Chasing Gold

CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

Alicia saw the doors that marked the casino’s exit right in front of her. At that moment they exploded, glass shattering toward her face. She dived to the right, rolling among slot machines, and felt Russo tumble right over the top of her.

“Damn it, Russo, for an asexual you sure like rolling on top of me.”

“I’m not fucking asexual.” Russo was on his knees. “Except when you’re around.”

Alicia leapt to her feet. “You got a girl then?”

“I got plenty.”

She grinned, but then couldn’t reply as her eyes took in the front of the casino and the awful scene outside. Ricci, it seemed, had been prepared for a violent escape. The agents that had just arrived had been decimated; for the most part wounded, but some were clearly dead. Alicia closed her eyes for just a moment, appalled at the violence and disregard for life.

“This Ricci… he has to be put down,” Russo growled.

“Yeah, and now he has Crouch… and Terri.” Alicia sighed.

“And the banner,” Russo said.

“Crap.”

Caitlyn and Austin came up to them. Alicia approached the front of the casino just in time to see the Range Rover disappearing out of the lot and across Las Vegas Boulevard. They were now presented with an abrupt choice.

Try to follow or search for the gold?

Her thoughts were echoed aloud by Caitlyn. Alicia remembered Crouch’s own words: Chase the gold. She told Caitlyn to get on to their FBI contact and smooth the way for them out of this mess, then looked around for Paul Cutler.

No way would she let the thief disappear in the chaos.

Cutler hovered around a row of one-armed bandits, shock carved into his features, but even more than that — a reluctance to face her.

“Come over here,” Alicia shouted.

The thief hung back. Alicia understood it was a tough place for him to be — the man was wanted in a dozen countries and a legendary criminal — milling amongst the FBI and other government agents, but assumed he would want to help.

“Oi! I need to talk to you.”

She waited for Cutler to make his way to her side, hoping to establish a bit of superiority. It was then that she noticed the haunted expression in his eyes.

“What is it?”

“You’re the people who’ve been chasing us, right? Trying to save us?”

“Yep. That’s us. Part of Crouch’s team.”

“Yeah, yeah, the old guy. He seems a capable dude. I–I don’t…”

Alicia saw time slipping away. “Spit it out. We’re short on time here.” As she spoke she surveyed the casino, the hunkered down tourists and locals, the wary police officers, the agents with tears in their eyes. She explored the path that meandered from the elevators to the exit door; the slot machines close by. It was a big area in which to locate a small clue.

“I can’t be sure if I decided to save myself, and not her. I… don’t… know.”

Alicia focused on his eyes. “What?”

“Terri, my partner. It all happened in less than six seconds. I don’t know if I could have saved her and let them capture me instead.”

Alicia saw by his unwavering gaze, by his open expression, that he was telling the truth. “You can work that out later. Right now, I need to know everything. What do you know?”

“The terrorist guy, the one with the black designer trim is called Ricci. He’s a brutal, capable guy. His men are loyal, unquestioning. He did have a lot of men with him; I didn’t see who died. The other guy — he’s called Omar and he’s leader of the mercenary crew, the one that hired us to… you know.”

Steal the Star-Spangled Banner.

“I know.”

“Well, they either betrayed us or decided on the spur of the moment to use us. Your friend, Crouch, seemed positive they would sell us to the highest bidder. Terri helped cause a few distractions so that he could plant clues for you guys to follow.”

“But where are they going?” Russo butted in. “Where are they going now?”

Cutler hung his head. “I didn’t catch any of it. Yeah, they were talking a while in that room, but I was focused on looking for a way out. I wanted Terri and me out of there.”

Alicia wondered briefly if that were true. He didn’t hear any of it? How could saying that help him now? She inclined her head. “And Crouch?”

“Him too. Obviously.”

“You heard nothing?”

“I heard something about Hawaii. That’s it. I saw them glad-handing each other. As soon as we entered, and I saw those terrorist dudes, I knew our days would come to a terrible end. My head was full of half-formed plans.”

Alicia looked back into the Stratosphere, pondering the turn of events. Determination filled her being, despite the setback or perhaps because of it. She wouldn’t let Crouch go.

“Surveillance cameras,” Caitlyn said, finally pocketing her cellphone. “I’m told there’s a satellite office over there—” she pointed at a far wall where a white door stood unobtrusively “—and that we can view the feeds.”

Alicia led the rush to the small office, knocking and then crowding inside. They had to make Austin wait outside, just so they could keep Cutler with them and stop him trying to escape. Alicia wasn’t entirely sure which way he would run yet, but she knew the moment was coming.

“I have it set up,” a tech with short sandy hair and a Stratosphere-liveried T-shirt told them before punching a button.

Alicia watched the screen as Crouch and his captors exited the elevator. She saw Omar guarding Terri and Ricci watching, angled like a pro. Instead of focusing on the fight, she watched Crouch the entire time.

Five minutes passed.

“Dammit,” she said. “Bollocks and more bollocks. What now?”

“He never went near anything,” Russo mumbled as if to himself. “But he said…”

“I know what he said,” Alicia snapped.

“I don’t understand,” Caitlyn said, staring at the screen and then the door as if wondering whether or not they could still catch up to the terrorists.

“Maybe the FBI can track them?” Russo said. “With traffic cams. That kind of thing.”

“It’s doable,” Caitlyn said. “But usually needs setting up beforehand. Camera tracking is essentially piecing together a ton of different images. Problem is, it can take hours. Or days.”

“A chopper?” the tech suggested.

“Let’s see what the FBI are doing,” Alicia said. For reassurance they watched the tape through again and then left the office.

Caitlyn called Merriweather to find out the name of the agent in charge.

Alicia cursed at the floor, at the wall, at the chiming machines surrounding them. This wasn’t the way it was supposed to be. Crouch’s clue should be an easy find. The fact remained that only a half hour had passed since Ricci’s escape — the frustrating part was that they still had a great chance of caching up to him.

Every second that passed lessened that chance.

Could someone have stolen or just taken the clue? Did Crouch drop it onto the floor? Where would the terrorists go next?

And what would they do with Crouch, Terri and the Star-Spangled Banner?