Free Vegas, Baby by Sandra Edwards Page A

his cue, Blake Switzer entered the office. Smiling, he shyly scanned over Rio and positioned himself beside the door.
    He’s my hope ? Rio’s confidence crumbled around her. She wanted to talk to Gabe alone. To know why he’d risk placing her life in the hands of a meek little guy like Blake Switzer?
    “Him?” Eddie’s skepticism was so obvious that it almost ended in laughter.
    “Actually, LaCall,” Gabe said, “Switzer happens to be an expert on ransoms and anonymous letters.” Clearly, Gabe had more faith in Switzer’s abilities than either Rio or Eddie.
    “That’s all fine and well,” Eddie said, matter of fact, “but who’s going to be responsible for Rio’s physical safety while genius here is trying to figure out how to tie this Atkins guy to the letter and her slashed tires?”
    “Here we go again.” Rio flung a waving hand around in the air. “Like I told you and Daddy, yesterday,” she said, tossing him her best icy glare, “I can take care of myself.”
    If her defiant stare bothered him, he recovered quickly. “Yes, I remember,” he said instead of retaliating. Then he presented her with a wink and an inviting smile that raked through her, tugging at her deeply buried desires.
    Slowly, helplessly, Rio shook her head. She closed her eyes, hoping it would help stifle her frustration. It didn’t. She couldn’t decide which she wanted to do more—scream at him or take him home and have her way with him—
    Stop that! Sex with Eddie LaCall was out of the question. It was a bad idea, for one. Aside from the fact that he was up to something, this guy had heartbreak written all over him. And, truth be told, Rio wasn’t entirely convinced he and that chick from Phoenix were completely finished.
    “When you two are done,” Gabe’s harsh tone cut into Rio’s mental musings. “Let me know so I can fill you in on your next assignment.” His attitude indicated that his patience was wearing thin, but that mattered little to Rio.
    Next assignment? “Are you trying to distract me?”
    “I’m putting you where I think you can do the most good.” His resolve indicated that he wasn’t budging.
    Neither was Rio. “And where’s that?”
    “The Golden Sunset.”
    Rio raised an inquiring eyebrow. She knew the hotel-casino’s reputation. It was one of Vegas’s most illustrious resorts.
    “The casino sponsors a series of poker tournaments annually,” Gabe explained. “Allegations have arisen that the games are tainted.”
    “Credible allegations?” Rio wondered out loud.
    “Allegations nonetheless.” If Gabe was trying to maintain his composure, he wasn’t doing a very good job. His patience was waning and she couldn’t tell if it was her, the threat to her life, or the accusations about the poker tournament. “You two are on it,” he said. “The tournament starts next Monday. You’ve got until then to figure out if the accusation has merit.”
    * * *
    Eddie LaCall soon learned that lodging with his new partner, even on a temporary basis, presented a problem. It made it hard to check in with his contact.
    Not that he had anything to report. Not since his number one contender had fallen clear down the list and landed at the bottom with a thud.
    Explaining that was taking more effort than Eddie had anticipated. “No, I’m not one-hundred percent certain.” Having found a moment alone in an elevator at work, he’d called to report in. “But the reason I targeted her was because of her opulent lifestyle...which now I’m finding is funded by her very wealthy father.”
    That wasn’t entirely true—at least the part about her lifestyle being his sole motivation. Rio Laraquette had a way of bending the rules to suit her needs, and that bugged Eddie, but it wasn’t enough to bump her back to the top of his list. All it merited was a closer eye on her loose practices, certainly not more finger pointing. Not yet anyway.
    The elevator landed at the third floor as he said, “I haven’t