Evie Jones and the Rocky Roulette: An Evie Jones Novella

by Amie Gibbons

  “At least you have a goal.”

  I slipped out, closing the door behind me so Chet could get dressed without giving a peep show.

  O’Shay was sitting on the couch, reading something on his phone. He looked up when I walked in, the blush obvious.

  I smiled at him. “Oh, you found something to entertain yourself while we were busy. Good. I felt like a bad hostess, but well, a girl doesn’t turn that down.”

  He looked down as he stood and I smiled bigger.

  “Everything okay, sweetie?” my dad asked, keeping his voice even as he pulled the Chinese takeout from the box. My stomach growled, reminding me we left the restaurant before we’d gotten dinner.

  “We’re good. O’Shay, you figure out where Sean is?”

  “Yes,” he said. “I have a general area in west Nevada, maybe two hours from here, and we can track more closely when we get there.”

  “Good, so we eat and go. At least now we know he’s alive.”

  Chet walked out of the room, eyes still glittering, and I had to grin.

  He walked up to O’Shay and cold-clocked him right in the jaw, dropping the slight man like a bag of bricks.

  “You touch my girl again, remember, she’s not the only one with a long range rifle. And I’m a better shot than her.”

  O’Shay stood, rubbing his jaw. “Don’t make threats you don’t mean to keep. I know you wouldn’t actually take a life. The reason she’s so scary is because she would.”

  “Fine, I’ll just beat the shit out of you while she holds your magic down. Fair?”

  O’Shay smirked. “T-”

  “What is it with Jews and Chinese food?” Ashley said loudly. “I never got that.”

  “It’s something we’ve always done,” I said, grinning at my dad.

  We raised our arms at the same time, singing out, “Tradition!”

  The guys burst out laughing and we sat down to chow.

  “Thank you,” I mouthed at Ashley.

  “You’re welcome,” she mouthed back.

  Something told me O’Shay wasn’t done being a testosterone filled putz though.

  # # #

  We ate, packed up, Chet complaining about how heavy my bag was as he hauled it downstairs to the car, and piled into Dad’s SUV. Dad drove with O’Shay giving directions. Dad’s car had more room so it was the obvious choice. And the three rows meant I could be in the back with Chet while O’Shay gave directions and Ashley and Corey sat in the middle seats.

  A few too many people who knew about us according to O’Shay, but oh well.

  Maybe that’s the best way to fight them? Tell humans about us, one by one, until there’s so many who know about us that witches become common knowledge and this whole protecting us through ignorance thing doesn’t work anymore.

  “What are you thinking about so hard?” Chet asked, leaning over to take my hand and kiss my knuckles.

  “I have an idea,” I said. “I’ll tell you later when we don’t have an audience.”

  “Oh?” He grinned. “This have anything to do with what happened about five minutes before those guys came back with food?”

  I chuckled. “No, but I can come up with some ideas along those lines, too.”

  “If you’re going to think that hard, I’d hope so.”

  “What makes you think I was thinking hard?”

  “The look on your face. It’s serious Evie. You only get that look when you’re plotting something. It’s why I see it so often.”

  I had to smile. “Do you remember the night we met?”

  He nodded, confusion passing over his face. “My band was playing your fundraiser for the animal shelter. Why?”

  “That night was Friday the Thirteenth. I was using Gremlin to gather luck, it’s what cats do on that day. There was a woman in our coven who knew I was gathering luck to help Ashley pass the bar. She threatened to tell the Council, to bring them down on me.

  “I was so scared of them then. That was just a year ago. And now? Now I’m working with one and have him in my back pocket. So that kind of threat now would be nothing. I could call O’Shay and have him bury it. I was just thinking I could start using that power for more good than keeping me and mine out of trouble.”

  He smiled, kissing my knuckles again.

  “The point of the story actually isn’t this epiphany I’ve had. It’s you. I was so scared then, keeping my eye on that woman who threatened to turn me in, but then I saw you. And for a second, or two, I was distracted. And Maggie got the drop on me.”

