“I believe two machines paying out at the same time is a coincidence. Five or six smells of something else.”
“I won fair and square,” said the man. There were growls of agreement from the other gamblers and Ramirez added his own voice.
“We are checking the machines now,” said Kahn.
“How come you don’t check them while they are swallowing our cash?” said the young man. “They are supposed to pay out from time to time, aren’t they?”
“That is all officially regulated,” said Kahn.
“Then pay us our money and take it up with the regulators.”
“Can’t you see something is obviously wrong?” said Kahn. “However, despite the obvious flaw in the system, the casino is willing to make you a generous cash offer in settlement if you tell us how you did it.”
“What?” asked the old woman. “We didn’t cheat.”
There were more growls of agreement and again Ramirez added his own voice, not wishing to stand out.
“Are you trying to tell me you don’t know each other?”
The gamblers looked around at each other for possibly the first time. “I know this man – my husband,” said the woman. “All the rest are strangers.”
The man turned to Ramirez. “Your slot machine was at the centre of all this,” he said. “Do you have anything to say?”
Ramirez thought. “I had about given up on my machine,” he said. “As I turned to find another, it suddenly paid out. Mine was the last, I believe.”
“It was,” said the man. “We have studied the tapes. May I see your bracelet? Is it gold?”
“Gold plated,” said Ramirez and handed it over. Kahn examined it closely then handed it back.
“You can launch a claim against this casino or take our cash offer if you tell me how it was accomplished.”
“That’s easy,” said the young man. “I pissed down the token slot and shorted them all out.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” said Kahn.
“It’s no more ridiculous than you suggesting we’re working together. I don’t know any of these people.”
“When did the machines last hit a jackpot?” asked the young girl.
“His,” Kahn pointed at Ramirez, “hit three days ago. There is no way it could have hit again so soon.”
“Mine hit last,” Ramirez reminded him, “just as I was about to find another.”
“That is what the tapes show,” said Kahn.
“Then pay me and let me go.”
“Not quite yet.”
Ramirez was growing quite fed up with this. He was not yet nervous and would happily have left without his illegal winnings. However, he could see no way out of this situation and was confident the casino, in the face of not having a culprit, would have to pay out.
“Which of you people influenced the machines and how did you do it?”
“It was me,” said Ramirez. “I needed the money so I prayed to the Lord. My reward was the jackpot.”
“I prayed too,” said the young black girl. “I really needed to win. Nobody influenced the machines. It was just a coincidence.”
“There are no coincidences in casino,” barked Kahn. “The odds and payouts are calculated to the tenth decimal point. If one of you had won this casino would have paid out happily.”
“I don’t think you ever pay out happily,” said the young man. “You hate paying out. You’ll do most anything to break a person’s chain of luck.”
“Let me tell you one thing,” said Kahn. “Nobody is leaving here until we discover how you all did this.”
“You can’t keep us prisoner,” said the old woman. “We come here regularly.”
“There will be no problem in having the police arrest you and unless you forfeit your ill-gotten winnings that is exactly what will happen.”
There was a knock at the door which was opened from outside and a short, younger man walked in. He whispered to one of Kahn’s associates then left. The associate whispered to Kahn. Ramirez couldn’t hear but Stiers could as he turned up the gain and replayed the passage. He spoke to his officer.
“He’s just been told they can find no tampering with the slot machines,” said the Captain. “All the seals are intact.”
Kahn seemed apprehensive as he digested this news. “The casino,” he said at last, “is willing to offer each of you a $5,000 settlement and comp your rooms and meals. You can see this is an unfortunate error.”
“An error is it now?” said Ramirez over Stiers telling him to shut up. “A moment ago we were a consortium of cheats. Now the payouts are an error?”
Kahn cleared his throat and looked uncomfortable for a moment. “I think that in the circumstances this is reasonable.”
“A few sentences ago you were going to have us all arrested,” said Ramirez. “What has happened? Have you found out we are just honest gamblers after all?”
“The thing is,” said the young girl, “$5,000 each doesn’t even amount to one jackpot payout.”
“Yes,” said Kahn. “Fine - £10,000 each and everything comped for as long as you stay here.”
“It’s a deal,” said Ramirez.
“Me also,” said the girl.
The old couple nodded reluctantly. $20,000 between them was a heap of cash.
“Not me,” said the young man. “It may be okay for this couple of old coffin-dodgers, but my girlfriend is pregnant and we want to buy a home. $10,000 won’t go far.”
“It’s a good offer,” said Kahn.
“Think of it as a bonus,” said Ramirez, anxious to leave. “After all, I believe this man Kahn when he says the payout was accidental. Maybe the machines did go wrong. I mean, what are you going to do – sue the casino?”
“If I have to.”
“Everybody else here is happy to take the money. I didn’t really expect to win anything today. I have no complaints about being ten grand ahead on where I was this morning.” Stiers spoke in his ear. “Well said. Get out of there.” Ramirez looked at Kahn. “Do we get that in cash?”
Kahn nodded. “Cash or chips or tokens – whatever you want.”
