Almost Too Far (Almost Bad Boys #3) (9 page)

“Whoa! Shit!” We all yell.
 

“What the hell?” I half-stand up, as much as the seatbelt allows me to.
 

Two young males jump out from the car and run to the driver’s side. Their angry faces aren’t promising anything good.

“Fuck! Really?” Jena shouts, when they yank the driver’s door open.
 

I scream, and so does Caroline. I think Ali’s awake now, but I don’t pay attention to what she’s doing.
 

The guys are yelling something in God-knows-what-language. I only know I can’t understand a word. They both wear baseball hats and black bandanas around their necks. One of them is trying to wrench the driver out from the van, but our turbaned
friend is resisting, holding onto the steering wheel and squealing like a frightened animal.
 

“Let him go, dickbrains!” I yell.

They ignore me. I look around for something to throw at them and see Svetlana calmly reaching into her bag. Fuck, no!
 

Before I can say anything, she pulls out her Glock, unclicks her seatbelt, and stands up, holding the gun at the ready with both hands. “Hey, asshole!” she says in a loud but collected voice, trying to pronounce each word with the least noticeable Russian accent but failing miserably. “Yeah, I’m talking to you.”
 

For a moment all three men freeze, their eyes on Svetlana and her no-nonsense gun. Holy Mother of Sweet Jesus, what now?

Out of the corner of my eye I see Caroline, Jena, and Ali. Their mouths hang open, and then Ali whistles. “I like you more and more, girlfriend.”

Svetlana ignores Ali and motions for the attackers to get their hands off the poor driver. They finally realize their best option is to get the hell out of here. And so they do—with a high-pitched screech of their tires.
 

Before any of us is able to say a word, our driver jumps out of the van and runs off into the dark.
 

Jena shouts, “Seriously? Now
he
’s gone too?”
 

Ali snorts. “What, you miss him? Okay, Svetlana, I must say, that was classic.”

“What the fuck?” Caroline complains. “Are you both insane? I almost peed my pants I was so scared. Don’t you ever pull that gun on people like that. Ever!”

Svetlana stashes the Glock back in her purse. “And what would you prefer me to do? They were about to beat that poor guy up. I bet they wouldn’t leave us alone either.”

That finally convinces Caroline, but she still huffs angrily. “You can’t bring a gun into the casino.”

“I’m not going to use it there. Come on, I’m not stupid. They have cameras everywhere, and their security’s not a joke,” Svetlana says hotly.
 

“Okay, wait.” I attempt to quiet everyone down. “If you haven’t noticed, we are stranded in the middle of practically nowhere. Where is that driver?”

“What do we do now? We can’t just wait here for him. Who knows when he’ll be back,” Caroline says.

“Oh, for God sake.” Jena crawls over the seats and to the front of the van. “I’ll drive. I know where that casino is.”
 

“What?” Caroline and I shout in unison.
 

Ali laughs and hoots in delight, and Svetlana grins approvingly.
 

“This is a circus.” Caroline rolls her eyes. “Okay, drive, but when the cops stop us, we better have a reliable story. And you,” she points to Svetlana, “better not wave that freakin’ gun around. Do you even have a permit for that piece?”

“No, she doesn’t,” I answer before Svetlana can. “She’s not a citizen so, technically, she can’t carry.”

Caroline looks at me and then at Svetlana with the “are you shitting me?” expression. “Oh, that’s just peachy. Jena, are you going to drive or are you looking for a guidebook?”

“Oh, shut up. This is manual transmission. I’ve driven manual only a handful of times,” Jena says.
 

“Anyone else knows how to drive manual?” I ask.

Ali snorts. Caroline shakes her head, and Svetlana shrugs.
 

“Well, I can’t either. So it’s Jena or we’re walking.”

“In these heels? No way,” Svetlana opposes. She’s wearing high heels, and although they look like they’re only about three inches, I don’t blame her for not wanting to hike in them.
 

“Have some faith in me, would ya?” Jena starts the engine, and the van jerks forward, stopping momentarily. The engine dies, and Jena swears.
 

“I think you need to press in the clutch,” I offer.

“I
am
pressing in the clutch,” Jena grumbles.
 

All of us in the back quickly fasten our seatbelts. With Jena’s mad driving skills, our only hope is to stay put. She tries the engine again, and this time the vehicle rolls forward with only minimal jolting. We clap our hands and whoop excitedly.
 

“Woooot!” Jena shouts.
 

I spot the Point Elliott Casino sign, indicating straight ahead. “I think we’re getting close. There is a sign, right there!”
 

“I see it. There!” Ali points, excitedly. “Past that traffic circle.”

And there it is: sprawled right ahead of us, a multi-floor, blazing-with-lights building with its signature black-and-white heron image above the neon words POINT ELLIOTT CASINO.

ELEVEN

 
“When life gives you lemons, squirt someone in the eye.”
 

Cathy Guisewite.
 

The casino’s parking lot is huge, but Jena decides to find a spot somewhere close to the building. This section is crammed with cars.
 

“We should leave the van somewhere visible so The Turban Man can find it easily. He knew we’re going to the casino,” Caroline reasons.

“Do you see how many cars are here? How can he possibly find it?” Jena says, unconvinced. “Oh, there’s a spot.” She maneuvers the vehicle into an empty parking space, although it takes her four tries before she fits it between the lines painted on the pavement.

