Carnie sounds grim when he says, “Never, boss. Not once.”
We arrive in Vegas three hours after we leave Cade and the girl. Should have taken four, but we’re heavy on the throttle. The city in the desert is roaring already, despite the fact that it’s still early in the morning. We rumble down the strip, dodging piles of puke and Nevada PD cruisers pulled up onto the curb, as the local law enforcement round up the wasted people being ejected from the casinos. Gotta love Vegas, city of the damned. Maybe that’s why the cartel we’ve come to see set up their base of operations here—so many drunk people, addicted to one thing or another, to abuse and manipulate.
This is the first time in four years I’ve been to visit the leader of the Desolladors—the skinners. The Colombian cartel earned their name and their reputation by actually flaying the skin from their enemies’ bodies, usually starting on the chest first. That’s where most organizations and gangs wear their colors and ink.
I haven’t been back here in so long because Maria Rosa, the brains behind the Desolladors, hates coming to America. She’s obsessed with the culture, but she hates the people. Like, really hates the people. Quite the contradiction. If she steps foot on US soil, there’s a good fucking reason for it.
I know she’s here now because I pay one of her guards to give me a heads up when he finds out she’s on her way in.
Carnie and I turn down one of the side streets off the strip and park up our rides—Carnie grumbles about abandoning his twenty-thousand-dollar baby next to a dumpster behind the Bellagio, but machines like these aren’t exactly inconspicuous. Ideally, Maria Rosa won’t know we’re rolling up on her until we’re knocking on her suite door.
Sweat runs like a goddamn river between my shoulder blades, even though it can only be sixty degrees. It takes fucking forever for us to walk up to the MGM Grand. When we reach the entrance to the hotel and casino, Carnie’s making noises about getting a beer.
“You really wanna face Maria Rosa after a beer?” I ask, trying not to laugh. Carnie’s a lightweight of epic proportions, and Maria Rosa is a deadly viper. She draws on people’s weaknesses. I’m pretty sure she sucks out their souls; I just can’t prove it. To spend time with her even faintly mentally compromised is asking for trouble. Carnie’s never met her before, but he’s heard the stories. He lifts one eyebrow, one side of his mouth lifting into half a smile—good point.
The MGM is buzzing. People checking in. People checking out. Groups gathered around the casino tables still in their clothes from last night, gin and tonics still being placed into their open hands. The place smells like Vegas glamour and sweat, tinged with just the faintest hint of desperation.
“So, she’s on the thirty-fifth?” Carnie asks, already stabbing at the button on the elevator call panel. I grunt, pushing my hair back out of my eyes.
“She’s a creature of habit. I can’t imagine she’s changed.”
“Excuse me, gentlemen. Are you visiting a guest this morning?” I turn around and end up facing a wall of muscle, dressed in a suit. The Hispanic guy—a good three inches taller than I am, shaved head, tattoos peeking out above his shirt collar—looks mean. Really fucking mean. He doesn’t work for the hotel, that’s for sure. The MGM are used to people coming and going from the hotel rooms, no questions asked. Their security detail would never bother people trying to access the guest floors—not even super shady-looking bastards like me and my boy. No, this guy…this is one of Maria Rosa’s men. Has to be.
“We’re not here to cause trouble. We just want to talk to her,” I say.
The guy scowls at me, two deep lines forming between his eyebrows. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Nuestra madre nos dijo que siempre estábamos bienvenidos. ?Quiere que le digamos que nos diste la vuelta?” Mother said we were always welcome. You want us to tell her you turned us away?
Of course, Maria Rosa isn’t my mother, nor is she Carnie’s mother, but she insists that those she keeps close call her that. By using that name, I’ve demonstrated who I am to this blank-eyed bodyguard. I’m someone his employer trusts, and I won’t have any qualms in telling her he denied us access if he causes any shit.
He stares me down, back rigid and straight, testing me out some more. When I don’t back down, he gives me a single nod. “What’s your name?”
I tell him. A flicker of recognition flashes across his face. He turns his back to us and begins speaking into the discreet radio he has stowed in the breast pocket of his tailored black suit.
“So much for a surprise visit,” Carnie grumbles.
“Yeah, well. I guess it’s better she knows we’re coming than getting shot in the belly by one of these punks.”