by Amie Gibbons
I sipped my glass of wine, willing the warmth to calm the cold pit in my stomach. My dad couldn’t be dead.
I’d know it.
They didn’t have a problem with killing someone just to be a decoy for Sean, an evil voice whispered inside. What makes you think they wouldn’t kill a witch while he was down?
I took a longer gulp. If they killed my dad, I wouldn’t let O’Shay arrest them. They’d answer to me first.
Chet rolled for a few minutes, apparently doing well based on the people shouting around the table and I hoped the fake smile was still plastered on my face. I couldn’t feel it anymore.
“Not having fun?” someone asked next to my elbow. I turned and the guy smiled at me. He didn’t look old enough to gamble but hey, they wouldn’t let him on the floor if he wasn’t. I’d already been carded three times.
“I don’t approve of gambling,” I said quietly. “My boyfriend’s having fun and I’m over here trying to be supportive. It’s not like he’s gambling a lot so I’m trying not to worry. But I don’t get why people like it. Odds are you’ll lose ”
“I’m here with my dad. He’s having a blast. I’m just taking some of his free drinks.”
I snorted, lifting my glass and we clinked. “You even old enough to drink?”
He grinned. “I’m twenty-one. I know, my sister calls me a walking tree with a baby face.”
I chuckled. “I like that. Walking tree with a baby face. I’ll have to remember that.”
Cheers rocked the table and I flinched at the noise. Chet hadn’t even turned.
Huh, maybe people gambling really were that caught up in it. If we did have a magical smack down, we probably would just have to worry about cameras, the security and pit bosses and the random people there watching instead of playing.
I held out my hand. “I’m Evie.”
“Jorge.” He shook my hand a little tentatively, like he wasn’t used to shaking hands with people. Not exactly hip with the young people these days.
“I don’t get this game.”
“My dad taught me. He normally… hey, what’s that?”
I looked down where he was pointing.
A green glow showed through my woven purse like a laser and I yelped.
“Oh, it’s a reminder on my phone,” I said, smacking Chet’s arm.
“Ow, what?” Chet turned and I jabbed a finger at the pocket he had the bead in. He glanced down and his eyes grew huge. “Stay cool, girl,” he whispered, turning back to the table and placing his next bet.
Right. Had to play it cool. Had to pretend all was well here.
But they were here!
I pulled out my phone, swaying a bit like I’d had a bit too much to keep me steady on my feet, and text Corey and O’Shay they were here.
“Got it,” came back from Corey a moment later.
It’d take them at least ten minutes to get here from what I could tell by the size of the places. They may have been next door to each other, but in Vegas that was more like saying two city blocks were next to each other.
“Hey sweetie,” I said loud enough to be heard over the music and cheers of gamblers. “If the cocktail waiter comes back, ask him for another red wine for me?”
“Got it,” he said, shooting me a confused look.
“Recon,” I mouthed, nodding to the high rollers area.
He nodded and I went by, switching the glowing bead to my pocket.
I peeked into the high stakes room and saw a variety of slots and tables just like out on the main floor, just fewer of them, and scurried my tuchus by fast enough that hopefully it just looked like I was curious.
I hit the bathroom just in case and circled back out, peeking into the high stakes room again.
“You want to go in?” came from behind me, making me jump.
I turned and the kid Jorge stared down at me.
“I couldn’t,” I said. “I think they’d take one look at me and toss me out.”
“If you’re worried, my dad was talking about going in there. You could come with us to watch. I’m always tagging along with him and watching and they don’t mind.”
I grinned and nodded. I told Chet I was heading in with my new friends and he asked if he could come along because that would be awesome to see. Jorge’s dad introduced himself as Gabriel and we exchanged pleasantries before heading in.
He went straight for the craps table again, obviously he had a favorite game, but it was close enough to the roulette wheel to see it.
I glanced around, letting the tourist in me come out, making my eyes wide with wonder at the glitz and the thousands of dollars being tossed around like so much change.
It took a few passes, but I finally saw Sean. He hung near the roulette wheel. The wheel hit a number and he nodded, eyes ticking back and forth like he was doing the calculations in his head.
Maybe he was.
Was that even possible?
Hey, never underestimate a nerd at their craft.
Sean texted something then looked up and around as the wheel went again.
I knew the second he spotted us because he jerked, eyes flying huge. He gave a subtle shake of his head and I grinned, turning back to the craps table.
I pulled out my phone, typing we were here to rescue him.
We’re coming, Sean. Hang in there.
We had them!
Just had to wait for our reinforcements. Wasn’t like these guys were going anywhere.
A text came in, Sean typing so much the bad guys probably didn’t notice the extra messages.
Not too bright of them.
“No!” it said. “They’ve got magic. Not kidding.”
“So do I,” I typed. “Not kidding. Which ones are they?”
A moment later. “It’s the guy with the Utes cap, the one on his left with the ghetto braid and the woman on the other side of the table with the tall glass and umbrella.”
I checked out the people. Utes cap could’ve been anywhere in thirties or forties but the other guy and woman were definitely at least fifty, probably the couple Corey was predicting.
