Lindsey joined in with, “Becka and I go the whole week without watching the sun come up on the strip from the Blackjack table.” The two girls still laughed about that night, and the way Becka noticed dawn lighting the front windows of the casino and informed the cocktail waitress she was switching from her all night binge of screwdrivers to coffee.
Paige’s eyes flashed, her competitive nature showing as usual. “We place at least third in the women’s division.”
“We finally see a decent show,” Sandi complained. “And I don’t get stuck with the first night on the couch,” she added.
“We all meet handsome men to take us away from all this,” Danielle wished dreamily. Ironically, hers was the only wish that would come true, though not at all as she had planned.
Sandi and Danielle quit their jobs to go to the annual tournament because their bosses refused give them the week off. Lindsey was working at a temp agency, so it was not a problem. Paige and Becka sold things over the Internet and wrapped up their business before they left.
Monday finally came and the girls climbed into their most reliable vehicle, Danni’s seven year old mini-van, and they headed to the airport. After unloading the luggage, Danni parked behind a nearby mall to avoid long term parking fees and took the bus back to the airport.
The girls passed through security and began the ten hour trip, changing planes in Atlanta and Dallas. They left Sarasota at eight o’clock in the morning, beginning their vacation by ordering Bloody Marys when the beverage cart rolled down the isle. At six bucks apiece, they only had one.
Their last flight came in low over the clustered subdivisions sequestered in valleys between tan butte ranges, now highlighted with the golds and reds of the afternoon sun. The turquoise water of the rivers snaked through the rocky canyons with an occasional white wave from a boat or jet ski. In the past, the planes the team took all approached from the north where it was not a far jump to believe nuclear testing had occurred decades ago. The land looked beautiful, yet scarred and barren.
From the south approach, the passengers could see a huge crater and part of the Grand Canyon. After passing over the subdivisions, the tall casinos could be seen through the left windows, causing an audible gasp of anticipated riches from some of the passengers.
Sandi was still complaining about the hassle they had at the airport when they changed planes in Atlanta where the team had a two hour layover. There were three smokers in their group, so they all went outside the terminal to relax. Unfortunately, that meant going back through security where Sandi’s oversized expensive lotion was going to be confiscated.
Becka stalled the whole line, running back to a newsstand where she paid an exorbitant amount for three travel size plastic bottles that now contained Sandi’s prized possession. The five women glared at the overweight security woman as they triumphantly marched towards their plane.
“I know that bitch was going to take it,” Sandi muttered. “I wonder how much of the shit she confiscates makes it to the security office or trash and how much ends up in her purse?”
The plane landed in Las Vegas with the usual stomach-dropping lurch right before the tires bounced off the runway twice before grabbing. Lindsey could not help her reaction to the white knuckle experience, as she gripped the arms of the seat and pushed an imaginary brake on the floor with her foot. Danielle laughed and patted Lindsey’s tight fisted hand. “You’ve been out here four times and you always land us safely, sweetie.”
Lindsey had missed the tournament last year because of her mom, and Bethany had gone in her place as the team’s substitute. Beth headed to college in Georgia when they got back to Florida. None of the team had seen her since and even the e-mails stopped months ago.
The girls collected their luggage, and a short cab ride later delivered the excited young women to the casino. The generic deluxe room they reserved had two double beds, and instead of paying extra for a roll away cot, they decided to take turns with each of them spending one night of their five night stay sleeping on the small sofa. None of them had a lot of money, and the trip to Vegas already meant stretching bills at home, so they cut corners whenever they could.
Becka and Paige went over to collect key cards for the room while Lindsey, Sandi and Danielle stood by the elevator watching the luggage. The woman at the reservation desk never said a word when Becka asked for five keys for the four adult room reservation. She knew how the pool teams worked. The girls were distracted by the sounds and commotion on the main floor of the casino, and none of them noticed the large black man handing the woman a hundred dollar chip for a sixth card to their room.
