Vegas or Bust: An Aggie Underhill Mystery

by Michelle Ann Hollstein

  “I need to find Harold,” Aggie said. She still didn’t believe Miriam got cold feet and felt that Harold might be the key to her disappearance, even if no one else believed it. “I never got a chance to talk with him. I’m surprised Anita let him out of her sight.”

  Roger looked over at Anita who was chatting away with Paula. “I bet he’s in the casino.”

  “What makes you say that?” Aggie asked.

  “After spending an hour at the table with Anita any red blooded man would need a drink. And the casino gives you free alcohol as long as you’re sitting in front of a slot machine.”

  “Amen to that,” Betty said, softly.

  “Brilliant idea, dear,” Aggie said. “He looked pretty down on his luck. And I bet it’s got something to do with Miriam’s disappearance.”

  Betty wrinkled her brow with concern. “You don’t still believe something’s happened to her, do you?”

  “I won’t be able to rest until I know otherwise.”

  “Hey,” Roger said, nodding to Aggie’s pocketbook. “How much room do you have in there?”

  Aggie looked at him and raised an eyebrow. “Not on your life,” she said, reading his mind.

  “Just some rolls. I can wrap them in napkins first.”

  Aggie shook her head and got up from the table. Clutching her pocketbook protectively to her chest, she headed toward the casino.

  “Wait for me, Aggie, dear.” Betty got up from the table and hurried after her friend.

  ***

  Miriam sat on the floor in the dark bathroom thinking about Jack. Earlier, she’d overheard the men talking about him and laughing. She couldn’t make out the details of what they’d been saying, but she heard his name and the men sounded amped up about something. She prayed that he was all right and that they hadn’t hurt him. Suddenly, there was a light tapping at the door and then the handle jiggled. The door opened a crack and Miriam could see the outline of a dark slim figure.

  “It’s me…Mikey.”

  Miriam murmured through her gag.

  “Would you like something to drink? I can bring you out for a while.”

  “Mmm…hmm…” Miriam mumbled while nodding her head.

  Mikey flipped on the light switch, flooding the bathroom with bright fluorescent light. Miriam’s light sensitive eyes stung and began to water. He bent down and undid her restraints and her gag.

  “Now, no funny stuff or you’ll get me in trouble, okay?”

  Miriam nodded. Clumsily, she got up from the floor. Her legs didn’t want to work and her rear-end was numb from sitting for so long. She followed Mikey out of the bathroom and into the room. He led her to the same small table in the corner beneath the window that she’d sat at earlier. But this time, instead of donuts, there was a half-eaten box of pizza.

  “Have a slice,” Mikey said, nodding at the pizza.

  Looking around the room, Miriam noticed that the other two men weren’t there. The television was blaring with an infomercial about how to tighten your abs in thirty days or less. Miriam took a small slice of the cold pepperoni and olive pizza from the box. Taking a bite, she scrunched up her nose in disgust. She hated olives, but wasn’t about to protest. Her stomach growled and clenched from hunger as she chewed slowly and forced herself to swallow.

  “Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. Let me get you some water.” Mikey lifted his baseball cap and scratched his head. He replaced the cap, picked up one of two dirty glasses next to the pizza box and examined it to see which one was less greasy. They were small heavy glasses; the type that nice hotels had wrapped in wax paper in their bathrooms next to the sink. From what Miriam could see of their room they weren’t in a nice hotel. Maybe at one time it used to be nice, but it wasn’t anymore. The thick curtains covering the window looked old and dusty. The dark green carpet was stained and matted with filth. The rumpled comforter on the queen-sized bed was a golden yellow color that was popular a good thirty years ago. It matched the ugly gold and olive green striped wallpaper on the walls.

  Mikey turned his back to walk toward the bathroom to fill the glass with tap water. Desperate and not thinking things through, Miriam’s instinct for survival kicked in full force. She grabbed the other glass from the table, jumped up and charged at him. The glass was heavy and cold in her hand. It was coated in grease from the pizza and was slippery as she ran up behind Mikey. She tried not to drop the glass as she crashed it against the back of his head, hearing a crunch as it shattered against his skull.

