Chapter 27
Something isn’t sitting right in Gene’s gut.
The effects of the coke have pretty much dissipated, but he doesn’t feel like asking Nicky for another bump. He’s feeling somewhat drunk, though. The unsettling feeling could just be the alcohol in his stomach, but he knows it’s more than that.
Gene and Nicky sit side-by-side at the slot machines in the Flamingo casino, the constantly spinning reels not helping the spinning in his head. He takes a drag from his cigarette, which lessens the pain in his stomach, but not his mind. Lemon, cherries, lemon. Not a winner.
Instead of putting another coin in, he simply sits there, his cigarette hanging from his lips.
Where the hell did Ray go?
He knows Ray is likely fine—he can go wherever he wants and it shouldn’t matter to Gene.
But after witnessing the fight Ray had with Carol, something just seemed off.
He’d never seen them fight like that, at least not in front of him.
Granted, he had no idea Carol was on any pills either, but he understood where Ray was coming from.
Ray is a good guy. Maybe that’s one of the reasons I like him so much.
But Gene and Nicky have wandered around the casino for quite some time now, and he hasn’t spotted Ray at all.
He knows where Santiago and Maurice ran off to; he even found Stefan, who wasn’t originally hanging out with them.
Maybe Ray just went back to the room? It’s possible, but Ray had said he wanted to explore, not retire.
Does that mean he left the casino…?
Perhaps he could’ve, which only makes Gene more worried.
Yes, Ray is a grown adult and can do what he wants, but this is Las-fucking-Vegas.
Wasn’t there a mafia running this very casino not too long ago?
Maybe they’re still involved and are just staying quiet to the public.
Even if Ray didn’t get kidnapped by the mafia, Gene remembers how he was drinking quite a bit before he took off.
No good can come out of being completely hammered while wandering the streets of Las Vegas, especially when Ray would have no idea where he’s going.
“I need to go find out where Ray went,” Gene says.
Nicky collects the coins he won, then turns his head to Gene. “I’m sure he’s fine, right?”
“I don’t know. I have a bad feeling. I wanna try looking again…”
“Well, I guess if you want to, you could.” Nicky shrugs. “If you’re really that worried.”
“I am.” Gene stands from his stool. “You can stay here if you want, but I’m gonna go.”
“Alright. Yeah, I’ll stay for now. Come get me if you need anything though, okay?”
“For sure.”
Gene takes another drag of his cigarette as he scans the casino.
There are plenty of people roaming about, being a Saturday night, making it hard to single any one person out.
Yet he spots Santiago and Maurice at the bar—Santi’s curly mop of black hair and Maurice’s blond highlights making them instantly recognizable—and he heads over toward them.
“Hey guys,” Gene says as he approaches. Santi and Maurice swivel around in their stools to face him.
“Hey Gene,” Santi says with a warm smile. “How’s it going?”
“Not that great.” He frowns. “Have you guys seen Ray anywhere?”
Both of them shake their heads. “No, I haven’t,” Santi says. “Not since we all split up earlier.”
“Me neither,” Maurice says, fidgeting with the strap of the camera around his neck. “You think he might be lost?”
“He might be. Or worse.” Gene’s frown deepens. He takes another drag from his cigarette. “He had a small fight with Carol, she left to go find Pat, and then Ray left on his own. And ever since, I haven’t been able to find him anywhere in here. I’m afraid he left the casino all together…”
“All by himself?” Santi asks, raising his brows.
“I don’t know, that’s the thing! What if something bad happened to him?”
“You sure he’s not just in the room?” Maurice asks.
“I guess I haven’t checked yet, but it didn’t seem like he was going to retire there. He said he wanted to explore. And I doubt he went into the showroom to find Carol, since they had a fight…”
Santi sucks in a hard gasp. “Oh my god, what if someone drugged him?” His shoulders shudder. “What if it was the fuckin’ mafia, man? Taking him hostage because he’s a famous singer… I don’t know how this shit works, but you never know—”
“Oh, Gene! There you are.”
Gene turns around and is greeted by Dennis walking up to him, his sunglasses resting on top of his head, concern painting his oddly bare face.
“Hey, what’s up?” Gene replies.
“Did you happen to know those two women that were with Ray?”
His heart sinks into his stomach.
“Two women?” Gene gulps. “What? No, the only woman he was with was Carol, and if it’s not her… Oh my god, what happened?”
“Ray seemed rather drunk, being dragged outside by those two young women… Before they left, they stopped by me, and Ray told me they were all going to a drag show.”
“A drag show?” Gene blinks. “What the hell is that?”
