by Jeff Shelby
“Yeah,” Johnny said. “Because it's a casino.”
“Right, right,” Al said, still working his toe into the asphalt. “And sometimes that gets them in trouble.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“They gamble too much,” he said. “Or they wanna gamble more than they have.”
“ Okay,” I said, still not understanding. “But w I still wasn't understanding. “W hat does that have to do with the computers?”
He switched toes, now rubbing the other one against the asphalt. “Well, sometimes people open lines of credit. They usually just end up dig ging bigger holes, you know? And then when the hole gets too big, they gotta do something to get out of it.”
“So you open lines of credit for people here?” Johnny asked, adjusting his glasses, like he was trying to get a better read on him.
Al's mouth twisted a little. “Not officially, no.”
“But unofficially?”
“I can get it done,” he admitted. “I know a couple people in the financial office. Sometimes they need things. We trade favors and stuff like that. It's sort of off the books.”
“If it's off the books, what happens if they keep losing?” Johnny asked.
Al's eyebrows bounced and he glanced toward the trailer.
“They've gotta pay you,” I said, starting to put it together finally. “However they can. You arrange the credit directly with them and the deal is with you, so they've got to pay you back directly. And given that they had to open a credit line, they probably can't do that with cash, can they?”
Al shrugged again.
“So they pay you with what they can,” I said.
“Remember that one dude who had to sign over his Jeep,” Nate said, chuckling. “That was kind of funny.”
Al cut his eyes at his brother and Nate's laugh quickly died.
“Do you tell them what you want?” I asked. “Or do you let them make offers?”
Al cleared his throat. “Some of both, I guess. If we get to that point, then we try to figure something out that will work.”
Al probably had a nice little side business going and it just reinforced my distaste for gambling. The waste of money, the addictive nature and the seediness of it. It made people do bad things. I'd yet to see anything good come from gambling and this whole fiasco was becoming Exhibit A.
“So then you made a deal with somebody who couldn't pay off their line,” Johnny said.
Al hesitated, then nodded.
“And they settled up with you by getting you the computers,” I said.
Al nodded again. “Yeah. Because I get a lot of computers. It's usually the first thing people offer up and they're pretty easy to move, especially with Nate's connections. But I swear . I didn't take them a . A nd I didn't know they came from a school.”
Al had already confessed to enough that I didn't think he'd lie about that part.
“So,” I said, looking at him. “Who'd you get them from?”
Al sighed and put his hands on his hips. He was still staring at the ground, his toe still doing the stubbing thing. Nate stood next to him, silently.
“If I tell you,” Al said. “Are you gonna blow me up here? Report me or something?”
Johnny looked at me.
“Can we have the computers back?” I asked.
Al sighed again, li ke a balloon losing all of it ' s air. He turned and stared at the trailer. Then he turned back to me. “Yeah, okay. Bad karma for me to keep them anyway if they belong to kids.”
“ How are you gonna make the credit line right?” Johnny asked. “Or whatever you wanna call it.”
He frowned, then waved a hand in the air. “I'll figure it out. I'll have to call in a few favors and probably kick in a little of my own cash to cover it since I can't sell the computers. And I'll go to my customer and tell them they brought me bad merch and they're gonna have to make it right somehow. B ut I'll get it worked out. I just don't wanna get blown up here.”
“Okay,” I said. “You tell us who gave them to you and you give us the computers and we'll leave it at that.”
Al licked his lips, glancing at Johnny. “And you won't burn me Nate in the forums? He can keep doing what he's been doing? ”
“We'll be cool,” Johnny said. “I won't say anything.”
Al tugged at the braid at the base of his neck. “Yeah, man. Cause I still need that business, you know?” He sighed again and let go of the braid. “Alright. We got a deal then.”
A tiny shiver ran up my spine.
Al closed the door on the trailer, pointed at the casino and then started walking.
“Where are you going?” I asked.
