Rule 4 and Other Stories by Cheyenne Blue

Author:Cheyenne Blue [Blue, Cheyenne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Age Gap, Anthologies, Lesbian, Lesbian Romance, Short Story
Goodreads: 45756002
Publisher: Blue Books & Iron Foundry
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Out for the Count

Linn watches the woman through the two-way mirror. Even though the woman is seated, Linn can see she is tall—her upper body rises above the other blackjack players—and slim. The woman’s hair is blond and doesn’t match her olive skin. Its even color and lack of dark roots tell Linn it’s most likely a wig.

The unknown woman has not left her seat at the blackjack table for over five hours. She has waved away the cocktail waitresses, with their trays of watered-down drinks. Instead she concentrates fiercely on the cards.

She’s a card-counter, that much is obvious, and going by the steadily growing pile of gaming checks in front of her, she’s a good one. Experienced. She kept her nerve through the inevitable losing streak at the start, threw in a few camouflaged hands, and now she’s reaping the rewards, winning big as the odds stack in her favor. Linn records a still image from the Eye in the Sky and runs it through the industry database once more. Nothing.

She catches a signal from Raoul down on the floor. She has no trouble interpreting his glare. “Find her in the database. And quickly.”

The card counter is obviously disguised, but it’s a good one. Linn zooms in with the camera, records a different angle, displays it on her screen. She studies it for telltale signs of a nose prosthetic, or padding in the cheeks, but she can’t spot anything unusual.

She calculates from the pile of checks in front of the unknown woman that she’s won over $40,000. She’ll stop soon, when shoe runs dry and new decks of cards are used. Linn looks at the ID the woman presented when purchasing her checks. Violetta Pennetta. Violetta exists all right, but Linn is very sure that’s not Violetta at the blackjack table.

Sure enough, the final hand is played, and the woman who is not Violetta scoops her winnings into her purse and rises from the table. She flicks the dealer a few checks–big ones. Adrian looks happy, as well he might. He’s just earned two weeks’ money in four hours.

Linn rises from her post, nods for Sully to take over. Intercept time. She leaves the walkway, going down to the casino floor. She locates the woman who is not Violetta easily enough as she wends her way through the slots. The card counter stops to watch a nondescript woman playing a quarter slot, and Linn’s trained eye sees her slip a cloth bag into the woman’s purse, which sits open by her side. Linn sucks a breath. Of course. This slot player is the real Violetta. The woman who is not Violetta saunters off, not in a direct line, which would draw attention—few people walk purposefully in a casino—but in a meandering path that takes her past the craps table where she stops to watch for a couple of minutes, before heading for the restroom. Linn twists a smile. After five hours at the blackjack table, she must be bursting.

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