“Settled,” said Ramirez. “Now if you gentlemen don’t mind, I have some more gambling to do.” This was a lie he hoped would reassure them. The phone rang and one of the associates picked it up, listened, then passed it to Kahn. The senior man digested what had been said and stared at them while pondering something inside.
“I’m not settling for less than the proper payout,” said the young man.
The black girl pleaded with him. “I believe them. Something went wrong here and I for one am happy to settle for that money. $10,000 is a lot for me. It’s more than I would have dreamed. It will get me out of debt and put money in the bank.”
“It won’t last,” he replied. “Girls like you are always in debt. You should learn to control your spending.”
“Who are you to talk about me like that?”
“I’m the guy who is not going to take less than his entitlement.”
“Screw you, then.” She turned to Kahn. “I’m with the rest of them. Pay us out and you can do whatever you like with this guy.”
“It’s not that simple,” said Kahn.
“Why not?” she persisted. “I don’t care if you pay him more. Just give me what’s mine.”
“We do stay in touch with the other casinos,” said Kahn. “That phone call was to tell me somebody hit the jackpot at the same time as you at two other hotels.”
The phone rang again and this time Kahn scooped it up personally. He listened, nodded and said a muttered thanks.
“Three other casinos so far,” he said. “They all hit at the same time as us.”
“What? Several machines all at once just like here?” asked Ramirez innocently.
“No. They had one hit each at the same time as us.”
“Surely all casinos have somebody win, don’t they? Isn’t your motto ‘you can win’?”
“That isn’t our motto,” said Ka
hn. “If we had a motto it would be more like ‘you may win but the odds are against you’.”
“Put that over your entrance,” said Ramirez. “See how many people come in then.”
“I won’t even think about that. What I am thinking is that your machine was the central point in this saga.”
“I wasn’t at the other casinos,” said Ramirez. “How do you explain that?”
“You may have friends.”
“I don’t make friends easily.”
“I am not surprised. You readily agreed to a reduced cash offer.”
“Forgive me for believing you when you said the machines were faulty and this should not have happened. Up till now I’ve been the understanding guy on your side.”
“Why? Are you anxious to get away from here?” asked Kahn.
“I have as long as it takes,” said Ramirez and tried not to sweat. “But it strikes me this guy is the one holding out for big cash.”
“Wait,” protested the young man. “I put my tokens into the slot and it eventually paid out. Sure I want my money. Why should I have to settle for less?”
“That offer is no longer on the table,” said Kahn. “Tell us how you worked this thing and you can all leave. You will get no money.”
“You can’t hold us here,” said the young man.
“The police can.”
The girl said, “I want to leave now. Forget the money. I just want to go.”
“Nobody is sitting on you,” said Kahn. “Just tell us what we want to know.”
“There’s no handle on that door. I can’t get out,” said the girl and started to sob.
“It’s obvious you don’t wish to meet the police,” said Kahn. “You won’t have to if you tell us what we wish to know.”
Ramirez was wondering why the tall gambler wearing a smart suit had not spoken before or since their detention. He had played the end slot and was in his late 30s or early 40s and merely stood listening quietly. Ramirez assumed he was an undercover casino operative because he didn’t look as casual as the other betters.
“We come here all the time,” said the elderly woman, speaking for the first time in ages. “Your treatment of me and my husband is despicable.”
“For that I apologise,” said Kahn. “An effort has been made to defraud at least four casinos in this town. We are very suspicious.” He looked at Ramirez. “Let me see that bracelet again.”
“Why?”
“It will come loose easily enough if we cut off your hand.”
Ramirez tutted and handed it over. Kahn gave it to one of his aides and said, “This is a cheap piece of jewellery with a fake diamond. Test it against some machines on the betting floor. See if there is any reaction.”
“It’s just gold plate and a piece of glass,” said Ramirez. Actually the glass was a very hard acrylic which could scratch glass. He hoped they wouldn’t try. Ramirez was not overly concerned about the device being tested. As soon as it left his arm the link to his DNA was broken and the device would not function – something Lillishenger had insisted upon then cursed when she had to reset it when Stiers was no longer to use it. Then he had a bad thought. The fall to the floor had obviously upset the settings inside and he suddenly feared how stable the DNA connection was.
There was virtual silence for twenty minutes while the others hoped that somehow Ramirez would be found to be the crook and they would all be released. The suited, quiet man cleared his throat.
The aide returned with the bracelet and shook his head. Kahn handed it back to Ramirez who silently thanked Lillishenger without knowing that onboard ship Stiers had remotely deactivated the device to be certain of the result.
“Are you going to pay me or will I have to pace up and down outside with a placard saying what cheats you are?” said the angry young man with the absent, pregnant wife.
“Be very careful you don’t wake up in the desert under six feet of dirt,” said Kahn’s senior aide.
The silent man finally spoke. “I’ve heard enough,” he said. “You can’t threaten people like this. I agree there has been some kind of problem here but you are stabbing at ideas.”
“What are you – a lawyer?” asked Kahn.
