The Player, The Thief and The Broken Heart - Chapter Seventy-Five - The Arrests

Robbie eyed the pair of men in burgundy jackets standing at the end of the corridor where it opened out into the games lounge. Their uniforms looked legit but on a night like tonight he wasn't making any assumptions. Staring down the more nervous looking one he said, "You have keys for these offices back here?"

"Yes, sir," he said, raising a mess of jingling keys.

"So long as you know which one you need. Let's go then." Robbie and Eddie took the lead along the carpeted hallway. They'd just reached the bend when he asked. "Who do you report to?"

"Mr. Segundo, sir. John Segundo. Night Desk Manager."

One of Rebecca's underlings. Good, he thought, the prospect of his boss's boss being arrested was guaranteed to leave him too rattled to be skeptical of Robbie and Eddie's presence. No such luck with his co-worker.

"You guys sure came fast." The taller burgundy-jacketed kid had stopped and he didn't look like he was about to start moving again any time soon. Dumbass punk. For all Robbie knew they were in their thirties, but both of them looked like they'd scarcely finished junior high.

Robbie grunted at the man like he was a fly buzzing around their heads. Eddie said nothing, taking a wide stance and folding his arms across his chest.

"They were already on the premises for another call," came a voice from behind. "While on the phone to your security manager Ray Levkin I had dispatch radio them to come meet me here." Henry's uniform was too large on him to be convincing to anyone who decided to scrutinize him up close, but it would have to do. Where he'd gotten it from was a question for later.

Henry had arrived in the nick of time but the taller hotel staffer was still being an idiot. "We, uh, we were debating on whether or not to interrupt Mr. Yushenko," he said to Henry, his Adams apple bobbing on his chicken neck.

"That would not be wise." Henry spoke with enough menace to get everyone moving again. At last the reached the door to Yushenko's office.

"Where are your keys?" Robbie barked.

The blond man patted his pockets frantically. "I—I just had them earlier." His separated a key marked with a red plastic ring. His hands shook as he fumbled with the lock. The boy was scared, which was always good. Scared men don't think so well.

The entire bunch of keys fell from his hand. As he crouched down to pick them up Henry said, "Working at a hotel, you'd think you were good at this sort of task."

"Sorry, sir," he said, dangling the keys out to him.

"You have to unlock it. Procedure." Robbie tried not to chuckle as the man gulped stuck the key into the lock. He pushed the door open and Robbie bumped him aside. Rebecca stood in the middle of the floor, eyes wide with guilt. "Rebecca Marks?" he said, summoning his most intimidating cop voice as he entered the office. Eddie and the two hotel workers followed him in while Henry stayed outside.

"Never heard of her. My name is—"

"That's her," said the taller hotel manager. "She works downstairs in the lobby."

"We have a warrant for your arrest on charges of theft and—"

"My name's Suzie!" she hissed while Eddie cuffed her hands behind her back. "Suzie Johnson!"

"You have the right to remain silent and ..." Robbie caught sight of her jerking her head toward the closet. "Who else is in here?"

"No one!" she said, almost spitting, her face screwed up in feigned rage. "Now let go of me—my mother the Marquess of Burgundy is out there and—"

Robbie flung the closet door open and hauled Jimmy out. "No one else is in here, eh?"

"Is it a crime to sneak off somewhere to have sex with the kitchen help?" she asked, struggling in her cuffs. "Mother wants to keep me on a short leash until I produce a son to carry our name."

"I was just in here cleaning out the waste baskets when she attacked me and then shoved me in there," Jimmy said, looking a little too wide-eyed to be believable.

Robbie cuffed Jimmy saying, "We can settle this at the station." He leaned closer to Rebecca on their way out. "Let's see if this Marquess recognises her daughter while we march her past the gaming table, hm?"

"We have the same hair!" she growled. "My niece is at the bar and we're practically twins!"

"And the Marquess of Burgundy has Marks for a surname. Uh huh," Robbie said. "Doesn't sound French to me."

Jimmy and Rebecca yanked liked chained guard dogs as Robbie and Eddie marched them down the hall. At the sight of Henry holding the door open for them, Jimmy blanched.

"You two know each other?" the taller man in burgundy asked.