  As if in slow motion, she watched his knees buckle and he collapsed to the floor. She’d hit him with such force that the shards of glass rained down on the carpet. Not waiting to see if he was able to get up, she grabbed the handle to the door. Her hand stung. Little pieces of glass had penetrated her palm. Ignoring the pain, she tried to wrench the door open, but it wouldn’t budge. In a panic, she yanked it twice before realizing it was latched.

  With shaky hands, she lifted the latch. It took two tries of fumbling with it to get it to unlocked. Her body was shaking with fright and her fingers didn’t want to work. She cursed at herself for being incompetent. Finally, the door was unlocked. Flinging it open, Miriam ran down the hall.

  Chapter 12

  Harold sat in front of a quarter machine. He was playing video poker with his last twenty dollar bill. After this, he wasn’t sure what he was going to do. He sure as heck wasn’t going to win it big off of video poker. But then again, if he could win the jackpot, it would be a good start. Then he’d have enough money to bet with. If that didn’t work, he’d be out of options and as a last resort he’d have to go to the police.

  Glancing at his watch, he frowned. He was already down five dollars out of the twenty and he was running out of time. He wondered if he’d be able to talk them into giving him one more day. If he could do that, then he’d have time to go to the bank and take out a loan. But he knew that wouldn’t happen. And he knew the bank wouldn’t approve him for a loan either. That was wishful thinking. It would have to be the police.

  “Where’s that waitress?” he grumbled, looking down the row of slot machines. “All I want is a beer!” She’d just been there a moment ago, taking an order from a woman a few machines down. She walked right past him without even asking what he’d like.

  “Doesn’t look like you’re doing so well,” said a woman’s voice from behind him.

  Spinning around in his seat, Harold practically fell over when he saw Aggie Underhill standing there. She smiled and took a seat at the slot machine next to him. Harold went to get up when he suddenly felt hands gripping his shoulders.

  “You’re not getting up so soon, are you?” Betty asked flirtingly while massaging his tight shoulders.

  “I’m looking for the cocktail waitress,” he said. “If you’ll excuse me…”

  “Oh,” Betty said, letting go of his shoulders. “Let me find her for you. I can do with a drink. What would you like?”

  Harold cleared his throat. “A beer. Any kind is fine.”

  Betty leaned in and whispered in his ear. “Why don’t you and Aggie chat while I get us drinks?”

  Harold flinched. Betty gently patted his back and batted her eyelashes at him. “Now don’t you go anywhere. I’ll be right back. What would you like, Agsie, dear?”

  “A Piña Colada would be splendid, dear.”

  “Fabulous. Be right back.” Betty turned on the toe of her tan wedges and sauntered down the aisle in search of the cocktail waitress.

  “So, Harold…” Aggie said, pulling a twenty from her wallet and slipping it into the bill feeder on the slot machine.

  Harold cleared his throat again. He kept his eyes glued to the screen of the slot machine.

  “How’s the gambling going?”

  “Could be better,” he said, still not taking his eyes off his virtual cards.

  “I see,” Aggie said. She played a couple hands of poker on her machine until Harold smacked his screen.

  “Stupid…!” he cussed.

>   “Oh dear,” Aggie said. “Did you lose?”

  “Yes, I lost!” he snapped, spinning around in his chair. “I lost everything!”

  “It’s not about the poker, is it?” Aggie probed. “You lost a lot more than that.”

  “What do you know about it?”

  “It’s Miriam, isn’t it?”

  “Here you go!” Betty said, sneaking up on them. Harold snatched the beer from her hands and took a large gulp.

  “Thanks,” Aggie said, taking her drink from Betty. “That was fast.”

  “The bar is just over there. I lucked out and caught the waitress on her rounds. Perfect timing!”

  Harold wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “I need to get going. Thanks for the beer.”

  “Wait,” Aggie said, getting up from her chair. “I can help you.”

  “How can you help me?” Harold asked. “You can’t possibly help.”

