by Kit Morgan
Her mother laughed. “That’s funny, darling. So where are you working now?”
Mitzi sighed. “Empire Casino.”
“They have a coffee place there?”
Mitzi rolled her eyes. “No, Mom. I’m working as an armed security guard for the casino.” Silence. “Mom?”
“Does your father know about this?”
Mitzi covered her phone and groaned before replying. “Yes, he knows. No, he’s not happy about it.”
“That makes two of us. What do you think you’re doing?”
“I was hoping you’d be more supportive.”
“How can I be supportive of you putting yourself in danger? For crying out loud, Mitzi, you’re not made for that sort of job. Quit that place and go find yourself something reasonable, like … oh, an upscale boutique. You’d be perfect for that.”
“Mother, I’ve studied psychology. I don’t want to work in a boutique.”
“A receptionist, then. You can profile everyone that comes to see your boss.”
Mitzi covered the phone again and let her head fall against the steering wheel. She put the phone to her ear. “Mom, I’m going into the police academy.”
Silence again.
Mitzi heaved another sigh. “Mom?”
“I’m calling your father.”
Mitzi sat up. “Mom?!” But her mother had hung up. “Great.” Just what she needed – both parents stomping her dreams. What next?
Chapter Four
“All right, Your Grace,” Melvale said quietly. “Let’s go over it again.”
Cozette Cooke, Duchess of Stantham, gawked at the slot machines, the people, and everything surrounding them, completely ignoring Melvale.
“I knew this was a bad idea,” Lany groused.
“Well I can hardly have my purse snatched, now can I?” Melvale said. “People would expect me to chase after the perpetrator instead of the itsy-bitsy security guard.”
Lany pinched the bridge of his nose a moment then looked at Cozette. “I know how much you and Duncan want to help considering this has to do with Andel and Maddie’s son, so try to concentrate. I also know it’s a lot to take in. All of this is new and bright and loud, and it’s your first time in a different century. But please, listen to Melvale.”
Cozette, in a yellow sundress and sandals, finally nodded. “I am to yell, ‘stop, thief’ very loud and point to Lany.”
“That’s correct, Your Grace,” Melvale said as he drew closer so as not to be overheard. “You must say it loud enough for Miss Fine to hear it. She will give chase. As soon as she does, your valiant husband …” He glanced around. “Where is your hero?”
Lany jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. “Penny slots.”
Melvale and Cozette looked. Sure enough, there was Duncan sitting at an ancient penny slot machine, happily putting money into it and pulling the lever. He looked over his shoulder at them and smiled. Cozette smiled and waved back.
“Oh, dear,” Melvale muttered. “As I was saying, your valiant hero will then rush to your side and comfort you in your distress. Got it?”
She nodded happily and pointed at another slot machine. “How does it work?”
“Oh, very well,” Melvale said. “Come along, I’ll show you.”
“Melvale, we don’t have time,” Lany complained. “Besides, we don’t need to teach Cozette how to gamble.”
“I already know how to gamble,” Cozette said. “Duncan and I play poker.”
“You do?” Melvale said, intrigued. “Oh, stab me, but whatever do you bet with?”
She gave him a bright look. “Cookies.”
Lany had to smile at that. “Why am I not surprised? Okay, one coin – just to demonstrate.”
They went to the machine Cozette pointed at, and Melvale proceeded to show her how to operate it. “What does progressive mean?” Lany heard her ask. He ignored them and plotted his escape route from the casino and into the back alley.
Dallan and Shona would open a door in time and space, and make sure the other security guards were occupied or out of the way so Mitzi would have a clear shot at him. Dallan said her pride in her work would make her fast enough to catch Lany if he wasn’t careful. That meant he needed a route involving as few people as possible to get to the alley in time. If all went well, she’d chase him straight through the time door and into the Dalrovian forest near the castle. He just hoped he didn’t get shot in the process.
Lany jumped as the sudden sound of bells and buzzers going off.
“Oh, stab me!” Melvale cried. “You won!”
