Dazzled, page 11
part #5 of Charlie Cooper Mystery Series
“Could you take us to Fountain Square, please?” Celeste asked our beleaguered driver. She took a paper from her purse and fanned herself, still flushed from our ordeal.
“Nayeem will take you, yes, but please don’t tell me more. Soon I am anxious to return to a normal life—driving tourists, making money. This is not so good for business.”
“We’re so, so sorry…really!” Marge said, leaning forward. “We hope this will be over soon.”
Yes, hopefully it would be—and in a way that left everyone alive with four working limbs apiece.
We got to the square, and Nayeem drove around until he found the perfect place to park. There, he could keep a close eye on his troublesome companions while keeping out of sight. At least, that was our hope.
“That bench beside the big tree, that’s where we’ll head, Nayeem.” Celeste took a deep breath before opening her door.
“I do my best to do this crazy thing you ask,” he said, giving us a polite nod.
Celeste ran her hand against the bottom of her bag, making sure the goods were there. Around us, people laughed, sharing stories of their day. They didn’t have a clue about the high-stakes, awful thing that was happening in their midst. I heard talk of dinner reservations and best slot machines, and I could have sobbed with envy.
We tried hard to blend in, but I could tell my friends felt as clueless as I did. Should we walk around or stay put? We had no idea. I knew we were failing to look like normal tourists. We should have tried to do more than sit there like three stones, but we were just wiped out—from the encounter with the cops and mostly from the terror over what could happen next.
I looked at my phone: one minute after twelve. I glanced toward Nayeem, who was still in place as promised. He was looking agitated and talking to himself.
A couple beside us playfully pushed against each other as the guy tried to take a bite out of the donut in his companion’s hand. Sheesh. I was so nervous I couldn’t even eat a donut like this girl held, all pink and covered up with sprinkles. I’d lost my appetite, which was a first for me.
I watched the fountain, which was pretty with concrete angels and big fishes. I wished the three of us could laugh and pose beside it like the groups were doing all around us. I could put the picture up on Facebook, say something funny to go with it: “Thanks to roulette wheels and buffets, we’re almost broke in Vegas. But we’re having a blast.”
That sounded better than the truth: “Thanks to thugs and stolen diamonds, we could be dead in Vegas soon. We are not having a blast.”
I glanced back at my phone: eight minutes after twelve. Let’s do this thing already. They’d set up a meeting, and now they were late. Didn’t they see us sitting there? I was almost certain they got a good look at us when they were chasing us yesterday from the apartment to the car, but what if they didn’t? What if they were there at the square as well, not recognizing us?
Marge nudged me at that point, and I noticed a guy across from us, sitting by himself on a bench. He was staring at us with a look that was…well, not very friendly. It was downright scary.
“That must be him,” I whispered.
“That’s him for sure,” Celeste agreed.
My heart began to race. “Now that we’ve seen his face, do you think he’ll let us leave?”
The area around us had grown even more crowded than before. That gave me a bit of hope.
He got up and moved toward us, his eyes still boring into ours.
Here we go.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Celeste’s right hand moving toward her bag, but I kept my focus on the guy. Everybody surrounding us—and all the fun and gaiety around me—had faded into nothing but a blur.
He was almost at our bench when we were startled by some voices. They were loud and close. I turned around to look.
It was the women from the bus.
Chapter Ten
“Well look who’s here!” cried one. She clasped her hands in glee.
What was up with the excitement? They hardly even knew us. Now they hurried toward us, thrilled, as if they’d just found Celine Dion and Cher in sequined gowns hanging with the crowds.
“We wondered where you were!” one of them exclaimed. “I was just saying to the others, ‘Those girls are missing out! It’s such a great tour.’”
“Yes!” the first one said. “She was wondering about you, and now here you are. Isn’t that a coincidence?”
I was not feeling the delight they were. We had to catch the guy before he booked it, but these ladies liked to talk.
