Handbags & Hooligans

by Laina Turner

  “Really? That seems odd. I thought those kind of guys wanted their money or else.”

  “He’s a good guy,” Jesse insisted. “This is a family business to him.”

  “As long as you’ve learned your lesson, I don’t think this is that much of a big deal, Jess.”

  “Well…” He hesitated.

  “What? Don’t tell me you’re still gambling? Didn’t you learn your lesson?”

  “It’s a little bigger than that.”

  “What do you mean, Jesse?

  “Big Bud might have forgiven my loans, but his biggest competitor, Benigni, has been doing all he can during Bud’s legal issues to take away market share.”

  “Market share? Is that common lingo for the gambling underworld?”

  “No need to be sarcastic, Pres. Do you want to hear me out?”

  “Okay, sorry. Go on.”

  “Well I was approached by this guy a few weeks after Bud’s arrest. He knew I had been arrested in the sting and said it would be in my best interest to do him a few favors.”

  “Like what? How does he have anything on you?”

  “Because I could lose my job for being arrested, and I don’t want to lose my job. I like my job here. I know it’s not much, and it’s not a career mom or dad would have chosen for me, but I enjoy it. Plus, there was Ashley.”

  “If they found out, would losing your job be a certainty?”

  “Of course, Presley. Casinos don’t want employees who seem to have an issue with gambling.”

  “That makes sense. I just thought being a good employee might help them overlook that. Maybe Simon could help?”

  “Maybe. I just hate to ask for special favors.”

  “I can understand that. So what did this guy ask you to do?”

  “He wants me to help him fix some of the games at the poker tournament that starts tomorrow. I keep saying no, but he’s been coming around every day to talk to me about it. It’s his way of saying I don’t really have a choice.” Jesse looked dejected. I wanted to feel sorry for him because he was my baby brother, and he was already worried enough about Ashley, but this was of his own doing.

  “Is there anyone you can go to? Anyone you can tell, so this guy will leave you alone? What about Simon? Surely he would help. I know he would be livid to hear this Benigni guy was trying to do shady things in his establishment.” Simon’s father had been engaged in illegal activity, and Simon had worked really hard to be taken serious as a legitimate businessman.

  “And say what? Because of my previous illegal dealings I have someone else wanting me to do illegal things?”

  “You don’t have to be a jerk about it, Jesse. I’m just trying to help.”

  “I know. I’m sorry. I just need to keep saying no. I would rather lose my job than do anything else illegal.”

  “Does Simon know this guy has been hanging around? You know how important it is to Simon to be squeaky clean, with all the shady dealings of his father to live down.”

  “Not that I know of, although, Simon seems to be aware of everything that goes on around here, so maybe he does.”

  “We should talk to the guy that got you in trouble in the first place, Jesse. What was his name again?”

  “Bud. Bud Greer. And I got myself in trouble.”

  “Whatever, that’s not important. You said he’s a player in this town. Maybe he knows something about Ashley or something that might have been going on that could be important.”

  “I don’t know, Pres,” Jesse said reluctantly. “I’m not sure what kind of information about Ashley he might have.”

  “Who cares if it’s a long shot? Isn’t doing something better than doing nothing?”

  “You’re absolutely right. Let me call him.” Jesse stepped away to make the call.

  “Oohh, this will be exciting,” said Jared.

  “What?”

  “Talking to a real life Vegas gangster.”

  I rolled my eyes. “What are you thinking? That we’ll meet him and he will be in a three–piece suit with wing tip shoes and men with machine guns flanking him?”

  “Don’t be silly, though that would be nice. I think he’ll just be an interesting person to meet, that’s all.”

  Jesse walked back to us. “He said come on over now.”

  “Okay, but we need to make it quick. We have a wedding this afternoon.”

  We drove about fifteen minutes out of town, and Jesse turned into a drive that led up to a magnificent house, or should I say mansion.

