The December Hunt (Work in Progress)

Part 8 (Placeholder Title) (v 1.4)

The main gambling floor was surprisingly devoid of people, considering how big it was. Rick's shoulders relaxed a little and he took his hand off the gun.

The first thing on Rick's mind was to find the casino security room. Since the three of them were on the main floor, his guess was that the security room was either on an upper level or connected to one of the service hallways on the outskirts of the main gambling floor.

Hugo stepped up behind Rick, while Kiyo briskly walked past both of them to the casino bar on the left. She went behind the bar and began examining the different liquors on the counter.

Hugo spoke to Rick. "I heard the blonde lady say there were hostages in the mahjong room. That likely means that most of the troublemakers are there as well, keeping an eye on them."

Kiyo found a bottle of half-full gin and placed it on the bar in front of her. She continued her search.

Rick rubbed his eyes. He hadn't slept well the night before, and the lights of the casino were starting to bother him. "Let's start by finding a security room," he said to Hugo. "They probably have some sort of lockdown release."

"Is that safe?" Kiyo said to both of them from over behind the bar. Her eyes landed on a glass bottle of tonic water and she snatched it up, putting it down on the counter next to the gin. "Wouldn't that let the criminals escape?" She took a glass and put two ice cubes in it, then filled the glass about half full with gin. She uncapped the bottle of tonic water and filled the rest of the glass with it.

"Don't see how that's our problem," Hugo said back to her. "I have a breakfast appointment in the morning with my sister, and I'd prefer not to be late for it."

Rick's eyes landed on a service door. He began heading in said direction. Kiyo grabbed her drink from the counter and followed. Hugo as well.

Rick stepped up to the security door and put his ear to it. He heard nothing. Placing his left hand on the handle, he turned it slowly until it wouldn't turn anymore, then placed his right hand on the gun. He leaned into the door and cracked it open an inch. Rick saw nothing. He wondered where the security staff were.

Kiyo took a sip from her drink. From the corner of her eye, she noticed that red and blue hues of light were darting across the barred windows. It dawned on her that this was the only time in her life that she had been glad that the cops were here. She stepped up behind Rick and whispered.

"See anything?"

"No. It's just an empty hallway." Rick pushed the door open all the way, revealing a white-walled hallway extending further down to his right.

"Well, cops are here. You still want to find that security room?" Kiyo replied, this time in her normal speaking voice. Hugo overheard her and breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Before Rick could answer, Hugo pushed passed them both and stepped into the hallway.

"Let's try to find a security guard," Hugo said to them as he glanced down the hallway.

Rick stepped in behind Hugo and glanced across at the opposite wall. On it was a placard that gave directions for fire evacuation routes. "Hold on, I want to find out where we are first," he said back to them.

"Oh, fantastic," Hugo said. "See if you can find me a bathroom. The last one I checked had a dead guard in it."

There was another bathroom closer to the front entrance. Rick put his finger on it and scanned for any smaller rooms possibly labeled "Security" or "Surveillance". Kiyo took out her phone and snapped a picture of the map. She asked for their phone numbers to send the picture to. They gave her their numbers. Rick noticed that the mahjong room was on the other side of the building from where they were, and he made a mental note of its location.

"Well, I found the security room," Kiyo said, putting her finger on a small room tucked away on the right side of the map.

Hugo looked over at where she was pointing. Then he looked to the left a few inches and sighed. "You're kidding, right?"
Rick looked over and understood immediately. The security room had two entrances. One was the fire door leading outside the building. The other was directly connected to the mahjong room.

Hugo looked back towards the casino floor entrance where they had come from. "Maybe I should have picked up that gun," he said. Kiyo shrugged her shoulders. Rick was silent, trying to weigh the risks of going against not going.

Hugo began walking back towards the foyer. He hesitated, wondering if a gun was really necessary. He decided it would be better to have one and not use it rather than to not have one and need to use it. He began heading for the double doors again, this time more confidently.

Suddenly, one of the doors opened.