Page 73 of His Other Half

Chapter 27

Paco

Paco pulled Rick'struck into the front of the parking lot of the Blackfoot Casino and Resort and shut off the engine. He'd borrowed his MC brother's vehicle because Shaw would be looking for a motorcycle.

He scanned the front entrance, spotting the two men who greeted the guests and acted as security after six o'clock each evening. They'd be looking for a biker, wearing a leather vest.

To them, he looked like a guest from Missoula. He'd left his leather at home and his Harley in the driveway.

He was off the clock with Tarkio and out on his own for the next six hours. As for Josie, she believed he had club business to do. He tried to snatch as much time as he could, staking out the casino.

A lot of good that'd done him. He'd only caught sight of Shaw twice in the last month. Seeing him briefly talking to a man outside the casino and then going back inside gave him no information.

The Missoula police had no new reports of missing women, and that came in as no surprise. Shaw would be crazy to risk kidnapping anyone else after Paco killed one of his men and freed three of the four women. He was probably staying low, waiting to see if any of the women Paco recovered would go to the police.

He'd like to make his move while Shaw curtailed his side business. It meant fewer women could get hurt in the process.

Act fast, fewer people got killed.

If he would've reached Penny in time, he could've saved her life.

His head pounded. The fear of fucking up and giving Shaw another chance at Josie, hiding her away on the reservation or shipping her to Mexico, sickened him every single day.

"Fuck it," he muttered, opening the door of the truck.

He walked toward the entrance. He was taking a chance going inside.

Though he wore a flannel shirt and tied his hair back, slapping on a baseball cap, he imagined Shaw's men would recognize him if they got a close look at him.

He wasn't trying to hide. All he needed was enough time to get inside the casino and take a quick look around.

Something would stand out eventually, and he'd discover his way in to take out Shaw.

The music over the intercom, the beeps from the slot machines, and the hum of loud conversations met him the second he stepped inside. He walked to the middle of the entrance area, blending with the crowd. As they moved, he walked with them

Lingering by the slot machines, he looked for the bouncers. There were three of them in the room. Easy to find, they stood out from the guests, wearing white shirts with black slacks and sporting a tie. Everyone else wore casual clothes, except for the men in suits and women in sexy dresses heading toward the entertainment room in the back.

Wandering toward the back, he glanced to the left where the private hallway was located. Like other nights, a security guard hovered nearby. He'd need to wait until the man got distracted before attempting to breach the area.

He wanted to see if the rooms were being used. If women were being held under duress. From all his stake-outs, he still hadn't figured out if Shaw was set to a schedule because he couldn't be here every night to view his habits.

The guard looked his way. Paco shifted, adjusting the bill of his hat to keep from making eye contact.

The hair on his arms prickled his skin. He took out his wallet, giving the impression he was a guest, here to gamble. Unable to shake the feeling he'd brought attention to himself, he used his hat to shield another look at the guard.

Not finding him at the hallway entrance, he searched and found him with an elderly couple, talking with the hostess. He had the perfect opportunity to slip into the hallway and check out the private area, and he put his wallet in his back pocket, being careful not to shift the security of the pistol tucked under his belt.

Priest, Curley, and Rick knew of his plans to come stake out the casino. But, he hadn't planned on coming inside despite dressing the part.

His need to finish Shaw off and give Josie the security she needed had brought him inside. He couldn't risk getting caught.

He strolled through the crowd and walked out the doors. Outside the entrance, he grabbed his pack of smokes out of the chest pocket of his flannel and lit a cigarette. Pissed that he couldn't do much alone, he had no other option than to come back again a different night. Somehow, Shaw would fuck up.

Pressure on his back lowered his hand to his side, and he let go of the cigarette to reach behind him for his weapon when a man's voice said, "Don't reach for your gun. We've got your girl."

His chest pounded, and he held still. "Bullshit."

"I don't think you want to take a chance that I'm right." The man pressed what Paco suspected was the nozzle of a pistol into his kidney. "We're going to walk back inside and go down the hallway you're determined to use. Robert Shaw would like to talk with you."