  “Try me,” Aggie said.

  Harold sighed and sat back down. At this point, he felt he had nothing to lose and decided it couldn’t hurt to confide in someone, even if that someone was the annoying nosy woman from the cruise with the great big handbag and her man crazy squirrely friend.

  ***

  In the honeymoon suite, Jack paced back and forth at the foot of the bed. He nervously wrung his hands as his mind worked a mile a minute. He needed a plan, but wasn’t quite sure where to begin. Should he empty their savings account? Not that there was much left in it after paying for the package deal on their wedding. But at least it was something.

  Jack decided to start with something small. Not to think too big. Start with something that was within his immediate control. First, he’d get out of his tuxedo which he knew he would be losing his deposit on. The left knee of his pants was torn and several of the buttons on his shirt had been ripped off. Then he’d get himself cleaned up.

  Taking off his clothes, he tossed them on the bed and then searched his suitcase for something to change into. Tears flooded his eyes as he dug through Miriam’s clothes to get to his own. He picked up her favorite emerald green satin nightgown and gently stroked it. Putting it to his nose he deeply breathed in her scent. None of this seemed real.

  Jack dropped the nightgown back into the suitcase and pulled out a pair of dark blue jeans and a long sleeved black T-shirt. He carried his clothes to the bathroom and dumped them on the counter. He leaned over the sink and looked at his tired eyes in the mirror. He then noticed that his bottom lip was busted and swollen with blood that had dribbled and dried onto his chin, his right cheek bone was bruised and his skin was puffy and red beneath his eyes. He’d been in such an emotional turmoil that he hadn’t noticed how bad his face hurt until now.

  Turning on the tap, Jack splashed cold water on his face and winced. He then dabbed at his bloody lip with a wet washcloth. While he made himself somewhat presentable, he wondered what he was going to do. His entire life had been turned upside down. Then an idea struck him. It was the only logical idea he’d had besides going to the police. And he couldn’t do that. Going to the police was out of the question if he wanted Miriam back safe and sound. He’d go to his mother and ask for help. She always knew what to do.

  ***

  When Miriam got to the end of the hall she heard voices coming from around the corner. Immediately, she recognized them. They belonged to the other two men that had taken her captive. Quickly, she grabbed hold of the doorknob to the closest door that was on her right. It was locked.

  Her heart thudding in her ears, Miriam turned around and began to run in the direction she’d just come from. She hated to run back toward the room she’d been held captive in, but didn’t know what else to do. She stopped and grabbed the handle to the next closed door on her right. Locked. She tried the next door and shook the handle. Locked again.

  The men’s voices were getting louder. She was in a panic. She didn’t know what to do. There was nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. She flew to the other side of the hall and grabbed at a door handle. That one was locked, too. Tears clouded her eyes and began to stream down her cheeks. She could feel her nose running.

  “Hey!” Mikey said, stepping out of the room that she’d just fled moments ago. He was standing in front of her. Miriam turned around and ran back down the hall away from him. The two other men rounded the corner and froze when they saw her.

  “What the…!” barked the large burly man. “What’s she doing out here?”

  “I was with you!” yelled the other one. “How should I know?”

  “I’m not talking to you!” growled the burly one.

  Miriam skidded to a halt. She stared wide eyed at the two men. She turned around again and saw a wobbly Mikey staggering toward her. Once more, she looked at the other two men. She was trapped. The burly man sneered and growled. Flustered, Miriam decided to take her chances and head back in Mikey’s direction, even though the room dead ended at the end of the hall. He was the most harmless out of the three men. She was afraid of what the other two men would do to her physically if she was to try and run past them. There was no way she’d be able to escape without them grabbing hold of her.

  Miriam sprinted toward Mikey and then stopped and began pounding on the door nearest her. “Help me!” she screamed. “Help!”

  “Get her back in the room!” the burly man ordered, closing in on her.

  “It’s not my fault,” Mikey said, putting his hand to the back of his head and wincing. “She hit me from behind. I think I’m concussed. I’m bleeding.”

  “I don’t give a rat’s…!”

