Las Vegas Savior

John looked up and saw her looking around and her “ready to run” body language was showing loud and clear. Would she try to sneak out without him? She had to know that she would be a sitting duck and signing her own death warrant if she tried. He walked over and sat down next to her. “I can see the wheels turning in your head. What are you thinking?”

“How can I get out of here? I’m not really good at letting other people decide on what I do or how I do it. Sorry. I know you are trying to help, John but I just want to get as far away from him as I can get as fast as I can get somewhere safe.”

“I understand, Emily. Running is how you’ve had to deal with this for the past 3 years. You weren’t left with many choices but now you have options. He made a huge mistake by firing on us today. We’ve got every available agent and cop in Vegas out looking for him. He’s not going to be able to stay under the radar for very long.”

“All the more reason to leave.” Emily said. “I can get a long way away since he will be concentrating on not getting caught instead of looking for me.”

“True but when we catch him, you’ll have to be available to testify to what you saw that night so that they can hold him. Without you, their case is only for firing on the FBI building which will get them some time but then he would be back looking for you again when he gets out.” He said, most convincingly and he could see her thinking it over.

“I guess you are right.” She agreed in a resigned voice.

“He’s right. Without you, we’d be able to slap their wrists again but then he would be even more pissed at you. If you agree to stay, I’ve made arrangements for you at the Hilton. If you follow Agent Harris here, he’ll take you down to the garage so that you can gather your possessions and here’s a voucher for a local department store where you can get clothes and whatever else you might need. When you leave here, we’re going to have four other vehicles leaving at the same time and will all go in different directions. They all look alike so they will have no idea which one you are in.” Commander Standish said.

“Commander. How long do you think I’ll have to be caged?” Emily asked and almost had to laugh at the comical expression on his face.

“I’ve never heard anyone call the Hilton a cage before. Don’t worry, we’re going to pull out all the stops and hopefully we’ll have them in custody in a day or two, a week at the most.” Commander Standish said.

“Promise?” Emily asked.

“Promise.” The commander smiled at her. He couldn’t really blame her. Her movements were going to be limited until they caught the men trying to kill her but where most women would be terrified and grateful for their protection, she was used to being on the run, protecting herself.

Having to turn that responsibility over to someone else couldn’t be easy, even if that someone was someone she cared for. Maybe that was the problem. She was afraid he would get hurt, trying to protect her. Oh, boy! This was going to get interesting. They were both falling for each other and neither one of them knew how the other one felt! So the old adage is true. Love really is blind!

He smiled at the two of them and then left the room, shaking his head. This is one situation he would gladly leave the two of them to figure out on their own.

John pondered over how to ask her and decided to be straight forward with her. “Emily, do you know anyone named Robert Brewer?” He watched her sweet face change to one of hate.

“Robert Brewer was my father.” Emily said in a deadpan voice. Her face was full of contempt for the man. “Why?”

John wished she had not asked but took a deep breath and then swallowed before he answered “That’s the name of the man that Derrick and the other man killed that night three years ago.”

It seemed to take forever for her to react after her eyes snapped to his face and she looked at him with her mouth open but not breathing.

“What?” She finally asked.

“That’s the name on the police report as the victim that was found in the alley. It lists you as having been the one to report the murder and Derrick Gibson and Ralph Brunson as being the suspects.” John told her truthfully.

He had expected her to get hysterical and start crying and he had been fully prepared to comfort her but she just stared at him, as if she was trying to tell if he was telling her the truth. He was only slightly surprised, after what she had told him about her father, when her only comment was “I wonder why Detective Simpson never told me about that?” Then she looked down at her feet. John wondered the same thing.

A few moments later, an Agent came in carrying two Kevlar vests and they showed her how to put it on.

“Can we go down to my car now? I want to make sure to get all of my stuff out of my car. There are things hidden in it that most anyone is not going to see.” Emily said.

“Besides the rifle strapped to the inside of the trunk? I saw it last night when I went to get your ice packs.” John admitted.

“To begin with.” Emily said with a sly grin.

They followed Agent Harris down to the lower levels of the parking garage and over to the vehicle parked next to Emily’s car. Another agent had been moving their possessions over and she thanked him as she went through her things. Her rifle and the bag with the bullets were there but she had been right when she had said that they had not found some of her other things.

She walked over to her car and began pulling on the carpet in her trunk. After a couple of tugs, the snaps holding the carpet in place gave and she removed a bow and quiver of arrows from behind the carpeted areas over the tire wells.