  “Wow,” Jared said. “And they say crime doesn’t pay.”

  “No kidding, this place is gorgeous.”

  “Wait until you see the inside,” Jesse said. “His wife decorated it all herself, and she had amazing taste.”

  “Had?” I questioned.

  “She passed away from multiple sclerosis a few years back. One of the things Bud does is give a lot of money to fund MS research. He is very philanthropic.”

  “That’s interesting for someone in his line of work.”

  “I told you he was a good guy. This is a family business. Bud just took over for his dad.”

  I wasn’t prepared to like him no matter what Jesse said. After all, he was a criminal, and I wanted to blame him for Jesse being involved where he shouldn’t, though deep down I knew that wasn’t rational. We walked up to the door, which had glass panels about ten feet tall that looked perfect in the stonework that was the front of the house. As we reached the door, it opened.

  “Hi, Jesse. Glad to have you stop by.”

  “Hi, Bud. Thanks for seeing us on such short notice.”

  This was Bud? This guy looked like a high school gym teacher. Probably in his late forties, sandy blond hair and blue eyes. Average height and size. He looked like the guy next door, not someone who dealt in mostly illegal trade for a living.

  “Who are your friends?” Bud asked warmly.

  “This is my sister, Presley, and this is Jared,” he said pointing to both of us.

  Bud shook our hands “Wonderful to meet you all. Please come in.”

  We followed him into the house, which led to the largest foyer I had ever seen. Now, I wasn’t very good at judging spatial areas, but the ceiling was easily twenty feet high, and the area was maybe thirty feet in diameter. It was shaped like a cylinder with halls going off in several different directions. From this angle it looked like it was shaped like a big bicycle wheel, very unique. He led us down the spoke to the right, which opened up into the biggest kitchen I had ever seen. One entire wall was windows, and the light played off the all white cabinets and stainless appliances, contrasting with the very dark, almost black, Brazil wood floor.

  “This kitchen is absolutely beautiful. I mean, your house is amazing, but this kitchen … and I don’t even like to cook.”

  “Thank you, Presley. This is actually my favorite room of the house. I do love to cook. It’s my hobby, and this room is just so warm and cozy. The rest of the house is okay, but this room…let’s just say when I have people over, this is where we spend our time.”

  “Well, I can see why.”

  He smiled at my comments, and I could tell this room really was special to him. I looked on the wall opposite to the bay of windows and saw what must be family photos. His late wife was blonde and beautiful, as were the two boys and one girl in the picture. They all looked like their mother. He caught me looking.

  “Beautiful, aren’t they?”

  “They sure are. I assume this is your family?”

  “Yes, that’s Marguerite. She passed away a few years ago, and the kids are all grown and out of the house. Jake, the one on the right, is twenty-five and works in New York at a brokerage firm. He wants to be a Wall Street tycoon. Marci, the middle one, is a senior at Brown, and Jimmy, the youngest, is a freshman at UNLV. He’s the only one who wanted to stay around here, but he lives on campus. I guess you could say I’m now an empty nester.”

  I could tell how proud he was of his family. Maybe I’d been
too judgmental, and Jesse was right about Bud being a good guy. I just had a hard time reconciling in my head a person engaged in criminal activity, and this family man standing in front of me.

  “So, what can I help you with, Jesse?”

  “A couple of things actually, but don’t feel obligated. You’ve already done enough for me.”

  “Not nearly enough,” he said. “Now tell me, what do you need?”

  “Benigni has been sniffing around and wants me to help his brother win at the poker tournament.”

  “That sounds about right. He’s been bothering a lot of my guys. I can help you take care of that. You’re at Simon’s casino right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Simon and I go way back. I’ll give him a call. Does he know about this?”

  “Not from me, but Benigni has been hanging around, so I’m sure he knows something is up.”

  “I’m sure he does. Not much slips by him. What else?”

  “You remember my girlfriend, Ashley?”

