2. Can't Read My Poker Face
Thanks for all of the reviews guys, I really appreciate each and every one of them. You make it a lot easier to get motivated to update! If you guys have any suggestions as to what you'd like to see happen in the story, just drop me a comment and I'll do my best to incorporate it into the story.
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Jay stood on the on board balcony that was connected to his and Erin's room and took a drink of his beer before glancing down at his watch.
"Erin!" Jay called opening the sliding door to walk back into the suite "We've got to get going. Lane's going to beat us down to the casino"
"Guess you should get your shoes on then Halstead" Erin said opening the bathroom door.
Jay's breath caught in his throat and he couldn't deny the arousal in his lower belly as he looked at Erin. Her hair was pinned up and the red dress she wore fell to just below her thighs and clung to her in all the right places.
"What?" Erin said her eyes not leaving Jay's "Do you think it's too much?"
Jay shook his head and kept his eyes on Erin "You look amazing"
Neither could deny the tension that filled the room as they stood in silence for a few seconds looking at each other. Erin's gaze dropped from Jay's and she ran her hands down the bottom of her dress. The diamond ring on her hand caught the light and sparkled. A small smile formed on her lips as she looked at it.
"You know, you really didn't have to give me this ring. The unit was willing to supply one" Erin brought her hand up and ran her fingers over the stone.
Jay furrowed his brow at Erin and took the few steps toward her. "I didn't want the unit to supply you with one. You're more to me than just some mission from Voight"
Erin's eyes sparkled as she looked up at Jay. "Maybe one day, right?"
Jay closed the remaining gap between him and Erin and ran his hand across her cheek. "Oh, definitely"
Erin raised her hand to hold the one that Jay still had on her cheek and she closed her eyes as she felt him lean forward. "Jay..."
Jay's gaze looked over Erin's face before he closed his eyes and leaned the rest of the way forward. His lips just inches from hers.
The shrill cry of the phone on the table broke the young partners apart like two teenagers caught by parents. Erin backed away from Jay and he silently cursed as he watched her walk over to the bedside table and answer it.
"Hello?" Erin said into the receiver.
"Mike Lane has exited his room and is heading towards the casino" Dawson said watching the security tape footage from the room he shared with Olinksy.
"We're leaving now" Erin replied as she looked at Jay who was slipping on his shoes.
"Olinsky is on his way down with your ear pieces. We've got clear video shots of the casino and the surrounding tables" Dawson explained looking over the paperwork in front of him.
"Ok. we'll meet back with you later" Erin looked at the door at Olinsky who was walking in. She hung up from her conversation with Dawson and walked over to the table where Olinsky was setting the ear pieces up.
"You know the drill, guys. The ear pieces are connected to a microphone. Dawson and I will be in contact with the two of you while you're in the casino. We'll be watching Lane and looking for any signs that he has one or more accomplices"
"You think there's more than just Mike Lane?" Jay asked taking his ear piece and slipping it into his ear.
"It's hard to tell right now. The jobs seem to be getting to big for Lane to be doing on his own. It's becoming more clear that it's not just an outside job anymore" Olinsky explained as he finished with Erin's ear piece and handed it to her.
Erin slipped the ear piece in her ear and watched as Olinsky closed the case that contained the ear pieces and stepped towards the door. "Security has been briefed on the situation. They're not to interfere unless things were to escalate to a violent state" Olinsky explained before opening the door and disappearing down the hall.
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"Are we going to talk about what happened in the room?" Erin asked as she stepped off the eleveator and followed Jay to the casino.
"There's nothing to talk about. Nothing happened" Jay said as he and Erin made their way down to the ship to the doors of the casino.
"Jay...we both know that's not true. What was going to happen back there?" Erin asked grabbing Jay's arm and pulling him back to look at her.
Jay sighed as he looked at the glass doors to the casino and then back at Erin. "Lindsay, if I have to explain it to you than it obviously doesn't mean to you what it meant to me"
Erin looked at Jay her eyes searching his before she spoke "Jay. I..."
Erin was cut off by Dawson's voice in her ear. "Lane is entering casino of portside of the ship"
Jay broke Erin's gaze and looked at the casino doors before looking back at her. "You ready?"
She nodded and said "Yes" before she felt Jay's fingers link through hers and the two walked into the casino.
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Jay looked down at his poker hand before looking across the table at Mike Lane who concealed his eyes with sunglasses. Lane was quiet, focused as he played the game. Erin stood behind Jay as she glanced around the casino at anything she thought could be suspicious. "Nothing out of the oridinary" she thought to herself. She looked around at all of the people in the casino and the workers who were all talking back and forth.
Jay sighed as the game ended and watched as Mike Lane collected all of his winnings. The man hadn't lost a hand since they stepped to the table. He was already up $5,000 and they still weren't sure how he was managing all his winnings.
"You sure are lucky man. What's your secret?" Jay asked as he watched Mike stack is poker chips up in front of him.
"I'm just good at poker, brother" Mike smirked as he pulled his glasses down over his nose and glanced at Erin. "Seems like you're pretty lucky yourself"
Jay looked over at Erin and smiled before snaking his hand around her waist and pulling her closer to him. "Yeah, just celebrating our honeymoon"
Jay noticed how Lane's gaze never left Erin's and couldn't ignore the feelings of jealosy of Mike Lane sweeping his eyes up and down Erin's body.