Lany turned to see Cozette jumping up and down in delight. He looked up, saw the numbers above the machine she’d been playing and his jaw dropped. “Three hundred thousand?!”
Cozette grinned and pointed at the machine as Duncan approached. “Why, sweetness,” he said. “Whatever have you done?”
“I made it light up and the bells go off. Isn’t it pretty?”
“Oh, how exciting!” Melvale said with glee. “Unfortunately, I’m afraid you won’t be able to collect the winnings.”
“What?” She looked at the machine again. “I won something?”
Lany sighed, glanced around and spied a petite little old lady with pink hair and an excessive amount of costume jewelry staring wide-eyed at the machine. An idea formed and he went over to her. “Excuse me, ma’am?”
She looked at him. “I dare say, but she’s a lucky duck.” She had an English accent.
“Indeed.” He motioned to the machine. “Come with me.”
“What for?”
“Because we have a gift for you. It’s … our way of paying it forward?”
“Oh?”
Melvale saw what he was doing and joined them. “Congratulations, madam! You’re the winner of the complimentary play performed by our lovely assistant over there.” He pointed at Cozette, who waved.
Her eyes got wider. “I am?” She gave Cozette a tiny wave in return.
“Your name, madam?” Melvale asked.
“Steffi Hopkins. I’m here with my son Georgie. He’s on vacation, you know.”
“Ah. Well, Steffi, it’s you’re lucky day!” Melvale went on. “The machine is all yours, along with the jackpot! Quickly now, take your place beside it. I’m sure security will be here any moment.”
The spry Englishwoman happily complied. A few seconds later, a middle-aged man approached, took one look at what was going on and gasped. “Mother, whatever are you doing?”
“Look, Georgie! I won!”
He gasped again. “What?!”
Melvale smiled as two security guards and a man in a suit approached. “Congratulations – looks like you’ve hit the jackpot!” the man in the suit said.
“Woo-hoo!” Steffi cried with glee.
Melvale sighed in relief and motioned Duncan and Cozette away from the machine. “You don’t need the money, Your Grace,” he said when they were out of earshot. “Wrong currency for your century, I’m afraid.”
Duncan nodded. “Understood.” He smiled at Cozette. “Well done, my dear.”
She shrugged. “I liked the pretty lights.”
“Yes, and so does the recipient of your winnings,” he said with a nod at the machine.
“Georgie, I won! Isn’t it wonderful?” Steffi cried, eyes bright.
Georgie stared at the machine still going off as a crowd gathered. “Leave it to you, Mum.”
Lany smiled. It was a good thing they hadn’t put their plan into play yet. It would have ruined everything.
“What’s all the noise about?” Dallan asked as he approached.
Lany smiled. “Cozette hit a jackpot.”
“What?” Shona said with a laugh. “That’s great!”
“Not really,” Lany replied dryly.
“Oh, you’re right.” She looked at the little old Englishwoman. “Why is …”
“We let her be the winner,” Lany said with a shrug. “We can’t draw attention to ourselves.”
“He�
��s right, M’eudain. We canna afford the distraction. What’s Duncan doing?”
Lany rolled his eyes. “He’s fond of that little penny machine. I think it’s some sort of antique.”
“It is,” Shona said. “But he seems to be having fun.” They watched as Duncan let Cozette put a few coins into it and pull the lever. “Most of the other machines take paper bills and give you a voucher for your winnings.” She looked at the progressive machine, from which the lucky recipient was now being escorted by security guards to cash in her winnings. “I bet you just made her year.”
Lany smiled. “Quite. Now what did you find out?”
Dallan motioned them to a corner where there were empty machines. Shona sat at one to make it look like she was playing. “There are three exits,” he said. “It’s the one in the far corner ye want. Once outside, it’s a short distance to the alley. Melvale will signal us ye’re coming and Shona and I will open the door.”
Lany sighed. “The door will attract attention.”
