Truth or Die by James Patterson & Howard Roughan

Author:James Patterson & Howard Roughan [Patterson, James & Roughan, Howard]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Random House
Published: 2015-06-04T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 61

“DEALER, WHERE would I find the ladies’ room?” asked Valerie, calmly raking in the pot.

The question wasn’t exactly the prototypical reaction after winning a big hand. In fact, a few of the pros around the table even let go with wry smiles. All in a day’s work, right, lady?

If they only knew. Poker pros were awfully good at reading people. Not that good, though.

Valerie knew exactly where to find the ladies’ room. She simply wanted to make sure the Saudi knew where he was going. After stacking her chips, she stood up from the table and walked away, not once looking back at Al Dossari to make sure he was watching. Hell, that would’ve been redundant.

Right on cue, he was waiting for Valerie when she stepped out of the ladies’ room a couple of minutes later. He was pretending to be finishing a call on his cell. She was pretending to be surprised to see him.

“Well played,” he said.

“The right card fell for me, that’s all,” she answered. “But thank you.”

He took a step toward her, extending his hand. “My name’s Shahid, by the way.”

Valerie extended her hand in return, smiling when he held on to it for a split second longer after she let go. “I’m Beverly.”

His black suit was clearly custom-made. The white shirt was silk, and the open collar showcased a gold chain that was gaudy but not quite rap star–esque. Some men will never learn that outside of a wedding band, jewelry is best left to the women.

“Where are you from, Beverly? I’m assuming not from here.”

“Back east,” she said. “DC.”

“I know the town well. I actually do a little business there.”

More than a little, Valerie was thinking. None of it legal, either. This charade, the entire operation, was all about proving it.

“And what about here?” she asked. “Is Vegas business, too?”

“Sometimes it is, yes,” he said. “This particular trip, though, is simply for pleasure.”

“I hope I didn’t just ruin it for you.”

He smiled. “That depends.”

“On what?”

“On whether or not I can buy you a drink.”

“If I’m not mistaken, we’re in a casino, Shahid,” she said. “The drinks are free.”

His smile widened. “In that case, I’ll buy you two.”

Valerie inched closer to him. It was subtle but unmistakable. “You’re quite the charmer, aren’t you?”

“Is that bad?” he asked, playing along.

“It may not be good.”

“According to Oscar Wilde, it doesn’t matter,” said Al Dossari, flashing his Ivy League education. “It is absurd to divide people into good or bad. People are either charming or tedious.”

Valerie tried to bite her tongue. The trickiest part of any undercover operation was forgetting who you were in light of who you were supposed to be.

She knew the quote. She even knew the Oscar Wilde play it came from, Lady Windermere’s Fan. But between her and Beverly Sands, only one of them had been a drama major at Northwestern.

Still, she couldn’t help herself. Besides, the goal was to beguile Al Dossari, wasn’t it?

Valerie took another step toward him, this one far less subtle.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.