I should hold a press conference and explain about Cara, then resign."

Ethan had the unnerving ability to stand completely still, hand in pocket, and say nothing. He could just stare at someone, until they started babbling again out of nerves. He did that now and Seamus found himself blurting out an extended explanation. "I should have done that from the start.Damage control. I need to distance myself from you so it doesn’t cloud the election."

"Don’t be stupid," Ethan said.

Seamus would have called it smart. "Come on, you know I’m right. And since this is my fault, I should be the one to fix it."

Ethan looked prepared to argue when the door opened.

"Seamus? Do you need me for something?" Kelsey walked in, wearing a red bikini and a shawl-type thing that covered a one-inch strip across her pelvis. "I was just going for a swim before bed."

"I see that." Though Seamus had a hard time picturing Kelsey doing hard laps in the hotel pool at 5 a.m. in that decorative little bit-of-nothing bathing suit. Yet it wasn’t like she’d be sunbathing.Which left him to conclude that Kelsey was never going to make sense to him and it wasn’t worth it to try.

"Mr. Carrick. Cara. Hi." Kelsey smiled, lifting her arms to adjust her ponytail.

Seamus had never seen her wear her hair up like that. It made her look like she was sixteen, instead of a sixty-year-old vampire. "Come sit down, Kelsey. Mr. Carrick wants to talk to you."

Her face fell. "You’re going to fire me, aren’t you?"

It was tempting to laugh. Kelsey was always Kelsey, no concept of the bigger picture.

"No," Ethan said. "We just need to know everything you know about the man who shot me.The man who bled Cara’s friend Dawn tonight at the club."

"Kyle?" she said nervously, like there might be more than oneguy running around attacking them. "What about him?"

"How do you know him?" Seamus asked.

"I met him here, in the casino. He was playing blackjack and chain smoking. I talked to him and we went upstairs to " She bit her lip."Talk. And then I left because he was going to kill Mr. Carrick."

"What happened the night you were drained of blood, Kelsey? Was Kyle there?"

Her eyes shuttered for a second. "I don’t remember."

"You don’t remember anything from that night?"

"Well " She wiggled her toes in her sandals.Worked her fingers through the holes in her cover-up. Bit her lip. "I was waiting for Kyle, to tell him that you had fallen off the roof of the building—remember that day?—and that he could use that as an out with the Italian. That he could tell him he’d pushed you and the job was over, so he would let Kyle go. But when I followed Kyle to the Venetian, they grabbed me and then there was noise and pain, and when I woke up, Kyle made this horrible gurgling sound then I don’t remember anything after that. Honest."

If she crossed her heart, Seamus was going to shake her. They could have used this info a little sooner. "So the Italian hired Kyle to kill Mr. Carrick?"

"Yes." She nodded, "He’s not a nice man."

"Kyle?"

"The Italian."Kelsey rubbed her wrist. "He likes to hurt people." Her legs crossed and her arms wrapped around her nearly naked chest, like she could protect herself.

Ethan rubbed her upper arm. "It’sokay, Kelsey. We won’t let him hurt you again. Do you know if he is the one who turned Kyle?"

"I’m not sure, but I think Kyle works for him now. And I really didn’t remember anything before, I swear, Mr. Carrick."

"Alright, then," Ethan said, with a patience Seamus admired. Kelsey could turn a saint into a raging alcoholic. "But if you remember anything else make sure you tell us." She nodded. "Okay."

"Do you know where we could find Kyle? Does he live at the Venetian?"

"I’m not sure." Kelsey looked away from Ethan and Seamus and back again. "But he’s here at the Ava if you want to talk to him."

Seamus started, instinctively moving Cara behind him. "He’s here?Now?In the casino?"

"Yes." Kelsey shrugged. "He’s here for the big ugly guy."

Ethan glanced over at him."The addict who went after Cara."

"How do you know, Kelsey?" Seamus asked.

"I can hear his thoughts. I’m good at that with him. He’s here."

Right here, in their casino, the whole damn time she’d been talking.And Kelsey just strolling off for a dip in the pool.

"By the way," Kelsey added. "His name isn’t really Kyle. It’s Ringo . He just likes to be called Kyle."

Chapter Twelve

Ringohad determined where Williams was in the casino. He could smell him when he got to the twenty-third floor, where Carrick’s offices were. Wearing a dumb-ass-looking floral delivery disguise, Ringo had gone up in the elevator, disgusted that he had reached this low point in his life.

He wasn’t anybody’s delivery boy. He had done his hits fast and clean, walk in, plug them,walk out. Or better yet, a nice clean shot from a roof or an open window. This sneaking-around shit, worrying, wondering, begging, was getting old. Fast.

The minute he’d stepped into the office area, he knew Williams was on the same floor. The sick, sweet odor of a drug-addicted vampire drying out clung everywhere, like raw sewage. At least he knew Williams wasn’t dead.

"Hey, where do you think you’re going?" a security guard asked him as he stepped toward the glass doors that led to the reception desk.

"I have a delivery."

"At five in the morning?What the hell you delivering?"The guard was skeptical, and he was also mortal, which always worked in a vampire’s favor. Ringo could blow past him if he needed to.

But Ringo just smiled and pulled the door handle. The offices were locked. "It’s a specialdelivery, you know what I’m saying. For a " He glanced down. "Kelsey.The secretary." It was a risk, using Kelsey’s name, but if she was around, he wanted to talk to her, and hers was the only name he knew besides Carrick’s and his wife’s, and he didn’t want either of them seeing him.