“I'm taking you inside,” he said. “You wanna meet 'em, right?”
“Meet who?”
“The one who gave me the computers,” he said. “Because they're here. In the casino. Right now.”
THIRTY EIGHT
“We got regulars,” Al explained as we walked back down the corridor past his office. “People we see all the time. Same days, same time, whatever. And you can just tell when they're in trouble.”
“And that's when you go to them?” I asked, not bothering to hide my disapproval. “When they're in trouble?”
He looked back over his shoulder. “More or less . You can just tell .”
I bit my tongue so as not to lecture him.
“About two weeks ago, I was walking the floor,” he said, reaching the end of the corridor and the far end of the gaming floor. “That's when all of this went down.”
If it was possible, the casino floor had grown more crowded and noisier since we'd gone outside. People were shoulder to shoulder, the conversation level had risen a notch and the slots seemed to be dinging even louder. Not exactly my idea of fun.
“This customer always sits at the same table,” Al explained, leaning closer as we walked the perimeter of the floor so I could hear him. “Total regular.”
Goosebumps popped on my neck as we walked and I felt a little sick to my stomach.
“Just can't stay away and bets a lot of money,” he said, then stopped and pointed. “Right over there.”
I followed the direction he pointed in, his finger aiming at a poker table on the edge of the gaming area. There were five seats at the table and all of them were occupied. Two men and three women. The woman on the end word jeans and a light blue sweater, her long blonde hair pulled back, her expression a mask one of total concentration as she watched the dealer.
Charlotte Nordhoff looked totally immersed in the game.
As soon as Johnny told me that Nate wanted us to go to River Star, I'd immediately thought of Charlotte and what I'd heard at Prism about her. I hadn't wanted to believe that she had anything to do with the computers, but it was hard to shut out my those thoughts as we drove. Now, seeing her sitting there, concentrating on whatever she was doing, I couldn't say that I was terribly surprised. Disappointed, yes. But not surprised.
“You know her?” Johnny asked.
I nodded. “Yes. Unfortunately.” ”
Al looked entirely uncomfortable standing there, shifting his weight from foot to foot, glancing in multiple directions.
Nate looked bored, like he wanted dinner or something.
“You think she's the one , then?” Johnny asked.
I nodded again . “Yes. Unfortunately.”
“ Alright then,” Al said, looking at each Al looked at both of us. “So we're cool , then?”
Johnny looked at me.
“Yeah,” I said. “But I want those computers.”
His shoulders slumped. “I know, I know.”
“You wanna go talk to the woman?” Johnny suggested. “I can work out the logistics on getting the computers back with Al and Nate here?”
I hesitated, then nodded. “Okay.”
“Let's go back to your office,” Johnny said to Al. “Get it worked out.”
“You're not gonna burn m e e or my brother, though, right?”
“No burn,” Johnny said. “Promise.”
Al and Nate exchanged looks, shrugged, realizing they couldn't do much else and headed down the corridor, Johnny right behind them.
I turned back to the table. Charlotte was still studying her cards, then she chucked several chips into the middle of the table. Other people tossed chips, then cards were flipped over. Charlotte grimaced and I made out a profanity on her lips. She tossed her cards toward the dealer and sat back in her chair, her arms folded tightly across her chest, frowning at the dealer.
That seemed as good of a time as any to confront Charlotte.
I took a wide berth around the table, ducking into the rows of slot machines and circling around the table she was sitting at. The gentleman next to her got out of his seat, collected his chips and walked off , shaking his head , leaving an open chair next to her. I hesitated for a moment, then slid into it.
She didn't notice me at first.
The dealer, a short man with wide shoulders and a bow tie tight at his neck, smiled at me and said , “Good evening, ma'am. You'll need to ante.”
“I have no idea what that means,” I told him. “And I'm not here to play.”
Charlotte turned to me. “Oh.” Her face flushed crimson. “Oh.”