"If I was here with that. I wouldn't be down here playing poker with a bunch of men" Mike smiled at Erin and gave her a slight nod.
"Well, I thought that he deserved a little break. I couldn't keep my husband locked up forever" Erin ran her hand through Jay's hair and down the back of his neck and smiled at him before looking over at the man they were trying to bring down for stealing millions. "Maybe you can give him a tip on how to actually win a hand though"
Mike laughed to himself as he looked at Erin and Jay. "Well, I can't divulge my secrets. I will say this "It's all in the wrist"
Mike stood from the table and nodded to Jay and Erin before walking out onto the deck.
Jay stood and looked at Erin. "I'm going to go out and see if I can get anymore out of him. I'll meet you upstairs"
Erin nodded and let go of Jay's hand as he bent down and kissed her cheek before walking outside.
"Erin, head back up. We'll review the tapes for any clues" Olinsky said into the ear piece.
Erin looked at the doors to the deck before turning on her heel and heading to the elevators.
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Jay took his drink from the bar and headed over to where he saw Mike standing and drinking a beer. He pushed his ear piece deeper into his ear and walked over to Mike.
"You here on business or pleasure?" Jay asked as he walked over to Mike.
"Little bit of both you could say, I mean poker's my business, but women are my pleasure" Mike's gaze followed the waitress who was walking around taking drink orders.
"Looking for pleasure I see" Jay said taking a drink of his beer.
Mike shrugged his shoulders "No harm in a little bit of fun. She's cute don't you think?"
Jay said "I don't know. I'm here with my wife so I have to try to behave"
Mike laughed and said "She's a good looking girl"
Jay smiled as he thought of Erin and he said "That she is"
"How long you been fucking her?" Mike asked
Jay looked at Mike and saw the gold band that was on his ring finger. "I don't know. How long have you been fucking your wife?"
Mike looked at the ring on his hand "Oh, I'm not married"
Jay looked out at the ocean and then back to Mike "Then what's with the ring?"
Mike shrugged his shoulder "All sorts of reasons: It's an ass magnet, it keeps the the drama down, or brings it in if that's what I'm looking for, but mostly, it makes strangers think I'm trustworthy"
"Aren't you?" Jay asked taking a drink of his beer.
Mike laughed and shook his head "Guess you'll just have to wait and see"
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"After reviewing that tapes it's became clear that Lane is indeeed working with someone aboard the ship. We're not sure who the 2nd suspect is, but we think it's someone who is working in the ship vault" Olinsky explained looking at the video footage. "One of the vault workers was spotted having a short exchange with Lane. We're working with the captain to get a positive ID of the worker on the tape"
Erin nodded as she watched to exchange on the monitors and pointed to the screen "This guy" she said pointing to the vault worker. "He was in the casino earlier talking to one of the dealers"
Dawson typed on the computer to pull up some footage "Are you sure?" he asked as he started reviewing the tape.
"I'm positive" Erin said as she sat back in her chair. "He was talking with one of the black jack dealers in the corner while we were at the poker table"
Dawson and Olinksy ran through some tape and adjusted the cameras to find the subjects in question. "Good eye, Lindsay"
Erin nodded as she watched the exchange on screen and saw the vault worker walk away and the other subject bring his hand up to his wrist up to his mouth before quickly dropping it back down.
The sound of the suite door opening and closing caued Erin to turn her head and look at Jay who was walked over and take his ear piece out.
"Any new information?" Dawson asked taking the ear piece and placing it beside Erin's to charge.
"Just trying to be an intimidating son of a bitch" Jay said as he took a seat next to Erin.
"We were just telling Lindsay that it's 100% an inside job. He's not working alone" Olinsky explained and went on to tell Jay what he and Dawson had discovered on day 1 of the investigation.
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"This guy is smart. But he's going to make a mistake" Jay said as he and Erin walked to their suite. "They always do"
Erin shook her head as she held onto Jay's arm as they walked "I know it. I just think of all the people he's screwed out of money and it just pisses me off"
Jay nodded and said "We'll get him. He's not that sly"
Erin let go of Jay's arm as they walked to their suite. "So, about those sleeping arrangements"
Jay held open the door and let Erin walk in "I'll be a perfect gentleman"
Erin laughed and shook her head at Jay "What no Scrabble?"
Jay shut the door to his and Erin's room and loosened the top buttons on his dress shirt. "I can't believe that you'd think that of me"
Erin laughed and slipped her shoes off "Aw, poor baby. Did I hurt your feelings?"
Jay walked over to Erin and shook his head "Lindsay, you should know by now that you can't hurt my feelings"
Erin tilted her head to the side and looked at her partner "Is that so?"
Jay ran his hand up Erin's arm and picked a piece of lint off the strap of her dress. "Yeah"
Erin's eyes darkened and she ran her hand up Jay's chest. "I only have one request"
Jay wrapped his arms around Erin and sucked in his breath as he pulled her to him. His eyes darkened his body starting to respond to the beautiful girl in his arms. "What's that?" he whispered.
Erin ran her hands down around Jay's back and stood up on her tip toes before her lips were close enough to Jay's to almost touch.
"I sleep on the left side" She whispered before pulling away and heading into the bathroom, leaving Jay standing alone in the suite.