  “Somebody, please! Anyone!” Miriam screamed, running across the hall and pounding on another door. “Open the door! Help me!”

  Firmly, Mikey grabbed hold of her upper arm. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll shut up,” he said in a low voice. Miriam tilted her head up and made eye contact with him. His eyes held a hint of concern for her.

  “No…. somebody, please!” Miriam cried, shaking her head.

  “You don’t want to do this,” Mikey whispered in her ear. “I don’t want them to hurt you. Do you want to get hurt?”

  Feeling defeated, Miriam shook her head and then sobbed into his shoulder.

  “Get her the hell out of here!” the burly man barked. “Now!

  “Uncle Joe…”

  “Don’t you Uncle Joe me! Get her out of here!”

  The door that Miriam had been pounding on opened a crack. An older gentleman peered out. Miriam looked up just in time to see a green eye peer at her.

  “Sorry to bother you,” Mikey said. “Go back in your room. Nothin’ to see out here.”

  The door closed, and feeling hopeless, Miriam sobbed some more as Mikey steered her back to the room. She prayed that the older gentleman would do the right thing and call the police.

  Chapter 13

  Sylvie threw her hands up in the air. “What do you want me to do about it?”

  “Mama, I need money. The kidnappers won’t return Miriam until I pay the ransom,” Jack said, sitting next to his mother at the foot of her bed.

  “Call the police,” Sylvie said, resuming her nail filing. She blew on her thumb nail and then held it out so she could examine it.

  “Mama, I told you already,” Jack said, exhausted. “I can’t call them. They’ll kill Miriam.”

  “Then I don’t know what to tell you,” she said, setting her nail file down and grabbing the remote that was resting on the bed behind her. Skipping through the TV channels, she checked to see what was on. “There’s nothing good on in Vegas. You’d think that Las Vegas of all places would get more TV channels.”

  “Mama, I don’t know why you’re sitting in your room anyway,” Jack spat. “You’re in Las Vegas! You’re not supposed to be watching TV.”

  “Don’t you sass your mother! Just because your fiancé has selfishly gone and gotten herself kidnapped, which is beyond me on how she could allow that to happen on her wedding night…doesn’t give you the right to talk
to me that way! Do you understand me, young man?”

  “I’m sorry, Mama. I’m just upset,” Jack said softly.

  “Of course you’re upset. We’re all upset. She made you look like an idiot standing there, waiting for her at the altar. And now she’s gone out of her way to have you beat up by her kidnappers.”

  “It wasn’t purposely Mama. You can’t hold that against her.”

  “Maybe not,” Sylvie said softly. “At least now I can save face and tell everyone that she didn’t ditch you on your wedding day. It was all a big misunderstanding.”

  “Misunderstanding? Mama, the woman I love has been taken against her will.”

  “Just as I said, a big misunderstanding. Besides, not to change the subject, but,” Sylvie frowned, “as you know I don’t gamble. It’s sacrilegious. Why you wanted to get married in Las Vegas, I’ll never know. And I’ll have to come up with some sort of excuse for that as well. Guess that’s the kind of woman your fiancé is. I know I raised you right. You wouldn’t have chosen to get married in the city of sin. You know what? Maybe I should rent a movie. Would you like to see a movie? How about a nice Disney movie to get your mind off of things? When you were little, you loved a good wholesome movie.”

  “Mama, I don’t want to see a freakin’ movie! I want to get Miriam back. I need a way to get money quick.”

  Sylvie muted the television and stared at her son. “I don’t have that kind of money. Not without mortgaging the house. And Miriam isn’t worth my house. What do you want me to do? Go and live on the streets?”

  “No, Mama.”

  “You know what? You should go ask her granny. Maybe she wouldn’t mind putting money against her home. I don’t know why kidnappers would want Miriam anyhow. She’s not very attractive.”

  “Mama!”

  “Don’t you Mama me! You asked me for my advice and I gave it to you. Go call the police and let them handle it.” Sylvie turned the volume up on the television set. As far as she was concerned the conversation was over with.