  “Sooooo, you’re saying I almost got you arrested?”

  “No, I’m saying you’ve been worth the risk since the day we met.”

  That made him smile.

  “You, Evie Jones, are one smooth talking witch.”

  I leaned over and kissed him.

  “What’s in Wendover?” came from the front and we pulled apart.

  “Wendover?” I asked.

  O’Shay was twisted in his seat to look behind at us, his face just as contorted as his body. “I’ve got them dead ahead in about ten miles and the sign we just passed says around there is Wendover. Anything there?”

  “Casinos,” Corey and Ashley said together.

  “It’s basically Vegas’s poor cousin,” Ashley said. “It’s on the border of Utah and it has a cluster of casinos. Good place to go with girlfriends for a binge weekend.”

  “The only reason to go there is to gamble,” Corey said. “Maybe see a band coming through but yeah, gambling and drinking pretty much covers it.”

  “Evie, you know how you were joking it could be some sort of heist?” Chet asked. “What if you were right?”

  I looked at him.

  “Think about it,” he said. “Only reason for anybody to be in Wendover? Vegas is big and has some serious security, but the casinos out here? Not nearly as big a fish, means less security.”

  I nodded along and pulled out my phone, pulling up Wolf’s number and calling him.

  “Evie? Have you found him?” Wolf said on answering before I could say hi.

  “No, but we’ve got them narrowed down to Wendover,” I said. Here’s hoping he doesn’t ask how. “Is there anything Sean was working on or knows that’d make him useful in a heist?”

  “Haven’t you been over this?”

  “We’re revisiting considering where they are.”

  “Not unless they are attempting to predict an earthquake so they know when to rob the casinos. Considering how unlikely one is… the math does not make sense.”

  I paused, covering the mouthpiece. “It’s a casino and we’re pretty sure it’s witches behind this, right? What if they aren’t trying to rob? What if they’re trying to win?”

  I looked over at Chet and he nodded, mouthing, “Gambling?”

  I nodded, putting the phone back up. “Wolf, is there anything a geologist would know that’d make him useful in helping someone rig a win out of a casino? Like… use a machine to make the craps table shake at just the right time to bump the dice or something?”

  “Not for craps, no,” Wolf said so slowly my heart jumped. “But for roulette wheels? They just might. And roulette is a big enough payout compared to your bet to make it worth it.”

  “Explain.”

  “Roulette wheels have variations. A geologist who studies vibration could study a roulette wheel and predict with some amount of accuracy approximately where it will land next based on the microscopic variations, as long as he knows the previous sequence of numbers.”

  “How accurate?”

  “Not down to one number, that’s for sure.”

  “But down to an area?”

  “Yes.”

  “Thanks Wolf, you don’t know how helpful that was.”

  “Just get my TA back.”

  “Working on it.” I ended the call. “Oy vey, I know what they’re planning.”

  “What?” Chet asked.

  “C-” My bag wiggled and I squinted at it. “What the?” It wiggled a
gain.

  “Meow!”

  Chet burst out laughing and unzipped it.

  Gremlin jumped out, scolding me with meows for leaving him in there so long as he jumped on my lap and spun a circle before laying down.

  “At least now we know why your bag was so heavy?” Chet chuckled.

  “You didn’t check for stowaways?” I asked, petting my baby.

  “Didn’t occur to me.”

  “Wolf said a roulette wheel has variations in it,” I said after we were inside our hotel room.

  We’d got one so we’d have a base of operations, and a place to stash our furry stowaway, but we’d grab more if it looked like we were staying the night. Dad was downstairs, scanning the casino with the spell O’Shay had whipped up to pinpoint Sean.

  “Someone who studies motion could study an individual roulette wheel, what numbers it lands on, and estimate where the ball is likely to land,” I said.

  “So they’re going to what?” Ashley asked. “Place bets on all the slots in that area?”

