Chapter thirteen

The next day, we flew to Las Vegas. Derek lived a couple of hours from the Portland airport. Since Noelle was going, too, she hopped on a ride with us and we all traveled together. It was a quiet trip, at first. I was exhausted from the day before and my relatively sleepless night. Every once in a while, Derek would look at me, squeeze my hand, and smile. I knew he was worried about me, but I was just tired.

The flight was uneventful and the cab ride to the hotel took less than twenty minutes. While we were in the cab, Derek handed me a couple of sticky clear discs that looked to be made out of silicone. "Put these in your ears," he murmured, "It will help with the casino noise."

I raised an eyebrow at him. I'd been to Las Vegas a couple of times. The noise in the casino had never been overly loud. But the cab stopped before I could ask him why and then we were on the sidewalk. "I'll go check us in. Why don't you both wait in the elevator core?"

I knew what he meant and led Noelle ins