The laughing women opened the door to their small fifth floor quarters. After five years, four for Lindsey, the girls had it down to an exact science. The opened suitcases lined the walls, and team shirts and evening dresses hung in the closet with shoes stacked on top of each other in five separate blocks on the floor beneath them.
The small table was covered with make-up products, perfumes and two mirrors. The desk by the window overlooking the back parking lot had a mirror over it. Now, two blow dryers, three different sized flat irons and one curling iron with an assortment of hairbrushes, combs and accessories, littered the desk’s surface.
The bathroom had five neat stacks of toiletries. Five women and one bathroom meant anything that it was not necessary to do in the bathroom was handled elsewhere in the room. Five cue cases lined the wall by the couch. The system worked so well, the girls put off thoughts of killing each other until four days into the trip.
They flipped a coin for turns sleeping on the couch. Paige would go first and she was glad to get the uncomfortable night over with. At almost five feet ten, she was the tallest and would either be folding her long slim legs in half or hanging over the end of the couch.
Becka would be second, Danni was third, and night number four would be Lindsey’s. The last night belonged to Sandi, who would by then, be bitching loudly about it. Lindsey already counted on taking the last couch night just to keep the peace.
“Shit, we gotta’ hurry and get signed in.” Sandi started rushing towards the makeup table.
The five girls scrambled into jeans and comfortable tops, and touched up their makeup and hair. The tournament would begin the following morning, and the team would not know when they were scheduled to play until the roster was posted later in the evening. The first night, the team always tried to curb themselves, vowing to put every effort into their game and ignore the lure of the lights, machines and dealers around them.
By night two, Danni and Sandi would be lining up shows at the cut rate ticket booth and trying to decide when they could take the bus to Freemont, while Lindsey and Becka started their up and down nights at the Blackjack table and Paige kept occupied at a nickel slot machine within view. They would rarely make it to bed before four in the morning the rest of the time they were there.
The girls left their purses buried under clothes in their suitcases and carried their ATM cards, cash and ID in their pockets. Plastic casino players’ cards were attached to belt loops by springy lanyards, insuring a discounted room rate next year. With determined faces, they grabbed their cue sticks to get in a few practice games after they registered.
Two rooms down, a door was propped open by the lock bar, and the three men inside listened as the girls laughed their way towards the elevators. Arturo waited for the sound of the doors closing and headed down the hall. Diablo dialed the girl’s room while Arturo listened from the corridor, making sure no one was left behind to answer the phone.
Helo swiped his purchased key card, and the men entered the room to quickly inventory the young women’s belongings. Diablo found the purses and wallets while his friends quickly checked the closet and drawers. Within five minutes they were back in their own room and Helo was on a cell phone.
“Master, Diablo says there’s not much in their purses. He did find the pin numbers to their ATM cards. They all wrote them on bank business cards,” H
elo laughed. “They must leave most of their other things at home. Besides the suitcases, two large bags will get the place cleaned out. I think it will take about ten minutes, tops.” This was Helo’s third harvest and the second for Arturo and Diablo. Chayton had Brazil, Ramone and Terrant at the Nevada estate with him. It was their first time out and he was still coaching them on their role in the harvest.
“The roster should be posted soon telling us when they shoot tomorrow. Follow the board and write down what time they play again, depending on whether they win or lose. We’re looking for a timeline that frees them up for an evening, without starting them out too early the next morning. They’re sure to make plans to go out, and that’s when we’ll grab them.” Chayton paused and finally asked, “Was there a fifth woman?”
“Yes Master, but I’ve only seen two of the females, Rebecca Thompson and Sandra Cantara. There are five suitcases, but they took their identification with them so we don’t know what the other girl looks like. Should we go downstairs and see if we can locate them? I might be able to send you a picture from the cell phone,” Helo suggested.
“No Helo, it might gather unwanted attention and I don’t want them recognizing any of you later. We’ll just be prepared for all five.” As Chayton hung up the phone, he hoped the fifth acquisition would turn out to be more valuable than Sandi. He already prepared for the loss he would be taking on the skinny girl to acquire Paige for his stables.
