Viva Las Vegas (5/?)
By Carol M.
See first part for details
Note: Spoilers for Liberty and Larceny in this part. Little Darien torture ahead. Get the ropes ready! Enjoy! I'll try to get the next part out tomorrow hopefully.
Darien could see Claire staring in his direction from under the bed with a look of absolute panic on her face, her expression begging for rescue. He watched as Jack began rooting through the nightstand next to his bed desperately. Darien thought fast. He turned around to look in the bathroom and saw a mountain of bath products sitting on the counter.
He dashed inside the luxury bathroom and swept all of the bath products onto the floor. It made a loud crash, which was exactly what Darien had been hoping for. Jack was off the bed and in the bathroom in a matter of seconds to check out the source of the sound. In the meantime, Darien slipped past him and ran to the bed to help Claire. He stuck out his arm and touched her hand, willing the quicksilver to cover her as quickly as possible.
They both breathed a silent sigh of relief when Claire was rendered invisible, emitting a soft purple light visible only in Darien's quicksilver vision. He quickly and quietly joined her under the bed to avoid colliding into Jack if he decided to come back over to the bed.
Jack came out of the bathroom muttering a confused curse and then began rooting around in the drawer next to the bed again. After a few moments, he found a slip of paper and put it in his pocket, nodding in satisfaction. Then he walked out the door of the suite and slammed it behind him.
The quicksilver was shed almost instantly, leaving Darien and Claire panting in relief. "Holy crap that was close," whispered Darien.
Claire nodded in agreement. "Too close," she said.
Darien scooted out from under the bed, and then stuck his hand out to help Claire out. They both stood in silence for a moment, trying to calm down.
"Lobby?" offered Claire.
"Lobby," answered Darien.
They quickly walked to the door and opened it, peering outside to make sure the hallways were empty. Then they slipped out of the room, unaware of the glittery earring left laying beside the bed.
**
"Did you find anything?" asked Bobby eagerly ten minutes later in the lobby.
"Nope. Almost got caught though," said Darien.
"Caught? Damn it, Fawkes, I told you it was dangerous," said Bobby as he glanced at Claire with worry.
Claire gave him a large grin. "Oh Bobby, we're fine. It was actually kind of exciting," she said as she glanced at Darien. "Darien saved the day."
Darien looked down at his feet, blushing slightly. "It was nothing, really."
Bobby rolled his eyes. "Well while you were playing night in shining armor up there, Eberts supplied me a few interesting tidbits about our friend Mr. Sabattini. Seems that this hotel is going bankrupt. He's losing money real quick. So that makes this little Te tat Te all the more important for him."
"Nice," said Darien. "Almost feel sorry for the guy."
"Don't, Fawkes. The guy is scum. He's been implicated in two dozen murders in the last year as well as several robberies. He's going down my friend," said Bobby.
"What about Hastings? Any dirt?" asked Darien.
"Nope. The guy's Mr. Clean. No prison records, no arrests, nada," said Bobby. "Look partner, we gotta take down these guys now before they make us. Something tells me if they find out we're Feds, we're gonna be leaving this place in body bags."
"Ouch," said Darien in a slightly scared tone.
Several hours later
"Bloody hell," came Claire's voice from the bathroom.
"What? What is it?" asked Darien from his position on the bed.
"I lost one of my earrings," she said in a disappointed tone.
"Well when this case is over and we get a big, fat bonus, I'll buy you a new pair," offered Darien.
Claire stepped out of the bathroom in a glamorous red dress, with her hair loose and curly over her shoulders. She did a small turn in front of him. "What do you think?" she asked nervously.
Darien's jaw dropped to the floor. "Wow…I'm…I'm speechless," said Darien. "You make me look like some washed up old guy," he said as he examined the tux that hung from his lanky frame.
Claire smiled wickedly. "Hardly, Darien."
Bobby suddenly barged through his adjoining door in a nervous frenzy. "Okay, okay, let's go. Gotta get downstairs and bust us some criminals…whoa," he said as he stopped short and stared at Claire. "You gotta change," said Bobby after a few moments.
