by Mike Faricy
After cruising through the lot the second time I decided to go inside and look for Carlos. Try as I may, the car was so long it hung out a few feet into the lane when I parked it. I couldn’t pull ahead any further so I just left it that way, hoped for the best and hurried inside. The casino was like every other casino I’d ever been in. The moment you walk in the front door you enter a completely different universe where you’re assaulted by bells, whistles and flashing lights.
I don’t gamble. I learned a long time ago that everyone I’ve ever talked to who spent time in a casino will tell you they came home a winner. My experience has been I’m the guy they win the money from. I don’t win. I don’t win on slot machines, I don’t win at cards. You want to win at roulette, bet exactly the opposite of what I’m doing. I’m the worst when it comes to picking a winning horse or even dogs.
Nowadays, I can get in and out of Vegas and not spend five bucks on gambling. Besides, I’m usually spending my money buying expensive drinks for women who then either disappear or introduce me to their large, muscle bound boyfriends that manage to show up at the end of the night.
Once inside, I started at the front door and worked my way along a curvy path toward the back of the football-field-sized room looking for Rikki and Carlos. The carpet in the place was a royal green color with a pattern of hearts, spades, clubs and diamonds. The place was hopping and I kept searching little groupings of people. By the time I made it to the far end of the room I felt like my eyes were spinning in opposite directions.
If I saw a woman with short, white-blonde hair that I thought might be Rikki I stood near by and called out her name, “Rikki.” I must have done this at least a dozen different times and never got so much as a sideways glance. Of course, I’d only seen a black and white tape of Rikki, basically undressed, so I was working at a disadvantage.
There were a lot of fat guys strolling around the place, but none of them seemed to resemble Carlos. I didn’t see any little girls and I never saw anything even close to resembling a small pink suitcase.
I wandered back and forth past all manner of electronic machines ringing, beeping, buzzing and flashing. I circled the black jack tables, there were twelve. I circled the six dice games. I scanned the crowd around all three of the roulette wheels and peeked through the crowd at the two high stakes poker games. I came up empty handed each and every time. I wandered aimlessly through the restaurants and even the ice cream bar, pretending to search for friends, but I never saw anyone who looked like Carlos and Rikki.
After two hours I was beginning to think I’d driven up here on a wild goose chase and I was busy silently cursing Marion Hale when I caught sight of the two of them. Actually, I didn’t see them, at least not initially. I heard them first, along with everyone else in the immediate area, at no surprise they were in the midst of causing a scene.
Carlos and Rikki were sitting on a couch next to a fireplace. Carlos had his feet up on a coffee table and Rikki seemed to be frantically trying to get the attention of a waitress. The staff was doing an excellent job of ignoring both of them.
The two of them were busy yelling back and forth at one another and the couple who had just sat down opposite them a moment before in the hopes of enjoying the fire were already back on their feet in search of a more peaceful retreat. Everyone walking past stared for a brief moment, and then quickly picked up their pace.
“Listen, bitch, you can start throwing some gratitude my way any time, now. It ain’t been a picnic for me, let me tell ya.”
“Gratitude? For what, you’re lousy card playing? For grabbing my ass every damned time I turn around? Making me get my own drinks? Speaking of which, just where in the hell is someone who works here? I need another drink.”
“What? Listen, little lady, I’ve been paying the freight since we got up here and now I’m the bad guy for wanting some action in return? Feel free to pull your thumb out and start hitchhiking back to the Lumberyard anytime you want.”
“Yeah right, how ‘bout we just agree you’ve been getting what you want a lot more times than I can count, which is way more than I can say for me, Mr. Short Hitter. You know what? I just need a damned drink and then I just want to go back and sleep, Carlos, and this time I just want to be left alone. I mean it,” she said then shouted. “Hey, I could use another drink over here if anyone is listening.”
“Will you keep it down, bitch? I already told you I don’t want to draw anymore attention.”
“Oh, yeah, right, how could I forget? You don’t want to attract any attention because you play guitar with U2. Wasn’t that what you told me? Give me a break, you big phony, you can’t even whistle a tune for Christ sake let alone play guitar.”
“Shut up, bitch.”
“Oh yeah, and just what the hell are you gonna do about it? You gonna make me? Hey everybody, come on over here and see the rock star,” she shouted to the crowd beginning to form at a safe distance around the two of them.
“I told you to shut up, bitch.”
I was hoping Carlos would do something stupid like coldcock Rikki. I looked around for something to hit him with and focused on a wooden stool sitting in front of a slot machine. Unfortunately, just as I got to the stool, two rather large, muscle bound individuals approached Carlos and Rikki.
One of the guys was wearing braids and had a nose that looked to have been broken more than once. Both the gentlemen were larger than Carlos and both wore black T-shirts with the word “SECURITY” across their broad shoulders in large white letters. Even just standing there calmly and smiling politely they appeared intimidating.
