Les Femmes Fatales [2]

▪ Thirty

It was late. Around midnight. But the two figures walking side by side in the street didn't seem to mind. One of the figures was a rather tall woman, with dark hair and intense light blue eyes that kept her coat wrapped around her tightly to protect herself from the cold. Beside her was a man slightly taller than her with blond hair and wide shoulders, walking in a way more relaxed manner than his companion. He didn't seem to be all that bothered by the cold.

They were heading straight to the casino. They didn't get in through the front door, though. They got into an alley beside it and the woman got in the front, seemingly knowing where she was going. She pushed a door open and they got inside.

"No one must know your real name, Ian," she mumbled as she stole a look back at him. "Is that understood?"

"It is. Are you going to take me to the security?"

"Kind of."

They got through a narrow corridor and got in a room with a lot of lights. There were tables all around and a few people were eating.

"Karina! Come on, join us!" a man called out from a table on their right and she sent him a dazzling smile as she walked past him.

"Another time, Marcus, I've got a few things to do."

Her companion was instantly by her side, eyes barely skipping over the man named Marcus before turning to study the side of her face. "I've never seen you smile so widely."

"It wasn't a genuine smile, that's why," she muttered as she gestured to a table to the far end of the room. "This way."

A short while later, they had reached the table she had mentioned and stopped in front of three men dressed in black clothes. Almost instantly, they noticed them.

"Karina," the oldest of the group said with a small smile, "how come you paid us a visit?"

"Found this guy outside and let him in, thought I should send him to you, guys," she explained as she cast a look at Ian, wordlessly asking him to come closer. Ian did so immediately. "He's obviously new."

"You must be Ethan's substitute for the night," another man spoke, somewhat bald as the one sitting beside him looked at Ian with wide eyes.

"Man, what do you do to look like that?"

Ian smiled slightly, surpassing the urge to send a look at Karina as he caught sight of her smirk from the corner of his eyes.

"I'll leave him under your care, guys," she said as she took a step back, "I've got to get ready."

"Bye, Karina," the men chorused as she left. The bald man let out a small sigh as he looked at the older of the group. "If all dancers were as friendly as this one our shift would have been way more enjoyable."

"Indeed," the one sitting beside him said as he looked up at Ian. "What's your name?"

"James," Ian said the first name that came to mind, "it's my first day here."

"Right, you'll just follow me," the older man in the group said with a smile. "My name's Bill."

"Nice to meet you."

"Come on, let's go," the bald man spoke once more as he stood up, "our break is over."

Bill gestured to Ian to follow after him and he did so without hesitation. They headed up some stairs and soon, they were standing at the main hall of the casino. Ian looked at all those people that'd come here to lose their money and tried to distinguish the face of William Parker but didn't see him anywhere. He followed after Bill to the front door and they stayed there for a while. For about an hour or two after that they walked around the casino, and he learnt Bill had a wife and two kids, that he was working two jobs to make sure his family had all they needed - all in all, Ian quite liked him. It would be a shame he would end up being a person he wouldn't like by tomorrow when they learnt Parker was kidnapped and he never appeared at the casino again.