41. Lowri
LOWRI
I ’ve been back at Sean’s apartment for over an hour. My mind is racing as it runs on autopilot, processing all the information we’ve collected. At this point, I’m too tired to process this much data.
Needing a break, I crawl into bed and turn on a movie.
That usually helps me clear my mind. Then I can work through the facts with Sean when he finishes his meeting with the friendly, but mysterious, Prof.
Simon. I can’t wait to hear the inside joke Sean mentioned, and hopefully the professor will provide the remaining pieces of the puzzle.
The next thing I know, Sean is crawling into bed beside me and pointing the remote control at the television to turn it off. I must have dozed off while watching. Rubbing sleep from my eyes, I ask, “What time is it?”
“It’s late. Go back to sleep,”
“No, I’m awake now. Tell me about your meeting with Prof. Simon. Have you been with him this whole time?” I ask, propping myself up with a couple of fluffy pillows at my back and smoothing the comforter over my lap.
“After talking with him, I went to the security office to meet with Daniel to follow up on the information Paxton shared.”
“Wait a minute, you were meeting with Prof. Simon. Who is Paxton? And what was the inside joke about the professor?”
“I did promise to explain, didn’t I? I’ll start with a story from my college days.
Evan and I were friends with Paxton Preston back then.
One Halloween, Paxton decided to dress up as one of our professors, Dr. Simon.
He looked exactly like him. He emulated the professor’s voice and quirks to perfection. It was hilarious.”
“So, are you telling me that tonight Paxton was pretending to be Prof. Simon?”
“Exactly.”
“Why?”
“He didn’t want anyone to recognize him, and for my sake, we needed to avoid anyone linking the two of us with each other.”
“I don’t understand.”
“It’s complicated. Do you remember when you were in my office and Daniel stopped by to tell me that two mafia guys were intimidating one of our employees outside a back entrance to the Athena?”
“Yes.”
“You’ve heard me mention Paxton Rossi. He’s head of the mafia family in Vegas. Paxton Rossi and Paxton Preston are the same person. When we were in college, Paxton didn’t realize his father was the mafia kingpin. His parents hid it from him by using his mother’s maiden name, Preston.”
“How is it possible he didn’t know?”
“His mother shielded him from his father’s business from the time he was a child.
When he, his twin brother, and his sister were young, his mom moved them to London.
They went to school there until they each turned eighteen and returned to the U.S.
for college. It wasn’t until his last year of college that his parents told him about his dad’s work. He was dumbfounded.”
“That still doesn’t explain why he showed up as Prof. Simon tonight.”
“Now that he’s head of the family, he’s making efforts to legitimize their business interests.
Unfortunately, he’s still routinely the subject of threats.
That’s where the disguise comes into play.
His various versions of Simon allow him to mingle in public and reduce the likelihood that someone will try to kill him. ”
“That makes sense. I can understand why you are worried about being linked with him. You can’t afford for the Athena to be seen as having mob connections.”
“Exactly. We’ve found ways to quietly remain friends over the years, but we are extremely careful to keep our business interests separate.
That means he’s usually not welcome here.
I made an exception tonight because we needed information from him.
He also wanted to see Evan and meet Cassie.
Paxton taking on his alter ego was the easiest solution for all of us. ”
“It’s complicated, but I guess it worked.”
“It did. Paxton gave me a photo and some info about my employee who was interacting with his guys. It turns out that my employee racked up a large gambling debt with the Rossi family. Unfortunately, Paxton doesn’t know the gambler’s full name, only that he goes by A.R.”
“Shit.”
“No kidding. I gave the info to Daniel. It’s possible this guy is an entertainer. The photo isn’t great, but security should be able to narrow down the possibilities.”
“May I see the photo?”
“I already told Daniel to scan it and send it to us.”
“Good. What will you do when you figure out who the gambler is? Will you fire him?”
“Gambling addiction is a serious problem. We’ll try to get him help, but he can’t keep working here. His debt makes him an easy target for blackmail. We can’t risk him using inside info about the Athena to pay off a blackmailer.”
“I see what you mean. Is gambling addiction common?”
“It occurs more often than we’d like. I’ve read studies that say it affects about one to two percent of Americans. It makes me ill to see people gamble away money they can’t afford to lose.”
“You must make a lot of money from those people though.”
“Hopefully not. Certain guests may lose a little more than they intended. When they do, most people don’t repeat that behavior, or they spend a little less on something else to make up for it.
Those people usually aren’t addicts. The Athena doesn’t want money from people with gambling problems. We want people here who are having spectacular experiences, not those who believe their next bet will turn their life around. That never works out well for anyone.”
“What are you doing about it? How can you tell who’s addicted?”
“It’s a tough problem. There are signs that we watch for on the cameras.
We also train our dealers to look for those gamblers.
Then we can cut them off. We also discreetly provide info in all our guestrooms about the signs of addiction and how to get help.
Sadly, it’s not enough unless all the casinos band together and implement similar programs. Even then, it’s only a start.
It’s a slow process because not everyone shares my belief that we have a moral duty not to take bets from addicts.
Some do no more than post the obligatory notices about responsible gambling and where to seek help if you have a problem. ”
“Did you confront Paxton about whether his family played a role in Mr. Brentwood’s death and the other mishaps during rehearsals?”
“I did. I’m convinced he had nothing to do with any of that, but it’s still possible the two Rossi guys who were intimidating my employee could have.
They may have tried to scare the guy into paying, and the wrong people were hurt.
When I hear myself say that, it sounds a little far-fetched though. ”
“It does, but I’m not ready to cross them off my list of suspects yet.”
“Paxton promised to investigate and let us know if those guys had any hand in the sabotage.”
“Good. Before you got here, I was thinking we’re gradually piecing the puzzle together, but I have a nagging feeling that we are overlooking something important.”
“There’s other stuff we should go over too. Do you have time to talk in the morning?”
“We can talk now unless you’re too tired.”
“Would you mind if we wait until morning? I’m mentally and physically exhausted.”
“Of course not. Let’s get some sleep.”