"What?" asked Claire in surprise.
Darien gave Bobby a look of confusion. "She looks great, Hobbesy, what's the problem?"
Bobby gave Darien a pointed stare. "That's exactly the problem, Fawkes, she looks too good. Those greasy perps will be all over her down there."
Claire smiled. "I think I can handle it, Bobby," she said in an amused tone.
"Don't worry, Hobbes, I'll make sure they all keep their mitts off my woman," said Darien.
Bobby raised an eyebrow. "Your woman?" he said in anger.
"Guys, let's get downstairs," said Claire, trying to stop the fight that seemed to be brewing.
"Okay," said Darien as he held out his arm for Claire.
Claire grasped it tightly and then the pair walked out the door with Bobby following behind.
They made their way down the elevators, through the lobby and finally into the casino. The casino was bustling with activity. The slots were ringing in high gear with bright lights and the sounds of coins pouring out of them. Hundreds of green felt tables with games such as Poker, Blackjack and Roulette were crowded with ritzy looking people. Near the back of the casino, Darien could make out John sitting alone at a table near the bar.
"Over there," he pointed. The trio walked through the casino, looking every bit as elegant and rich as everyone else in the room. The heads of practically every male in the place turned as Claire walked by, causing Bobby to scowl jealously at all of them.
As Darien passed by one of the poker tables, he couldn't resist the urge to snatch a few chips when he saw two huge stacks of $100 and $500 dollar chips sitting on the edge of the table. He quicksilvered his hand and stuck it on the table, pocketing close to two thousand dollars in chips.
"Darien," he heard Claire scold.
"What?" he said innocently.
"I saw that," she said.
"Hey, just think of it as a bonus. I'm willing to share the wealth," said Darien.
Claire rolled her eyes and continued on, letting the subject drop and letting Darien keep his stolen winnings.
They made their way to the back of the casino where John was waiting with a huge smile on his face. "Feeling better, Roy?" he asked.
Darien nodded. "Yes, sir."
"Have a seat. Let's talk some business," said John as he motioned to the seat across from him.
Darien sat down, looking at Claire and Bobby awkwardly.
Judy, who was sitting a few tables away, called out to Claire. "Shirley, come join us," she said, motioning to the other wives sitting at the table. Claire smiled and walked over to the other table.
John's burly security guard walked over to Bobby and stood in front of him, his huge frame nearly twice Bobby's size. "We got a poker game going," he said gruffly, pointing to a table filled with the rotund bodyguards
Bobby glanced at the table and nodded. "Hope you brought a lot of cash cause James Burnett is going to take it all, my friend."
"We'll see," said the man as he and Bobby walked over to the gaming table.
John snorted in amusement and then looked back at Darien with a serious expression on his face. "Look, Roy, I need to ask you a favor," he said with determination in his tone.
"Okay," said Darien somewhat skittishly.
"I need to meet your supplier…tomorrow, if that's doable. I want to get things started as soon as possible. Jack's flying in his gun source and we already have a few interested buyers lined up, so I figured why not bring you in on this too," said John.
"So basically it's gonna be like a flea market of illegal goods," said Darien.
"Well, I don't like to think of it that way, but yes, I suppose your right. Will it be a problem?" asked John with concern.
Darien stammered for a second and then shook his head. "Ah, no…it a…it shouldn't be a problem," he said nervously. "Where's this little one stop shopping center going to take place?"
"I let you know the details in the morning," said John. He stood up from the table and began walking onto the floor. "Enjoy the rest of your evening, Roy."
Darien sighed and looked up as a waitress dressed in a sequined tube top and a tight black mini skirt walked past him. "Anything to drink, sir?" she asked.
"Water," said Darien.
"Coming right up," said the waitress. As she walked away, Jack seemed to come out of nowhere, taking the chair that John had previously occupied. "Hello, Michaels."
