I gasp, pressing my hand to my throat. "Did you call me a bimbo? How could you say such a thing? That's utterly slanderous."
Mustache Guy knocks his chair to the floor in his hurry to leave the table, pushes through the throng of spectators, and storms away. A set of security guards stream into the room, their faces grave. I wave at them, "Hey boys, what are you up to? I'm the luckiest girl in the whole world, wouldn't you say?"
"Excuse me," one of the guards says in English, obviously for my benefit. "If you could stand, please?"
"Whatever for?" I smack on my gum and frown.
"Just taking precautions," the guard says. "If you'll just stand and remain still for a moment while I do a quick security check on you."
"But we did that back at the entrance, sweetums," I titter as I rise up.
He pulls out a wand with a metal bar on it. I steady my nerves as he begins trailing it up and down my body.
"What is the meaning of this?" I wave my hands about. "Get that thing away from me. I'm not to be treated like an animal or criminal. I'm special! I'm lucky!"
As the wand runs over my chest where the necklace hangs, a screeching beep fills the air. Instantly, two security guards rush to grab either arm. My two opponents gape up at me, obviously shocked at the turn of events.
"Let me go, you filthy scoundrels," I yell.
But they don't bother giving me details or consider my words. I glance over my shoulder at Danny, reaching for him.
"Darling," I call. "Forget all of those mean things I said about you. Help me!"
"I'll be right here, waiting for you," Danny says as if he's still seriously upset. I fight against the two men holding me as they drag me out of the poker room into a long white hallway with freshly painted walls and shiny, white floors.
"Where are you taking me?" I ask.
"Just need to ask you a few questions," the head of security says. "Then you can leave and never return to any of our casinos."
I'm taken into a small room where I'm offered a seat at a metal table. The guards hold a discussion in Mandarin, pointing to my necklace, and then pulling up a video feed of me playing. While they are distracted, I withdraw two earpieces and pop them into my ears.
One calls on his walkie, notifying someone about the situation. Finally, they appear to come to an agreement, nodding and growing quiet.
"Who gave you that necklace?" the leader asks me.
I touch the necklace. "Isn't it gor-e-gous?" I declare brightly. "A secret admirer gave it to me. I have no idea who. Isn't that romantic?"
The guards don't look convinced.
"How is it possible you won every hand?" one man presses. "The odds of you winning every hand are impossible."
"I'm luck-ee," I say. "You saw me back there."
"Take off that necklace. We must look at it."
I press my hand over the necklace protectively, looking aghast. "Whatever for?"
Suddenly the door flies open and a tall woman strides in, flanked by two security guards. She has ivory skin and straight black hair that bounces fluidly against her hips. Her dark eyes glisten coldly as she assesses me. Goosebumps trail up my arms and the act I've been playing is sucked out of me.
"It's her," Javier announces into my com. "You did it! You pulled her out."
"Remember, her name is Zhang Lau," Sun adds. "Let her talk and see if you can get any information out of her."
"This is the girl?" Lau's red lips curl. "What is this? A joke from my competitor?"
They say something to Lau in Mandarin and then she turns to me.
"My security guards believe your necklace has a camera within it that is letting you share your cards with someone else at a remote site. Is this true?"
"Of course not!" I say, indignantly. "It was a gift."
I cross my fingers, hoping the necklace will be the decoy rather than them realizing that we've hacked into their surveillance system.
"But can a mere camera in a necklace see all the players' cards in the room?" she wonders aloud, tapping her finger to her chin. Crap. She's smart. "I doubt it. She must have access to the security system. Give the necklace to my men for inspection. If it's clean, then we will not turn you over to the authorities and you can be on your way."
I unclasp the necklace and hand it over. While the men are busy studying the necklace, I turn on my noise-canceling earplugs. Instantly, the room falls into absolute silence.
The men place the necklace into Lau's palm. Her lips move, but I don't hear anything she's saying. Instead, I wait, clutching the sides of my armchair, praying Javier and Jake can transmit the Sound Oasis through the necklace and put everyone in the room asleep.
This is all a huge risk. After all, I don't have any Temazepam on me.
The necklace is the first to fall, clattering to the ground. One by one the guards crumple along with Lau. I rise from my chair, assessing the whole situation and making sure the group has passed out. Then I peek outside to discover Sun and Jake lingering in the hall.
"Jake?" I pull out my earplugs, confused. "You're supposed to be manning the computer operations."
"I was. But I couldn't stay away. Besides, this is too dangerous for Tony. If someone is going to go down in all of this, I don't want it to be him. This isn't his fight. It's ours. So we switched positions."
I want to argue with him, but he's absolutely right.
We slip inside the room, plugging in our earplugs as we enter so we won't be affected by the Sleep Oasis that's being broadcast into the room from the necklace. Right away, Jake and Sun slap handcuffs around the wrists of each guard while I lock the door. Then I drag the chair against it just in case.
While Sun whips out the laptop with the Dreamscape, I withdraw the two sleeping masks I've got tucked inside my hip purse. First, I slip one on Ms. Lau and then I lay on the ground beside her. Ugh, lying on the hard, cold tile floor is a far cry from my comfy pod back at MaxLife. Jake joins me on the floor, shifting uncomfortably. He pulls out a sleep mask of his own.
My eyes widen, and I shake my head in a furious no.
What is he thinking? He hasn't even been trained to be in the Dreamscape.
He just smiles and lifts his thumb as if to tell me it's all good, but it's not. Going into the Dreamscape without a sleep pod is brutal. Going in with no training without a sleep pod is dangerous.
My heart races a million miles a minute at what we're going to do as Sun gives us the thumbs-up. Jake grabs my hand and squeezes me as if to tell me this is going to be alright. Then he slips on his mask and takes out his earplugs.
"No!" Angrily, I take out my plugs, saying, "Jake. Don't do this."
"Our fight..." Jake falls silent, a smile curling on his lips.
The ringing pierces my ears. The last thing I notice is Sun slipping my mask on as I drift into the world of dreams.