3 Sin City Hunter

by Maddie Cochere

  I made my way to the gift shop. I needed to compartmentalize all of this frustration and start enjoying the day. I had always told the girls at the Slimmers center to put their problems in a box and leave it outside the door when they came to work; they could pick it up again when they left. It was a good mental exercise for all of us, and I think keeping personal drama out of our workday helped tremendously in keeping our center at number one in our division.

  My stomach did a little flutter at the thought of going to the Slimmers Corporate Offices on Tuesday. I was looking forward to meeting the people I had only heard about or talked with over the telephone for the past few years. It would be fun to finally meet them.

  I entered the gift shop and had to stifle a laugh. A bin of rocks for sale was just inside the door. They were probably from the same bunch of loose rocks I had wanted to pick up and throw at Dudley.

  The shop was filled with typical gift store fodder - books, postcards, greeting cards, t-shirts, coasters, and puzzles. The dam statues made me laugh. Did people really buy these? I came across a display of shot glasses and picked one up to purchase. Whenever Darby and I traveled together, I always bought a shot glass, usually from the airport gift shop, and we actually used them. I chose an embossed glass for our little collection. After Mick and I were married, I probably wouldn’t be traveling with Darby anymore, and Mick and I would have to start our own little collection of something.

  After double-checking to be sure I had looked over all of the merchandise in the shop, I figured I had killed enough time, and the tour would be over. I paid for my glass and left the shop.

  As I headed back toward the bridge, I saw the three of them coming toward me. Dad and Darby were both wearing Hoover Dam hats, and Mom was carrying a bag of souvenirs. They were laughing, and it was obvious they’d had a good time together.

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  “It’s beautiful on you,” the salesgirl said to me as I did a bit of a twirl in the dress.

  I had decided to soothe my rattled nerves by doing some shopping. Mick would be coming in on Friday, and our big evening out would be on Saturday. We were dining at Joel Robuchon, followed by a gondola ride at The Venetian. Afterward, we would be catching up with Mom, Dad, Darby, and Nate at the Paris Hotel to see Barry Manilow.

  I was in the Paris Hotel trying on an antique white, Hepburn-esque dress. It was made of duchess satin with a soft organza overlay. The skirt had a touch of fullness. The satin created a straight-cut, strapless silhouette, with the organza creating the sleeveless, see-through look with a Sabrina neckline. White was in this winter, and the dress was really pretty. It was sexy and had a flirty look about it. Mick would love it, and so did I.

  “I love it, but I want a dress for Saturday night, and it’ll be too cold to go sleeveless. I don’t think my trench coat will do it justice,” I told the salesgirl with a little laugh.

  “Juste une minute, s’il vous plait,” she said as she rushed to another display on the floor.

  She returned a few moments later with a short, black, bolero-style sweater in cashmere. The long sleeves were fitted, and the sweater had an open front which showed off the dress beautifully. It was perfect and would provide the warmth I would need for any cool night air we might encounter.

  “I wish I could wear the dress as you do,” she said with a sigh.

  “You’re very kind,” I told her with a smile. I turned several more times, looking the dress over in the mirror. I let out a little squeal as I said, “I’ll take it.”

  After changing back into my clothes, the salesgirl carefully folded and boxed the dress and sweater. She expertly tied the box with string to make it easier for me to carry. It was an amazing feeling to reach into my purse and pull out several hundred dollar bills rather than a credit card. Thank you, craps table. I left the shop and started the short walk back to the MGM.

  My disposition had completely changed. Spending the afternoon downtown had been fun. Mom and Darby were inseparable and had gone down the zip line three times. You could hear Mom laughing from beginning to end. They then dashed off together to check out all of the casinos downtown in search of a loose slot machine. Dad and I spent our time in the Golden Nugget playing poker. By the time Mom and Darby came back for us, Dad and I were both up a couple hundred dollars, while they had lost more than that on Cash Wizard slot machines.

