Sisters In Blood (Blood Series Book 6)

by T. Lynne Tolles

  In the casino they broke into smaller groups. Darby, Melanie, and Rowan headed for the loud chiming of the slot machines, while Katarina, Alyssa, Julianna, and Sally made their way through the crowds towards the tables. The craps table split them once more keeping Alyssa and Sally tantalized with the rolling of dice. Katarina and Julianna trekked further within to the blackjack and poker tables.

  Katarina didn’t plan on staying long and figured some of the gals would go out on their own. Others who traveled most of the day might call it an early evening and save the partying for the next night, but a few hands of blackjack would be a fun to end the evening. Julianna motioned to her that she would be at a nearby poker table. Katarina nodded in acknowledgement.

  Katarina scoped out a few table and noticed she was getting odd looks and a very uncomfortable feeling from many of the dealers. Several turned their heads speaking, presumably, into a hidden microphone. She tried to play it off as a fluke and was just about to sit at a table when two huge bouncers had her by each arm and escorting her away from the table.

  “Excuse me. What are you doing,” she demanded.

  The man to her right engaged her, “Don’t be coy with us, Ms. Gold. You know very well we have a restraining order on you. You are not to come within five-hundred feet of this casino.”

  “I think you have me confused with someone else. My name is Katarina Jannson,” she informed them her feet not touching the floor as they whizzed through the crowd of surprised and confused gamblers.

  “Is that your name today, Ms. Gold? We’ve been fooled by that line for the last time. The owners are still complaining about the damage you caused during your last visit,” the sunglass clad herculean declared.

  “I’m telling you the truth. I’m not this ‘Ms. Gold’ you keep referring to. I’m Katarina…”

  “You can say it as many times as you like but I’m not buying it. True your hair is lighter, but you could have at least TRIED to disguise yourself—a hat, glasses, something, but you are so brazen you don’t even bother.”

  “I don’t know who you think I am but that’s not me,” Katarina implored.

  “Whoever you are, Ms. Gold, you will not be causing destruction and havoc in this casino while I’m on duty,” he said as the two men deposited her near the curb, whistling and hailing a cab. They made sure she got in it and the taxi was pulling away before turning an about face towards the casino.

  “Guess I won’t be playing blackjack tonight,” she said mumbling to herself in the backseat of the cab.

  “Where to ma’am?” the driver asked.

  “The Bellagio,” she answered.

  “But that’s just the next hotel,” the driver asked confused.

  “I know. Did you see those guys carrying me out of the Monte Carlo? They weren’t taking no for an answer,” she explained.

  He nodded looking a little concerned. She wondered what he thought of her if it took two big hulks to get her out. He probably thought he better not make her mad or she might be trouble for him. He didn’t charge her, but she did offer him a tip for dropping her off at the front door. She gave him a nod and he took off like a bullet.

  What an odd state of affairs this is, Katarina thought to herself.

  Chapter Five

  Alyssa’s phone vibrated in her back pocket while she held up the dice for a throw, when she saw Julianna at the table next to her grabbing for her phone. She blew on her dice and tossed them diagonally at the green felt watching them roll and tumble. The stickman announced, “center field nine.” Not winning, she looked at her phone and saw a message from Katarina.

  Thrown out of casino…explain later…at the Bellagio—calling it a night.

  Kat

  Alyssa saw Julianna holding her phone and making her way towards her.

  “What do you make of that?” Julianna asked.

  “An interesting story, I’m sure,” Alyssa claimed.

  “No doubt,” Julianna agreed.

  “You heard?” Sally said approaching them.

  “Yeah. Should we check on her?” Alyssa wondered.

  “No. She’d want you to go on with your evening. If she needed us or was concerned about it, she would have said so, or emailed me on the side,” Julianna said.

  “Right. How are you guys doing?” Alyssa asked the girls.

  “Down three hundred, but just won most of it back in the last hand,” Sally said.

  “Lost a hundred but seem to be holding on to that status,” Julianna said. “And you?”

  “Not my lucky night or maybe it’s just the table,” Alyssa admitted.