  “Yes, I do. You brought her to my getting–out–of–jail celebration. The beautiful blonde, much too good for you,” he teased.

  “That’s the one. She’s disappeared, and not only that, when we went to her apartment, it was ripped apart, and there was blood all over the place. We called the cops, of course, but they won’t tell me much of what they think is going on. I’ve found out some disturbing things about her, and I guess I thought since you’re so connected you might have heard something.”

  “That sounds horrible, but I’m not sure what you mean by my hearing something?” Bud genuinely looked confused, and I sensed that he wanted to help us, but just wasn’t sure what we were asking.

  “Well, there is something I didn’t know about her that I found out. She worked at The Pink Pony.”

  I felt bad for Jesse, as he still looked hurt and embarrassed.

  “You mean she worked at Benigni’s club? Now I can see why you think I might be able to help. Do you think Benigni is involved?” Bud shook his head as if he didn’t like hearing this information.

  “I don’t know what to think. I thought maybe you might know if there were any rumors floating around about happenings at The Pink Pony, and maybe Ashley got involved in something she shouldn’t have.”

  “I haven’t heard anything out of the ordinary. He runs drugs out of there, but as far as I’ve ever heard, the girls at the club don’t get involved. It’s usually the guys who work there.”

  That made me take interest. Could Sweetie be involved in illegal activity? He didn’t really seem the type, but then what did I know?

  “Do you think she was involved in something like that?” Bud asked.

  “I really have no idea. I didn’t know she was working at The Pink Pony until she disappeared,” Jesse said sheepishly.

  Bud seemed to pick up on Jesse’s discomfort, and I could tell he felt bad.

  “I will ask around and let you know what I find out. I hope for your sake she isn’t involved with Benigni’s shenanigans. He’s not a good man.”

  “I know. That’s why I came to you.”

  “I’m glad you did.”

  Chapter 9

  We had just left Big Bud and were driving back to the hotel. Jesse was right: he was a nice guy. However, my head was reeling from the mess that Jesse was in. I pulled my phone out of my purse and saw I had several missed calls from Anna. Shame washed over me. This was her big day, and I wasn’t there for her. I knew she understood I needed to help my brother, but I felt bad. I decided to call her and promise to be all about her until after the wedding. There wasn’t much we could do now, anyways. I needed to talk to Cooper. I was going to have to ask his help with this. I was sure the police were on top of things and wondered if we should tell the detectives the latest developments. Anything to help Ashley.

  Anna picked up on the first ring. “Oh, Presley, you won’t believe this!” She sounded completely distraught.

  I couldn’t imagine what had happened. “What happened, Anna? What’s wrong?”

  “Presley, he left.”

  “Who left?”

  “Jeff.”

  “Wait a minute. What did you say? I’m confused.”

  “It’s pretty simple. Jeff told me he couldn’t go through with this and left. I mean, I think he’s still here in Vegas with his friends, but he isn’t at this hotel, and he’s certainly not planning on marrying me.” She was sobbing so hard I could barely understand her.

  “Oh, honey, I am so sorry. We will be there in fifteen minutes.” I hung up and looked at Jared and Jesse.

  “What happened?” asked Jared.

  “That asshole Jeff left her at the altar. Or almost altar. Said he didn’t want to get married and just left her.”

  “Oh my God, poor girl,” said Jared. “I’ll hurry. Traffic isn’t too bad this time of day.”

  I was glad we had Jesse’s car. He had let us use it and he said he would get a ride. It seemed like an eternity before we pulled into Harrah’s, but I’d bet it felt much longer for Anna. I gave Jesse the card key to my room so he could try to take a quick nap. He hadn’t wanted to, but Jared and I convinced him that going forty–eight hours with no sleep wasn’t good, and he needed to be at his best to help Ashley.

