--- 2 days later; Las Vegas, Nevada ---
Looking up at the large hotel, Kazimir whistles.
"This sure is a busy place."
"Yes, I've heard stories." Alexei adds, placing his bags on the ground. "We'll check in and then get ourselves familiar with the scenery all before coming back here around 8 for casino night."
"I'm guessing they play cards a lot, huh?"
The young law student shrugs.
"I believe it's different games held every night. Tonight will be baccarat, so if you don't know how to play then I can do a quick explanation."
"That'd be really helpful, thanks." Kazimir says, as he grabs his hotel room key from the receptionist.
After placing their luggage in each of their separate hotel rooms, the two young men head out for a stroll through the large city of Vegas.
Ordering two trays of nachos, they both take a seat at a small table.
"While we have time, I'll explain baccarat to you." Alexei says, pushing his food to the side. "The first thing you want to do as soon as you arrive at the table is bet a comfortable amount of money that you're okay with losing incase you do so. Since it's Saturday, I'm positive there will be a lot of rich bastards there that'll bet away their life savings."
Taking out a piece of paper, the young law student rips it in half before ripping it again, making four pieces of paper total. He then separates them into two groups, two of the papers in each group.
"Baccarat has two hands that you can bet on; the banker's hand, which would be my hand in this example and the player's hand, which would be your hand. You can also bet on a tie, meaning both the banker's hand and the player's hand will equal the same amount, but I wouldn't recommend this." Alexei says, writing a couple of numbers on the pieces of paper. "The goal of baccarat is to land on nine itself or the closest number to nine; the player with the number closest, wins. Anything above that, doesn't count. Ten and face cards automatically equal zero."
He slides the paper groups to where Kazimir could clearly see them.
"Let's say my right hand is the banker's hand and my left hand is your hand, the player's hand. In the banker's hand, I have a 5 card and a 2 card, equaling 7. In the player's hand, I have a 10 and 4, equaling 14. My hand, the banker's, wins since it's closer to 9. With your hand, the first digit of the number drops, meaning you'd only be left with a 4."
"I see. It's basically just based on luck." Kazimir replies, looking down at the pieces of paper.
"Exactly. There's a couple more rules, but these are all just the basics."
Putting the papers aside, Alexei excuses himself to make a phone call.
Taking a bite of a nacho chip, Kazimir watches as a piece of crumpled notepad paper lands on his table.
He looks up to see a girl standing a few feet away from a man who was currently ordering food.
"Sheesh, why does this shit always happen to me?"
Getting up from his seat, the young detective walks over to the girl, making himself look as subtle as possible.
"Tell him you need to use the restroom. I'll help you from there."
The girl nods and walks over to the man, telling him she needed to use the restroom.
"Then hurry the fuck up, I don't have all day to wait!" the man yells, adjusting his sunglasses.
Kazimir watches as she makes her way towards the bathroom, before following after her.
"Hey, it's okay now."
Squatting down near a tall plant the girl was currently hiding behind, he gives her a small smile.
"Here, I have a baseball cap you can borrow to disguise yourself with."
Taking the hat from his jacket pocket, he adjusts it on the girl's head.
"You can borrow my jacket, too." Kazimir says, placing it over her shoulders. "I'll be right back, wait here for a second."
Walking back over to the table, the young man quickly leaves a note for Alexei, before heading back over to the girl.
"Alright, follow me. I'll take you back to where I'm staying."
The pair swiftly makes their way over to the hotel, entering Kazimir's hotel room.
"Hungry?" the young detective asks, putting his tray of nachos onto a table.
"No, I'm fine." she responds.
Shrugging, Kazimir picks up a nacho chip.
"Well, what's your name?"
The girl looks up at Kazimir, who pulls out his wallet.
"Kazimir Cizetto. I'm a detective from Claiza-
Before he could finish, the young girl quickly wraps her arms around him.
"I'm so scared, sir!" she says, her voice shaking. "What if he finds me and tries to kill me?!"
"He won't find you here." Kazimir replies, hugging her back. "Did he kidnap you?"
Wiping away her tears, she nods.
"Him and a few other men. You see sir, I'm only 14 years of age, but they don't care! They don't care as long as they have someone to make a prostitute and profit off of!"
She begins to cry again and Kazimir gives her a hug.
"You're okay. Everything's gonna be alright now. First things first, I'll take you to a hospital to get you tested for any diseases and-
"Please don't leave me there!" the girl says, her hands shaking.
Kazimir shakes his head and begins to calm the girl down.
