Rarities Unlimited 02 - Running Scared

only. You weren’t invited.”
    “No worries. I’ve crashed a lot of parties in my day.”
    “You crash this one and six pieces of fine Celtic gold disappear forever. Dana wouldn’t be happy. ‘Buy, Sell, Appraise, Protect,’ “ Shane said, quoting Rarities Unlimited’s motto. “Remember?”
    “All right. I’ll hang back so nobody gets nervous. Risa, you still there?”
    “Yes.”
    “Good. Stay there.”
    “But—”
    “That’s an order,” Niall said over her objection. “You don’t have security training, so you’d just be a liability if it all goes from sugar to shit. Lapstrake will take over guard duty on you.”
    “This is crap! I know Cherelle. You don’t. I can—”
    “Stay put or find another employer,” Niall cut in. “Shane, I’ll send Ian over to your room and meet you downstairs in two minutes. Do you have enough cash on hand?”
    “I own a casino. What do you think?”
    “I think I’m in the wrong business.”

Chapter 55
    Las Vegas
    November 5
    Early morning
    S hane drove to the Water Stop with one eye on the traffic, one eye on the mirrors, and the memory of Risa’s anger ringing in his ears. He didn’t envy Ian the next hour or two. The lady was passionate in more than the sexual sense of the word.
    By the time Shane was two blocks from the Water Stop, he still hadn’t discovered any tails. Nobody seemed interested in him at all. Niall had taken an alternate route and was already in place. After a final check of mirrors, Shane picked up the cell phone and punched in the redial while he waited at a stoplight.
    Niall answered instantly. “There are maybe thirty cars in the parking lot. Several have people in them, but only one has a female alone. She’s already sent off three separate men who approached her.”
    “What kind of car?”
    “An old Bronco. Can’t see the plates.”
    “Sounds good.” Even as he spoke, Shane wished his instincts felt good. But they didn’t. They were sitting up and howling alarms. “She has a Bronco.”
    “From here the woman sure doesn’t look like a blonde with good tits.”
    “Cherelle likes disguises.”
    Niall grunted. “I’m not happy with this, boyo. I’m across the street. You’ll be in the open with two hundred big ones in cash. There are panel vans and RVs scattered around the lot. Someone could pop out and dump you before I could take two steps.”
    Shane didn’t like it either, but he didn’t see any way around it except to walk away from the gold. He wasn’t willing to do that. If the pieces were anything like what he’d bought from Smith-White, they literally defined “priceless.” They were golden icons from a time that was long since gone and a culture that would never live again.
    It was worth some risk to save them.
    “I’ve taken bigger chances,” Shane said. “And I’m wearing the body armor you gave me.”
    “Body armor ain’t worth shit if you’re shot in the head.”
    “You’re such a comfort.”
    “Dana points it out to me daily.”
    “I’m a block away,” Shane said. “Let me know when you see me.”
    There was silence for ten seconds.
    “Gotcha,” Niall said. “You see the Bronco?”
    “Yes. I don’t see you.”
    “That’s the whole idea. Remember, if it goes to shit, take care of yourself first. I’ll take care of the rest.”
    “I don’t think it’s a rip-off.”
    “I hope you’re right. How’s the hair on the back of your neck?”
    “Restless,” Shane admitted. “But not on the subject of robbery.”
    “Then what?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “Bloody hell,” Niall said, disgusted. “You and Erik North are a real pair. Not an ounce of useful precognition between the two of you.”
    Shane was still smiling when he drove into the Water Stop’s parking area. It didn’t take him long to locate the Bronco, but he drove past it anyway, doing a slow lap around the lot. Other than an itchy neck, nothing happened. If anything, he felt better. Between the hookers and semipros cutting deals in the backs of campers, and the steady trickle of randy johns walking out of the club looking for some parking-lot action, there were too many witnesses for a crook to feel comfortable about armed robbery.
    Unless the crook was as stupid as Socks. But the call hadn’t come from Socks. It had come from Cherelle Faulkner.
    When Shane pulled up next to the Bronco, he couldn’t help wondering if Socks was with Cherelle. Even as the thought came, he shrugged it off. From what Risa had