  “No. They’re witches. They’re going to figure out the general area, place bets on one or two of them, and as the ball gets close, nudge it over into the slot. It falls approximately where it should so the casino doesn’t get suspicious and since it’d only have to be nudged a bit since they’d already be in the area, they could do it with the minimum of magic.”

  “Why here though?” Chet asked. “Wouldn’t Vegas be better? Much bigger payout.”

  “Practice,” Corey said. “They want to make sure he can estimate it close enough tonight before they pull it in Vegas tomorrow.”

  “It’s brilliant,” O’Shay said, sitting down on the edge of one bed. “Don’t use magic tonight, just study it, maybe place some small bets, and watch to test the geologist. Bring him to Vegas tomorrow and let the power of the equinox and those using it cover up very minor magic. We’d never have detected it if they didn’t use magic to maim that body.”

  “That was stupid of them,” I said. “Considering how careful they’re being, why take such an unnecessary risk?”

  “It’s a group, right?” Chet asked.

  O’Shay nodded, head jerking like it physically pained him to answer Chet’s question.

  “One of them is the leader, he’s the one who planned it carefully. The one who was responsible for dumping the body is stupid, sloppy, probably young and cocky. He maimed the body, fast and dirty, and set off a magical imbalance he probably didn’t expect.”

  “Group dynamics like that?” Corey said, rubbing his chin. “I’m guessing a family. Pros wouldn’t bring in someone young and green and leave him alone, even a group of people with similar ideas wouldn’t do that. Probably family business, maybe with the older ones close friends, but it was probably someone’s kid.”

  I nodded. “The experienced witches take Sean and make sure there’s no trail or evidence while they leave the younger one to do the simplest task, cut off identifying marks. It was probably harder than he thought it’d be and he took a shortcut.”

  “They wouldn’t trust him alone after that,” Corey said. “But they wouldn’t all want to be seen together either. We need to look for people around the roulette wheels; not playing or betting very low, with one young enough to be someone’s son.”

  “Why are we assuming males?” Ashley asked. “Woman can be thieves too, ya know.”

  “Profiling,” Corey said. “Most likely, these are middle aged males with something in life that tipped them over the edge. They might have a wife or girlfriend along, especially the one with the kid, but probably mostly guys.”

  “Go down to the casino, fan out around the roulette wheels,” I said. “If you see anything, call me or my dad.”

  “If you see anything, call me,” O’Shay said. “I’m the one who can track their energies and compare them to the reading from my tracking spell.”

  “Dad’s the one who has the tracking spell right now,” I said, grinding my teeth.

  “For a preliminary scouting mission.” O’Shay stood, leaning like he was trying to tower over me. Ha, he had maybe two inches on me.

  “And yet,” I said. “We still have it.”

  “And yet, I can take it back.”

  “We have three main casinos to hit,” Corey said, pushing between us, knocking O’Shay back on the bed.

  No clue if it was on purpose, but it was funny.

  “Three casinos, with a nice spread of roulette wheels to cover,” Corey continued. “We’re going to have to split up to hit them all while the kidnappers are possibly still on the floor. It’s already late and I’m guessing they’ll rise early to make it to Vegas. We’ll need one witch at each casino. Evie, you take Chet, Ashley can go with your dad and I’ll take the Council cop. We’ll probably get along better than he will with the other two.”

  Chet smirked and whispered, “He’s not doing anything for you right now with this taking charge thing, is he?”

  I shrugged. “A little.”

  “I’m going to have to give you another lesson, aren’t I?” He wrapped an arm around my shoulders, squeezing me into his side.

  “Yep, but not tonight. We’ve got kidnappers to fry.”

  “You meant bigger fish to fry, right?”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  # # #

  O’Shay replicated the spell he’d made for Dad and we each took one, a green ball the size of a bead that was supposed to grow warm as we neared our target.

  Ours was stone cold.

  Chet and I took the casino of the hotel we were staying in, The Pepper or Rainbow something, Dad and Ashley took the next one over and Corey and O’Shay took the biggest one, about half a mile down the road.