  “Maybe it’s just that you haven’t had enough to drink,” Julianna said.

  “I like your thinking. I saw in passing the Diablo Cantina. I’ve learned from past experience that when I start with tequila, I shouldn’t jump to something else. First round of shots are on me,” Alyssa said.

  “I hear that,” Sally said.

  “If we find the other girls as we make our way for the cantina we can tell them where we’re going, otherwise we’ll just text them when we get there,” Julianna suggested.

  “Perfect,” Alyssa said as they walked to the bar.

  Julianna, being the tallest, guided them through the crowd, but a fast walking dark haired man crossed their path and bumped into Alyssa, dumping his drink down the front of her.

  “Oh my God, that’s cold,” she screeched as the frozen drink oozed down her blouse in blobs, hitting her pretty painted toes in her strappy heel.

  Her attention was on her shirt when the man said, “Alyssa? Is that you?”

  She recognized the voice all too well and looked up in shock, “Anthony? You bonehead. What are you doing here?” she said sharing her cold sticky mess with him as she hugged him tightly.

  “What am I doing here? What are you doing here?” he said.

  “I’m here with a bunch of girlfriends for a bachelorette weekend,” she explained.

  “You mean that P.I. of yours is finally making an honest woman out of you?” he pried.

  “Getting married wouldn’t make me an honest woman by any means, but to answer your question no. Three of the gals here are getting married within months of each other and one just got back from her honeymoon,” Alyssa clarified.

  Julianna must have realized she’d lost Alyssa and she and Sally came back to check on her. “What’s up?” Julianna asked Alyssa then eyed the man next to her.

  “Julianna, Sally this is my little brother, Anthony,” Alyssa declared.

  “Nice to meet you,” Sally said offering her hand then Julianna followed suit.

  “The pleasure’s all mine,” Anthony said ratcheting the charm to overload, “Oh wait, these aren’t the gals you said were getting married, are they?”

  “No,” Alyssa answered suspiciously.

  “Hello, ladies,” Anthony said with a swagger.

  Alyssa socked him in the arm, “Knock it off, Anthony. You never said what you’re doing here,” she probed.

  “Oh right. I’m here for work,” he said taking Sally’s hand in his and giving it a kiss.

  “Work?” she inquired.

  “Yeah. I’m part of the Cirque du Soleil cast,” Anthony admitted.

  “Oh yeah. Mom did tell me you working in the cast. Guess I hadn’t realized it was in Vegas,” Alyssa said.

  “We were going to the Diablo Cantina for some drinks. Would you like to join us?” Julianna asked.

  “I would, but only if I wasn’t intruding,” Anthony said looking for affirmation from Alyssa that it was okay.

  “Of course you’d be intruding, but we’ll let you come anyway,” Alyssa said, wrapping her arm around his waist making a beeline for the bar where she could excuse herself and clean up the sticky mess.

  * * *

  Julianna ordered a pitcher and texted the other girls telling them where they were and inviting them to join if they were so inclined.

  Alyssa rejoined the group just as Rowan, Darby and Melanie made their int
roductions to Anthony.

  “I see everyone here has met my brother,” Alyssa said as the waitress set down tequila shots and a pitcher of margaritas. They all nodded. Alyssa thought her brother looked as happy as a rooster in a hen house.

  Sally was asking him more about his involvement with the Cirque du Soleil group and all seemed intrigued to hear what he had to say.

  Anthony relayed how he had fallen into the part when a couple of their family members took up with the cast. “After all, once a circus performer, always a circus performer, right, sis?” he said.

  “Yeah, I guess. For most,” she answered.

  “Oh, Lissy, I didn’t mean that you…” Anthony backpedaled.

  “No. I understand. I like what I do, but I’ll admit I miss it sometimes. Not the blisters, broken bones and bruises, mind you, but the applause and the spotlight—you know, that sort of thing.”

  “You know, Lissy, we could use your help. Seems our star performer was injured on the way here. Something to do with some dumb blonde who smashed his foot with a suitcase at the airport.”

  Darby’s eyes widened and she turned interesting shades of red and looked like she might slide under the table and disappear.

