Read Online Synnergy, Chaos Time Book 3 by Marie Hall - Free Book Online

the goods.
Why, because Hunter was doing a piss poor job of hiding his hand.
Boy scout could have won the game four turns ago.
    The other guy was hunched in his seat; he looked like
a lawyer type with his slicked back hair and bowler hat. His suit
was clean, spotless clean, and his hands didn’t look as if they’d
seen a day’s hard labor in his life. Long sooty lashes framed
bright green eyes. It made him look more pretty than masculine.
    Whoever this guy was, he wasn’t from around here. You
couldn’t avoid the dust. That he was so clean, was very
telling.
    Like Hunter, he wasn’t really in the game and
probably didn’t have much of a hand. His eyes shifted from his
cards to the ladies, paying particular attention to Sable who was
surrounded by a varied group of sycophantic goons. She was laughing
and twirling in that same red dress he’d slipped her out of
yesterday.
    Slayde gnashed his teeth hearing her trill of
laughter and then she touched the bicep of the boy she’d been with
last night, oohing over the non-existent muscle. His lip curled.
She couldn’t honestly like them. The boy made a grab for her and he
swore that if that bastard did that again he’d kill someone. His
fingers clenched.
    “Who’s the whore in red?” Monkey suit asked.
    What Slayde couldn’t understand, was how city slicker
seemed to take a genuine interest in her when it was obvious to
anyone with half an eye the kid was gay.
    City boy turned and looked square at Hunter who sat
up, clearing his throat. He pretended to look over his shoulder as
if he didn’t know who the bastard meant.
    Slayde gave the tinniest shake of his head, a silent
gesture that Hunter would keep her name private.
    “Heard the ladies call her Bunny,” he said, never
looking at Slayde.
    Slayde’s nostrils flared.
    “Bunny,” Monkey boy snorted, “the name’s these
whore’s come up with.” He shook his head, chuckling, and Slayde’s
breathing grew faster.
    Slayde hated to lose at anything. Cards, girls,
fights—even so—he threw his hand down, forfeiting his win.
    The shaker whooped and threw his hand down a second
later. Slayde growled when he scooped up five large nuggets.
Winning what should have rightfully been his with a pathetic three
of a kind.
    Slayde pushed away from the table.
    Hunter shook his head. “Stay.” The word was a command
and not a request.
    Slayde snarled. “I’m not doing anything here but
losing money. I’m finding a girl and hitting the hay. This is
bullsh—”
    “You leave, we’ll never found out what we’re looking
for,” Hunter said with slow deliberation.
    The shaker and the lawyer glanced between them and
Slayde wanted to throttle the bastard.
    “What are ya looking for?” Shaker asked, rubbing the
nuggets over his front tooth with a pleased smile.
    The muscle in his jaw ticked. He would have walked
off, snatched Sable and walked upstairs if it hadn’t been for the
fact that she glanced at him at that exact moment. She frowned and
shook her head.
    It was enough to make him sit back down.
    “My partner and I here,” Hunter nodded toward Slayde,
“heard about a thief called the Bandit.”
    Slayde slouched, elbow on the table and chin on his
fist as his foot bounced.
    “We’re aiming to do some panning tomorrow,” Hunter
gave a goofy chuckle and shrugged, fiddling with the tie at his
neck, “but you know...”
    Against his will, he had to hand it to the boy scout.
Knowing Hunter the way he did, Slayde knew he was no buffoon. But
he played the roll to perfection.
    The shaker laughed. “Don’t want to be nowhere the
thief is.” He winked.
    “Exactly.” Hunter nodded.
    Sable glanced at him again and worry gleamed in her
smoky eyes. He licked his teeth and shifted. Man she made him feel
like a loser, he knew, they all blamed him for failing the last
mission and expected him to screw this one up too.
    He sat up. He’d show them he was capable of more than
being a hothead. He jerked his head towards Monkey