All three laughed. Vienna couldn’t help it. Zahra could run rings around all of them if she chose, but she did it grumbling every step of the way, as if it were a chore for her to hike a trail or boulder or trad climb. She only ran if she had a dog that was high energy. She’d lost her companion dog some time ago and hadn’t gotten another one. Her friends were conspiring to find her the perfect pet to make her happy again.
Raine sank down on the bed on the opposite side of Shabina to massage Vienna’s other leg. Both women had strong fingers, most likely from all the bouldering they did. They had to use their fingers in the small cracks to pull their bodies up at times as they moved up the rock. Vienna could tell the massage was really making a difference. Why hadn’t she known this? She was a nurse. She should have figured it out.
“She will,” Raine agreed. “But she’ll out-hike us all. I don’t know how she does it when she never trains.”
“I think she trains secretly. Maybe in the middle of the night,” Shabina said. “I asked her once if she did. She gave me that haughty little look she gets that drives all men wild and said maybe she does.”
Vienna found herself laughing again. She could picture Zahra responding just that way. She had the cutest accent, and she did have snooty little looks that were too darling to take seriously, nor did she ever mean anyone to take them seriously. Zahra was one of the kindest people Vienna knew. She was flirty, and men fell all over themselves to help her with any little thing, but she didn’t date. She had been born in Azerbaijan and raised in a strict environment in a small village in Uzbekistan. She was actually quite careful around men.
“Do you want me to massage your arm?” Shabina offered.
Vienna nodded. “Thank you. I can’t believe how good that feels. I haven’t taken advantage of the spa here, and I probably should have. Everything in the hotel is first class.”
“You could still do that, Vienna. They’ll come up to the suite,” Raine said. “I’ve looked over all the amenities, mostly to look at the food choices. You know me, I’m all about eating.”
She was the slenderest of all of them and could eat an entire pizza if she was working and not paying attention. She liked food. Shabina loved to cook, but she wasn’t as much into eating as Raine. They often teased Raine about how much food she could actually eat at a meal. She just told them they were jealous, which Vienna thought could have some truth to it.
“Unless you two want to avail yourselves of the spa facilities, I’d rather check out tonight,” Vienna said. “I need to breathe fresh air.”
“If Zahra were here, no way would she allow any of us to pass up the spa,” Shabina said. “She’ll be ashamed of us for doing so.”
“We can never tell her,” Vienna said. She was feeling so much better. Her head was clearing so fast. She didn’t even feel as if she had a hangover. It was impossible to tell whether it was because the game hadn’t lasted for hours—she’d folded so many times and hadn’t used her “gift” for a prolonged period of time—or because of the massage her friends had given her right away.
“She’ll ask,” Raine warned. “First-class hotel. The first thing she’ll think of is, what is the spa like? She’ll definitely ask. She will find you sadly lacking, Vienna.”
“Harlow might even agree with her on that,” Shabina said.
Harlow Frye was a senator’s daughter. She’d grown up in the spotlight, having a father always in politics one way or another. A tall, beautiful, elegant woman with fiery red hair, she was also a nurse, but excelled at photography and pottery. Her landscape photos went for a fortune in some galleries, and her pottery was successful as well.
Vienna groaned and closed her eyes tight. “You’re right. I’m going to get a lecture from both of them on the merits of skin care and how I sat for all those hours and should have paid attention to the needs of my body for massages every single day. Maybe twice a day.”
“They would be right about that,” Shabina said. “You’re a nurse, which they will point out to you.”
“Not you too,” Vienna said. “By the time I got back to my room, I just wanted to be alone.”
Raine raised an eyebrow. “Did you, now?” she asked, sounding more Irish than ever. “That’s not the way I heard it. I heard occasionally some hot man snuck in for a booty call.”
Vienna managed to sit up and throw a pillow at her. It wasn’t a great throw, but at least she was sitting. She was so grateful her friends had been warned there were cameras and bugs in the rooms and they had to be very careful of everything they said.
“Well, okay, there was that. He made it clear he wasn’t into long-term relationships, which was why I was comfortable having a couple of fun nights with him while I was here. He’s a personal protector for the nicest old gentleman. If Wayne weren’t so much older than me, I might have gone for him. He’s sweet and kind, and when Charles attacked me, he didn’t hesitate for a minute to come to my aid. He hit him in the head with his cane and then Tased him with it.”
“What a sore loser,” Shabina said. “Every time the man loses at poker does he attack the man who defeated him, or is it just women?”
“Art told me Charles once attacked him after a loss,” Vienna said. “I read about him, but missed that little tidbit. I knew he had a reputation for being a jerk and causing drama. I think the casinos liked him to get to the final table because it always provided so much more of a spectacle for the crowd when he ranted and raved and leapt up and knocked his chair over. To be honest, I didn’t pay attention to what any of these people did after a poker tournament. Only during. I’d watch the tournaments online to get a feel for the way they played. Art actually gave classes online. Leo has several books on gambling.”
“I look up everything,” Raine said. “And I have to look up the answers from multiple sources. I never rely on just one because you can’t trust the truth of just one informant anymore.”
“It’s so difficult to know who to trust,” Shabina agreed.
“We’re all so paranoid,” Vienna said. “I’m feeling better. I’m going to change, put my hair up and try to change my appearance a little, and then let’s get out of here.”
“Did you check to see if the winnings were transferred to your bank account?” Raine asked.
“Daniel Wallin would never renege on something like that,” Vienna said. “I checked when I won the first prize, but not today. That should have doubled the money. I’ll do that after I transform back into the real me.”
“I hate to break it to you, Vienna, but you look just as beautiful without makeup,” Shabina said. “And just as recognizable.”
Vienna scowled at her. “I’m sure I don’t, but thanks for the compliment.” She swung her legs over the side of the bed, a small experiment to see if she had her strength back. She would have to carry her backpack once they were out of the hotel. Raine would have arranged for a car to take them to the Airbnb.
She hurried through knotting her hair in a high ponytail, scrubbing her face clean of all makeup and cramming the last of her toiletries in her bag. She had minimal bathroom products to pack, so she was set pretty quickly. Dressing in old vintage jeans that had seen better days but were extremely comfortable, she pulled on her favorite pair of running shoes. She hadn’t packed that many shoes either. Climbing shoes, hiking shoes and running shoes took up space. Her T-shirt was green to match her eyes, and the sweater she pulled over it had multiple pockets that zipped closed in order to secure various items she needed to carry with her.
“I’m so ready. We just need to call the security team to escort us out and make sure the car is right there waiting, and we’re good to go.”
Vienna wished she could see Zale one more time before she left, but she knew that all the trouble they’d gone to in order to convince whoever was trying to kill the undercover agents she wasn’t part of them would have been for nothing. She left without looking back.