  We weren’t meeting again for the evening until 6:30, so I had slipped out to the Paris Hotel to look for a dress. I couldn’t wait to wear it for Mick, and the entire experience had lifted my spirits. I wasn’t going to worry about the newspapers, Carl, or Dudley any more.

  Darby was in the shower when I returned to the hotel room. He quickly finished in the bathroom and emerged in a pair of khaki shorts. “Hi, Sunshine. Where’ve you been?” he asked.

  “I’ve been spending some of my winnings at the Paris Hotel,” I told him excitedly as I untied the string on the box and opened it to show him. I held the dress up to myself and moved back and forth a bit.

  “Wow, Susan, that’s one sexy dress,” he said in appreciation as he reached out to touch the luxurious satin and soft organza. “It looks like something Audrey Hepburn would have worn.”

  “That’s what I thought!” I told him. I slipped the dress onto a hanger and hung it in the closet. I want to wear it for my date with Mick on Saturday night, so I had to get something to keep me warm, too.” I pulled out the black cashmere sweater to show him.

  “Ooh, you know how much I love cashmere,” he said as he lightly rubbed the soft sweater against his cheek. “This will be perfect, and I love simple black and white together.”

  “What are you wearing tonight?” I asked him as I folded the sweater and put it away. “Are we still dressing casually?”

  “Yep,” he said. “Dad has tickets for a magic act at 7:00 in the small theater, and then we’re going to eat at Emeril’s here in the hotel. We might run down to see the fountains at the Bellagio, but Mom said we can see them another night if we just want to stay in the casino tonight.”

  I smiled. I loved it that Mom and Dad liked Darby so much, and he was comfortable to call them Mom and Dad to me. They would like Mick, too, but it would probably be different. Mick was five years older than Darby and was part owner of a construction company. Darby worked at home as a freelance web and marketing writer. Having been married before, and with a teenage son, Mick was more grounded than Darby and not so quick to jump into whatever good time was being had by all.

  I was going to have to try and find a middle ground somewhere. My friends from the racquetball club were a lot of fun, and we all had a good time together, but we did some crazy things which usually involved drinking. I didn’t want to put myself in situations where I would embarrass or upset Mick - like with Dell Grady – so I was going to have to find a happy medium.

  “Ok,” I told Darby. “I’m going to grab a quick shower and change. I won’t be too long. Are you going downstairs?”

  “No,” he said. “I think I’ll crash on the bed and surf for cooking shows until you’re ready.” He picked up the remote, flopped on the bed, and turned on the television. Darby and I watched a lot of cooking shows when we were together at home, and we were frequently in my kitchen trying out new recipes. He kept a box in his apartment with all of the keeper recipes we had tried and given a thumbs-up to.

  After a lightning-fast shower, I blow dried my hair, and changed into dark navy jeans tucked into black suede knee boots. I finished the outfit with a red, v-neck, cropped cardigan with long sleeves. I buttoned up the four buttons, quickly applied my makeup, and I was ready to go.

  When I emerged from the bathroom, Darby was dressed, and I laughed out loud. He was wearing dark navy jeans with a red sweater.

  He laughed, too, and said, “It’s Vegas, and anything goes, but let me break up our matching color scheme.” He whipped off the red sweater and grabbed another soft, cashmere one from the dresser drawer. It had a crew neck and the blue-gray color made his bl
ue eyes pop. Now we were ready.

  We walked down the hall and knocked on Mom and Dad’s door. They were ready, and we all stepped into the elevator together.

  I turned to my dad and said, “Tell me again who we’re seeing, Dad. This is just a short magic show, right?”

  We’re seeing Fitch’s Incredible Feats,” Dad said with flair.

  Mom chimed in, “Fitch is Tom and Bitsy’s nephew, and this is his big break in Vegas. He’s doing a forty-minute magic act in the small theater around the corner from the front desk. It’s free, and this is his first night. If it goes well for him, he might have some opportunities to do a longer act and open for some of the headliners in the hotel.”

  We exited the elevator and made our way to the theater. Only the lower section of seating was being used, and Dad led us down the aisle to a booth in the front. The theater was about one third full, but a steady trickle of people was coming through the door.

