Fia had trouble getting the skirt up past her hips, ripping it in the process. “Son-of-a-bitch!”
Tilly started on the second pair of shoes. “Don’t worry about it. This won’t be a fashion show.”
Fia armed her way into the top and plopped the wig on her head. At the mirror, she said, “Ohhh…I look like slort”, and then snatched some pins to fasten it in place. “I know, I know, it’s not a fashion show.”
Tilly helped Fia into her shoes, still greasy with the white makeup. They primped each other, making sure the seams were straight, the wigs adjusted properly. Fia dragged her satchel into a stall and summoned Tilly inside. Fia shoved her down on the toilet seat and pulled out a box with a double paddle attachment. Tilly stared at the object in disbelief. It was the defibrillator kit that Fia had stolen from Tranquility Harbor.
“Jesus Christ Almighty.” said Tilly. “Are you crazy?”
Fia spread Tilly’s legs, looking for the telltale chip scar. She marked it with a felt pen. “Nope. I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to go all queasy on me.” She snatched the toilet roll from its holder and put it between Tilly’s teeth. “Bite down on that.”
Tilly bit, then felt a blasting jolt to her thigh. Her whole body went numb.
“For good measure…” Fia administered a second jolt that lifted Tilly up off the toilet, causing her to spit the toilet roll from her mouth.
“Gah! Naw m’lah!” Tilly garbled.
They exchanged places. Tilly found it hard to balance on the numb leg. Fia lined up the paddles and gave herself two prolonged jolts, the second jolt throwing her head back into the wall. “Oh, Lord,” she moaned and tossed the kit into the satchel and zippered it up. “Seven-hundred and fifty volts will burn out any chip,” she said breathily. “Sorry, but it was the easiest way to do it.”
They limped out of the stall, holding each other up. It took them a minute to shake some life in their legs. They crammed their suits in a trash can. Tilly opened her hygiene bag, double-checking on their ID cards.
“Have we forgotten anything?” Fia asked, rubbing her leg.
The clock on the bathroom wall read 11:43 PM.
Tilly shook her head, then took the lead out of the bathroom. They hobbled down the corridor and stopped at the end. A hard shove on the fire door swung it open. Looking both ways, they stepped out onto the tennis court apron, a walkway surrounding the courts. Tilly stepped on something that crunched. It was a sliver of glass. Looking up over her shoulder, she saw that the doorway camera lens was cracked. She turned around. All of the courts were lit by tall pole lamps. Four couples occupied two courts, volleying balls. Late night game. No outside security personnel. No alarms sounded. No attention drawn. They might have 10 minutes before their chips were discovered off-line. Although Candy’s distraction might give them an extra buffer.
Tilly spoke in a hushed voice. “Nice and easy but quick.”
They began a swift, but limping gate over the walkway. Up ahead, a gap in a hedgerow opened up onto a garden path. Tilly made a beeline for it, praying she would not stumble and go down. She could feel Fia’s breath on her shoulder, hear her frantic breathing.
They made it to the garden path seconds later. Tilly picked up their pace. The path wound snake-like through a small arboretum that held exotic plants, flowers and shrubs. The darkness and shadows between the foliage gave them good cover. Parking lot lamps glimmered between the branches and trunks up ahead. We’ve just about made it.
When they broke from the garden path onto the parking lot blacktop, they stopped, stalled in disbelief. There wasn’t a vehicle in sight anywhere. The lot was completely deserted.
Fia bent over gasping for breath. “Now what the hell do we do?”
Tilly heard the mechanical whine of an electric engine before she could answer.
Chapter 19
A sliver dart-like vehicle approached them at breakneck speed. The three-wheeled sled did a drifting slide, locking up its brakes. A gull-wing canopy flipped open. A voice yelled out, “Get your asses moving!”
Tilly ran to the vehicle, instantly recognizing Buddy at the wheel. She took the passenger seat next to him. Fia half slid, half fell into the single rear compartment seat. Buddy buzzed the canopy down and put his foot in it, careful not to spin the rear tires. The bladders inflated, snuggling them into their seats.
