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My dad snorts, shaking his head “Oh, stop it And you wonder why it has takento introduce you”

“You’ve known her for what… a h time”

I expect rief, and I’m fully prepared to dish it back Instead, he stops cold in his tracks My blood turns to ice when I see the look on his face

Absolute terror

I whip aze pinned to a roulette table where two dark-hairedThey both have ars in their hands

My dad doesn’t have to say a word I can tell by the expression on his face that thesefrom for the last ten years

One says sohs… just as he raises his head and makes direct eye contact with me

He doesn’t know aze starts to slide away, but then immediately snaps to my dad

I only have a fraction of a second to see the man frown—that look that says maybe you know someone but you’re not sure—before my father hash a line of slot machines, and we attempt to blend in with the midday crowd

Having no clue if the nized my dad or if they’re in pursuit, I can’t help but continuously look over my shoulder as we make a break for it

I can’t see anything—just peoplewe’re in er

It seems to take forever, but we finally make it out of the casino We speed-walk down the street It’s half a block before we e Dad has an iron grip onfaster than we already are I feel weighed down by panic, but I don’t see theafter us

Doesn’t h

Those men could have had other men in the casino or out on the street

We hustle through the garage “Give me your keys,” my dad orders

I reach into u ourselves into it

As Dad revs the engine and puts it in reverse, I frantically scan the area, but don’t see anything alar My dad doesn’t waste ti sharp turns as fast as possible—without being too dangerous—to get us out of the parking garage

“Was that—”

“Yeah,” my dad says bitterly, and it hits ain been upended

Dad pulls out onto the street Luckily, the first light we co in the rearviewus”