  We ordered fun, fruity rum drinks and a couple bowls of popcorn. There was an intimate atmosphere to the theater, and the crowd seemed upbeat and ready for some entertainment. The available seating was nearly full when the curtain went up.

  Fitch was good. Really good.

  The show was high energy with music to match. He occasionally used two beautiful assistants, but he was definitely the main event. He started with some fun tricks you would expect from a magician, to include hat tricks and flashy card tricks, where even tiny bits of torn cards blown all over the stage were pieced back together. There was a hilarious bit where Fitch had four people from the audience on stage, and while he was having all of them shackle his hands securely behind his back, he was taking watches, wallets, and car keys from all of them. He did an amazing trick with items disappearing from a box on stage and reappearing in the audience. For his final trick, the two girls wheeled a large, colorful, upright box onto the stage. With a lot of fanfare, Fitch began telling the audience what he was going to do.

  I lost my focus for a few moments because I noticed Dudley was sitting at a table in the front row. Dad had blocked him from my view for most of the show, but he shifted in his seat, and when I looked Dad’s way again, I saw Dudley. A woman was at the table with him. Was this his wife?

  Mom and Darby broke into my thoughts by poking me to get up. Dad was grinning with pride, and I realized with dismay, Fitch was asking for me to come onstage!

  Oh my gosh! I wasn’t paying attention because of Dudley, and I had no idea what he was going to do to me. I knew I didn’t want him swiping my ring. I wanted to beg off, but I could tell Dad was so happy he would be able to tell Tom and Bitsy I had been called onstage, I had to go with it.

  I made my way up the steps and onto the stage. His two assistants promptly helped me into the large, colorful box. The music was so loud and the lighting so bright, I started to feel disoriented. One of the girls said something to me under her breath, but I didn’t catch it all. I only heard her say “go through the door.” Before I could say anything, Fitch closed the door of the box.

  Now what? It was pitch black, and I was starting to feel claustrophobic. I thrust my hands out to feel the sides of the box, but the floor dropped out from under me. I let out a startled cry as I fell, but the music was so loud onstage, I was sure no one heard me. I landed on a large airbag and had to take a moment to recover from the fall. It certainly didn’t hurt, but I wasn’t prepared for it either. Did the girl tell me I would be falling?

  The room was white, well-lit, and fairly large. The ceiling was low, but I could easily stand up. I couldn’t believe I had agreed to do this, and I didn’t know what to do next. No one was around to tell me where to go. The girl had told me to go through the door, and the only door I could see was a plain white door set in the middle of the wall behind me. I walked to the door and opened it.

  Oh my gosh! My heart stopped beating, the blood drained from my face, and I froze in my tracks. I knew with every fiber of my being that by opening the door, I had put my life in danger.

  My arm was wrenched, and I heard a voice say excitedly, “Come with me!”

  A cute girl in jeans and a white t-shirt had just yanked my arm hard and pulled me from the doorway and back into the white room. The door slammed shut behind me. She was out of breath and talking fast, “Hurry, hurry! We haven’t practiced this enough yet, and I lost my way coming to get you. I hope we’re not too late, and I didn’t ruin the trick.” She was nearly in tears. I was nearly in a panic. She continued to talk fast, “I’m supposed to tell you not to talk to anyone about how the trick is done. I don’t have anything for you to sign. You won’t tell, will you?” I shook my head no. “Good,” she said. “Quick, up this ladder. When you get in the box, step forward and turn around. I’ll close the trap door behind you.”

  The ladder was a few feet from the airbag, and I scurried up with the girl right behind me. It wasn’t easy to get off of the ladder and into the box, but she helped to steady me. This trick certainly still needed some work. The music was loud again, and I couldn’t hear what she said to me as she secured the trap door. I felt disoriented and uncomfortable again. My mind was on overdrive. I wanted to scream as loudly as I could for what I had seen outside the door, but some part of my brain was enabling me to stay calm and get through this horrible trick. Maybe I was in shock. That had to be it. I remember being in shock once before, and a certain, strange calmness came with it.