“Damn security guard chased me off the lot for not having a club sticker.” said Buddy. “That’s why I wasn’t here. I saw you making your way through the garden from the street. I had to sneak back in again.”
“I’m just glad you’re here.” Tilly said, giving him an awkward hug. She hadn’t seen so many dials, gauges and computer displays on a dashboard before. With all the colors, it looked like a lighted fruit salad. And this sled was fast.
Fia leaned between the seats. “For a minute, I thought we were on our own. Good seeing you, Buddy.”
“Nice to have you aboard. I got all the cameras out, not as fast as my practice runs. But, hey-- we did it.” He swung a hard right. The sled swerved onto a small lane. He opened up the throttle, decelerated when he came to a main intersection, turned left and gunned it again. Tilly watched the digital speedometer climb with a dizzying blur of numbers. A large screen in the middle of the console gave off a green neon glow; it looked like some kind of sonar device, displaying the manufacturer’s acronym as LEPS. Buddy leveled off just under the speed limit.
“We haven’t talked about it, but where are we going, Buddy?” asked Tilly.
“My Mom’s old casino. It’s closed down, but we still own the property. I have a key to the rear entrance.” Buddy twisted a dial on the console screen, squinting at the readout. “It’s a safe place. You won’t have to worry about privacy. It has a little backroom with some bunks.”
“Sounds good,” said Tilly, and watched as Buddy slowed down to approach another major intersection—The Las Vegas strip.
Buddy pulled on to the major thoroughfare, with an explanation. “I only have to take this for a few miles until I can hit the expressway. Just hang tight; it’ll be a little slow.” He glanced at both of them and grinned. “Man, you’re going to have to tell me how you passed those chips. I’ve been racking my brain trying to come up with that mystery.”
Fia explained how the voltage from a defibrillator would short the delicate chip. “Got the information from a prairie dog at Tranquility Harbor,” she said. “I can’t tell you where the dog heard it.”
“That’s brilliant,” said Buddy. “You guys stash everything?”
Tilly explained how they made their escape. She didn’t leave anything out, since Buddy wanted to hear every minute detail, right down to where they had taken their disguises from, to the rooms they had entered and the last people they’d talked to.
“You got the chip thing solved, at least,” said Buddy. “Otherwise you would have tripped an alarm and they would have been on us right after leaving the property.” He glanced at the console screen, then added, “Maybe I spoke too soon. I’ve got a hot target a quarter of a mile back that just made the turn onto the Strip where we entered.”
“What is that thing?” Tilly nodded her head at the screen.
“Law Enforcement Proximity Sensor. It’s radar that picks up police vehicles—used to call them pig scanners. It homes in on their transponder frequency.”
“Maybe it’s just a coincidence,” said Fia. “There has to be a lot of law enforcement in the area.”
“Don’t think so.” Buddy switched the band image, picking up more detail. “Nope. He’s activated his flashers and is parting traffic. Only one way to find out…” Buddy pulled to the right, squeezing the sled onto the bike lane and picked up speed. He cut across a small mall lot and turned right onto a smaller avenue. He made threading maneuvers through the slower traffic, his eyes glancing at the screen. He pushed a touch-pad button, activating a speaker.
Tilly didn’t know what to think. She thought they had accounted for everythi
ng. Unless one of their leg chips was still hot?
A police radio voice came over a speaker. “Property chip in unknown vehicle proceeding east on Highland Avenue—Seven Seas Security dispatch alarm.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Fia asked.
Buddy picked up speed, dodging traffic. “It means it’s not a ward chip. You’ve brought something with you that tripped the alarm. Whatever it is, get rid of it!”
“We didn’t bring anything,” said Fia.
The only thing they had brought with them was Tilly’s small hygiene bag that had a few items in it. She pulled the ID cards out and set them on the floorboard. She tossed the bag out the window; it hit the gutter and skidded.
Buddy stomped on the brakes and swung into a narrow alley. Once again, he accelerated to a dizzying speed. Trash bins flew by Tilly’s window with only inches to spare. A whirlwind of dust and trash followed in their wake. He made another abrupt turn, proceeding down an even narrower alley. She watched him watch the scope, marveling at how he kept track of the pursuit vehicle.