"I'm not gonna leave you, I promise. After that's done, I'll take you back here where I want you to rest. I'm on a business trip with my friend for a few days and I won't be in this room most of the time, so you'll have to stay here alone. Just don't leave the room or answer the door for anyone, even if they say they're room service."
"Okay. But what about when you have to go back home? What'll happen to me?"
"Well, I'd hope to reunite you with your family first." the young detective says. "And for that, I'll need your name."
"It's Ellie Rein."
"Okay, Ellie. Can you tell me where you're from?"
"I'm from Massachusetts. Uh, it's better if I just write my address down."
"Sure." Kazimir says, handing her a pen and paper. "Also, if you happen to know the name of the place where you were held at, you can write that down as well. It's okay if you don't remember, though."
"Yeah, I was planning to do just that!" Ellie says, smiling. "I made a few friends there and we all decided that if we ever got the chance, we'd notify someone about our captivity. I guess I just happened to be the lucky person."
*KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!*
Scrambling from out of the chair, Ellie hides in the closet as Kazimir opens the door.
"It's alright. It's just my friend."
The two young men watch as Ellie cautiously walks out of the closet and sits back down in the seat.
"Ellie, this is my friend, Alexei. He's a nice man." Kazimir says, sitting down in front of her.
"The gun on the side of your hip hidden by your shirt; what brand is it?"
"Sir?" Ellie asks, raising a brow at Alexei.
"Love, are you going to answer my question or should I just turn you back over to that man?"
The young girl shakes her head, slowly pulling out the hidden handgun.
"Please don't! I don't know what brand this is, I just grabbed it one day when the man wasn't looking!"
"How long were you and the rest of your friends locked away?" the law student asks, examining the gun. "We'll need to know a specific period of time so Kazimir and I can get you all the proper nutrition to regain your strength. Otherwise, you'll all suffer from chronic damage to your organs and have a high possibility of dying an early death."
"It's been about two months! We were all kept from basically any light! The people who run the place barely fed us, too!" Ellie yells.
Pointing the weapon above the girl's head, the law student laughs.
"So then how'd you easily get this gun? If you'd been locked away for that long, you wouldn't even have the strength to pick up this thing."
Breaking down in tears, Ellie puts her head in her hands.
"I'm sorry, I-
"Stop crying and then explain." Alexei says, pointing the gun at Ellie's forehead.
Wiping her face with Kazimir's jacket sleeve, she begins to explain.
"I didn't mean it! They just offered me a fast way to get money and I felt as if I had no choice but to accept! You have to understand, I was drowning in debt!"
"Who is "they"?" Kazimir asks.
"Merderaé. It's a horrible yet highly secretive group filled with lots of politicians and celebrities. A group of men bribed me into tricking young men, women, and children to join a recreational group that never existed. I didn't even realize this until about a month ago." Ellie replies. "I wanted out, so I had no choice but to lie to Kazimir and tell him I'd been kidnapped. I'm very sorry once again."
"It's fine, I understand." Kazimir says, hugging the girl. "Tell us Ellie; is that even your real name?"
"Yes yes, my real name is Ellie. I'm actually 25 and I have a boyfriend back in Massachusetts. We both share an apartment and I just want to get back to him. Can you two please help me?"
"How do we know if we can really trust you?" Alexei asks, lowering the gun.
"Because if I slip up, you can kill me." the woman quietly replies. "I promise, I'll help you with anything you want if you promise to help me find my way back home."
"She sounds legit." Kazimir says, standing up. "Alright, we'll help you, but like you said, the tiniest slip up and you're dead."
Alexei and Ellie watch as Kazimir slowly smiles, his eyes slightly glowing a deeper red.
"T-thank you both so much! I promise, I'll be good!"
"You better if you'd like to see your man again." Alexei says, walking over to the door. "I'm going out to buy some hair dye and new clothes for her. Make sure she stays put."
Watching as the law student made his way out of the door, Kazimir turns back to Ellie.
"Do you happen to know if there's a man who goes by the name Ernest Tamb in the group?"
"No, but his son is." Ellie replies, adjusting the young detective's jacket on her shoulders. "His name's Arnold; he's quite the womanizer."
Chuckling, Kazimir looks down at his hands.
"Even better. I'll make a deal with you, Ellie; I'll get you back home faster if you lead me to him."
"Uh, sure." the young woman says. "Just wondering, do you know him or something?"
Kazimir grins as he loads a magazine into his gun.
"We go way back."