Edie grabbed her reading glasses and leaned forward to study it. “Yikes. There’s a lot going on.”
“Good thing you have an engineer’s mind. Oh, and there’s a motion detector we’ll have to disable,” Joan said casually.
Edie pulled off her glasses. “How in the hell are we going to disable a motion detector? Do you have any idea how to do it?”
“Irene has some contacts who know how.”
“It’s good news that it’s an old safe, right?” Irene asked. “Better than the modern ones.”
“Maybe?” Edie agreed. “I don’t know if I will be able to hear the lock. My hearing isn’t what it used to be.”
Joan pulled her hearing aid out of her right ear and put it on the table. “You’ll be able to hear as good as a fox.”
“It won’t matter if you can hear or not if we can’t get into the vault,” Irene said. “That’s a different system. Speaking of security, I’ll be tailing Mr. Mark Wachtel to figure out his routine. I found him easily enough today. Should be a piece of cake to track him.”
“We might need help from the inside,” Edie said. “I just might have the person, too. Mel, the security guard. She’s overly friendly.”
“I’ll do you one better,” Irene said. “I’ve got a job interview tomorrow for the cleaning staff.”
“Get out!” Edie exclaimed as Frances applauded. “How did you do that?”
“Skinner. I told him my niece was looking for work and he hooked me up with Todd’s sister, who knows someone on the employment staff at the casino. Turns out, Todd’s sister has been fired from there more than once. He said they are always hiring, and my niece should be able to start right away. Which means me. Once we get the lay of the land, we can figure out a plan,” Irene said.
“What about Rocco?” Frances asked. “We need to keep tabs on him. And we need a honeypot.”
“Doesn’t have to be female these days,” Joan said. “The younger generation is so fluid.”
“Excuse me?” Frances said.
“You know. Fluid. I’m just saying, it seems like this younger generation will sleep with anyone.”
“Not this guy,” Edie said. “I got a look at him today. We need a woman.”
“And a getaway vehicle,” Frances added.
“We don’t have the money for that,” Irene pointed out.
“I do,” Frances said. “Joan’s car is too notable. We need something no one will remember clearly.”
They talked a little longer, giving each other advice what to look for. Edie planned to visit a Las Vegas museum the next day that had a display of old-style casino safes through the years. They talked until they were all yawning, and decided the best thing to do was get a good night’s rest. Joan and Irene disappeared into their room, and Frances shook her head as she watched the door close behind them. “You think you know people.”
Edie followed Frances into their small bedroom. Frances sank heavily onto her bed. They were all exhausted, but Frances looked especially so. “Are you okay?” Edie asked.
“Me?” Frances asked, appearing startled. “I’m fine.”
Edie was about to ask her about why she was so tired, but Frances’s phone rang, and she picked it up. Frances looked at the screen, then slapped it against her chest. “Oh my God!” she whispered hotly, then gestured wildly for Edie to stay out of sight. Then she lowered the phone. “Hello, Marge. How did you learn to do FaceTime?”
“What do you mean?” a woman’s voice said. “It’s just a button.”
“Okay, but we don’t normally FaceTime,” Frances said, and shot Edie a nervous look.
“Don’t worry, Franny, I will still love you without makeup. So how is everything? How are you and theloverdoing?”
“Don’t call him that,” Frances said.
“Oh God, Fran, don’t tell me you haven’t done the nasty yet. Listen, take it from me, everything still works like—”
“Marjorie!” Frances cried, and came off the bed. She walked to the window.