The girls finished practicing and noted what time they had to be back at the tables for their first match. The casino converted two large banquet rooms for the tournament, and several smaller meeting rooms accommodated more pool tables for private matches and practice games once the tournament began. Paige decided to sign up for one of the mini-tournaments played in the smaller rooms later in the week. On their way back to the room, they each dropped twenty dollars in the slot machines. Everyone lost her money, except Danni who ended up with a five dollar voucher, and Sandi who came out ahead with a thirty three dollar chit. This was a depressing return on their initial Vegas deposit.
At seven-thirty the next morning, Lindsey made the first of three pots of coffee in the small two-cup coffee maker they bought years ago. It saved them the trip to the lobby and about a dollar and a half per cup. Every nickel they saved would be spent gambling or partying during the week. Danni was already in the shower, while the girls who needed less prep time slumbered on.
Their first match was at ten-thirty, and the next hour and a half was a pre-choreographed exercise in shower, make-up, dressing and hair. They skipped breakfast in favor of a bigger lunch after the match. The team had three different sets of matching shirts and alternated between black, white or blue jeans. The first day they always wore their lucky coral shirts with white jeans, deciding it was the perfect ‘Florida’ look.
As they entered the main pool room and searched for tables one seventeen and one eighteen, the women pretended to ignore the appreciative glances of the men players. The five confident women made quite an attractive team. and as they worked their way across the room the girls briefly conversed with players they had seen during previous years in Vegas.
“Oh shit, we’re stuck in the middle of the room again,” Sandi griped.
“Just grab the seats at the end of the table as the other team leaves,” Becka ordered. “Remember, if we win this one, we’re off until one thirty tomorrow.”
“Oooh...party time,” Danni squealed. “You always know the right buttons to push, captain.”
The match was a slaughter. The girls beat the team from Ontario soundly, having to play only one game in the last round. They might have celebrated more if they had realized it was the last match they would ever play.
“Come on, Sandi,” Danni sighed with exasperation. “You know we can’t get tickets until Wednesday night. We don’t know when we’re going to shoot before then.” She explained the same thing every year to her stubborn teammate.
“Then I want to see a show tonight. Damn it, Dannie. Every year you say we can hit at least one good show, and what do we get stuck with? Hypnotists, magicians or third rate musical crap.” Sandi was getting really pissed off.
“Yeah? Sandi, if you want a major headliner, then the show’s either sold out or there aren’t any discount tickets. We’re talking the difference between thirty five and a hundred and thirty five dollars a ticket,” Danni reasoned. “Look, let’s do dinner and watch the show at the bar here for a while. Later, we can tour the strip and maybe hit Freemont. We wanna’ do that stuff eventually anyway.”
After storming around the room for fifteen minutes, Sandy finally gave in. The girls dressed in jeans, heels and nice tops that were cut low and slinky, remembering to clip on their player cards. After dinner in one of the casino’s less expensive restaurants, Lindsey said she was cold and going back up to the room for a sweater. She told the team she would meet them at the bar by the stage, and made her way to the tower elevator.
It was still early, Vegas time, and the young women had no problem finding seats at the bar. Becka and Paige immediately began gambling at the bars’ embedded poker machines, making sure the screen indicated it accepted the inserted player card. Truthfully, Paige suspected Becka was the only one who had any idea if they really benefited by using the cards. The rest of the young women just thought the cards on the end of the colorful plastic coils made them look like cool Vegas regulars. It did not take long for Sandi and Danni to figure out that drinks were free as long as you kept gambling, and they quickly inserted their cards and bet the minimum on the confusing games, using the vouchers they had won on the slot machines the previous night.
Paige was concentrating on the video’s current display, and without looking up she said, “We’re holding that seat for a friend,” to whoever was starting to sit down next to her.