Meaning they left two or three with their hostages, one of which was going to be the hot head kid who set off the quake. They had Dad drugged, might have Ashley the same way, and they had the drugs still on them. And didn’t want us to know. Probably meant they could pull out the needles and use them at some point.
I looked up, playing spot the camera. If anything went wrong on film, we’d have security all over us. As though they weren’t already. There were at least three guys combing the high stakes area and those were just the obvious ones. Something told me they wouldn’t appreciate any shenanigans.
“I’m not sure we’re going to pull this off,” I whispered to Chet and he smiled slowly.
“I’m sure you’ll think of something. You always do.” He kissed my cheek, turning to shout for our new friend as he got the dice.
O’Shay and Corey got there while Gabriel was still rolling and hung outside the high stakes area so they didn’t attract attention. He apparently was on a quite literal roll and everyone was screaming.
It took everything in me not to roll my eyes and to keep on smiling. These guys realized this was a great, big scam, right? That no matter what, the odds were in the house’s favor and if you won now, unless it was your first time, you’d probably already lost more to them than you’d ever get back?
Then again, some might call me cynical when it came to games of chance.
Jews don’t play with money, we just earn it.
I wandered around a bit after the guys got there, checking out the different games with a glass in my hand and a slight wobble. People always cut you more slack when you’d been drinking. Something about alcohol excusing bad behavior.
“You okay?” Jorge asked as I came back, smiling and tilting my head to the side so Corey would know where to look as he poked his head in.
“I’m fine,” I slurred slightly, waving my hand. “I have the tolerance o
f a guinea pig, that’s all.”
“Yeah.”
“Thanks for getting us in here,” I said, making sure that indoor voice thing was out the windows. “This is so cool.” I giggled and shushed myself. “Oy vey, I’m loud when I drink.”
I grinned as I stumbled away, catching myself on Chet’s arm. We watched the game at the roulette table for a bit before he went back to watch the craps game, keeping us from catching the eye of the bad guys probably.
Sean kept looking at the wheel and pounding on his phone. Putting the numbers in maybe?
I knew when he had it down because Utes hat upped his bet. Not too much, just threw down two hundred instead of one. The ball landed close to his and he did the two hundred bet again and again, then jumped it up to five hundred.
Utes hat looked at Sean and he typed something into his phone then downed his drink.
Poor Sean was the one with the tolerance of a guinea pig. Probably trying to drown himself, get a little insulation from the situation.
We’ll get them, Sean. I swear.
The man bet a thousand dollars and I nodded at the front, hoping the guys were keeping an eye out. This wasn’t the best plan, but hopefully good enough to keep them from winning anything from their cheating and get them out of here.
We could just let them win, they’ll leave after that probably.
I shrugged to myself, but letting them win didn’t sit well. Sure the casinos were sucking money out of people every day, but they were upfront that they were cheating people. Hell, they even broke down the odds for the mathematically challenged.
Nah, letting them get away with this, even for a few minutes, wasn’t happening.
The wheel spun and I focused on the number the man put his money on. He’d have to make the ball jump at the very end to get it in there and make it look natural.
The wheel spun. I kept my body loose as I finished my drink and put the glass down on the table, watching the ball as intently as any of the players.
It slowed and as it started skipping through the notches slower and slower, I squinted, focusing my senses. The magic came out so light and subtle even waiting for it I almost missed it. The ball skipped into the slot and I nudged it.
It skipped down three more, landing and going around again before the dealer scooped up the chips.
The angry growls weren’t audible from where I was but I could see from the corner of my eye the guy was getting pissed.
He obviously thought he was pushing too hard because he tried landing it in the slot before his the next time. I let it sit and he lost another thousand.
He tried again and again, missing by one or two each time… with a little help from me.
Corey had suggested we mess them up just enough until they got sick of it and left to try another.
Only problem was, after doing this another half a dozen times, he still wasn’t leaving.
He upped his bet to two thousand instead.
The ball went round and round again and I squinted at the wheel, halfway through another glass of wine.
If this kept up, I really would be drunk.
Maybe it was time to let the bastards win. We could always take the cash off them and donate it, and it wasn’t like the casinos didn’t expect to lose here and there.
Still, letting them get away with it churned my stomach. It wouldn’t be right.
The ball slowed and I focused on the wheel.
Something bumped into me and I went stumbling on my heels and to my knees, scraping them on the hard carpet.
Whoops and cheers echoed through the casino so loud I flinched against the noise.
“I am so, so sorry,” a woman said loud enough for me to hear over the hollering, helping me to my feet. “I was watching the craps game and didn’t even see you.”
Everything about her screamed motherly, from her rounded body to her middle aged, pleasant face, to her slacks and sweater set. She could be Faye in ten years.
I looked from her to the roulette table. The men were cheering and screaming how they finally won and were going to keep going, let it ride.
Yeah, like that was a coincidence.
They were onto me. And this woman was in on it. That put four of them on the floor, and somehow Sean didn’t know this one was in on it, meaning she had probably kept her distance during the travel.
