Hi Chris,

We've been enjoying the sights and sounds of Vegas, and I have to say, it's my kind of city. The other night I was at the Bellagio hitting up some Black Jack and Craps. The rest of the squad had bailed on me by that point and went back to the hotel. I wasn't ready to call it a night yet so, I stayed. So there I was looking fly in my black suit and tie getting ready to throw the dice—when a sexy voice whispers in my ear, "you'll have better luck if you blow on them."

I turn around here's this fine lady in a tight, red dress standing there. So I say, "so that's what I've been doing wrong." Next thing I know, she's caressing my hand that's holding dice. She blows on them, chills run all over me, man. "They should be luckier now," she whispers in my ear. While she holds my arm, I throw them, and boom! Seven with my bet on the pass line. She tells me her name is Kaori—her Japanese is on point—she says her family moved to the US when she was fifteen. We play some more Craps and chat for a bit, then she asks me if I want to hit up this club nearby, and I was down.

So there I was walking the streets of Vegas with a beautiful woman on my arm. The club didn't disappoint either—the place was lit. We danced for a while, had a few drinks and then Kaori asked to go back to my hotel room. And naturally, I was down—being in no position to refuse. She says she'll call an Uber while I run to the bathroom. While we wait for the car to show up, we start making out. I had kinda forgotten where I was until some dude said, "you guys call for an Uber?"

"Yeah, man," I reply, "just give us sec."

I walk over and open the door for Kaori. I hadn't noticed before this point, but the car was a Mercedes Maybach S600. Which I thought was a little weird for an Uber. But I shrug it off. Looking back, that should have been my first clue. But how can I say this, my judgement was impaired at that particular moment. So I get in, give the driver the address, and then Kaori and I picked up where we had left off.

We're all over each other at this point, but I didn't really care about the driver. I hear the faint sound of what sounds like a train horn. But my ears were still ringing from the club (so I'm not sure) and being otherwise engaged—I didn't think too much of it. Next thing I know, the driver floors it and like ten seconds later, he slams on the brakes—causing me to slip off the seat.

I sit up, look at him a go, "dude! What the—" then I see Kaori's hand over me in the rearview. I look back at her and she has some damn syringe in her hand. I catch it as she was bringing it down on me. That's when the fight started.

Inside, I'm thinking we didn't even make it home first. We're blocking and rolling around while I hear the train going by. Suddenly, Kaori yells, "are you insane! We need to get him back alive." That's when I notice the driver pointing a gun at us—just the opening I needed. I punch him in the arm and the gun falls in front of me. Kaori looks and me, then lunged for the gun with her free arm. I grab her arm that's holding the syringe and twist such that it ends up poking her in her side. I squeeze it and seconds later her body goes limp. That's when I notice she has an hourglass tattoo with what looked like a sun and moon on either side of it on the back of her left shoulder.

I jump out of the car and look around. I see the driver jump out of the front seat and head for the back. There are two things I never leave home without, my Tic Tacs and my throwing knives. As he stands up with the gun, I throw one, and it seems to catch his arm. At that moment, I run towards the moving train. As much as it hurt me, I throw my second knife and puncture a hole in the front right tire.

Looking back, I see him getting up. I'm between him and the freight train now. With no time to hesitate, I run and jump onto the moving train, as I hear bullets being fired. I jump off on the other side and ran like I stole something. Eventually, come to another casino and make my way inside. I call the guys at the hotel from a stall in the bathroom and tell them what happened.

I tell them to get their stuff, check out and come get me. We end up leaving Vegas that night. We stay at some random hotel and casino between Vegas and Boulder City. The next morning after breakfast, we set out for the rendezvous. I don't know what that was or who was behind it. And I know it's on me for not being more careful—but I think we need to be more vigilant from here on in. They can't stop all of us.

Daisuke