Chapter Sixteen
They stood on either side of Carlos. Although they weren’t touching him they were standing close enough to him that he would have had difficulty getting to his feet without pushing one or both of them. The guy with the braids spoke in a tone soft enough that I couldn’t hear what he was saying. As he spoke he moved his hands up and down in a sort of calming motion, from time to time he nodded. He looked like he was explaining something obviously rational and appeared to be the very picture of a calm, reasoned response.
Carlos suddenly exploded and yelled, “But you’re not listening to me. I just told you guys, this bitch was the one yelling and causing the scene, you should throw her ass out of here, not me. Hell, I’m your customer, I’m the guy picking up the tab for this ungrateful witch.”
“I need another drink, damn it,” Rikki screeched then tried to look beyond the gathered crowd for a waitress. Not seeing one, she slung her purse over her shoulder and started to leave. The security guy with the braids stepped in front of her and cut off her exit.
“Just what in the hell is your problem? Get the hell out of my way. I need another drink and since the service in this joint is so shitty, I guess I’ll just have to go and get it myself.”
He said something to her I couldn’t hear.
“You can try, pal, but I’m not going anywhere until I get me that drink. Now get the hell out of my way,” she said and tried to push him. He didn’t move and Rikki had to take a step or two back to maintain her balance.
“See, exactly what I told you guys was happening. Believe me, I’ve had more than enough of her bitching, so just go ahead and throw her ass out of here. Like I said before, she’s the one who’s been causing all the problems. It sure as hell ain’t me.”
The other security guy, the one without the braids just shook his head. He pulled a radio off his belt and began talking into it.
Rikki suddenly stepped in very close to him and whispered something into the guy’s ear. Then she shrugged, giggled, and rubbed herself against his arm before whispering into his ear one more time.
He looked down at her, smiled and shook his head no.
That got a reaction. “What in the hell is wrong with you? With both of you? You know what, you can just forget it. Now, I’m going to go get my drink, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me,” she said just as three more security guys showed up, all very
large, and none of them smiling. Their arrival sort of put a different spin on Rikki’s last statement.
There was now a ring of security around them and the guy with the braids seemed to explain a couple of things, looking from Carlos to Rikki. He was still speaking softly, but he wasn’t smiling at this point. One got the immediate impression that he wasn’t inviting much discussion, either.
“Oh, this is just great, happy now, bitch?” Carlos yelled as the security team began to move the two of them toward the front door. Carlos and Rikki had no choice, but to go with the flow. I followed a discrete distance behind.
“You can’t do this, what about my rights?” Rikki said and attempted to plant her feet and not move.
One of the guards effortlessly scooped her up like a big bulldozer and carried her along with the group.
“Don’t you touch me,” she screeched as they continued moving through the room. Heads turned and stared as the ensemble passed by.
About halfway across the main floor the group took a hard right and headed for a door labeled “Hotel.” They walked down a long hallway with framed prints of lake and forest scenes toward the hotel lobby. I hung back in the lobby until they made their way to the bank of elevators. Once everyone boarded the elevator I hurried over and watched as the ascending floor numbers flash, counting off the floors above the elevator door. The flashing halted on the number six.
I waited a few minutes then pressed the button for the elevator, once it arrived I stepped on and pushed the button for six. I stepped back out on the sixth floor a moment later. The elevator doors opened up onto a wide hallway with grey pattern carpet and a contemporary looking table with a large pottery bowl sitting on it. For some reason I touched the pottery bowl only to find it was somehow attached to the table.
The doors to all the guest rooms in the hall were in pairs, side by side, with a little sort of porch light mounted on the wall next to each door. The pine wood trim around each door was stained with a dark walnut stain. The doors themselves were metal and painted grey. An attachment was mounted just above the door knob to insert your security card. Brass numbers just below the porch lights indentified the room numbers. I took a couple of steps down the hall and saw the security guys heading back toward me and the elevators.
“What a pair of assholes,” one of them said just before he saw me and then they all grew quiet as we passed in the hallway. One of them giggled a couple of steps after they passed by.
I walked down the hall and around a corner. A room service tray with a plate of half eaten pancakes and a full coffee cup sat on the hallway floor just outside a door. The tray looked like it had probably been sitting there since this morning.
Further down the hall a security guy stood in front of a door with his arms folded. My guess was to make sure Carlos and Rikki remained in their room. He did not appear to be all that happy with his task.
As I drew closer I noticed he had a tattoo of a war shield with eagle feathers hanging from it on one of his rather large biceps. He wore an earpiece in his right ear with a curly white cord running along his neck and down the back of his shirt. A thick ponytail of straight, dark black hair was pulled tightly behind his head and hung down his back. He had dark eyes, prominent cheek bones and his nose looked like it was quite familiar with the boards around a hockey rink.
“How’s it going?” I said as I walked past.
“Have a nice evening,” he said nodding, but didn’t crack a smile. I could hear Carlos and Rikki still arguing from behind the door to the room as I walked by. I made a mental note of their room number, six-thirty-one.
I rounded another corner in the hallway and cooled my heels for about ten minutes before I returned. The security guard was still stationed in the hallway, in the same position with his arms folded. He glanced at his watch, smiled and nodded as I walked past. I couldn’t hear any noise coming through the door behind him so apparently Rikki and Carlos had quieted down.
