6

Fagua

"This way," said Winter as he took the lead without looking back. "You can view the casino and hotel footage yourself."

Then again, what did he have to worry about? Wasn't like I could leave without their key. And we were on the top floor of a high-rise hotel, so climbing down or jumping was out of the question. Still, I was curious to see what the cameras might show and find out where they had taken Keith. I strolled through the apartment to the hallway despite my heart racing a mile a minute. 

One room immediately to our right was open with flashing screens of so many things, I blinked, trying to focus on what I was seeing. "What is all this?"

"Live footage." He replied, before sitting in a black leather chair, and then he gestured for me to take the one next to him.

"Husk, you want a beer?" Winter asked.

"Yeah," he answered, pushing buttons on the control panel.

"Would you like anything, Fagua?" Winter looked expectantly at me, and then stood up to leave. 

If I said the key out of here, I doubt he'd honor my request. "A glass of wine if you have any."

Husk snorted beside me. "If we don't, we'll have it delivered."

"There's cabernet sauvignon." Winter waited in the doorway for my answer.

"Perfect. Thanks." 

Winter left and I turned back to the screens.

"What time did your husband call you from the hotel room?" Husk asked, enlarging some shots and shrinking others.

"About twenty minutes before you three showed up at the door." And freaked me out. I crossed my legs, starting at the cameras and willing them to show my husband.

Husk flipped some switches and pointed to one of the screens. "That's him, right?"

I squinted because it looked like Keith from the back, but there was a blond on his arm. "No, that's not him—"

But then he turned toward the camera with a smile, the blond giggled, and my heart froze. Keith kissed the woman on the mouth and handed her his drink before walking to the casino's phones. He picked up the handset, and Husk did something to turn up the volume. Keith's voice came through the speakers.

I placed a trembling hand over my mouth, shaking my head.

After Keith hung up, the woman with her purse looking like a gold suitcase joined him. Together they strolled out of the casino. Without asking, Husk moved to another camera angle, enlarging it to show Keith climbing into a convertible with the woman and driving down the road.

"No." I pulled my hand away from my face. "This has to be a mistake. Keith is married to me. He wouldn't do this. He wouldn't leave me for some other woman he just met." But wasn't that what he'd done with me? Took me up on my request to come to Vegas then proposed on the way. Oh god, were we even really married or was it some big con he set up? Emotions slammed into me, and I wasn't sure if I was going to cry or scream.

Of course, we hadn’t consummated the marriage and it could be annulled. 

What was the whole point? 

I didn’t get why he took me and helped me leave town. It was as if I’d been struck by a bolt of lightning as the answer to my question, slowly, but surely, was being answered. 

"Fagua," Husk said my name in such a soft, caring tone I jumped up out of the chair.

"You're wrong. Th-this is a trick. You planned to bring me here and show this, and you doctored the footage to make me believe something isn't true." Tears stung my eyes. I blinked them back, clutching my fists. The first man to ever pay attention to me was a fake, and he used me to pay a hotel bill. This was why he was quick to get rid of me once we arrived. He probably figured it would be easier to hitchhike as a couple than alone. And the car. The one he’d entered with her, it must have been hers. Like me, Keith had probably conned her, too. 

"No, I'm afraid nothing's been altered or changed in any way." Husk leaned back. "If you don't believe me, you can talk to our security or anyone in the casino or hotel staff. Or you can ask the police to pull up traffic light footage, and it will show you exactly what you've seen here."

I sank back into the leather chair. “He cheated on me, and we haven't even picked out stupid rings yet."

Winter returned with a bottle of beer for Husk and himself, then handed me a glass of ruby-red wine. I accepted the drink from him and gulped it down, as if it were a glass of water, because as soon as it was empty, I would be handing it to him for a refill. In the space of less than a week, I’d fallen in love, escaped from the one place I knew as home, and had lived all my life, to getting married, to being sold to wolves. I needed something stiffer next time. I intended to get well and truly drunk.