“Oh, I know what that is,” Maurice says. “It’s where men crossdress as women, except they do it really extravagantly, like it’s a whole performance with dances and music.”
Gene can’t help but notice how his cheeks warm up after hearing that. “Oh, uh… oh, okay. But still, Ray went to something like that, with two random girls he’s never met before?”
“Yeah, at least I’ve never seen them before,” Dennis says. “I didn’t even get a chance to say anything before they all went outside.”
“And you didn’t run after him?” Gene’s heart rate quickens.
“Wha—what, was I supposed to?” Dennis pouts. “At the moment I thought he probably was fine. I mean, we’ve all seen him run off with random women before.”
“Yeah, but that was before he met Carol,” Gene retorts.
“And that was when we were all having shows closer to home. This is Las Vegas! Don’t you realize how dangerous it could be, running off randomly while drunk?
You’re the manager—come on!” He realizes he himself is a bit drunk too, the heat of everything burning up his chest.
“But that’s exactly why I came to look for you! Jeez.” Dennis blows a harsh breath out his lips. “I manage the band, not your everyday lives. I figured, as his best friend, you’d want to know what I saw and you could tell me if everything was fine or not, since you know him best. Calm down.”
Gene groans, sucking down the remainder of his cigarette. “It’s hard to stay fucking calm when I don’t know where Ray is. What if he’s being tricked? What if they’re not really taking him to a drag show? What if… oh god, what if the girls are just decoys for the mafia or something—?”
“Did he say where this drag show was?” Santiago asks Dennis.
“No. He simply said he was ‘going to a drag show’.”
“What?!” Gene huffs out a harsh breath. “Oh my god, what if he’s going all the way down to the other end of the Strip? That’s it. I—I have to go look for him.”
“Not by yourself, you’re not,” Santiago says, standing from his stool and placing a hand on Gene’s shoulder. “I can’t let you wander the streets of Las Vegas alone. Don’t want both of you going missing now, right?”
Gene lets out a short chuckle. “Yeah, guess so. Thanks, man. What about the rest of you?”
“I think it might be best for me to stay here to hold down the fort,” Dennis says, fixing his sunglasses back down over his eyes. “I can send out more troops if I think you guys need backup.”
“Alright,” Gene says. “Maurice?”
“I’ll come along.” He gets up off his stool as well. “Strength in numbers, right? Besides, I think I’m probably the most sober out of all of you.”
“Probably, yeah.” Gene smiles. “Alright, then! Let’s go!”
Gene stubs his cigarette out on an ashtray on the bar counter, and then the three of them are off toward the exit.
Once outside, the warm, dry air envelops them.
Flashing lights bounce around in every direction—a dazzling neon show that’s nearly blinding against the darkness of the sky.
Even more lights zoom past as cars drive up and down the Strip.
Gene looks left and right as he stands on the sidewalk with the others, scanning the enormous glowing signs of the surrounding casinos for any sort of clue.
“Hey, look at that!” Maurice points to the sign for Caesars Palace across the street.
Gene sees it too, on the giant Greek-style sign adorned with gladiator statues. In bold black lettering, it advertises ‘LIBERACE’ as the main act for the night which catches his eye first, but right underneath that is the smoking gun he needs—
‘DON BELLACINO AND HIS LOVELY FEMALE IMPERSONATORS.’
“Female impersonators?” Gene hangs his mouth open. “Oh my god, that’s a drag show, ain’t it?”
“Yeah, they’re sometimes called that,” Maurice says. “That must be where Ray’s gone, then.”
“Well, at least it’s close.” Gene scans the road—cars upon cars passing by in front of them all. “Fuck, how are we gonna cross the road? Is there a crosswalk anywhere? I don’t see anything…”
Santiago gasps. “Oh no, Ray didn’t get hit by a car, did he?!”
Gene’s heart shudders at the thought.
“No, I think if that were the case, there’d probably be an ambulance and police cars all around here,” Maurice reassures. “Since it didn’t seem like he left the Flamingo that long ago before Dennis talked to us.”
“Yeah. Yeah, you’re right,” Gene says with a nod. “Then he must’ve made it across one way or another.”
“So then, let’s be like a chicken and cross the road!” Santi says with a chuckle. “Just gotta dodge the cars and we’ll be good.”
Gene pays closer attention to the flow of traffic, waiting for an opening.
There’s a thin traffic island in the middle of the road, so at least once they make it halfway, they can take a breather before they cross the rest of the way.
After two more cars pass, there’s a gap of open space before the next car is due to come by—
“Now! Let’s go now!” Gene commands.