  We walked around the floor for a few minutes to get the lay of the land, the endless maze of slot machines and thick blanket of smoke making me dizzy.

  “Is it wrong I kind of want to gamble right now?” Chet asked as we stood next to one of the roulette wheels.

  It spun too many times to count and landed on numbers seemingly at random. If Wolf said it could be studied and predicted to some semblance of accuracy, I believed him, I just didn’t see how it was possible.

  “I’m a little worried,” I said. “I don’t think I’d deal well with a boyfriend with a gambling problem.”

  “I don’t have a problem, it’s fun, long as you go in knowing what you’re willing to spend and don’t go one cent over.”

  “I like to keep my money. Losing it on chance where the odds are definitely stacked against you has never appealed to me.”

  We walked between the craps tables to get to the next roulette wheel. My bead hadn’t so much as glowed in the time we’d been on the floor let alone heated.

  “I don’t think they’re here,” I said after we’d wandered between all the tables and watched each wheel for a few minutes each.

  I called Corey and he said the same. They were still circling theirs since it was the biggest, but the stone was dead stone cold.

  He thought that was hilarious. I chuckled to humor him.

  I called my dad and his phone went right to voicemail.

  “Dad,” I huffed, rolling my eyes.

  “What?” Chet asked.

  “For someone who runs his own business, he’s a freaking Luddite. Can’t remember to charge his phone half the time and can’t work it the other half.”

  I left a message for my dad and called Ashley.

  She didn’t answer.

  My heart sank and I hung up, hitting her number again.

  “Evie?” Chet asked.

  “Ashley’s not answering either.”

  “And?”

  “And that girl is glued to her phone. Having to part with it during the bar exam for a whole twelve hours nearly killed her. It was like she lost a hand.”

  “She’s had a long day and none of us packed anything besides you and your dad grabbing a few things. She probably doesn’t have her charger with her.”

  “Then her phone would go direct
ly to voicemail, not ring before.”

  I called again.

  The phone clicked on.

  “Ashley! Oy vey, give me a heart attack,” I said, grinning.

  “Oh, is that her name?” a male voice asked.

  My stomach hit the floor and my hands shook. I met Chet’s eyes and he paled.

  “Who is this and where is my friend?” I said in a low voice.

  “We’re borrowing her,” the man said. “When she showed up, our new friend grew quite excited. Figured we could use her for a little extra leverage. Can I assume her escort is also a friend of yours?”

  Heat buzzed through my muscles and I tasted copper on the back of my tongue as my stomach lurched.

  Dad!

  “If you hurt them, I will gut you and feed you your intestines fried on a stick.”

  He chuckled.

  “And then I’ll turn you over to the Council.”

  The laughter shut off.

  “You’re one of us.” It wasn’t a question.

  “You’re caught. We’re closing in on you. Surrender and we may consider mercy.”

  “The girl isn’t a witch. The man is?”

  Honestly, I was surprised Dad hadn’t fried them already.

  “How’d you knock him out in the middle of a crowded casino?” I took a wild guess, after all, this town was about gambling.

  “Chloroformed him in the bathroom, hauled him out saying our buddy drank too much.”

  “No magic. You’re smart. Not smart enough not to kill a man and take off his face with enough magic to set off an earthquake. But then again, that was the young one, wasn’t it?”

  “You…” He paused and I smiled. I had him spooked at least. “If you were that smart, you’d already be on us.”

  “What makes you think I’m not?” I whispered.

  He hung up.

  “We can’t run off half-cocked,” O’Shay said. “We need a plan of attack.”

  “They’ve got my dad and my friend!” I yelled, clenching my fists to keep from decking O’Shay myself.

  “And that’s why we need to be calm,” Chet said. “We have to think this through and come up with a plan so they don’t have the chance to hurt anyone.”

  “They won’t have the chance to hurt anyone if I cook them alive,” I said.