  Alyssa smiled and retorted, “You know how those prima donnas are. Probably stubbed a toe and has exaggerated the incident to amputation.”

  “True,” he agreed. “The guy is an ass, if you ask me. Thinks he’s holier than thou. You know the type.”

  “Yup. One of the things I don’t miss about the circus. But I don’t see what help I can be. I’m out of practice. I couldn’t possibly fill in for him.”

  “No, but if we moved a few people around you could take up the slack in a lesser position. They were talking of canceling the show unless we could find someone. Come on, Lissy. It would be fun. Arturo, Ernesto and Francesca as well as the twins Gabriella and Guiseppe will be preforming with us. It would be like old times,” Anthony pleaded.

  “I don’t know, Francesca can be such a little witch,” Alyssa said.

  “Please… I could really use the money and we don’t get paid if the performance is cancelled.”

  All the girls around the table had been completely enthralled with the conversation and had become sympathetic to Anthony’s dilemma.

  “Aw, come on, Alyssa. It would be fabulous to see you perform, especially with all your family,” Sally said.

  “Fine. I’ll talk to the director and see if I can be of help.”

  “Perfect,” Anthony said pulling out his phone and texting someone, then raised his shot glass of tequila and said, “Salute.” All the girls repeated throwing their heads backs, and making sour faces as they swallowed—that was everyone but Darby who was drinking cranberry juice.

  The girls drank and did shots with Anthony well into the night, however at some point Anthony mentioned to Alyssa that he had set her up an appointment with the director at eight thirty in the morning so she stopped doing shots and stuck to beer knowing she’d never make it to the meeting if she didn’t.

  * * *

  Darby, Katarina, Julianna, and Alyssa had breakfast in the morning. Alyssa was hurting, but grateful for discontinuing the hard liquor when she did. She asked the waitress for a tequila shot, pancakes, water, and aspirin.

  Alyssa asked Julianna, “How can you be so perky after all that drinking last night?”

  Julianna whispered, “Vampires rarely get drunk on alcohol, unless its blood wine—then we get schnockered,” she said as if she had experienced this.

  The waitress brought everyone’s food and the items Alyssa requested. They all watched her down the shot and chase it with the entire glass of water. Before the waitress left, she asked her to bring coffee too.

  “If you feel so crappy, how does having a shot help?” Julianna asked.

  “Hair of the dog,” Alyssa said, after taking a bite of pancakes.

  “Hair of the dog?” Julianna asked.

  Darby said, “Yes. They say having a little of the alcohol you consumed the morning after helps with the hang over.”

  “Okay, but what does a dog’s hair have to do with it?” Julianna asked.

  “I think I’ve been hanging out with Dominic too long,” Katarina laughed, “because I know this one. Back in the olden days people said if you were bit by a dog you were to put the dog’s hair on the wound to heal it. Ridiculous to think dirty old dog hair would fix things but the saying was ‘like cures like’ or ‘hair of the dog that bit you.’”

  “That’s very odd indeed,” Julianna admitted.

  “So what’s your plan today?” Alyssa asked.

  “I’m guessing we’ve got a while before the rest of the girls get up,” Katarina pointed out. “There were a couple of things that looked interesting,” Katarina continued.

  “Like what?” asked Darby.

  “Let’s see,” Katarina said as she pulled out a list from her purse. “There’s the Neon Museum, which is an outside walk-thru collection of the city’s neon legacy. At the Mandalay they have the Shark Reef that looked interesting. There’s indoor skydiving or the CSI experience where you go through a recreated crime scene and solve the case. There’s the pole dancing class, the car racing school, and a wine tasting and cooking class. Or we could have a salon day pampering ourselves and then there’s always gambling, gambling, and more gambling. Although I didn’t have much luck with that last night,” Katarina stated.

  “That’s right. What happened last night?” Alyssa asked.

  “Truthfully, I’m not really sure. Apparently someone who looks like me had done some damage at the Monte Carlo. Two bouncers escorted me out before I could even sit at a table. They kept calling me Ms. Gold, but I told them they’d mistaken me for someone else. Course they weren’t buying that. Seems this Ms. Gold has claimed to be other people and come in with disguises too,” Katarina explained.