“Nae, Melvale said a music and light show will be going on, and some of the lights hit the alley. With all the other lights flashing and blinking in this place, what’s a few more?”
“Hmm. I see your point. But what about the ground shaking?”
“That canna be helped, but we did notice that when the big trucks go by, the ground shakes a wee bit.”
“Delivery trucks, right,” Lany said. “But that leaves one worry. You’re having her chase me straight into Dalrovia and closing the door behind her. Which means I’ll be stuck there too.”
“Oh, that. Dinna fash, Master Lany. She’s a person of action. Action will speak to her more than words. Besides, the prince walks those woods in the evening – they’re bound to run into each other. With a wee bit of help, we’ll be right behind ye. Ye just have to keep running. We’ll take care of her.”
“For how long?”
“Oh, a few hundred yards ought to do it.”
“Living stars …”
“I’ve thought about this and searched her heart. She’s valiant, bold. Tossing her straight into it is the best way. She’s no like Lorelei or Tory, our last two assignments. We will have to prepare her a little, a change of clothes perhaps. We dinna want her to scare poor Prince Asger.”
“No, that would be bad,” Lany said. “Fine. We’ll do it this way. I just hope I don’t trip.”
Dallan looked him over. “Ye seem nimble enough. Besides, I’ve seen ye run before.”
Lany thought of their various adventures. The Scot had seen him run, but those times were different – his life was in danger. Wait, what made this any different?
“Wipe that look of yer face, Master Lany. I can protect ye from the wee lass.”
“Good. You think you’ve faced dangers, but you haven’t seen my wife upset.”
“Aye, nor do I wish to. Now, let’s get something to eat.” He looked at Shona. “Where to, lass?”
She left the machine, glanced around and smiled. “Ever been to a Las Vegas buffet?”
He cocked his head again. “What is it?”
She patted his belly. “Come and see.” They set off.
Lany reluctantly followed. “I hope none of us gets food poisoning.” Though if he did, maybe he wouldn’t have to be the bait in this mad scheme.
Mitzi stopped by Java King for a coffee on the way to work. “How about a large this time?”
Albert shook his head. “You look beat.”
“I am. Covering Carol’s shift again nearly killed me. Working with Carl this morning wasn’t much fun either.”
“Yeah – he’s a good boss, but a crabby coworker. Your usual iced white chocolate mocha?”
“Yes, please.” She stretched. “So you’re not going to comment?”
“On what?” he asked as he made her drink.
“On my uniform.” She spun around.
“Looks official. But you’re not wearing the Bat-Utility Belt.”
She laughed. “My duty belt, you mean. It’s hard to wear while driving. I don’t put it on until I get to work. It’s not like I drive around on the job.”
“No, I guess not. Hey, I heard there’s some kind of music crawl going on down there tonight.”
“Yeah, I heard about that. That means more tourists. It’ll be busy. Why do you think I’m here getting coffee?”
“Lucky for you Carol said she’s coming to work tomorrow morning.” He started the espresso machine. “You can get caught up on your sleep.”
She yawned and blinked a few times. “Amen to that. Are you closing?”
“Yeah, but I plan to go to the music crawl when I’m done here. Maybe I’ll wander into Empire and wave at you.”
She laughed. “Don’t expect me to talk to you, not while I’m working. Mr. Hammer would frown on it. He doesn’t like me as it is.”
“C’mon, it can’t be that bad.” Albert poured the espresso into her cup.
“It is. I’ll have to work extra hard to impress him.”
“Well, maybe you’ll get lucky and take down a mugger or something. Or at least catch a pickpocket.”
“I hope so. He’d have to know I’m good after that.”
“Not that I’d pray for anyone to get their purse snatched or wallet lifted, but here’s hoping you get to show them something.”
Mitzi laughed. “Thanks, Al. You always know how to cheer me up.”
He handed her the drink. “Even when I’m asking for a tip?”
