A detective and the head of security at a casino have something in common, don’t they? Perhaps more than one thing.
Detective Mike VanDoren isn’t much of a gambler, but the ongoing embezzlement at Kansas City’s newest casino definitely has his interest. So does handsome Cole McKinney, the head of security at the Time and Tides. Mike dives head first into the case and a relationship with Cole, who can’t believe that any of his trusted employees and friends could be guilty. Mike knows differently, and it’s up to him and his team to figure out who’s behind the elaborate scheme. When a casino employee turns up dead, the case takes a bizarre twist, leaving Mike scrambling to save the people he cares about most.
General Release Date: 15th September 2015
“Someone is ripping me off, and I want to know who.” Ted Slaughter paced back and forth behind the large wooden desk in his office.
Detective Mike VanDoren watched the casino owner run his fingertips across what was obviously an expensive piece of furniture, made from a deep, reddish-brown mahogany. The office decor was as pricey as the guy’s suit, which had to have cost about a week’s worth of Mike’s pay.
From what he’d read, Slaughter never did anything in a small way. The Time and Tides was not only Kansas City’s newest casino, but also the grandest, according to the hype buzzing around the place. Slaughter was in his fifties but appeared fit and trim, with lightly slicked-back dark hair and perfectly manicured nails. Mike had read that the local capitalist was divorced with a couple of grown children and no shortage of girlfriends. Slaughter had been very vocal about the Tides being his main focus these days. Open for less than a year, the place had a problem, and the owner wasn’t happy about it.
“How big is your staff?” Mike flipped open a small pad to take notes.
“Including the hotel and restaurants, we’ve got several hundred people. This is most likely confined to the casino dealers and employees, which number near one hundred.”
Lisa Chen, Mike’s partner, tapped a pen on her notebook. “Don’t you have, like, a million security cameras in the casino?”
Mike bit back a smile. His co-worker was sharp as a tack but at five foot two, the tiny Asian woman’s appearance could be deceiving. She wore her long, black hair in a ponytail and sported black-framed glasses, which made her seem like a brainy high-school girl. Add to that the fact that she couldn’t string a sentence together without the word ‘like’ in it, and people generally didn’t know what to make of Chen at first glance.
Mike had learned quickly not to underestimate her. Lisa’s IQ put her at the top of her class and she’d aced the detective’s exam. He secretly thought she could probably take him down with a tae kwon do move or two, though he’d never put it to the test. He’d seen her do it to more than one perp.
Slaughter gazed at her impatiently. “Of course we do. That’s what makes this so infuriating. The dealers know they’re on camera and under intense scrutiny. Yet someone has managed to make off with nearly fifty thousand dollars over the past couple of months.”
“You just now noticed?” Lisa asked.
“We just noticed the pattern. At first it was a little here and a little there. Maddening, but possibly chalked up to all the new staff we’ve been training. It’s gone way beyond that.”
The office door opened and another man joined them. An ID badge attached to a lanyard around his neck indicated that he worked there, but Mike couldn’t read his name or position. This man’s suit was more along the lines of the ones Mike wore on a daily basis, but possibly a little tighter. Glancing over his form appreciatively, Mike tried not to ogle the fellow. It was tough, seeing how he’d always appreciated a well-built guy in tight clothes.
He reluctantly dragged his gaze off the hunk’s masculine chest and up to his face. Chiseled cheekbones were the first feature he noticed, along with deep-set dark eyes. The man’s thick head of wavy brown hair was layered and shorter in front, while it flowed over his collar in back.
Mike blinked. Damn! The guy was hot.
The new arrival barely glanced their way. He said, “Excuse me.” Then proceeded to speak quietly to Slaughter.
Chen turned to Mike and murmured, “The eighties called. Richard Marx wants his mullet back.”
Mike nudged her and looked away to avoid chuckling. He thought the guy was handsome, and liked the long hair. It did have an eighties feel, which pre-dated him, but he’d watched a lot of movies and TV in his younger days and that decade held good memories for him. When his high-school friends had ogled the stars of the time, busty knockouts like Pamela Anderson and Kim Basinger, his thoughts had run more to the masculine. Richard Gere and Mel Gibson had been the handsome, upcoming studs who’d caught his eye.
Mike was comfortable with his sexuality now, but as a teenager he’d gone along with the crowd and kept his preferences secret. He’d come out in college, and fortunately his family had been cool with it. Now, his co-workers in the Kansas City Police Department were just as supportive. Some were straight, some were gay, but he considered all of them friends.
“Shush, you,” he whispered to his partner. “Bruce Lee wore a pretty cheesy hairstyle in his day.”
“Oh no.” She frowned. “One must never, ever mock the great Bruce Lee.”
Before he could reply, Slaughter got his attention.
“Detectives, this is the head of security for the casino, Cole McKinney. Cole, these are KCPD Detectives Chen and—” He blinked absently. “What did you say your name was?”
Mike smiled patiently. No one ever got his name right, even when they did remember it. “VanDoren. Mike VanDoren.”
Cole had shaken hands with Lisa first, then turned his gaze on Mike. His eyes flickered with interest as they shook.
Jenna Byrnes could use more cabinet space and more hours in a day. She'd fill the kitchen with gadgets her husband purchases off TV and let him cook for her to his heart's content. She'd breeze through the days adding hours of sleep, and more time for writing the hot, erotic romance she loves to read.
Jenna thinks everyone deserves a happy ending, and loves to provide as many of those as possible to her gay, lesbian and hetero characters. Her favourite quote, from a pro-gay billboard, is "Be careful who you hate. It may be someone you love."
You can find Jenna on Facebook.
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