The person on the end of the line disconnected the call.
Leo walked out of the restaurant with an audience.
As he headed toward the door, the bodyguards peeled off. Leo lifted a cell phone to his ear and paused.
Olivia was too far away to hear the conversation, but she imagined what was being said. Leo looked around the massive room as if searching for someone he recognized. Olivia knew that wouldn’t be her. Outside of walking past him in the restaurant, they’d never met.
He turned a full circle, gestured with his hand, and walked out of sight.
She released a breath of relief.
If Navi Sobol had planned on meeting with anyone after dinner, that plan was likely to change.
She should probably call it a night, but instead she walked over to a penny slot machine, put a hundred bucks in, and sat down.
In the time it took Navi to have his dinner, the cocktail waitress had stopped by several times and filled up a sparkling water with lime, and Olivia had managed to keep the machine eating pennies a few at a time. She’d pulled out a cigarette only to realize she was in a nonsmoking section of the casino. Just as well, but it would have added to her leisure status, as she’d sat at one machine for well over an hour.
She saw the bodyguards first. But once Navi and the woman stepped out of the restaurant, the guards took position from behind, following like the puppy dogs they were.
Waiting until the entourage had passed, Olivia cashed out of her machine and held her winning ticket in her hand as she followed from a safe distance.
The casino had filled with people, and with them the noise level increased. But even with all that, it was easier to duck into a bank of slots when one of Navi’s dogs turned around.
Olivia played shadow while Navi stopped at a craps table and pulled out several hundred-dollar bills. This was where she would have approached, but since Leo had stopped her in the restaurant, she knew better than to make her face seen twice by the bodyguards. They looked as if they were all muscle and no brain, but she wasn’t going to risk it. Instead, she kept her distance and watched to see who, if anyone, approached the man.
An hour passed, he won some, lost more, but the only conversation was with the woman and a thirtysomething man wearing a plaid shirt and jeans. His accent said Deep South, and the only reason she knew that from a distance was the loud nature of the man. No one Navi would be in contact with on purpose.
Eventually Mr. South moved on, and Navi collected his chips and did the same.
After a brief stop at a roulette table, the couple headed back to the elevators.
It wasn’t even ten o’clock and the man was turning in.
For the second time that night, Olivia wished she’d bugged the man’s room.
She waited until his group entered the elevator, then stepped closer to watch the numbers. Sure enough, the elevator stopped on the top floor.
She considered hanging around longer, see if the man was dropping off the woman only to reemerge, then decided against it. If she’d stashed another disguise in the hotel and could change her appearance, she would have. But as it stood, the longer she hung around, the better the chances of being seen.
Outside the resort, the hot desert night had cooled down enough to be tolerable. The dryness of the air gave the atmosphere a spark of electricity. Or maybe that was the buzz of people that swarmed like bees to honey.
Olivia walked past the valet and the line of high-end cars all parked in a way to be noticed. As tourists snapped pictures of the Ferrari that sat next to a Bentley, she rolled her head and loosened the tight muscles in her neck as she strolled by.
She was hungry, and tired.
Deeply tired.
She made her way onto the Strip and slowed her pace. If Marie’s testimony wrapped up the next day as expected, this would be Olivia’s last night in Vegas. Maybe even the States. That forgotten island somewhere sounded better and better.
Groups of people passed her in both directions. Several homeless limped along in no hurry while a few single locals, high on God only knew what, zipped around talking to themselves.
The closer she was to the trendier hotels, the bigger the crowd.
Street drinking was encouraged, and nearly everyone