She walked to the front of the car and sat down in the drivers’ seat and reached up under the dash. She pulled out a 9 mm handgun and from under the glove compartment, she produced two fully loaded clips for her pistol. She reached down between the seat and the center console and came up with a large hunting knife in a nice leather scabbard that could be worn either on her belt or tied to her leg.

When she was camping she usually wore it tied to her calf, up under her pant leg so that no one would see it. Both John and the agent were standing there with their mouths hanging open as she stood up and closed the door.

“What?” Emily grinned at them as she added them to her other belongings in the back of the white SUV that they had been assigned. It also had a very dark tint on the windows, the same as almost all of the vehicles in the spaces next to this one.

“I can’t do anything about the holders because I had them welded in. One of the places I worked was a gas station in Texas that had a service center. A friend that worked there made them for me. He also painted my car a different color for me so that Derrick wouldn’t be able to spot it as easily.” Emily told them.

“Um, do you have a license to carry concealed weapons?” Agent Harris asked.

“Yes. I actually do.” Emily told him and opened her wallet to show him the card she had been issued when she had turned 21, then glanced at John. She wondered if they would ever have to camp together and if he would be impressed or repulsed by her skills?

“Well, the holders will be here when you get to reclaim your car when this is all over but then you won’t need the weapons anymore.” John smiled at her.

“I hate to pop your bubble but I will always have these things in my car. Just because this is over, doesn’t mean the world is going to be perfect, crime free sunshiny days afterwards. I was brought up to be ready for all situations under any circumstances. It’s a really hard habit to break, thank goodness.” Emily said almost sadly.

“The GPS is set to take you to the Hilton.” Agent Harris told them. “There will be one car ahead of you and two behind. They will all go in different directions and then someone will drive your car out to see if we can pull them out of hiding. Some cars have already left and are waiting at strategic places that your route will go.

We’ve also set up a GPS tracker on your car so that we will always know where it is. If they go for your car, like we suspect they will, we’ll get them before dinner time.” Agent Harris told them.

“Excellent.” John told him and Emily smiled. She prayed this would work and that what Agent Harris said was true. She would gladly give up her car if it meant this nightmare might finally come to an end.

John, on the other hand, was torn between wanting her to be safe but dreading that, once this was over, that she might want to move on with her life and never have anything to do with anyone or anything that would remind her of this time in her life.

John felt rather sad as he helped her into the vehicle. He just hoped that she might want to be a part of his life once she was free and did not have to run anymore. He walked around and got behind the wheel and looked over at her.

“Ready?” He asked and she nodded. He tried to smile at her as he started the car and waited as everyone got behind the wheel of the vehicles that would be their decoys. John pulled out after the first car as they all pulled out of the garage.

The first car turned left, then John turned right. The two cars behind them did the same thing, one turned left and the other right. They went several blocks and then the car behind them turned off. The radio squawked a few times and after they pulled into the Hilton’s underground parking area, John stopped to listen.

“Sounds like your car is leaving the building now.” John said as he parked in a stall near the elevator.

They gathered their things and entered the elevator. They rode down to the lobby floor and John went to check them in at the desk. The clerk at the desk had everything ready for John and handed him the keys as soon as he identified himself. “You’ll be on the 7th floor, rooms 710 and 712. Do you need help with your bags?”

“No, thank you. We’ve got them. Thanks.” John said and turned to join Emily.

“Wanting to try your hand in the casino?” He asked when he saw her craning her neck to see into the casino.

“Oh, goodness, no. I have no luck when it comes to games of chance and I can’t afford to throw what little money I have away on the craps table. Did you ever stop to think about where they came up with that name? I think it’s because when you lose then you are just shit out of luck!” Emily told him with a grin.

“Hahahaha! So true. Well, let’s get our bags put away in the room.” John said as he led the way over to the elevators. They rode up part of the way with another couple who got out a few floors before they did.

“I’m glad we didn’t get roof top rooms. Can you imagine having to hoof it down the stairs with these bags if we couldn’t take the elevator?” Emily said when they stepped off onto their floor. They walked down to the end of the hall and John handed her the key for her room.

“You get the room with double windows or would you prefer not to have so many?” John asked.

“Oh, no, this will be fine. I’ll bet the night views are going to be very impressive.” Emily said as she pushed open the door to her room. She dropped her back pack on the end of the bed and went to look out one of the two walls of windows that made up her room. There was a king sized bed on one side of the large room that was divided by a sectional sofa that faced the windows, obviously set to take the best advantage of the views out the windows.