“All right,” he said, jaw clinched. “That confirms it. One of them just turned into the first alley I ducked into, following our trail. You’re wearing Seven Seas property. The chips are in the clothing.”
Tilly looked at him aghast. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”
“Those cheap bastards chipped everything,” said Fia. “Skirts, wigs, shoes…Christ!”
“Well, screw this.” Tilly yanked the wig from her head, pulled off her top and skirt and kicked her shoes free.
Buddy turned the scanner audio down. “Everything goes.”
Both women, stripped to the bare, wadded up their clothes and shoes in one bundle. Buddy skidded to a stop and raised the gull wing door. “Trash it!”
Tilly leaned out and shoved the bundle over the lip of a large trash bin. Door down, Buddy took off, glancing at this screen. He turned down another alley that led out onto a major street. Staying in the slow lane, he merged into oncoming traffic, bringing his speed up again.
Nothing like blitzing over Vegas streets in the nude, thought Tilly. What more would they have to do to evade the law? Climb up trees and caw like crows?
“I feel like two damn fools,” said Fia. “One fool is stark naked in the back of a sports model Suzuki, while the other fool is kicking herself in her fat ass for not thinking that our clothes or wigs were chipped.”
Tilly felt somewhat relieved that the lines and dots on the screen distracted Buddy’s attention. She made no effort to cover herself. What was the use?
“Look, you couldn’t cover all the bases,” said Buddy. “Who would have expected it? You had to ramp it up, anyway.” He let out a sigh. “That pursuit vehicle just stopped where we ditched the stuff. There’s one coming up behind it. I’ll lay you odds that’s where their chase ends.”
“I really hope so,” said Tilly. “How much further?”
He jerked the wheel, nearly sideswiping a delivery truck. “Well, I got all jacked around throwing them off our tail. But I know where I’m at. The expressway is just up ahead.”
“I still can’t get over the fact that they chipped those wardrobe pieces,” said Fia. “You would think a multi-billion dollar casino would write off small theft as a matter of doing business.”
“Not when it’s a new casino,” Buddy remarked. “Lots of little thefts add up to big numbers when you’ve got thousands of customers entering your doors every day. I’ll bet they don’t even let linen and bathroom towels go out gratis anymore, which used to be a big theft item with the tourists.”
Buddy checked his screen, turned up the scanner volume. They heard: “This is squad five-nine tango. Chip source is located and static. No suspects located. Materials are abandoned in an alleyway dumpster between Juniper and Paradise. Retrieving and bagging evidence.”
Buddy muted the radio volume. “Looks like we’ve lost that tail. I think you can relax.” He glanced at Tilly. “Sorry, I mean we’re safe for now. By the way, there’s a trunk cover behind your back, Fia. Inside is a bag of clothes that I brought along. At least you’ll have something to wear.”
“Now you tell us,” said Tilly, mockingly. “After you’ve had an eyeful.”
“I hardly noticed.” Buddy peered at the screen again and said, “Whoops. Radar just caught us!”
“From where and for what?” asked Fia.
“For speeding, and he’s up ahead of us…and now turning around. Of all the luck…”
Fia cursed. “I can’t get the god damned bag out of the hatch opening!”
“Forget about that now,” said Buddy. “We haven’t got the time and I don’t want to be caught for evading.” He pulled the sled over to the curb and set the emergency brake. He looked at both women, his expression grave. “Don’t bother covering yourselves. Act as drunk and loose as you can. I’ll take care of it.”
Tilly had no idea what Buddy had in mind. She could only follow his advice and damn the consequences. When she saw the patrol officer in the rearview side mirror, she scrambled up her hair and began to laugh. Fia caught on to the act and began gyrating in her seat. When the wing door opened, Buddy had his Omnicomp wafer and DNA cube ready.
The officer tilted his head, looking inside. His eyebrows furrowed when he saw the women. “You want to tell me what the hell’s going on here?”
“Sorry officer,” said Buddy, “it’s my fault. I know I was speeding, but we’re late as hell and I was trying to make up for it.”
“Gah,” said Tilly. “You’re a pretty soldier!”