“Hi , Charlotte,” I said.
“Daisy,” she said, glancing around. “Hello. I didn't know...didn't know you came here.”
“I don't.”
“Ma'am?” the dealer said. “If you're going to sit, you have to ante.”
“I'm not playing,” I said again.
“Then you can't sit.”
“I'll just be a minute,” I told him, then turned to Charlotte. “You winning tonight?”
The corners of Charlotte's mouth twitched. “ Um, no. Not really.”
“Bummer. Hey, can I ask you a question?”
“Ma'am,” the dealer continued. “If you are going to sit — ”
“Heard you the first time,” I said, showing him the palm of my hand. “Give me a minute. I need to ask my friend a question here.”
Charlotte blinked, played toyed with her chip s. s. “Okay.”
“Did you steal the computers from Prism?” I asked.
“I'm gonna find another table,” the guy on the other side of me grumbled.
“Because Al just showed me a whole bunch of computers and he said he got them from you,” I said to Charlotte. “Is he telling me the truth?”
Charlotte busied herself with stacking her chips, but didn't look at me refusing to meet my gaze . “Computers? Al? I'm not sure I know what you're talking about.”
“The ones that disappeared from Prism?” I said. “The ones that Al tells me he received as payment from you? Does that help clear it up?”
Her face was the color of a fully ripened tomato now . “I don't know what you're talking about .” ,” she repeated.
“Maybe we should go talk to Al , then?”
Her hands started to shake as she gathered her chips and stood. . “I have to go .” ,” she s aid, hopping to her feet.
I looked at the dealer. “Now I'll get up.”
He rolled his eyes.
I stood and followed Charlotte as she walked away from the table. “Are you seriously going to tell me that , even after Al pointed you out and showed me the computers in a trailer out back , that you don't know what I'm talking about? Really?”
She didn't say anything, but just kept walking.
“I mean, everyone at Prism mentioned your gambling issues,” I continued, walking keeping pace next to her. “And Al told me that you delivered the computers to him because your line of credit got so big. And now that I think about all of this, you were the one pointing me in the direction of other people at Prism who might've had a hand in stealing the computers. I think the one thing I really need to ask Mrs. Bingledorf at this point is if you had access to the building on weekends. Because, right now, I'm betting that you do. And if you, then —”
“Oh my God!” Charlotte yelled, coming to a scree t ching halt. “Shut up already!”
She sounded like one of my kids.
“Yes, I took the computers,” she hissed at me. Her blond locks stuck to her sweat-dampened cheeks. “I had to. I didn't have another choice. I owed this damn place so much money, I didn't have another choice. But I was about to win it all back tonight and then I would've donated it to Prism to buy new computers, except you interrupted the run I was about to have.”
“You looked like you were losing.”
“It was about to turn around!” she hissed again spat at me . “I was on the verge! But you ruined it.”
I didn't think I'd ruined anything. Her words sounded exactly like the words of someone with a gambling problem. I wanted to feel bad for her, but I was too angry with her at that moment .
“I'm taking the computers back,” I said. “I've already arranged it with Al.”
The blood drained from her face. “What? No.”
“Yes. My friend is setting it up now.”
“You can't,” she said, her demeanor quickly morphing from anger to fear. “You can't. I don't have the money to pay him.”
“ That's not my problem I don't care ,” I said. “And when I report you as the one who stole the computers, I think that's going to just be one of your be pretty low on your totem pole of problems.”
Her mouth quivered and she looked like she was going to cry. “You can't, Daisy. Loo k. L k , l et's make a deal. Anything I win, it's yours. If you don't say anything.”
“I don't want your money.”
“What do you want then? Tell me.”
“Just the truth,” I said. “Which I think I have. And the computers back at Prism. Where they belong.”
“But I don't have anything to pay Al with!” she said, stomping her foot. “I'm broke. I can't pay what I owe!”