I blinked at the woman, twisting my face so I hoped it looked confused. “You ran into me? I just thought I was drunk.” I giggled and she smiled with me.
“Dear, I am so sorry. You’re bleeding. I’ll grab you a first aid kit and get you cleaned up in the bathroom.”
“No,” I said, “It’s okay. I-”
“Please. It’s the least I can do.”
Oy vey. I smiled and nodded. “Well, I can clean myself up, but I wouldn’t say no to the kit. Bring it to the bathroom?”
She nodded, looking so relieved I almost bought it. “Back in a jiff, dear.” And she ran off.
I hobbled to the bathroom, laying it on thick for anyone watching.
When I got out, I tapped O’Shay’s arm and jerked my head to the bathroom. They were probably trying what I’d been thinking they’d done to my dad. Get me to the bathroom and jump me there.
“When the woman who ran that way gets back.” I pointed towards where the exit was hiding in the maze of machines. “Follow her into the bathroom. We’ll ambush her.”
“How do you know she won’t have someone go in there with her?”
“I don’t. Why do you think I need you?”
He met my eyes, nodding once. “I’ve got your back.”
I was trusting a Council rep.
How did I get here?
“Goddess help me,” I said, making him frown.
I quickly texted Corey to keep an eye on Chet. They probably knew we were together if they were paying enough attention to figure out I was the one messing with them.
Corey nodded at his phone, casually walking to the high rollers area and I went to the bathroom.
I cleaned up my knees with warm water and paper towels, looking around like I was expecting… what? For her to burst in, magic whipping?
Kind of.
The woman walked in and I nearly jumped out of my skin. She just smiled, putting the kit on the counter. “There should be antibiotics and Band-Aids in here. I’m so sorry, again. I’m usually not that clumsy. I feel just awful.”
“It’s fine, ma’am,” I said as she came over, waving a hand. “I’ve done worse, trust me.”
She smiled again, still so sweet and motherly as I took the little pack of antibiotics from her.
I kneeled to dab it on my knee but keep her in sight.
She jerked, producing a cloth from nowhere and advancing in one motion. I fell on my butt, lifting my hands as she swooped down.
I sprayed flames and they slid off a shield like Vaseline, barely pausing her long enough for me to kick off my heels and scramble up. I pulled my gun from my hip, shooting as I scurried backwards.
I tapped the wall and the bullets fell from her shield, clattering on the ground loud enough to echo.
“Suppression spell on the gun, dear? she asked, walking forward. “Impressive.”
I flung up a shield and she bumped into it, giving me a condescending smile.
“You’re not going to be able to keep that up long, dear. I can taste your magic. It’s far better at fighting than defending.”
“The best defense is a good offense.” I focused on her, imagined the blood in her body boiling, the body’s natural energy cooking it, and let the spell out with a whoosh of breath, sagging under the effort of spelling while I held up the shield.
She raised her eyebrows at me. “That may impress the teenagers, but I’m afraid that spell is a lot of flash with no substance to a witch who knows what she’s doing. How long can you keep that shield up now? A minute? Less?”
I pointed my gun at her. “How long can you keep yours up? All I need is one shot. And you can’t touch m
e with whatever’s on that cloth without dropping that shield.”
She whirled just in time for me to see O’Shay blast her with water. It splashed against her shield, sloshing to the floor harmlessly. I ran around her as he blasted her again and let my shield fall with a sigh. Had to save some magic. And she was obviously occupied.
O’Shay dropped his arms and she crossed hers, staring him down through the bubble. “How many of you are there?”
“Funny. I was going to ask you the same thing,” I said.
“You do realize I told my friends what I was doing? If I don’t go back, they’ll kill the hostages.”
Hostages! My heart jumped. Meant they were both alive.
“They’ll have to get to them first,” O’Shay said.
“We have people watching the hostages,” she said.
He shrugged. “Thanks for confirming. Ma’am, I am Representative O’Shay of the Council.”
She paled and he nodded.
“You’re under arrest,” he continued. “You can come easily, tell us where the hostages are and save us some trouble, buy yourself a deal with the Council, or we can take you in.”
He smiled and I mimicked it, making mine nasty.
“Either way,” I said. “We’re not going to kill you. We are under very strict orders to bring you in alive.”
I let the threat hang and she visibly gulped, nodding quickly.
Ha! She was so scared she didn’t even notice I’d changed my story from I’ll shoot you to we have to take you alive.
“I’ll take you to them,” she said.
O’Shay opened the door, keeping his eyes on her as she walked through and back to the casino.
“In case this is a trap, one of us should stay here,” I whispered as we walked past the high roller’s room.
O’Shay nodded. “I’ll go to the room.”
“No. They have my dad.”
“You can’t go in alone.”
“I can’t risk these guys taking off with Sean either. Two humans won’t be able to stop them.”
“That’s why you should stay.”
“What if they have more people in there than the one or two we were thinking and they kill my dad?”
“Which is why I should go, since you’re low on magic.” O’Shay stayed by my side as we followed the woman through the maze of ringing dinging casino games.