“I saw him first, bitch,” Fia slurred.
The officer looked at Buddy. “You were making up for it by driving 20 miles per hour over the posted limit. I’ll need some I.D. from all of you.”
“Duh, we’re supposed to be naked like little fairies,” said Tilly.
The officer processed Buddy’s items and handed them back. “You’re lucky you have no wants or warrants. It still doesn’t excuse the nude females.”
“Let me explain, officer,” Buddy began, “they have to be that way because we’re going to a bachelor’s party. They’re the big surprise for the host. It’s in the contract that they can’t have a stitch on, so they left their Omnicomps behind, too.”
“Yeah, we got these,” said Tilly, reaching under her butt and handing over the I.D. cards.
The officer looked at the photo I.D., squinting. “What’s with the hair?”
“We got dye jobs when we came into town,” said Fia. She arched her back, thrusting her pelvis upward. “Ya see, we got dyed aaallll over.”
The officer cringed. “Whose bachelor party is this for?”
Buddy offered, “It’s for Senator Cooper’s bash. But don’t tell anybody I told you that.”
The officer reared up. “Artemis Cooper, state Senator of Nevada?”
Buddy nodded, grim-faced. “You did not hear that from me. It’s not the kind of thing he wants the press to get a hold of.”
The officer closed his eyes for a moment, and then pulled a pad from his belt. He filled out a citation slip, had Buddy sign it, and tore off a copy. Handing the slip to Buddy, he said, “That’s your violation receipt. Follow the directions; pay the fine through your account, or appear on the date and location for a trial hearing. I want you to proceed down this street five miles per hour under the speed limit until you reach destination. I do not want to see these women in this condition on the city streets or in any public domain. Go straight to your residence. Am I understood?”
Buddy gave him a timid salute. “Perfectly, sir. I’m really sorry about all this, but you know how Vegas-Henderson is.”
“Unfortunately I do. Get this door down.”
“Yes, sir!”
Buddy waited for the officer to enter his vehicle and pass them on the street before he let out a gale force sigh.
Tilly looked at him with a new air of respect and admiration. “I don’t know how you came up with that but it was awesome.”
“You can say that again,” said Fia, and went to work pulling the clothing bag from the back hatch. When she got it out, she opened it to dispense the clothing items. Tilly received a one-piece cotton sport’s outfit and rubber sandals. Fia dressed in jogging shorts and a pullover and slip-on running shoes.
Buddy pulled away from the curb and headed up the street. He made two turns and proceeded up the expressway on-ramp. Buddy accelerated into traffic, but this time he kept his speed down. After ten minutes, they pulled onto a two-lane street in the middle of a residential area. They slowed down upon approaching an open field, surrounded by a windbreak of trees. A one-story brick building came into view, the front facade taken up by a huge multiple-bulb marquis that was dark, but announced, OLIVIA’S SHOOTING STAR CASINO. It looked quaint, almost lonely sitting out by itself. Tilly wondered if this might be the casino that was involved in the ownership dispute between Buddy’s mother and father. He cleared that up a moment later as he pulled into the back parking lot.
“Mom’s first business venture,” said Buddy. “Ten thousand square feet, with a small stage and main gambling floor. She put a down payment on another larger casino with the judgment settlement. She’s going to sell this place as soon as we remove a few more machines and some furniture.”
Buddy unlocked the back door and they stepped inside a long rectangular room that held four metal frame beds, a small kitchen area and a single bathroom. One corner of the room acted as a storeroom and workshop, reserved for maintenance on the machines and appliances. Buddy turned on the breaker switch for the interior lights and then led them through a single door that opened onto the main gambling floor. Tilly saw about 40 slot machines and six game tables. A half-crescent-shaped bar counter took up one corner. Liquors and wines still occupied the shelves behind the bar. Various lighted signs depicted favorite beverages and products along the walls.
“What a cute little casino,” said Fia. “I can see why your mother fought so hard to keep it.”
“Lots of memories here,” said Buddy, looking around with wistful eyes. “That little stage is where I had my first magic act. We’re over on Flamingo now, with a building twice this size and three times the traffic.”
The Girl They Sold to the Moon Page 19