She seemed so desperate. Normally, I had sympathy for someone expressing desperation. I thought back to Olga and her quest to find out what had happened to her brother, Olaf. I thought about Delilah and her desire to save her flound ering campground. I'd taken pity and showed empathy to both of them. But I couldn't find any of those feelings for Charlotte. It didn't seem as if she'd taken her job seriously, calling out sick and playing on her computer while she was there. She'd used her position at school to steal the computers. And then she'd purposely tried to steer suspicion toward other members of the school community. she was just making it all worse for herself. There was nothing sympathetic in any of that.
“ That isn't my problem I'm sorry ,” I told her , not really feeling sorry at all . “ I'm sorry. You can talk to the police about it.”
Her face started to glow turned red again. Then she shoved me to the side and ran past me. I stood there for a moment, watching her try to maneuver through the people. I didn't know where she was headed. Maybe to hide. Or to try and strike a deal with Al. Whe re ver she thought she was going, I didn't want her to get there.
So I took off after her.
She turned and saw me trailing her, trying to move quicker through the throngs of gamblers and watchers. She'd jog a few steps, then look back to see where I was at.
Which wasn't too far behind.
She found an opening in the crowd, close to the edge of the rows of slot machines and took off. I found the same opening and chased after her.
I could see that we were going to reach the end of the floor and she'd be able to disappear outside or down another corridor at the end of the hallway. I didn't doubt that I could prove to the police that she was responsible for the theft, but I didn't want her to escape. I didn't want her to get out of that casino.
As she neared the last row of machines, I recognized a familiar face at the slot machine on the very corner.
Brenda, her pursed strapped diagonal over her body, her eyes wide, tapp ing ed hard at the screen on the slot machine in front of her, oblivious to the chaos that was coming her way.
“Brenda!” I yelled. “Stop her!”
&
nbsp; Charlotte turned, her legs moving as fast as they could carry her.
Brenda looked up, saw me, then moved her eyes to Charlotte, running in front of me.
Then she stuck her leg out.
Charlotte tumbled over Brenda's outstretched leg, sprawling onto the floor of the casino. I reached her and tumbled down on top of her, determined to not let her go.
But I didn't have anything to worry about, because instead of struggling beneath me, she was just lay there, sobbing.
I looked up at Brenda. “Thanks.”
“No problem,” she said, smiling, turning back to her machine. “I'm almost done.”
As people began to gather around us, I recognized a pair of large shoes very close to my head.
I looked up.
Jake looked stared down at me.
“I was going to ask to borrow your ATM card,” he said, lifting an eyebrow. “But looks like you're busy.”
I didn't believe in obscene gestures, but if I did, I absolutely, without a doubt, would've shown my handsome , grinning husband my middle finger.
THIRTY NINE
“There 's are a ton of people out there, Mom,” Emily said, snapping her head back from the curtain. “I mean, a ton. Including my friends.”
“I know,” I said, smiling. “The turnout is pretty good.”
It was a week later and we were backstage at the First Annual Prism Talent Show To Raise Money For New Computers.
“I didn't know if people would come,” she said, fiddling with her hair. “And I told my friends not to come.”
“They probably wanted to see you embarrass yourself,” I told her.
“Mom,” she said, rolling her eyes. “And I still don't get why this whole thing wasn't just canceled anyway since you found the computers.”
The casino security arrived shortly after I'd landed on Charlotte Nordhoff. I'd explained to them the situation without mentioning Al. They'd in turn called the police, who eventually came and took Charlotte into custody after she'd admitted to the theft. They'd talked to Al, who very quickly told them that he'd called his friend Johnny Witt to tell him that some computers had showed up in one of his storage trailers and they looked liked they belonged to a school that had lost them and he knew that Johnny knew someone at that school so he wanted to do the right thing. It seemed flimsy at best and I wasn't sure if it would hold up, depending on what Charlotte had to say, but it had worked in the moment.