I take out three twenty-dollar bills and put it on the driver’s seat. Svetlana notices and adds another twenty. “That should do it. I hope he won’t curse us for taking his ugly van.” The rest of the girls add money to the pile.
 

“I’ll write a note to him.” I tear off a page from a small notebook laying on the dashboard and write: DEAR MR. TAXI DRIVER. THANK YOU FOR DRIVING US. SORRY THIS TURNED OUT CRAZY, BUT WE WERE AFRAID THESE GUYS WOULD HURT YOU. HERE’S SOME MONEY FOR YOU TO COVER GAS AND ANYTHING ELSE. WE HOPE YOU’RE NOT MAD THAT WE BORROWED YOUR VEHICLE. BE COOL.

Svetlana eyes the note, frowning. “Be cool?”

“Means,
don’t do anything stupid
. I hope he understands.” I wrap the bills inside the note and leave it on the seat.

We get out and look around. Ali sobered up some, but she’s still wobbly on her feet and clutches onto my arm for support.
 

“So what’s the plan?” Svetlana asks me. “Should we split or stay together?”

“Let’s stay together for now. Someone has to be with Ali all the time—”

“Sure, sure. Babysit Ali,” Ali interrupts me. She spits on the pavement. “Bleh, I swallowed a bug.”

Caroline and I roll our eyes.

The five of us walk to the entrance and go inside. The place is brightly lit and massive with an impressive round ceiling that reminds me of something between swirling blue ocean waters and a starry night sky with a blazing sphere in the middle.
 

There is a round bar, right smack under that sphere. On the top of the bar a cool sculpture stretches up to the ceiling. It depicts a group of colorful fish circling something shaped like gigantic, glittery seaweed. Is there even glittery seaweed? Well, there’s one here, right in front of my eyes.
 

“Wow, this is cool.” Ali approves. “What do we do first?”

“First, we find Colin’s great grandma and her crazy friend Stella.” I comb my eyes over the room.
 

Ali’s smile disappears, replaced by a pout. “Ah, that. Crap. Okay, where would she go? Bingo? Slot machines?”

“Dunno. Maybe bingo? That’s what the old ladies usually like to play, right?” I look around.
 

“Too bad we don’t know how she looks. We could split up and find her faster that way,” Caroline reasons.
 

Rows of slot machines stretch out from the circular bar and all the way to the area with small, half-round tables with card dealers. There is a large crowd in here. I guess Friday night must be a popular time for gamblers. Or maybe every night is. It will take some time to find Helga in here.

“There is a roulette table. I always wanted to try roulette.” Jena points to our left.
 

“Me too,” I add.
 

“Let’s plan a weekend at the casino, girls. We can have some fun then and not worry about finding little old ladies.” Caroline laughs.

“Hell, yeah!” Ali puts her hands on her hips and turns around, taking it all in.
 

“That actually sounds really cool,” I admit. “Okay, let’s walk around and see if we can spy them.”

I describe both Helga and Stella. They shouldn’t be too hard to spot, so we set out on the mission. I text Colin to let him know the search has just begun. He texts me right back, saying he’s only about ten minutes away from the casino.
 

“Oleg and Vadim are here.” Svetlana points with her chin to the two Russian giants unhurriedly strolling along a row of slot machines. She waves to them, and they both nod in acknowledgement.
 

“There!” I indicate the slot machines to my left. A gray-haired, short lady stands a few yards away with her back to us.
 

We rush to catch up with her. She turns around and looks straight at me. It’s… Melba?
 

“Melba! What are
you
doing here?”

“Waiting for Agatha. She’s getting us drinks,” she responds matter-of-factly.

“But… wait. What? I thought you stayed with Libby.” Before she can respond, I notice Libby and Agatha walking toward us. Agatha carries two drink glasses. The large, white flower in her hair has shifted forward and now threatens to fall out.
 

Libby sees me and rushes forward. “Natalie! Did you find Helga?”

“No. But you didn’t tell me you were coming here too.” Who else is going to turn up?

“As soon as you told me about the casino, Melba and Agatha suggested we drive here to look for Helga. I agreed there was no point sitting around, since I told everyone who was looking for her in our neighborhood that we are leaving,” she explains.
 

Okay, fine, whatever. I make quick introductions, because our group is growing by the minute and we better know who’s in the search and rescue party. This is becoming ridiculous.
 

Svetlana, Caroline, and Jena go off to join the two mafia goons. Ali, still looking a little woozy, stays with me.

Melba wrenches her walker from against a slot machine and positions it firmly in front of her. I don’t even know why she bothers, since she can walk just fine on her own. Hell, I’m sure she can
run
without the damn thing!
 

She puts her drink in the drink holder and says, “Agatha, get us some of those chips. I’m feeling lucky tonight.” She pulls her wallet from her festive bright-yellow purse and gives Agatha a fifty-dollar bill.
 

Just as I thought—these two aren’t here to find Helga. Libby tries to oppose, but I touch her elbow and shake my head.
 

“Leave them to it, Libby. Did you drive them?”

“Yes.” She nods.

“So they aren’t leaving without you. Let’s go.”
 

Libby tells Melba to check her cell phone periodically, and we move in the opposite direction from where Svetlana and her group went. It’s loud and crowded around, and my senses are already running on overdrive.