The pictures were back in Charles's hands. He sifted through them until he found the one he wanted. He held it up. "This man, Hank Owens, is head of security at the Babylon. He's been with the casino for over twenty years and is as good at his job as I am at mine. He knows every trick in the book. He's extremely well paid. He works twenty-three hours a day and gets by on one hour of sleep. I read that in some PR fluff in one of the Vegas papers. An exaggeration, I'm sure. His inner security ring—and that's what it's called, 'the ring'—is made up of four men. Mean men, ruthless men. Men who do exactly what Owens says when he says it. No deviations. The inner ring has been with Owens from day one. They work on the reward system. The 'rewards' are a mystery. They're only mentioned in whispers or behind closed doors. I believe that all the things that happened to Marble Rose prior to her arrest were a result of the inner ring. I think the Gaming Commission wants us to look into Owens and his little cabal. Like I said, this is all tentative and subject to change."

Kathryn jumped up. Murphy growled. "What are you saying, Charles? That we're not a match for this. . .inner ring? Ha!"

Charles smiled. "If you had allowed me to finish what I was going to say next, you would have heard me say, the inner ring is no match for all of you."

"Oh. Okay, that's better."

"In addition, you will all have a secret weapon. Actually, four or five of them. I'm sending Harry to Vegas. I have a call in to some people I know who are arranging a martial-arts exhibition. Harry and his friends will be the judges. There might be a snafu or two since it's such short notice, but radio and television are wonderful tools. I'm sure we can come up with a good turnout, especially if it's a free exhibition. Las Vegas loves anything that's free."

"Charles, that is absolutely brilliant. How do you come up with such wonderful ideas?" Annie gushed. "Oh, I can't wait to attend. I love the blood-and-guts moves those boys make. That inner ring is toast if Harry takes them on."

Charles pretended to be embarrassed. Yoko virtually swooned at the anticipation of seeing her true love in Vegas.

"What about Jack? Is he going to go with Harry? What's his role?" Nikki asked. She didn't realize she'd been holding her breath until it exploded from her mouth in a loud, swooshing sound.