  “No way. You mean they think you are Felicity Gold?” Darby said.

  “Who’s Felicity Gold?” Katarina asked.

  “You never heard of Hollywood’s notorious bad girl Felicity Gold? She’s all over the tabloids. You know now that I think about it, I could see where they made the mistake in thinking you were her. You actually do look an awful lot like her,” Darby explained.

  “You’re right. It’s like I always thought you looked familiar—like a face you couldn’t put a name to, even when I first met you,” Alyssa said studying Katarina a little closer.

  “Really?” Katarina said amused.

  “Yeah. Definitely,” Darby agreed.

  “If the Monte Carlo kicked you out before you even sat, it’s very likely the other casinos will treat you the same. I’m guessing they’ve already alerted the other hotels Felicity Gold is in town,” Alyssa surmised.

  “So why do they dislike this woman?” Julianna asked.

  “Oh my God, this woman is a terror. If she gets angry, and that’s just about all the time, she’ll go on a rampage, tossing chairs, throwing drinks, you name it. It’s said that she caused over a hundred thousand dollars damage at some bar one night when she threw a barstool through a fish tank that was the backdrop for the bar. Normally a fish tank wouldn’t do that much damage but they had their most expensive liquors displayed around the tank and they were all destroyed. It was a mess,” Darby relayed.

  “Felicity causes trouble everywhere she goes; movie sets, bars, casinos, hotel rooms, even a leer jet if I remember correctly,” Alyssa added.

  “This woman needs anger management classes,” Julianna deduced.

  “That and therapy,” Katarina added.

  “Oh yeah!” Darby and Alyssa agreed.

  “Guess I won’t be doing much gambling,” Katarina decided.

  “Not without a disguise or something,” Darby said.

  “Hmm. Well there’s plenty of other things to do, I suppose,” Katarina said.

  Alyssa looked at her watch and said, “Oh crap. I have to get going or I’ll be late.”

  “Where are you going?”
Katarina asked as Alyssa high-tailed out of there.

  “She has to talk to somebody about helping out the cast of Cirque du Soleil,” Julianna informed Katarina.

  “Really?” Katarina said with surprise.

  “Yeah. We ran into Alyssa’s brother last night. He’s in the cast,” Julianna said.

  “Remember that French guy at the airport I told you about? Seems he was their star performer so they are in need of someone to take up the slack,” Darby interjected.

  Julianna continued, “Right, and Alyssa’s brother talked her into helping out. Turns out several members of her family are in the cast, so it might be kind of fun for her.”

  “That’s pretty amazing. We’ll definitely have to get tickets for the show,” Katarina declared.

  “That would be fun,” Darby agreed.

  “That’s a great idea,” Julianna said.

  “Any thoughts on what you want to do?” Katarina asked.

  Julianna looked at Darby and Darby smiled at her. They both said in stereo, “Spa!”

  “Perfect,” Katarina concluded.

  * * *

  Darby texted the other girls to join them in the spa when they rolled out of bed. By three o’clock they had all met and had a very late lunch in the restaurant in the Eiffel Tower replica across the street. After lunch they went up to the observation deck at the top of the tower.

  Keeping with the theme, they toured the other replica landmarks on site including the Arc de Triomphe, the Paris Opera House facade, the Hotel de Ville, the Alexander III Bridge, and of course the Louvre.

  As they walked toward the Bellagio, having taken in the sites of Paris, Sally stopped dead in her tracks staring across a crowd of people walking up the strip.

  “What is it, Sally? Are you okay?” Melanie asked.

  “I, it’s nothing, Lanie. I’m sorry. We better catch up,” Sally said deflecting whatever it was she saw or heard.

  Melanie let it go, but she noted Sally seemed a bit jumpy the rest of the day.

  Chapter Six

  For the evening the girls headed for Mandalay Place where they had dinner in the House of Blues and stayed for the first set of entertainment before heading to Minus 5 bar.