And he was in luck, because there were plenty of people on the casino floor who recognized him. They came forward to congratulate him withYou’re the man, andCrypto rules, andThis place slaps.Edie did not know how a place could slap anything, much less what that meant.
She could feel the rage bubbling inside her as he sashayed through. Her face was probably turning so red that anyone taking a close look might fear she was headed for a heart attack. What had Marcy seen in this douche?
Her resolve to end Rocco Vitali hardened.
She forced her gaze away from the peacock and took in the place. The casino was old school. Everything in Vegas looked modern and sexy compared to fifty years ago, but the moment she walked through the Pelican’s doors and into its seventies décor, she felt like she was walking back in time. Doors, reception desks, and architectural features on the main casino floor were decked out in brass and gold. The thick carpet underneath her feet was a pattern of geometric shapes and colors that reminded her of a minidress she’d had in the sixties. The ceiling over the main floor was domed, and huge chandeliers hung over the slot and gaming areas. The massive fountain in the center—a sculpture of three full-sized half-naked women pouring baskets of water into a pool—added an air of mustiness.
The only modern thing on the floor were the giant flat-screen televisions suspended over the casino floor and gaming area, all of them showing Rocco’s fat face talking about the casino. The chyron readMAN OF THE FUTURE.
He probably typed it in himself. Asshole.
The good thing about the casino was that it was packed, which was good—the vault would be stuffed with cash to back up the chips on the floor. She noted four exits: the two grand entry doors; the wall of double glass doors in the back, which led to the parking lot; and two smaller side doors for staff and people coming in from the side streets. The resident security was easy to spot, too—there were three “eyes in the sky” overhead, or cameras that covered the floor of the casino. She could see more mounted on walls around the room. In addition, floormen walked among the gaming tables, keeping an eye on chips and cash.
Uniformed security guards manned the exits. Edie noticed that one of the guards, a woman, was overly chatty with the workers who walked past her little podium. That friendliness could be useful.
She came upon a large, gray trash pushcart. The maintenance worker was distracted, having a conversation with another worker. Edie breezily took hold of the pushcart and walked on with it, headed for the chatty female security guard to make friends. She had to manhandle the thing out of the way a few moments later when the Rocco entourage returned, making another sweep of the casino floor. As he sailed by this time, he balled a paper up in his hand and shot a three-pointer in her direction over the heads of his buddies. It landed in her cart.
His friends applauded, one of them clapping him on the back. “Losers,” Edie whispered. She watched Rocco disappear behind one of the restricted doors, then calmly reached for the balled-up paper from the mound of trash and smoothed it out against the rim of the cart and read it.
The Nest
6:30
Thurs
The Nest was the high-end restaurant in the casino that she and Frances had clocked walking in. Edie balled up the paper and tossed it back into the can and carried on to the friendly security guard.
She was the last to arrive back at the house that evening. She was armed with her observations and knowledge of where Rocco would be Thursday night.
The girls were seated around the rickety kitchen table piled with pizza boxes. Frances was still in her maid uniform, but Joan and Irene had changed into loungewear.
The pizza smelled heavenly. Edie pulled up a chair and satheavily before helping herself to a slice of pepperoni. She took a bite and flavor exploded in her mouth. “So good. Where’d you get it?”
“Skinner and Todd,” Irene answered.
Edie paused before taking a second bite. “You called Skinner for pizza?”
“Technically, Fran texted him. He did say he was available for anything, and we all know a hustler hustles.”
“I also needed help finding a place to make some work badges,” Joan added, and picked up a badge from the table and held it out to show Edie. “I found this at the casino.”
Edie leaned forward to have a look. The employee badge belonged to Manuel Gomez, a smiling young man who was part of the grounds crew. “But what about the electronic part?” Edie asked, gesturing to the badge. “They’re designed to be used with card readers.”
“Funny,” Joan said, and affected a breathy voice. “Our badges were working yesterday, and we can’t imagine why they aren’t now. You can’t get anything made right anymore, you know. These probably come from China.”
Edie laughed. “Did Skinner know a place?”
“Not only did he know, but he also has someone who can work on them, no questions asked.”
“We need to keep that kid close.”
“We were just beginning to go over what we’ve got and what we need to do when you came in,” Frances said. Edie noticed she’d only taken a couple of bites from the slice on her paper plate. “From the sound of things, we’ve been surprisingly productive.” Frances reached into her tote and withdrew four small spiral reporter notebooks and a pack of pens. She opened the pack and spilled the pens on the table next to the pizza, then handed out the notebooks.
“We really shouldn’t be writing anything down,” Irene warned.
“We should not,” Frances agreed. “Unfortunately, I can’t remember my own name without writing it down.”
“Same,” Edie said, and held out her hand for a notebook.