  Suddenly, there was light, but it was behind me, as was a lot of laughter. Fitch’s trick worked, but I forgot to turn around in the box, and it opened to me standing with my back to the audience. When I turned around, the lights were blinding, and I knew I was squinting and probably looked as if I had awakened from a long sleep. I could only imagine what my hair looked like after the fall to the airbag.

  Fitch shot a provoked look at me which implied, “Really? You couldn’t even handle a few simple directions?”

  No, Fitch. I couldn’t.

  But the audience was applauding and giving him a standing ovation. I suppose my apparent confusion as to where I was added to the trick. The girls helped me out of the box and off the stage.

  I was shaking when I sat down next to Darby.

  “Susan, honey, that was so great!” Mom was saying excitedly.

  Dad was beaming, reached over to clap me on the back, and said, “Where did you go? Were you with all of those animals?”

  I tried to smile a little at both of them.

  Only Darby could tell something was wrong with me. My teeth were chattering, and I was shivering. He put his arm around me and pulled me closer to him. “What’s wrong, Susan?” he whispered with concern. “Are you ok? Did something go wrong backstage?”

  I couldn’t talk. I shook my head. I couldn’t say anything in front of my mom and dad. I simply couldn’t bring them into anything where they could be hurt.

  Fitch was taking his final bow to a crescendo of applause. I couldn’t wait to get out of the theater. Darby kept his arm around me as we walked up the aisle toward the door. Dudley was standing by the exit, and I could see he was staring intently at me with his brow furrowed. I put my head down, leaned a little more into Darby, and let him guide me out the door.

  Mom and Dad were overjoyed at the entire experience. I tried to smile and regain some of my composure as we made the short walk to Emeril’s.

  The restaurant was beautiful with New Orleans style architecture. The predominant colors of gold and red were accented with blue neon lighting. The wrought-iron fish at the doorway and the wave sculptures added to the oceanic atmosphere. We were seated in a booth in a corner of the restaurant. It had a calming effect on me, and I felt as though I was effectively hidden from any present danger.

  Mom and Dad ordered cocktails, and Darby ordered a bottle of Riesling for the two of us. I stood up and excused myself to run to the restroom.

  “I’m coming with you,” Darby said.

  Mom giggled. Now that she knew Darby was gay, she was viewing him as a girlfriend,
and of course he would want to go to the restroom with me. He smiled at her. I knew he was having a lot of fun with Mom on this trip, and she made him laugh often.

  We hustled to the small hallway of the two restrooms. Darby stopped me along the wall and turned me to face him. “Ok, Susan,” he said. “I know something happened backstage. What was it?”

  I clenched his arm and whispered, “Darby, I saw a man being murdered!”

  Chapter Six

  My eyes welled up with tears, but I didn’t allow them to flow. For my parents’ sake, I had to stay calm. Darby’s mouth was hanging open, and a look of fear spread across his face. He knew what this meant, too.

  “Darby, it was horrible,” I told him as I put my head in my hands.

  “Susan,” he said softly putting his arm around me and pulling me close. He whispered into my ear, “You’ll have to give me the details later, but tell me quickly what you saw.”

  I talked low and fast, so I could tell him as much as possible right then. “I fell through a trapdoor in the stage and landed on an airbag. No one was around. I thought one of the girls told me to go through a door, so I opened the only one I saw. It led outside to a small loading area for the theater.” I paused for a moment, and then said, “It was weird. It was a closed-in area with high hotel walls on three sides and a few dumpsters along the same wall as the door. I could hear traffic, but it was buffered, as though there wasn’t a clear pathway to the road.” I shook my head to clear out the superfluous details. “A man was on the ground, and he wasn’t moving. A guy was standing over him with a crowbar. And that horrible Carl from right here in the hotel was there watching. Darby, I think the poor man on the ground was beaten to death!”

  “Damn!” he said.

  Darby never cussed. Ever. I knew he was either extremely upset, or he was overly afraid for me. He asked the obvious question, “Susan, did they see you?”