"Hastings," said Darien nervously. He felt a presence looming over him and realized that Jack's 200 plus bodyguard was standing right behind his chair. "Nice night," he offered.
"Yeah. It seems like you're feeling better," said Jack. "I must have lost you in the bathroom."
"Oh, yeah there was a ton of people in there. Must have gotten lost in the crowd or something," said Darien, smiling awkwardly.
"Yeah, something like that," said Jack. He cleared his throat and gave Darien a pointed look.
"Tell me, did your wife lose something?" asked Jack.
"What?" asked Darien in surprise.
"An earring perhaps," he said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out Claire's glittery earring. "I noticed that she's the only one not wearing the pair that Judy picked out for all the lovely ladies."
"Um…ah…" stammered Darien.
"I found it in my suite. She really should be more careful when snooping around someone's room," said Jack.
"Look, I…" Darien stopped talking when he felt something cold and hard being pressed into his back.
Jack smiled. "Let's take a walk, shall we," he said pleasantly.
Darien stood up slowly and made his way out of his chair, the gun of the bodyguard still poking him in the back. His eyes searched wildly for Bobby and Claire, but neither one of them were looking in his direction.
He was quickly led outside of the casino into a small deserted hallway.
"Hey man, come on, let's not do this," said Darien as he felt the gun being pressed even further into his back
"Cut the crap, Fawkes," said Jack.
"What?" said Darien in a shocked tone.
"I know who you are," said Jack.
Darien's heart starting beating so loudly in his chest he thought it would explode. "Who am I?" he whispered.
"Does the name Liz Morgan mean anything to you?" asked Jack.
"Liz?" croaked Darien.
"That's right, Fawkes. About 14 years ago, Liz brought me in as a partner on a job. I got busted and you two got away clean," said Jack.
Darien's mind suddenly made the connection. "You had blonde hair then and you went by Ralph Spencer."
"Alias," said Jack. "It took me awhile, but I knew you looked familiar. You're a little older and a little thinner, but you're Darien Fawkes. At least you were," said Jack. "So tell me, how did you make the jump from thief to drug dealer.
Darien started to relax, realizing that Jack didn't know he was an agent. "A little patience and a little money. Had to change my name to something a little more respectable with no criminal record attached. You know how it goes."
"Your wife in on it too? You pulling a job here or something?" asked Jack.
"Let's just say I got other things going on. We were checking your room to make sure you weren't heat," offered Darien.
"Understandable," said Jack. "Well former thief to former thief, I'll let this one slide. But you pull something like that again, and I'll let Sabattini know. I'm sure he wouldn't be too pleased."
"Thanks man, I appreciate it," said Darien, almost completely relaxed now.
The sound of knuckles cracking caused Darien to turn around, seeing Jack's bodyguard putting on a pair of brass knuckles.
"Whoa, whoa what are you doing? I thought we were cool?" asked Darien in a panic.
"Just a little preventive measure to keep you out my room and on the level with the rest of the group. Nothing personal you understand," said Jack. He glanced at the hulking security guard and nodded. "Do him."
Darien was about to protest when he felt a metal fist hitting him squarely on the cheek. Blood started pouring down the side of his face and the wound started to burn like crazy. More hits came to his ribs and stomach, blinding him with pain and nausea. One hit caught him right in the solar plexus and all the air was forced out of his lungs, leaving him panting in a curled heap.
The large man straightened him up and landed several more painful punches to his ribs. Darien started to lurch forward and felt more blows hit his back and kidneys. He fell to the ground with a muffled groan, fighting to stay conscious.
"Tell Liz I said hi," said Jack as a blow caught Darien right above the eye. A powerful blow to his jaw sent Darien into oblivion.
"He's out," said the bodyguard. "You sure you don't want to tell Sabattini about this?" he asked Jack.
Jack shook his head and glanced at the bloody form of Darien. "No, I think he's learned his lesson. Let's get back to the casino, shall we."
The bodyguard nodded and began walking out of the hallway with Jack, leaving Darien laying in a broken puddle on the floor.
TBC