“Yes, and a special agent with the FBI.” The man produced his ID in a black wallet and showed it to a surprised Kahn. “I was here with my wife and played my limit into the slots while waiting for her. We come to a casino once a year. By now my wife will have called the local FBI office to get agents here to find out where I am. Now I have listened to you threatening these people and I will relate that story to the police and FBI. All these people lost money in your phoney machines so at the very least you need to pay them back. If you allege a crime, it will be an interstate crime because I suspect we all come from different places and the FBI will have a right to investigate.”
Kahn sneered at the wallet. “Do you think I’ve never seen real federal ID before? This is as phoney as a nine dollar bill.”
“No it isn’t.”
“I doubt you even have a wife but you have just made yourself prime suspect, along with this one who speaks with an odd accent.” He thumbed in the direction of Ramirez.
“I don’t even know how your damn machines work,” said Ramirez. “You’ve checked me out thoroughly and found nothing. I think you should call the police. I have nothing to hide.”
“Us neither,” said the elderly woman indicating her and her husband.
“Suits me,” said the young man.
“I’d rather just leave,” said the girl and sobbed again.
Kahn looked at the suited gambler. “And you won’t want to meet the cops – not carrying that phoney ID of yours.”
“Call the cops,” said Ramirez. “You can’t have any evidence against us.”
“We will when we catch the other perpetrators,” said Kahn. “They’ve driven off in a van somewhere and we all have people out looking.”
Ramirez hoped Stiers was listening. “What do you mean other perpetrators?” he asked. “We have nothing to do with whatever is going on.”
“You have an odd accent, my friend. Perhaps you are not who you say you are. Nobody leaves though. I expect this will become a police matter.”
“Oh good. Perhaps you can tell them how you threatened to cut off my hand and bury this chap in the desert and kidnapped everybody.”
In the ship, Stiers was watching the screens as the minivan pulled up outside and disgorged its passengers. He had guided Lillishenger to the ship then opened a portal to allow them inside. “What’s the latest?” asked Gowan.
“Ramirez dropped his bracelet and it somehow altered the configuration and set several machines paying at once. He is being held with the other winners in the casino. They know about all your wins and that you left in a van. We can’t use that to go back to rescue him – they’ll be watching.”
“What do you suggest, Captain?” asked Ogden.
“We’ll take this van back to the hangar and swop it for the Jeep. We’ll fly back here and use that as our vehicle.”
“We’ll need disguises,” said Ogden. “They’ll have plenty of footage of us now and will be looking for us to try again.”
“That’s true.” Stiers thought for a moment or two. “Okay, I’ll do the rescue because they have no footage of me yet. We’ll disguise you, Gowan, with a change of clothing, glasses and a false beard.”
“What?”
“I’m joking about the beard.”
“Good.”
“I’m happy to go,” said Ogden.
“Sarah and Hugh will remain at the house while we attempt a rescue. You, Ogden, will be in charge of the ship and ready to lead a rescue mission in case the first one goes wrong. How long do you estimate for us to do all this and be back here?”
Ogden thought. “About fourteen minutes,” he said.
“Okay. Let’s hope they haven’t moved Ramirez or murdered him by then.”
Gowan was horrified. “Would they do that?”
&
nbsp; “You hear stories about these times,” said the Captain.
“Well let’s hurry.”
“Close the portal. Let’s get airborne,” said Stiers.
The craft rose slowly and the crew attached the minivan using the antigrav beams. As swiftly as he dared Stiers flew back to their home base, the van suspended from underneath but everything shrouded except from immediately below.
“Get some plates printed up in the 3-D,” said Stiers. “We need current and appropriate automobile number plates with the government exemption E mark.”
Gowan set to work on the task as they rode swiftly, slowing down before reaching their base. On the ground the two old people were still sitting on their porch watching the sky for meteors, as old people apparently do when they have little else to look forward to and desire to be reminded of their romantic, youthful past. The van crossed overhead again.
“Darn, Martha,” said Al. “There goes that flying Plymouth again.”
“What? Where? Oh I see it.”
“It sure moves fast, don’t it?”
“They must be in a hurry,” said Martha. “I’ll just bet you need a special licence to fly that thing.”
“You don’t need one to buzz around the desert on those four wheel motorsickles,” said Al.
“They don’t fly.”
“They do when they hit a high dune,” he cackled. “They fly then.”
“People die on them,” said Martha.
“I reckon they die on them flying Plymouths also. They seem to reach a far greater height.”
“Maybe it’s a plane,” she suggested.
“Nope. Too many wheels for that. Them small planes only have three.”
“Don’t they fall over?”
“I don’t know. Sometimes they do, I reckon.”
By then the craft was out of sight and heading down to the landing point. Gowan was applying the final touches to the computer programme which would control the printing of the plate. She decided to use plastic rather than metal as it would be easier to dispose of when they had finished. The minivan hit the ground first and rocked gently as the Captain set down the big ship. Ogden took the plates and a laser cutter and welder so he could remove the Jeep number plates and cement on the new ones. The job was done inside a couple of minutes and he went inside the house for the Jeep keys. Stiers was ready for take off again as soon as he returned.
Black Desert Page 23