“Oh, look!” one of them said. “I see an ice cream truck and I’m so craving something sweet. Won’t you girls join us?”
Just let me lose this stolen loot, and then I’ll be right there to eat a fudge pop, I thought.
I glanced toward the guy. His eyes filled with confusion, he slowly backed away from the loud knot of women who’d suddenly appeared.
Drat. He’s gonna leave.
Marge, Celeste, and I traded helpless glances.
I looked back at the guy, and he was—dagnabit—gone.
I looked over toward Nayeem, who mimed a forehead smack and rolled his eyes. Celeste and Marge were glancing around frantically for the guy, but he was nowhere in sight. The ladies, in the meantime, just kept talking.
In my desperate state, I only caught bits and pieces of their conversation.
“I want to have my picture made in front of New York - New York”…“I wonder if the piano player at the Bellagio knows a nice Sinatra song”…“If I sweet-talk that machine back at the Kaleidos, will it let me win for once?”…“Can a machine somehow hate a person?”…“Everybody’s won but me.”
This was just super. We were so close to closing the deal and getting this nightmare over with, and all we accomplished was…nothing. We did see the guy’s face, but I’m thinking he wasn’t so pleased with that. I hoped he realized we were ambushed by our new Vegas buddies. We didn’t call for them.
One of the women had me by the arm.
“Let’s go,” she said, pointing to the ice cream truck. “The line isn’t long right now.”
I sighed and exchanged glances with Marge and Celeste.
Fine. Whether I stayed or went, the mission was aborted. I could be screwed and empty-handed or screwed with a piece of fudgey sweetness on a stick. I picked option two.
“We should get Nayeem,” Marge said, who was being pulled along beside me.
“I’ll go get him now,” I said, and sprinted toward our driver.
“Oh, the more the merrier,” one of the women called. “We’d love to meet your friend.”
Nayeem frowned and shook his head as he saw me approach. “This plan is not so good,” he said. “This man is gone when he sees these talking women. Why are they here, these women who say so many words?”
“They’re…um…friends we met in Vegas—who showed up at the wrong time.”
“Very, very wrong time,” Nayeem said. He paused and shoved his hands into his pockets as he stared down at the ground. “I really want to help, but I cannot be a superspy detective for much longer. What Nayeem must do is find some riders. I am Uber driver! If I do not take the riders to the places, then there is no money for Nayeem’s family.”
“I know, Nayeem,” I said. “I’m sorry. We’ll make it up to you. We really thought this would work.”
“What do we do now?”
I pulled him toward the others. “Ice cream! We eat ice cream.”
He stopped and stared at me. “That plan I think is not so good. That plan makes no sense.”
“It’s not a plan, Nayeem. It’s just a little bit of fun. There’s nothing we can do right at this second and I think we all need a short distraction.”
When we reached our small group, I made the introductions. We all tried different flavors. Marge licked with delight at an orange sherbet pop. Celeste bit delicately into her ice cream sandwich, and Nayeem frowned down, still confused, at his strawberry snow cone.
I took a bite of mine and let the cool and creamy chocolate ease my nerves a little. Chocolate always helped.
“The next thing on our list is a little bit of shopping,” one of the women said as she enjoyed her grape popsicle. “Got to buy those souvenirs. You girls should come with us.”
“Shopping sounds great,” Marge said. “Do you know what would be perfect? I would love to find a snow globe. I try to buy a snow globe everywhere I go.”
“I do love a good snow globe,” one of the women said. “My late husband, Albert, used to always look for ones that played a little tune when he went on business trips. He knew I liked those best.”
“I’m running out of shelves to put my snow globes on,” Marge said thoughtfully. “But you know what I could do? I could start lining up my snow globes all around my office.”
“I vote no on that,” Celeste said as she caught my eye.
“Plus, don’t you think a snow globe is an odd thing to buy in Vegas?” I asked. “Does it ever snow in Vegas?” Oh, just never mind. We did not have time to care!