  Jared and I headed up to Anna’s room. We knocked on the door, and it immediately opened. She must have been waiting for us. She was a wreck, understandably so. I took one look at her tear–stained face and wanted to kill Jeff. He’d better hope I didn’t run into him anytime soon. “Anna, I’m so sorry. I hate that this happened to you. What got into him?” Jared and I hugged her.

  “I don’t know. This morning things were fine. We went to breakfast and were headed to our couples massage. On the way there, he turned to me and just said he didn’t want to be married, that he loved me and would like to stay together, but he just wasn’t ready to get married.”

  “What did you say? I mean about staying together?” I was hoping she told him where to go.

  “What the hell do you think? I told him over my dead body, that I was done. That he better have his shit out of my apartment by the time I got back, and I never wanted to see him again and even that would be too soon.”

  “You go, girl,” said Jared. “He doesn’t deserve you. You can get much better.”

  “What did your parents say?” I asked.

  “I haven’t told them. I’m afraid to. They never liked Jeff, anyway, and what if they say I told you so?”

  “They won’t, Anna. They love you. They will probably be happy he is finally gone and won’t care about the money. Do you want me to tell them?”

  “Would you?”

  “Of course I would. Now, what can we do for you?”

  “Honestly, Presley, I want to kill him. But since I can’t do that, I want to take a long nap and then go get my massage. Then you are taking me out drinking so I can forget this ever happened.”

  “Okay, we can do all those things. Anything we can get you before you take a nap?”

  “No, I’m good. I just want you to tell my parents and then come pick me up later.”

  “Will do. Try and sleep.” Jared and I walked out of the room and gently closed the door.

  “What do you think her parents will really say?” Jared asked.

  “Trust me, they will be thrilled. They didn’t like Jeff at all, even though they tried and did a great job of pretending. Let’s go do this now and get it over with.”

  Anna’s parents were on the eighth floor, so Jared and I took the elevator down to their room. I wondered on the way down about Jeff’s parents. This put them in a bad position, but then they weren’t responsible for their son’s behavior, and from what I knew of them they would feel bad. We got to room 8007, and I knocked on the door.

  “Just a minute,” I heard Anna’s mom, Alice, call out. A few seconds later the door opened. “Come on in. Look, Henry, more visitors.”

  More visitors? What did she mean by that? I quickly found out when I wal
ked into their suite to find Jeff’s parents. “So, I take it you already know?” I said to her.

  “Yes, dear. Jim and Karen were kind enough to come over and break the news as soon as Jeff told them. I was waiting for Anna to call or come down, but let me guess—she sent you to do it instead?

  “Yeah,” I said sheepishly. “She was afraid you would be angry about the money you spent for nothing.”

  “That girl,” Alice said. “Of course I’m not upset. Her father and I don’t care about the money; we care about her and just want her to be happy.”

  “That’s what I tried to tell her.”

  “Where is she now?”

  “She is in her room trying to take a nap. She’ll get a massage later and wanted to go out for drinks tonight and forget all this happened.” I felt a little uncomfortable with Jeff’s parents listening. I didn’t want to be rude, but it was their son who just jilted my best friend and caused her pain.

  Jeff’s mom spoke up. “Will you tell her for us how sorry we are? We love Anna like a daughter, and I’m mortified he handled this the way he has.” I could tell by her eyes she had shed at least a few tears, and I felt bad for everyone involved. Well, except that idiot Jeff—may he live out the rest of his days miserable and alone. “We know he hasn’t always treated her the best, but we never expected this. We thought he had finally realized how lucky he was having a wonderful girl like Anna.”

  “I sure will. Let me know if there is anything I can do, Alice. Are you guys still going to stay through Monday?”

  “I don’t see why not. That’s what we were just discussing with Karen and Jim. Just because this has happened doesn’t mean we shouldn’t make the best of it and enjoy the rest of our time here. I hope Anna isn’t thinking about going home either.”

  “I’m not sure, but I will make sure she stays. I agree that we can always find a silver lining, and what better way for her to start getting over this than to have some fun away from home?”