“Derek, we’ve got company,” I heard Rob whisper.
“Is he coming?”
“No,” he ground out, his voice turning lethal. “They’re boxed in. Whoever these guys are, they’re not casino security.”
“How can you tell?”
He nodded at one of them as he tossed down a few chips. “They don’t usually walk around prepared for a gunfight.”
I glanced back at the man just as he shifted his suit jacket aside, revealing a gun that he was currently drawing.
“Rob—”
His hand was already on my arm, dragging me off the chair.
“What’s going on?”
“They’re not here to talk,” he said as he dragged me back toward the elevators.
“I thought we needed information,” I hissed.
“We do, but we’re not gonna get it if we’re dead. We’re outnumbered and our backup is nonexistent. We need a new strategy.”
When the elevator doors opened and more men in black suits stepped out, looking just as lethal as the men we were escaping, I started to panic.
“Rob—”
“Derek, we’re trapped. Heading for the exit. Get out now!”
I rushed along in my heels, feeling like my ankles were about to snap, but I didn’t say a word. I could complain when we got to safety.
Rob walked straight up to security, grabbing the man by the arm. “There’s a guy in a suit carrying a gun. He’s talking about shooting up the place.”
The man immediately pulled his radio and asked for help. Meanwhile, Rob kept dragging me to the door, slipping in and out of the crowds. He grabbed a shawl from the back of a chair and tossed it at me.
“Wrap that around yourself.”
I did as he asked, covering up the upper half of my dress.
“There!” a man shouted to our left.
Rob took my hand and started running, pushing through the doors and out into the cool night air. As soon as we hit the sidewalk, he pulled me even faster, shooting straight out into traffic, crossing the road at breakneck speed. I nearly fell three times, but was more concerned about the men with guns chasing us than whether or not I killed myself in the process.
We hit the sidewalk on the other side, pushing through the crowds and running to find an open venue to slip into.
A flashing neon sign of a chapel up ahead caught my eye. “There!” I shouted, pointing at the steeple.
With a quick look over our shoulders, it was clear whoever was after us had lost us for the moment. We shoved through the doors, stopping when the bride and groom turned in their pink taffeta and Elvis costumes to stare at us.
The preacher, dressed as a Roman Catholic priest, bowed his head slightly.
“Uh…continue,” Rob said, dragging me to the back of the church.
We wound our way to the back of the church until we found seats that kept us out of the line of sight of any of the doors. Only once we were seated did I really take a look at the altar.
Images came roaring back to me, the memories overwhelming and sending me into overload.
I gasped as pain shot through my head, and I clutched my skull tightly as I waited for the worst of it to pass.