“Hey, sweetheart, buffalo, eh?” he murmured, sliding into the chair meant for two in front of the machine.
“Hey, yourself. It’s a cool machine!” Chloe said, her attention on him.
Wes looked up. “Oh, hey, Daniel. Have you played this one yet?”
“Sure, it’s cool—you get to feel like a herd of buffalo is going to come crashing over you!” Daniel said.
Is he studying us a little too intently?Wes wondered.
Play it out.
“Oh, hey! Jeff, you’re back there, too? More machines?” Wes asked.
“Naw, though I thought there might be. Just a door and I’m guessing it’s leading to the bank or the vault or whatever they call the place where they keep chips and money. Oh! Yeah, and probably cameras to make sure no one is ripping them off!” Jeff said. “Chloe, you hit the jackpot, and you can get—”
He broke off.
Chloe had hit the jackpot, and the graphics were spinning and spinning.
“Ah, man, you really did hit it!” Daniel said.
“A hundred and twenty-three free spins. Hey, man, Wes, you should get out of here and let this lovely lady do the gambling!”
Chloe looked at Wes. Well, they couldn’t leave. Like everything else, they were going to need to play it out.
Chloe was going to make thousands.
He wondered how that worked with the brass. His undercover work hadn’t led him into a casino before.
Chloe looked a little distressed and he felt the undeniable need to comfort her and assure her everything would be okay.
Wes stood and said, “Wow! Cool! We can pay for another trip now! Cruising!”
And, of course, as the free turns spun and spun, he pulled his “wife” to her feet, encompassed her in a loving hold, and kissed her.
And kissed her again. Hey, it was the natural thing to do.
And just a little bit too good, but, of course...
Chloe was the ultimate professional. She played along.
When he broke the kiss at last, Edward and George and half the people who had been in the casino were behind them.
“Karma!” Edward said. “You saved my life and the fates are rewarding you! Wow, well-deserved, beautiful people, well-deserved!”
Once again, they were awarded a massive round of applause by those in the casino.
Finally, the game came to an end and a casino employee came out. You didn’t make that much money without filing it. On this ship, though, they just filled out a claim form.
And, of course, thankfully, the powers-that-be who had set them up had taken care of their identities.
But they were going to get all kinds of advice.
“IRS will still be after you!” one man warned.
“But we are in international waters,” someone else advised. “Harder for them to catch you!”
They laughed and accepted everyone’s congratulations.