We had to find Plan B. I turned toward our new buddies. “We would absolutely love to spend more time with you, but we have some…things we have to do.”
“Oh, the youth nowadays,” one of the women said. “Always in a hurry.”
“That’s okay, my dear,” another one said. “Maybe we’ll see you tonight.”
We waved them goodbye and as soon as they were out of sight, Celeste let out a sigh. “Of all the times to show up.”
“We almost had it handed off.” I used my napkin to dab some chocolate off my chin.
“I guess by now the guy is long gone.” Marge took a look around to check, just in case he’d stuck around.
“We need another plan,” I said.
I saw Nayeem rubbing his temples and shaking his head.
Marge stared absently at the fountain. “We need to lose this coffee now.”
“What we need now is a drink,” Celeste said decisively.
“That’s the best idea I heard today,” I said.
“Make mine really strong,” Marge said as we headed toward the car.
“Too bad I need to drive,” Nayeem added.
Our driver dropped us off at the Kaleidos since their bar looked super cute. Finally, he was off duty—in a coffee-related way—so he left to look for fares that actually paid him. Hopefully, his whole day wouldn’t be a loss. Before we got out of the car, however, he shoved a piece of paper into Celeste’s hand. “This is Nayeem’s cell. If you need me, I come.”
“You’re a gem,” Celeste said and kissed him on the cheek.
We found some seats at an empty table. The chairs were plush and comfortable, each one a different brightly-colored hue. Marge went up to the bar to order us the special: peach-mango margaritas. Celeste and I fell into a silence that was part exhaustion and part despondency.
After a good fifteen minutes, I broke the silence. “Where is Marge anyway? It’s not like the place is jammed. I need that drink—and I need it now.”
Celeste looked toward the bar. “Great. She’s made some friends, because of course she has. After all, she’s Marge.”
I turned around to check. Marge was chatting happily with a group of tall guys who looked about our age. They were all dressed casually except for one, who had on a tux jacket and bow tie, at odds with his khaki shorts and polo shirt. Someone was getting married.
“I have to admit, her new friends are looking good,” Celeste said with a smile. “If we were on a real vacation and had time for any fun, I’d call dibs on the blonde.”
I was focused on another one with black messy curls and bright blue eyes that were crinkled up with laughter. This one just had that look, like here was a guy who was always up for an adventure, one who laughed a lot. I still didn’t know what the deal was with Alex; I still didn’t have a read on how I stood with him. But he was not here. I was. Plus, I could always admire a nice pair of strong shoulders and a killer smile.
Marge glanced our way, and the guys turned to look as well. They smiled and nodded.
“Why do I have a feeling that something is going on here?” I asked Celeste.
She shrugged.
Marge marched up to our table, handing out our drinks.
“I found more than drinks!” she said, her voice squeaking. “Those guys are looking fine. One of them is obviously taken, but the other ones are just yummy. Anyhoo…they’re moving their little party to the hotel pool, and they invited moi. I told them we’d be right there and they should save us three seats at the pool.”
“Thanks for asking first.” Celeste was only partly teasing. I could see that this small impromptu party had cheered her up a little.
To be honest, it cheered me up as well.
I stood up. “I’m in. I think we deserve some fun.”
“First we need a plan to make sure you-know-who gets off our back,” Celeste said.
“I’ve got no ideas, and I don’t think you do either,” Marge told her. “All we can do is wait for the guy to make a move. And speaking of a guy and making a move and all of that, this could work out very nicely.”
“I’m with Marge,” I said. “If we just have to wait for these guys to get back in touch with us, why not wait at the pool in the middle of some hotties?”
Celeste grinned. “Let’s go.”
With drinks in hand, we were heading toward the lobby. Marge, in her excitement, was steps ahead of us. “I told them we’d be right there,” she called over her shoulder. “I told them we just had to run up to our rooms to change into our swimsuits.”
Whoops.
I stopped in my tracks.