“Oh, sorry. We’re just waiting for a table.”
Paige looked up to see who the deep, sexy voice belonged to. ‘Oh my god.’ She kicked Danni who was sitting next to her.
“Ouch. Paige, what the hell?” Danni looked over at Paige, then beyond, then up, immediately kicking Sandi sitting next to her.
The chain reaction followed through to Becka and the girls completely forgot about the games in front of them, as they stared at the four gorgeous guys standing next to Paige. Arturo swiped his unruly blonde locks out of his blue eyes and grinned down at her.
Sandi stood up and attempted a seductive walk over to Diablo. With her slim hips and non-existent waist, the affect was minimal. She smiled flirtatiously and said, “So, are you guys strippers or something?”
Paige’s mouth fell open and she slowly shook her head, contemplating crawling under the bar. Geeze, Sandi. Danni and Becka winced and, for once, Becka could not come up with a single redeeming comment to undo Sandi’s casually careless remark.
Diablo laughed and pulled his hand out of the back pocket of his tight jeans, holding it out to Sandi. “No, miss. We bartend at a casino up the strip and managed to get the night off, so we decided to come here to catch the show.” His Spanish accent rolled off his tongue and fitted his mysterious dark looks perfectly.
Helo was watching from a slot machine, waiting for the appearance of girl number five before he sent Terrant over. Master Chayton showed them pictures of the other four good looking women and they were suspecting the missing link to be less than average. You just did not find five good looking girls willing to hang out together.
Paige hoped the men were not too put off by Sandi’s remark, and she tried to salvage what she could out of the conversation. “Is the show here any good?” she asked the cutie standing next to her. He had the boyish appeal that Paige adored and she wanted to eat him up. Damn if those curls aren’t sexy, she thought.
“It’s only been here a few nights so we haven’t had a chance to check it out yet.” He looked towards the stage where the band was getting ready to perform. “We figure we’ll hang for a set and maybe head further up the strip if it sucks.”
His eyes fixed on Paige again. “I’m Arturo, by the way. The Spanish stud is Diablo and that’s Ramone.” Ramone waved two fingers in the air and Danni felt herself literally getting wet thinking about running her fingers through the Italian’s curly black hair.
Becka leaned back and gaped at the fourth guy as Arturo continued the introductions. “That’s Brazil… he’s still learning English. We like to mess with him about translations, so don’t be too surprised about what he might say,” Arturo grinned.
“That’s not very nice,” Becka laughed. “Our ‘oh-so-complimentary’ friend is Sandi. I’m Becka, and this is Danni and Paige.”
“Are you ladies on vacation?” asked Ramone with his beautiful accent. Danni started seeing tangled sheets and imagined that she and the sexy Italian were rolling around in the middle of them.
“Actually, we’re here for the pool tournament,” Dannie replied. “We come out for a week every year and combine it with vacation time.”
“Ah, leave the guys at home, huh?” Diablo had a wicked gleam in his eyes and Sandi decided he could be fun.
“Nope. No guys to leave,” Paige smiled. “Any good offerings in our little town were picked over before high school was out.”
“Where are you from?” asked Arturo.
Chayton was listening to the exchange from the microphone in Arturo’s pocket and decided his boys were doing real well remembering they were not supposed to know anything about the young women, and flirting outrageously.
“Florida,” Paige and Sandi answered together.
“Flat top over there,” Brazil pointed.
With a confused expression, Paige looked up at Arturo. Arturo smiled mischievously and Paige’s heart melted. “Go mug the flat top, Brazil. We’ll be right over.” As Brazil headed away from the group, the women realized he was referring to an open table.
“Okay, now that’s just mean,” Becka said. The group was silent for a moment, and then everyone cracked up laughing.
“Why don’t you join us?” Diablo suggested. “We can fill you in on all the hidden hot spots on the strip. If you’ve been coming out here every year, you have to be getting bored with the tourist traps.”
Six Masters Island - Chaytons Twins Page 3