I took up a position in a comfortable leather chair down in the lobby where I could watch the elevators. There seemed to be a constant flow of people either going to, or coming from the casino.
About a half hour later the security guy with the ponytail came out of the elevator and ran across the lobby, obviously in a hurry. He had a hand pressed against his ear holding the earpiece in place. He hustled across the lobby and back through the door labeled “Casino.” I waited a few more minutes to make sure he didn’t return before I took the elevator back up to the sixth floor.
Chapter Seventeen
Once up on the sixth floor I hurried down the hallway, past the breakfast tray with the pancakes, around the corner and pressed my ear against the door labeled six-thirty-one. I couldn’t hear anything. I knocked on the door then put my finger over the peephole.
A gravelly female voice called from inside the room a few moments later with a very unpleasant, “Yeah.”
“Room service, drinks and a chilled bottle of Grey Goose vodka, compliments of management.”
“You’re kidding. Well, it’s about God damn time, I’ve been trying to get a….” Rikki opened the door and then stood there staring at me for a long moment before she recovered. She looked around then said, “Wait a minute, you ain’t got no vodka, what in the hell do you think you’re doing. That security cop finally leave?” she said more to herself than me then she leaned out the door glancing down toward either end of the hallway.
I shoved her back into the room then rushed past her ready to attack Carlos. He wasn’t in the unmade bed and he wasn’t hiding on the floor alongside the bed. I glanced behind the curtains then hurried past her and stepped into the bathroom. “Where’s Carlos?”
“Who in the hell are you and what in the hell do you think you’re doing? You can’t just barge into someone’s room here. I know my damned rights, now you can just get your ass out of here before I call security,” she said and struck a pose.
The room reeked of that same cheap perfume I first smelled at the Lumberyard, accented with a whiff of spilled liquor and the sharp tang of stale cigarette smoke just for an added effect. For the first time I realized Rikki was wearing a red-sequined thong and a frown. She had what looked like hummingbirds in flight tattooed on either hip. Some sort of blue stone pierced her navel which was surrounded by tattooed flower petals. Deep ponds of mascara had pooled beneath her eyes and added a good twenty years to her face.
She seemed oblivious to her almost complete lack of clothing and she struck a defiant pose by placing her hands on her hips and thrusting her chest out. Either that or she was showing off an estimated three grand worth of breast enhancement work. She stared at me without blinking.
“Where’s that Carlos pal of yours?”
“That son of a bitch waltzed his fat ass out of here not more than ten minutes ago. Good riddance is all I can say. What a damned loser,” she said and then strolled over to the table against the wall, pulled a cigarette out of an almost empty pack and fired it up. She took a long drag, blew a cloud toward the ceiling then crossed her arms and said, “Hey, what in the hell happened to you, anyway? Don’t mind me saying, you sort of look like shit, man. What? You try this routine before and maybe got a little more than you could handle?” she said and chuckled.
I ignored that last line, walked over to the window, pulled the drapery back and looked out into the crowded parking lot below thinking I might be able to spot Carlos. A police squad was just pulling into the lot with its lights flashing and racing toward the main door of the Casino. I hoped they weren’t going to come up here looking for Rikki.
“Is Carlos going to come back?”
“God, I sure as hell hope not. I’ve had just about enough of his asshole routine. You some kind of friend of his?” she said then blew another giant cloud of blue smoke up toward the ceiling again.
“Where are the girls?”
“Girls? What girls? Its just me here, buster and let me tell you something, pal, I was a hell of a lot more than your limp friend
Carlos could handle,” she said then immediately changed her tone, raised her eyebrows and smiled at me. “Interested?”
“Not really, at least not right now. What I am interested in, is the two little girls he had with him. A blonde and a redhead, two little kids, four and five years old. Emma and Ava.”
“Oh, yeah, them two. The cry babies. We left them with a girlfriend of mine, this joint ain’t no place for kids. Besides, I don’t want them cramping my style. You know?” she said and blew another cloud of smoke, seemingly satisfied with her maternal instincts.
“Left them with a girlfriend? She a friend of yours?”
“No, I don’t even know her, that’s why she’s my girlfriend. Hello, yeah she’s a friend of mine. We dance together at the Lumberyard. Jesus, how do you think I know her?” she said and sort of thrust her chin out indignantly.
“You better put some clothes on, we’re going to go get them from her, now. For your sake they better be okay.”
“Now you just hold on here a minute. Just who in the hell do you think you are? I ain’t ready to go and….”
“Let me explain something to you, Rikki. Those two little girls, the ones you left with your girlfriend, they were kidnapped by that close personal friend of yours, Carlos. Right now you got the cops and you got the feds looking all over for those kids as well as for your pal, Carlos. If you know where they are you better take me to them now. If you don’t, we’ll just call the cops from here, you’ll be an accessory to the kidnapping, you’ll get charged and I can guarantee you’ll be found guilty and end up doing at least seven years.”
“Wait just a damn minute, here. I didn’t know anything about any of this shit. Honest, he didn’t tell me them two was kidnapped.”