“Even then.” She put some money in the tip jar, waved goodbye and headed out the door. Once in her car she sipped her mocha, which tasted good enough to help her forget how empty she felt. She still had no idea why she felt this way. Mom was fine, Dad was unfortunately fine (he’d complained about her security job for twenty minutes before she left), and she was on her way to making her dreams come true. So why the case of … loneliness? Is that what this was?
She drove to work, parked and went into the casino. In the locker room she put on her duty belt, clocked in, then wondered where everyone was. Finally she found Mr. Hammer with the other guards about to go on shift, gathered near their entrance to the casino floor. “About time you got here, Fine,” he said with a frown.
“Is there a meeting?”
“Yes, and if you’d have gotten here on time …”
“It’s a quarter to, sir. I’m here early.”
His frown deepened. “As I said, if you’d have gotten here on time, you’d know we were to meet before everyone’s shift started.”
She looked at him, the other three uniformed guards and the two in plain clothes. “No one informed me, sir.”
His face changed to something between his previous frown and a smile. “Then learn to pay attention. Now, as I was saying, we almost had trouble here yesterday when that pink-haired English weirdo won a jackpot.”
“How big?” Mitzi asked.
“312,000 on the progressives,” Fred, one of the uniformed guards said. “I don’t think she should have been allowed to win.”
“Why not?” Mitzi asked. “Is she visiting from England?” Not that it would make a difference.
“No, Florida, but still …” Fred scowled. “… doesn’t seem fair.”
Mitzi fought the urge to roll her eyes. Probably half her coworkers were heavy gamblers.
“I heard her son was the butler of some billionaire in Alaska,” Hank, another uniformed guard said.
“It doesn’t matter,” said Mr. Hammer. “What does is that we’ll be more crowded than usual because of the music crawl and yesterday’s jackpot. I want you to be on your toes tonight, you got that? We might be a small casino with a small team, but after yesterday we need to be especially alert.”
A succession of nods and “yessirs” followed.
“All right, get to work,” Mr. Hammer waved at the door.
Mitzi and the others prepared to head out. She half-expected her boss to stop her or make some snide remark, but he didn’t. Good – she didn’t need a nasty com
ment bothering her half the night.
Fred went out first, followed by Trent, one of the plainclothesmen. Hank and Paul, the other plain-clothes guard, went next. Rajiv and Mitzi brought up the rear. They dispersed throughout the casino. Empire wasn’t huge by any means. It was a boutique casino, catering to senior citizens and foot traffic on the Strip, while bringing in a surprising amount of locals that liked the relative quiet compared to the big hotels. Mitzi recognized some of the customers from Java King.
She began her rounds. She had the northeast section, the area that housed some of the older machines the geezers liked to play on for the heck of it. It was near one of the main entrance/exits, which meant she got to see a lot of comings and goings. There was a side exit near the restrooms she had to watch as well. Lots of locals came in, used the bathrooms and left.
She smiled at a little old lady as she went to the progressive machines. After the lucky winner last night, tonight they were full, with a line waiting. News traveled fast among the community of seniors. Some she recognized from her first night of work. She wondered if she’d get to know them all over time. She’d noticed some coworkers calling guests by name in passing.
She went to the entrance and watched over it a while, then checked the restrooms. Nothing out of the ordinary. Outside there was a larger crowd than normal due to the crawl. Jazz drifted into the casino and other kinds of music, but only bits and pieces.
She weaved through the machines until she passed Fred, who was heading outside to check the outer perimeter and alley. She hadn’t quite learned everyone’s routine, but she would. She, however, planned to mix hers up. She didn’t want to be predictable, and wondered why Mr. Hammer hadn’t gone over some of the finer aspects of the job when he hired her. She sighed. Who was she kidding? He didn’t because he figured she wouldn’t last. Her jaw tightened at the thought. She’d show him.
She saw Trent head outside, look at his watch and act like he was waiting for someone. Hank was nowhere to be seen, but he largely stayed neared the 24-hour café – one of the waitresses there was sweet on him and gave him free sodas. The others were patrolling here and there, occasionally passing through her area.