"Slow down there," Winter said, but I guess he didn't use his compulsion on me, because I didn't listen.

"God, I can't believe this is happening. First, I thought I’d be stuck in my silly, little town forever. Then I got a husband and jilted all in less than a week." I seethed.

"Who the hell was the woman he was with? Get her license plate and track her down." Did she even know Keith was married or did she just not care?

The phone rang, and Winter stepped out into the hallway to answer.

Somehow, I believed Husk and Winter about Keith. A huge part of me didn't want to, but I couldn’t even tell them I’d had evidence of Keith being a con man before, and I ignored it. Like how Ray Hope, the owner of our local motel and someone I’d known my whole life had said Keith had an outstanding bill. I’d paid his hotel bill because he’d said he’d forgotten. Now I was paying the price with my heart. All his fancy talk and promises were like fool's gold, and I'd fallen for it.

Husk drank his beer and watched me with hooded eyes. "You're going to be okay."

"Am I?" I shuddered, the warmth of the alcohol flushing my skin.

Winter poked his white head into the room. "We got a lead. Sylvia Mullins just called the cops saying she was robbed by one of our guests."

"The woman in Keith's car?" I asked, already knowing in my gut it was true.

"Yeah." Winter gave me a soft smile and made me feel a little calmer. "Do you want to speak with her?"

I nodded despite the taste of bile rising into the back of my throat. Slowly, I pushed up from the chair. My legs felt numb as I crossed the distance between us. I took his phone, and he stepped back, giving my privacy.

"Hello? Mrs. Mulligans?"

"Who is this?" a female voice said over the line. "Is this the casino? I demand a refund on my winnings. Keith said he worked for you and he stole everything."

"No, I'm—" I couldn't say I was Keith's wife. Not after what he'd done to me. The betrayal felt like an icy knife continually stabbing me in the chest. "I'm afraid he robbed me, too." Of my peace-of-mind, of my heart, of my future with him. 

"Oh." She paused. "He told me we were going to get married, and he just needed to stop off at my house to get ready. When I came out, he was gone. He took my casino chips, my money, even my freaking car."

I squeezed my eyes shut, tears threatening to spill. I was going to need not another drink, but the whole damn bottle after this. "I'm so sorry. H-He'll pay for what he's done to you and me and however many victims he has in his past." I opened my eyes and handed Winter back his phone.

Winter strolled out of the room, his voice was soothing as he spoke with the woman.

For a long time, I stared at the screens showing everything from people jumping up and down from winning on the slots to people storming out because they'd lost.

"Here." Husk was beside me with an opened beer in his hand.

I hadn't even noticed he left.

“Not that I'm condoning alcohol to take away your troubles, but in this case, I think it calls for it."

I took a moment, realizing the man, the wolf I was so scared of, may have a gentle side. 

"Thanks." I nodded, and he opened the beer for me before handing it over. This time, I didn't guzzle it down, but held onto it like it was a lifeline. 

Winter returned with his blue eyes pinched in the corners. I guess he felt bad about me and Sylvia getting taken in by a con artist.

"Never thought I'd come to Vegas," I lifted my beer in a mock toast. "Yet here I am with my world turned upside down."

Husk gave Winter a look set my stomach churning.

"What?" I sipped my beer. "Tell me or I'll probably imagine much worse."

Winter opened his mouth, but then shook his head. "You tell her. I don't want her to think I'm making her believe anything."

"Someone better tell me." Though part of me didn't want to know. The part which had been asleep back home while I had gone through my day on autopilot.

Involuntarily, I grabbed at the crystal necklace Keith had given me when I’d first met him. 

"You have to stay with us for thirty days."

He commanded as if he owned me or something, I stuttered as I asked, "What are you talking about?"

He repeated, “Thirty days.”

Oh shit, the poker game. The one Keith lost, and traded me in for. I really had no option, I had nowhere to go and realistically nowhere to stay.