“Except I didn’t bring one,” I said.
“Oh.” Marge looked at me confused.
“How could you pack for a vacation and not bring a bathing suit?” Celeste asked.
“I don’t know. I thought we’d be gambling, eating, seeing shows…I didn’t think we’d swim. It’s not like we’re at the beach.”
“Oh, never you mind that,” Marge said as she skipped ahead.
“But wait!” I called after her. “Of course I mind—a lot. How can I change into a swimsuit that I didn’t bring?”
“Personally, I find that the answer to a lot of problems is to run into a shop.” Marge came back to grab my hand and hurry me along.
I was angry with myself. Why hadn’t I thought to pack a suit? A swimsuit from a fancy shop at a hotel in Vegas would most likely cost four times as much as it would at home.
We checked a couple of stores that had clothing in the windows, but the clerks just shook their heads when we asked if they carried swimwear.
“You might try Squares and Circles. It’s close to the front desk,” one of the women told us, looking doubtful. “Not a lot of places carry swimwear here at the Kaleidos.”
“My great good luck continues,” I said to the girls as we left the store.
Squares and Circles, as it turned out, did indeed carry swimwear…but they were down to one suit.
“Are you kidding me?” I said, eyeing the bikini.
“On the plus side, I think it will fit,” Celeste said as she held it up and frowned.
“On the minus side, there’s not a whole lot to it,” I said, disappointed.
Marge winked. “You’re so in luck. You’ll turn some heads in this one.”
The two-piece suit was tiny. No, let me rephrase that. It was super tiny. So tiny, I think they only used two inches of material on it. I looked at the price, which was more bad news.
“How can they charge a fortune for an inch of fabric?” I asked as my heart sunk. The tiny bit of fabric was glittery and gold. It would attract attention, while my MO was to blend into a crowd when I was forced to be with people.
“Is this really the only one you got?” I asked the salesperson.
She nodded, looking me up and down.
“Fine,” I said to the girls. “But this better cover up at least one side of my tushy.”
Marge squealed and hurried toward the checkout desk, the gold monstrosity in hand. “I think our real vacation is just about to start.”
I looked at Celeste, and I’m sure my eyes said Save me.
“Let’s try to have some fun,” Celeste said. “Although, there goes any chance that I have of a hot date in Vegas. All eyes will be on you.”
I winced. Being the center of attention was never my forte. Celeste grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the counter. “Charlie! I was joking. Just go with the flow. You’ll look cute in gold.”
Not that there was much gold. I’d be wearing mostly skin.
Marge and I changed in her room while Celeste went to hers to dress and leave the diamonds in the safe. I changed in the bathroom and didn’t dare look in the mirror once I had the swimsuit on. My best friend would be denial; I would just pretend it was a granny one-piece with a little skirt.
We met out in the hall with summer dresses thrown on over our swimsuits.
“I hate to say it,” Celeste said, glancing down the hall, “but do you think we should peek into Charlie’s room and see if we have a new message?”
I knew she was right. We had to look. My heart was pounding wildly as I opened the door to my room.
“I can’t look,” I said. “Someone else look first!”
Marge put her hand on my arm. “Charlie, it’s okay. Everything looks fine.”
“Let’s go in and check the bathroom, and we need to check the closet as well.” Celeste moved through the room.
Fortunately, all was well. Perhaps the scene out by the fountain would be our only drama for the day. Only, come to think of it, as much as I would want to not have another encounter with the bad dudes, that’s the only way to get rid of our stuff and get on with our lives. Since there were no mirror notes, missed phone calls or letters to be found in my hotel room, all we could do was wait. And we could also wait while soaking up the sun, right?
When we got to the hotel pool, the guys were sitting around or stretched out in lounge chairs by the far end, near the diving board. Their number by then had grown to seven. Their loud laughter and the empty plastic cups on a nearby table signaled that these guys were in full-on party mode. Around them, the crowd was sparse.
