spent the afternoon stalking the cashiers and wandering around the game rooms. Luckily for her, the New Dawn did not have any kind of middlemen between the customers and the cashiers. Everyone had to bring their own chips to the cashier to turn them into money.
Nothing untoward seemed to be happening at the tables, either. John had told her that the dealers were all experienced professionals, mostly from Atlantic City or Vegas, though he was hoping to train some local people soon.
She walked among the tables watching the customers gamble. People won money. Others lost money. Some won it then lost it. There was nothing that looked fishy. She paused at a roulette table, and watched the croupier spin the wheel.
“Hello, gorgeous.” That deep, rich voice in her ear sent a shiver of warm lust to her core.
She resisted the urge to spin around and instead turned very slowly to face John. A smile was already creeping across her face and she worked hard not to let it get too goofy. “Good afternoon, Mr. Fairweather.”
“I see you’re examining our operations again with that eagle eye of yours. Do you like what you see?”
“Like it? Not so much. I’m still not a fan of gambling.” She smiled primly. His own easy expression didn’t budge. “And I really should keep my findings confidential at this point, don’t you think?”
Now she did see a flicker of surprise in his eyes. “What findings?”
“Any findings I should happen to make.” She attempted an air of sphinxlike calm. “I’m not saying I’ve found anything unusual.”
“But you’re not saying you haven’t.” He frowned. “You will tell me if you find anything, won’t you? I’d be damn surprised, but I’d want to know right up front.”
She hesitated. “My first responsibility is to my client.”
“The BIA.”
“I’d consider it a personal favor if you’d tell me about anything you find first.” His face was now deadly serious.
“I don’t think I’m in a position to offer personal favors. I’m here to do a job.” This was getting awkward. He obviously thought she’d found something unexpected in the books that she didn’t want him to know about it. Still, if she did, she should keep it secret while she investigated, so the casino wouldn’t have a chance to cover it all up before she reported back to her client.
She glanced up and saw his uncle Don throw down some chips at a distant roulette table.
“I have no desire to interfere with your performance on the job you’ve been hired to do. You know that. But honestly, if you find anything amiss, I’d be as keen to know about it as anyone else.” His earnest expression preyed on her emotions.
“I’ll tell you if I find anything,” she whispered. “I really do believe you want everything to be aboveboard. But so far, so good.” She smiled. “Though I shouldn’t be telling you that.”
In the distance, Don swiped up a fistful of chips from the table with a smile and shoved them in his pocket. Darius, who managed the cashiers, had told her that Don gambled. She supposed there was nothing illegal in it. Or was there? This was a perfect instance of where she needed to do her own research rather than asking John about it.
Don Fairweather was now heading toward them, a confident smile on his rather wrinkled face. Constance braced herself. She’d better be on alert to see if she could pick up any information to substantiate or debunk the rumors about him.
“Consorting with the enemy, eh, John?” Don turned to her and winked. “You know I’m just kidding. We welcome the scrutiny of the BIA and all their friends in the media. Life would be dull if everyone just let us go about our business.”
“My contact mentioned money-laundering charges against you.” She looked at Don and came right out with it. She wanted to hear if his answer would be any less evasive and uninformative than John’s. And something about Don’s nonchalant attitude pushed her buttons and she wanted to see how he reacted under pressure.
“Load of bull. I used to own a chain of dry cleaners. We were laundering shirts, not money.” His grin challenged her to argue. “As you probably know, they didn’t find enough evidence to convict me of anything.”
“Don was found not guilty,” John cut in. “By a jury of his peers.”
“Not that I have any true peers, of course.”
“Don is by far the most arrogant of the Fairweathers.” John shot a wry glance at Constance.
“Which is saying quite a bit with you around,” Don retorted with a crinkly smile. “We keep each other on our toes.”
“That we do. One of my favorite things about the New Dawn is that I get to work with family every day.” John wrapped his arm around Don. “Sometimes it’s a challenge, but maybe that’s why I enjoy it so much.”
“You’d be bored if life was too easy. And neither of us knew there were so many of us. Some of them barely even knew they had Indian ancestry until John got them excited about this place. Now the kids are begging him to dig up some old songs and dances so they can compete in the big powwows.”
John shook his head. “Easier said than done. I vote that they just make up their own. Why does our culture have to be old and historic? Why can’t it be fresh and new?”
“Won’t win any prizes with that. The judges are traditional. We already have strikes against us because we don’t look like most people’s idea of an Indian.”
“Then people need to change their perceptions, don’t they, Constance.”
“I suppose they do.” How did he always charm her into agreeing with him? She really didn’t have an opinion of any kind on the matter. She did think it was sweet how John obviously worked hard to create a sense of community, and was paying a fortune to academics to dig up the Nissequot tribe’s shared history. “And if anyone can do that, it’s you.”
She blushed, realizing that she’d just praised him in front of his uncle. Don’s eyebrows rose a tad. Did he suspect anything between her and John? That would be disastrous. Don Fairweather was something of a loose cannon, aside from his dubious reputation. “I really must get back to the offices.”
“I’ll ride up with you.” John’s low voice gave the innocent offer a suggestive tone.
“Actually, I need to get something from my car first.” She didn’t want Don to see them disappearing together.
John wouldn’t tell Don about their liaison, would he? She really didn’t know. Don was his uncle and they were obviously close. She reminded herself that she barely knew John at all. She nodded to them primly and hustled toward the lobby. She didn’t actually need anything from her car but she’d fiddle around in there for a minute or so. Anything to get away from John’s dark, seductive gaze.
She futzed around with her bag on the passenger seat for a moment, then pulled it out and closed the car door. She turned toward the casino and gasped when she found John right in front of her.
“I’m not letting you sneak off.”
“I
