Chapter Eight #3
“I know,” Celia said. “I think that I was trying to let Daniel by me, but there were others around, too.”
“I’m sure he would have never pushed you on purpose. But despite our really good guide, we did wind up almost on top of one
another now and then.”
“And I don’t think that Daniel would have minded if I’d fallen,” Chloe murmured.
“Pardon?”
“Oh, no, no, I didn’t mean anything bad, really. It’s just sometimes . . .”
“Sometimes?”
“Oh,” she said, twirling out of his arms and then returning, “you know, Broderick is the brains behind that company. Maybe
Daniel is trying to prove himself too much sometimes, I mean, maybe, you know.”
He laughed and swung her out and back in.
“Well, you’re the brains in your company, right?”
She laughed. “Jeff is great. He’s a follower. It’s not his fault that I happen to know a lot more than he does. But! He can
be really charming when it comes to social media—and on how to show others enthusiasm when they’re working on self-promotion.
Everyone has their place, right? Ah! Except maybe that’s why you and Chloe get along so well—you both have your own businesses,
you’re not doing the same thing.”
Wes smiled at that, clutching Celia when she almost made a misstep.
“Who knows? We’re all separate personalities, right? Some of us are tougher, some of us are driven and some of us are more
tender,” Wes said.
“That’s it! Jeff is a tender soul,” Celia exclaimed.
The music was coming to an end.
“One of those cool finales you were doing with your wife!” Celia begged.
“Sure,” Wes told her, allowing them to end with a sweeping turn and a dip.
As the song ended, he looked around the room, as did Celia.
“There they are!” Celia said, pointing over to the bar where their two “spouses” sat on stools.
Wes wondered if Chloe had learned anything from or about the man in their private chat, but he was also still wondering if
he’d learned anything from Celia.
Other than reinforcing their certainty that Celia found her husband to be weak.
If something was going on, she was the one pulling the strings. How to prove it? Prove that she might have slipped into a
meeting, managed to get a drug into half a dozen people.
And shoot them at just about point-blank range.
In his mind, looking at the logistics, it had to have taken more than one person to pull it all off. Maybe not the earlier
deaths, but getting a paralyzing drug into a party of six in order to have them sit nicely to be shot?
He and Celia reached the bar as the band moved on with a waltz.
Wes didn’t wait for any suggestions. “Casino!” he said.
“Just for a bit!” Chloe told him. “Come on, my love, it has been a long day!”
“And the casino isn’t going anywhere,” Jeff said, laughing. “Hey, we’re at sea all day tomorrow. A time beloved by the casino—players
are stuck with a place to play!”
“Casino, casino, casino!” Celia said. “Come on!”
“So, Celia, happy? You got a great dance in with Mr. Fred Astaire Junior here,” Jeff said to his wife.
“You need to take lessons!” Celia told her husband.
Jeff groaned.
“Hey, there are no football teams for has-been high school cool boys!” Celia said.
“I was good!” Jeff protested.
“But you’re an adult man now,” Celia told him.
“So, that means I have to dance?” Jeff demanded, groaning. “Wait! I am one hell of a poker player. I’ll go redeem myself!”
They all laughed as they reached the casino. Wes saw that Broderick McClintock was at the craps table along with Edward, his new friend, the silver-haired Sally and Amelia Swenson.
Daniel was at the roulette table.
“Ah, I shall get some chips and join the craps players!” Wes announced.
“Penny slots?” Chloe asked.
Wes laughed along with Jeff and Celia.
“Oh, honey, there hasn’t really been such a thing as a penny slot in forever. But, hey, sometimes you may get away with forty
cents a bet, or something like that!”
“Then I’ll take some chips, too, Wes!” Chloe said. “I’ll try roulette. I like those odds—a number or color will or will not
come out!”
“Let’s hope there are no loaded dice!” Jeff said.
They split up. Wes watched as Chloe slid in by Daniel McClintock at the roulette wheel. She smiled at him, and the cybersecurity
expert returned the smile.
Wes was surprised to feel a strange tug on his emotions and he almost laughed aloud at himself.
Jealousy.
Chloe had given the man a beautiful smile. The smile that Daniel had returned was that of a man who appreciated the charm
and beauty of the woman.
His wife.
Not really his wife. They were professionals undercover!
“Hey!”
Edward and the others they were coming to know greeted him at the craps table. He asked how it was all going and George, ever
watchful, shook his head but answered for the others, “These guys are doing okay. ’Cause I’m willing to bet they’ll all come
back and return their winnings tomorrow!”
“Place your bets! Place your bets!” the dealer called.
Those around the table gave their attention to the game. But this time, Broderick didn’t put any money down. He collected his chips and shrugged. “Yeah, I’ll probably come back and return it all tomorrow!”
He walked away. While playing and chatting, Wes noted that Broderick exchanged a few words with his brother, who then went
on to head toward a giant Buffalo machine.
Except Daniel didn’t stop at the machine. He walked past it—and was hidden by dazzling art of a raging buffalo that rose high
on the giant machine.
Someone was joining him. It was Jeff Henderson.
Wes had money on the table; he had been joking with the others. Running over to see what was going on would have been extremely
telling.
But he didn’t need to worry.
Chloe was on her way over to the Buffalo, looking as if she was fascinated by the size of the machine and the graphics.
“Snake eyes!” the dealer called after the roll.
“Ouch!” Wes said, collecting his chips from the tables. “Too rich for my blood!” he announced, leaving the table and heading
over toward Chloe, the Buffalo machine and the two men who had disappeared behind it.
But he could hear them. Just as he was sure that Chloe could hear them and had heard whatever had gone on before he had come
close.
He only came in on the tail end of the conversation.
Just in time to hear Daniel say, “It was messed up, man. It was so messed up.”
He couldn’t see it, but he heard something of a whacking sound, as if one of the men had given the other a good slap against
the shoulder.
Then Daniel walked around the machine.
Wes pretended his interest was in his wife.
“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.
Then Chloe looked at him and he knew that she was beginning to feel the effects of exhaustion from the length of the day,
the physical and the mental pressure.
“On to our room! ‘After all,’” he quoted, “‘tomorrow is another day!’”
They managed to escape. To reach their cabin.
And there, Chloe almost threw herself down on the sofa, before she looked up at him.
“I know you’re exhausted. I am, too—”
“He said something, Wes,” Chloe said. “Something I don’t think you heard.”
“And—”
“Daniel said it, Wes. Daniel said it to Jeff, before that comment about things being messed up,” Chloe told him.
“And—”
“He said six people. Six people, supposedly just sitting there. Six people dead. Too much, way too much!”
Wes stared at her.
The comments weren’t enough.
Not to arrest someone.
But that they had been said by one of the men to the other was . . .
That fact, if not damning, at the very least intriguing.
And whether it was one of the two men who was guilty—or if it was both of them—it suddenly seemed to solidly reinforce a theory
they’d been working with.
Something was planned for the cruise.
Something big.