Rarities Unlimited 02 - Running Scared

Niall.
    “Two million cash,” Niall said. “Nothing bigger or smaller than a hundred, as far as I’m concerned. Otherwise we’ll have a bugger of a time packing it in something a woman can handle.”
    “No problem,” Shane said. “I can take care of it.”
    April’s sleek black eyebrows went up. “No wonder the Red Phoenix is slavering to get their hands on Vegas. You run more cash through one casino in one day than a central bank does in a week.”
    Niall gave April a narrow look but kept his mouth shut. He fully respected her abilities, which meant that he wanted to have as little to do with her as possible on a professional basis. Riding that tiger was a good way to get eaten.
    “I keep a minimum of five million in cash on hand,” Shane said. “Some of the whales don’t like wire transfers, and no one likes checks. The whales who pay cash on the way in get paid in cash on the way out. How they get the money into or out of various countries is their problem. Mine is making sure I have enough cash on the premises to cover whatever action a whale offers.”
    “Better and better.” April’s smile wasn’t the kind that comforted small children. “I wonder how Red Phoenix tastes battered and fried.”
    “First you have to catch your dinner,” Dana said.
    “Tannahill will do it for me.”
    Dana gave Shane a speculative glance. “What changed your mind?”
    “Nothing. Ms. Joy is counting her fowl dinner before it’s hatched, much less caught, killed, gutted, plucked, and fried.”
    “Bleh,” Risa said. “I’ll stick with room service.”
    April snickered.
    “How did you do it?” Dana asked April.
    “Oh, Tannahill is as reasonable as he is handsome,” April said. “But first you have to rub his face in reality to get his attention. After all, he’s a man.”
    Risa gave Shane a troubled look.
    He kissed her lightly. “She has a search warrant that might let her—”
    “Might, hell,” April cut in. “I don’t bluff a professional gambler. The warrant is solid.”
    Shane kept talking. “—search Tannahill Inc.’s computers. Being a generous, patriotic soul, I struck a bargain with Uncle.”
    “Uh-oh,” Niall said. “I don’t like the sound of that.”
    Dana wasn’t smiling either. “What?” she asked Shane.
    “If Ms. Joy finds evidence that I’m laundering money, I’ll help her set up a sting against the Red Phoenix.”
    Dana looked at April. “You’re sure you’re going to find something.”
    April just smiled.
    “Why?” Dana asked.
    “You don’t think he’s doing Red Phoenix laundry?” April said blandly.
    “No.”
    “Neither do I. But I do think someone is setting him up for a long, hard fall.” She smiled, displaying her white teeth. “When you look at it that way, I’m really doing Tannahill a favor.”
    “Who’s setting him up?” Niall asked.
    Risa looked at her friend and felt something cold sliding through her gut. She had heard from others that Niall could be a ruthless bastard, but she’d never really believed it.
    She did now.
    “Do you really want a list of people who would love to hang Golden Boy’s ass higher than Peking duck?” April asked Niall.
    “No. I want your best estimate of who it is.”
    “Best estimate, the Red Phoenix.” She glanced at Shane with bottomless black eyes. “They have some really fine hackers, trained by none less than Sebastian Merit in his hands-across-the-water mode. How are your firewalls, Golden Boy? They up to the old man’s best efforts?”

Chapter 63
    Las Vegas
    November 5
    Late afternoon
    A pril Joy watched Shane massage his computer. Seven separate screens displayed different parts of the comparisons they were making. An eighth screen kept running score in a complex spreadsheet represented as a three-dimensional graph that kept turning and changing in a hypnotic fashion.
    “What program is that?” April pointed to the colorful graph.
    Shane didn’t look up from instructing his computers. “Mine.”
    “You created it?”
    “Yes.”
    “Good thing I trust you.” She stretched with the grace and balance of someone who spent at least one hour a day practicing various forms of unarmed combat. “You could wipe evidence and I’d never know it.”
    “I could, yes. But I won’t.”
    “Why? Doing your patriotic duty?”
    His laugh was as hard as his eyes scanning the complex graph. He didn’t like what he was seeing. It was telling him that he really should have spent more hours with his casino